Romans 10:9-10 - …that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
Romans 10:13 - …for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Romans 12:1-2 - Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 - We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father…
1 Peter 4:10 - As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Matthew 16:18 - I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
The mission of Faith Church is to Glorify God by winning people to Jesus Christ and equipping them to be more faithful disciples
1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Romans 11:36 - For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Romans 16:25-27 - Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Matthew 5:16 - Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Matthew 28:19-20 - Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Acts 1:8 - …but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
3 key words to guide Faith Church in 2024
I. Celebration
Joshua 3:11-13 - Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap.
Joshua 3:17 - And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
2 Chronicles 29:31 - Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those who were willing brought burnt offerings.
2 Chronicles 29:36 - Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.
Revelation 2:4 - But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
II. Completion
Luke 14:27-30 - Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.”
III. Courage
Joshua 14:6-7 - Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart.
Joshua 14:10-12 - Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.
Resources Referenced in Today's Message
Manuscript
- Thank you for choosing to be in the Lord’s house on this first Lord’s Day of the New Year…
- I worded that sentence that way on purpose…
- followers of Jesus Christ are people who have had a definite time of trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord…
- we realized at a point in time that we needed someone to pay for our sin and take charge of our lives…as Paul told the Romans…
- Romans 10:9–10 - that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.
- a few verses later he said, quoting from the Prophet Joel, Romans 10:13 - …for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
- that means that we make decisions about what we’re going to do today and every day, not on the basis of our feelings or natural desires or whatever trends might be occurring in the world in which we live…we choose to do what our Lord, or Master, our King desires because we believe that in so doing – we’re living in a way that is consistent with our design…like Paul went on to tell the Romans a few chapters later - Romans 12:1–2 - Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
- so again - Thank you for choosing to be in the Lord’s house on this first Lord’s Day of the New Year…
- before we look forward, I would like to, on behalf of all of our pastors, thank you for all of the ways our church family served the Lord so effectively during this past Christmas season…
- we’ve learned over the years that Christmas is a time of the year when people are especially open to the gospel…
- and sometimes we kid about it…
- I heard a comedian who reported that his doctor told him to take his new medication religiously…
- so he said…I take it once a year, usually in December…
- we can joke about those kinds of things…but we want to meet people where they are…because our merciful Savior chooses to meet us where we are…not just at the moment of our salvation but every day after that until He takes us to glory…
- so we kick into another gear at Christmastime…
- and when you think about all the different ways the people of our church served together in the last month, it was a sight to behold…Taste of Christmas, Christmas for Everyone, our Christmas Musical, Living Nativity, Christmas Eve Services, Winter Break ministries, and our New Year’s Eve extravaganzas…it’s quite amazing
- you know, as I travel, one comment I frequently hear from other pastors and churches is – we can’t get our people to serve…so we can’t have outreach ministries to our community because we can barely staff the programs we have inside our church to our own members…
- well, our pastors want you to know that we are very thankful for the way our brothers and sisters here serve so faithfully and sacrificially…
- and what we especially appreciate is – its not just done with the bare minimum…it’s serving Jesus with excellence…with our first fruits…with our very best…
- we don’t take that for granted…
- it’s like Paul said to the Thessalonians…1 Thessalonians 1:2–3 - We give thanks to God always for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers; constantly bearing in mind your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of our God and Father,
- I think it’s also interesting that all of those ministries come right on the heels of Stewardship Month…because what we’re talking about is an outgrowth of faithful stewardship…
- like we saw in our study of 1 Peter last year - 1 Peter 4:10 - As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
- the average person who attends this church was the living embodiment of that passage in the last 30 days and for that we are profoundly thankful…and ultimately for the resurrected Savior who makes that kind of service possible and even desirable…
- I also want to say thank you for being patient when your pastors don’t get it quite right…
- I mentioned this during the Christmas Eve services but I think it bears repeating for those who weren’t with us that evening…
- one of the challenges with the Living Nativity is you’re constantly having to make weather related decisions…
- that shouldn’t surprise us if we’re going to schedule an outdoor outreach activity in Indiana in December…
- so this year, we had unusually mild weather for the first weekend and our attendances were amazing…we were also surprised by the percentage of people telling us this was their first time to come…so we were having a great time…
- then the second weekend rolled around and we have a solid Friday night…nut then they were calling for rain starting around 10 am on Saturday…
- so the working theory was that we would probably cancel for Saturday night, but the problem was – it didn’t start raining Saturday morning…
- at least not – we better cancel the nativity kind of rain…
- so some of our pastors and other nativity leaders started discussing that early Saturday afternoon…
- but ultimately the buck stops with me – just like Harry Truman famously said…
- I’m responsible when things don’t go well…
- so we decided to have the nativity that Saturday night – got all of our participants and even the animals in place – people from the community started lining up in the cues…and wouldn’t you know it – right around 6:30 it started really raining…
- and we had to make the decision to close early…
- which meant people were all wet…some of our guests had to leave without being served…it was a very bad decision on my part and I felt terrible as I watched all of that unfold…
- but that’s another piece of the puzzle…
- I didn’t have to deal with an angry mob wanting to throw me in the pond behind the community center…
- or answer a dozen flaming e-mails which I’m sure I deserved…that’s faithful service too…and we want you to know that we are profoundly thankful for you…
- [if time – develop the concept of “such fine people]…
- this morning, I’d like to invite you to open your Bible to Joshua chapter 4…page ____ of the back section of the Bible under the chair in front on you…
- for those who are new, we generally begin the new year with a discussion of Why are We Here, Where are We Going, and How Do You Fit In?
- there’s a sense in which it functions as sort of a State of the Church address…coupled with a discussion of where we believe the Lord wants us to go in the days ahead…
- I suppose if you look back over the years, the discussions have been primarily positive because the Lord has always blessed us so significantly and there are always exciting prospects for the future…
- that should not surprise us…because on one level we’re simply talking about participating in the project the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has promised to build…
- Matthew 16:18 - I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
- please think about everything we just said about Christmas…what was that?...in a very real sense it was Jesus working in and through His people to build His church….and I can’t think of anything else I could get more excited about than that, how about you?...
- however, I think there are reasons to believe that 2024 could be one of our best and most productive years ever…so this message has had a “I can’t wait to talk about this” kind of feel for me…
- It’s also true that the answer to the first question…Why are We Here?...is almost always the same…because our God-given purpose does not change…we summarize it like this…
- The mission of Faith Church is to Glorify God by winning people to Jesus Christ and equipping them to be more faithful disciples.
- and certain bread and butter passages from God’s Word should immediately start bubbling up in our minds…like…
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 - Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
- Romans 11:36 - For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
- Romans 16:25–27 - Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
- so why did people choose to serve the way they did in December?...to glorify God…to reflect/mirror/represent His character and attributes to those the Lord has placed around us…so that others would come to know Him…like Jesus commanded -- Matthew 5:16 - Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
- those are mission statements…along with the great commission… Matthew 28:19–20 - Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
- Acts 1:8 - but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
- I hope passages like that thrill your heart, guide your steps, and motivate you to find specific ways to participate in helping us accomplish our God given mission…
- now, what about 2024?...where are we going?...
- I’d like to suggest to you that there are 3 key words to guide Faith Church in 2024
- the first one is…
I. Celebration
- brothers and sisters…congratulations are in order, whether you realize it or not…
- because 2024 is our 60th anniversary…and we’re going to have us a year-long party…
- that’s why the theme we’ve chosen for this year is Building on Our Heritage…
- because the truth of the matter is – by God’s grace, we have an awful lot to celebrate…
- now, I realize someone, or maybe a lot of someone’s might say – I’m new around here, so this isn’t really my celebration…
- you know, Jesus actually gave a parable about that during His earthly ministry and the essence was…in His economy, the first shall be last and the last shall be first…
- in other words…this party is about Jesus Christ…and His marvelous saving work…
- and it doesn’t matter if you just became a Christian…or you just started attending here…the guest of honor says – there’s always room for someone else…and we are thrilled to have you join the celebration…
- now, I asked you to turn in your Bible to Joshua chapter 4…this is the marvelous recounting of the miraculous parting and crossing of the Jordan river…
- approximately 40 years before…God had parted the Red Sea…and now Joshua is the leader for this new generation of God’s people…and to demonstrate His power and His commitment to keeping the covenants He had made with the children of Israel…God told Joshua to instruct the people – Joshua 3:11–13 - Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you into the Jordan. Now then, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man for each tribe. It shall come about when the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan will be cut off, and the waters which are flowing down from above will stand in one heap.
- and that’s exactly what happened – so we read in verse 17 - Joshua 3:17 - And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.
- that’s how powerful our God is…but that wasn’t the end of the story…they needed a reminder to help them celebrate what God had done…
- read Josh 4:1-7
- Sixty years ago, the former pastor of Kossuth Street Baptist Church, a gentleman named Baden Rowe and his church family saw that the new south side of Lafayette was growing rapidly and in need of a new Bible believing church so they scooped off 5 of their families and sent them off with a missionary church-planting pastor named Roland Reed to plant Faith Baptist Church…
- their first services were help in February, 1964…
- amazingly, by June of that same year, the group had grown from 16 members to 70…and they purchased 6 building lots on S. 18th Street…
- two years later the congregation was constructing their first permanent building…they began using the building in September, 1966…and on January 8th, 1967, the building was formally dedicated…
- God’s hand of unusual blessing has been on this church family since its very beginning…and now on our 60th anniversary – a “twelve-stones type” celebration and reminder is surely in order…
- now, who do we intend to celebrate?...
1. The fundamental answer is – our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…
- we understand that anything that has ever been done right around here is only because of His grace and His strength and His enablement…
- recently my personal Bible reading brought me to the book of 2 Chronicles which records the story of King Hezekiah…who became king at age 25 during a time of terrible idolatry and disregard of the Lord ‘s house…
- you can read his story in chapter 29 how he led the people to make a series of dramatic and courageous reforms…but when it came time to celebrate at the end of that chapter…here’s what we read…
- 2 Chronicles 29:31 - Then Hezekiah said, “Now that you have consecrated yourselves to the Lord, come near and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the house of the Lord.” And the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all those who were willing brought burnt offerings.
- the number of offerings that were made was stunning…in fact they ran out of priests to process the sacrifices…but the last verse in that chapter is very important…2 Chronicles 29:36 - Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.
- so who was the celebration about?...first and foremost the Lord Himself…
- I would you encourage you to set a goal for your own heart for 2024…that you would grow in love for the Lord in your heart as you/we reflect on all the ways God has blessed our church family…
- and pray that not just for yourself…but for all of your brothers and sisters this year…
- you may have noticed a theme in those verses I just read…that also is woven throughout all the celebration passages in the Bible…and that’s the issue of thanksgiving…
- [review it in the 2 previous verses…]
- the words celebration and thanksgiving should only be far apart in the dictionary…
- in our experience, and our body life…they have to go hand in hand…
- and one of the challenges in a church…or any relationship/organization for that matter…is that as it ages, there is the tendency to take God’s blessings for granted…or to take one another for granted…
- fundamentally, it’s a lack of love…
- Lord willing this year we plan to do a verse by verse study of the book of Ephesians which is so doctrinally rich it will be natural for us to find many ways to think about Building on our Heritage…
- but the story of the Ephesian church did not end well…because you may remember that Jesus wrote them a letter in the mid-90’s AD…recorded in the book of Revelation when their church (depending on which dates you use) would have been less than 50 years old…
- do you remember what Jesus said to them?... Revelation 2:4 - But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.
- friend – how do you/we stay out of Revelation 2:4?...
- by giving careful attention to practicing the art and discipline of thanksgiving…and 2024 gives us an excellent occasion to do that…and, we need it…
- and if say, are you saying that you see evidences of a lack of a thanksgiving among us?...
- that is exactly what I am saying…to myself and to all of us…
- so throughout the year, we plan to emphasize this 60th anniversary in particular ways…we’ll have a special emphasis in one of our spring Church Family Nights this spring…we’re planning a joint outdoor worship service with our friends at Kossuth this fall at Loeb Stadium…it will be a major theme of Stewardship Month, etc…
- but here’s what I would encourage you to do…but a pack of 100 thank you notes…and plan to use all of them this year…as you see your Savior at work in and through your brothers and sisters at this church…
- write a thank you note to your child’s SS teacher…but more importantly reflect on a Savior who is making that ministry possible…your heart is captivated that Jesus continues to build His church…
- write one to members of our worship team…to the folks in sound booths…
- sit in your car before or after one of our services and ponder how God led people to give so these buildings can be built…
- let’s find ourselves giving continual “thank offerings” to the Lord and His people, and in so doing…grow in our love for Him…
2. We also hope to celebrate Kossuth Street Baptist Church…
- here’s a factoid that I found very interesting…
- Kossuth also has an anniversary this year…it’s their 80th anniversary…
- what does that mean?...this is not complicated math…how old were they when they started Faith?...20 years old…
- it’s pretty amazing that a young congregation was already focused on church planting, even when it meant sacrificing some of their families in order to make it possible…
- you know, churches get started for all sorts of reasons…I am very glad this is part of our heritage…that’s something that is very easy to build upon…
- I’m also glad that we enjoy a very healthy and productive relationship with our mother church even to this day…
- and as you have the occasion to rub shoulders with their members, I hope you’ll thank and commend them…
- and let’s be praying that our joint service later this fall will be sweet and honoring to the Lord…
3. Thirdly, we plan to celebrate our long-term members…
- we say a lot around here about our excitement for those who are new and we should…ne growth is absolutely delightful…
- but we have a group of brothers and sisters who have been here 40, 50, in some cases nearly 60 years…
- and all of us owe those people a tremendous amount of gratitude…
- I would challenge you this year to purposely spend time with one of our long-time members…
- and if you would say – I don’t know any of them…one of your service pastors would happily make a connection for you…
- but you could have a meal together at a restaurant or at your house…or a cup of coffee, or whatever…and ask them questions…
- what are their memories of Faith…
- what are some of the ways they have served?...
- what milestones stand out as times of great blessing?...
- for a number of contacts…I would also encourage you to ask them to tell you about their spouse…
- many of our faithful widows were married to a dear husband who used to serve around here all the time…
- they wouldn’t do this…but they could take out their check registers going back decades and decades…and say something like – that’s my husband’s handwriting…the first check he wrote every month on behalf of our family was to Faith Baptist Church…because that’s the kind of man he was…
- 2024 can be a great year if this anniversary celebration allows us to grow in our love and thanksgiving for the Lord and the brothers and sisters He’s placed around us, including those who have preceded us to glory…
- the second key word to guide us this year is II. Completion
- many of the answers to the question where are were going were determined in 2022 when our church family crafted our Free to Dream SMP…
- we took an entire year as brothers and sisters to analyze what we believed the Lord wanted us to accomplish together…
- and without a doubt, it was a very aggressive plan…
- if you need a new copy of the plan document, they are available at the welcome center at each of our campuses today…
- also, if you would like to know which staff member has taken responsibility to ensure that each of the 39 initiatives assigned to this year are actually accomplished…you can find them at faithlafayette.org/2024focus under the “Resources Referenced in Today's Message” heading right at the top of the page.
- time doesn’t allow us to discuss everything our church family determined we should do this year, but it would be very helpful for you to reach out to one or more of our staff members if you would like to serve on a work team to help make that one a reality…
- but part of the plan called for us to have 6 different construction projects going simultaneously…and that was before the 7th bonus project announced at the Stewardship Celebration…
- we have never had that many construction projects going at one time…which is yet another reason to celebrate God’s goodness…
- but we all know this…it’s a lot easier to start a project, than to finish it…
- Jesus said it this way - Luke 14:27–30 - Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.
- what’s exciting is that during our 60th anniversary year, we may very well also be able to experience dedication ceremonies for an astounding number of projects that our God allowed His people to bring to completion….now, what are they?
1. Restoration Barn
2. Upgrades at FE
3. High School Classroom Building
4. Athletic Training Center
5. Roadway/Parking Lot
6. Track/Football Field
7. Community Skate Park
- I would encourage you to bathe all of this in prayer…
- pray for our construction workers – for safety and productivity
- pray for your brothers and sisters…writing those checks month after month can lose a bit of its glamour…
- and please pray for these dedication services – and tie it back to what we saw in Joshua chapter 4…one of the primary reasons they were erecting the twelve stones was for the benefit of whom?...the children…if we’re careful and wise, 2024 can have a tremendous impact on our children…
- one other idea under this heading of completion – I also want to say that I am very thankful for our staff…the pastors and wives we have the privilege to serve among…that’s surely one of the greatest blessings of my ministry and I could say much about that…
- but there’s also our support staff…whenever the church launches a SMP like we one we currently have…it impacts all of our support teams…
1. Development, Design, and Electronic Communications [Arvid – is there a better title?]
2. Office Staff
3. Maintenance
4. Community Center teams
5. Accounting
- the reason I mention our accounting team is that they have to provide accounting services for our entire family of ministries
- that in and of itself is a dizzying responsibility…
- but then when you add 15M dollars-worth of construction projects so they have to manage the construction bills and the capital campaign commitments…that’s an incredible load…
- on top of all of that…you may recall that when we built the NCC, it included a financing instrument called New Market Tax Credits which brought over 4M of additional equity into the project…
- this is the 7th year which means we can unwind them…and I realize you might say – I have no idea what that means – that’s the point, we don’t have to – our accounting team does…but we end up holding $4M worth of value---and they end up having a headache…which might be a good use of 5 of your 100 thank you notes…
- btw, if you would like to see each of our staff member’s annual initiatives for 2024, you can find them at faithlafayette.org/2024focus under the “Resources Referenced in Today's Message” heading right at the top of the page.…
- one other issue regarding our staff is our annual work teams [develop] you can find them at faithlafayette.org/2024focus under the “Resources Referenced in Today's Message” heading right at the top of the page.
- so 2024 is about celebration, and its about completion…but lastly it’s about…
III. Courage
- when I initially presented these concepts at our staff planning day last month, my third “c” was “Calebism”…which didn’t go over very well…so I changed it to courage…
- but the idea comes from Joshua 14, where toward the end of the conquest of the promised land…the process which began with the placing of the twelve stones…we have this delightful interchange…
- Joshua 14:6–7 - Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word which the Lord spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart.
- Joshua 14:10–12 - Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in. Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out as the Lord has spoken.”
- friends, here’s an incredibly exciting thought…if Jesus doesn’t return this year, what will we be doing exactly twelve months from now?…
- completing the surveys as we begin the SMP process for our 2026-2030 SMP…
- and if we’ve benefitted from this celebration…and we’ve completed what we set out in the will and power of God to do…what should we be saying next?...I want that mountain…as people of greater courage than ever before…
- that was the point of being Free to Dream…in addition to these construction projects…we are also in the process of retiring all our church’s external debt…
- and you might say – so what?...anyone who has ever paid off their house knows the answer to that…
- in our case…if our finances stay the same…that will free up over 1M a year…nearly 20% of our local church budget…
- that’s means that we will be free to dream about serving the Lord at an entirely different level…
- you might say – we who?...all of us...because we have always believed that many times the best ministry idea may reside in the heart of the shyest person in the room…so 2024 should be a year characterized by courageous dreaming, on the part of all of us…
- in what categories?...
1. New Mission work
- we’ve always been a mission minded church from our very inception…
- now we’ll have the opportunity to participate in mission work like never before…
- what used to be a “we can’t do that” could become a “we very well could do that now…”
- and who knows how the Lord might use that…
- Lord willing, tomorrow Frank Oliver and I will leave for the Dominican Republic
- one of our partners there is Pastor Narcisso [Sam Hornbrook – supply picture?]
- his church is doing community counseling and training and they plan to send 9 people to our BCTC in Feb.
- I recently learned that their church has a deaf ministry…
- that peaked my attention because many of you know that I teach at a deaf Bible College in north GA……because they want their graduates to be trained in BC…
- I was amazed to learn this year that my friends in GA are the ones who trained the leaders in the church in the DR, and they frequently travel there
- we’ll also be working with Oscar and Olga Arocha…
- Lord willing, I’ll be providing some training for their orphanage staff, speaking at a BC conference next weekend, and then at their church on Sunday…
- but I’ve also been asked to speak at the dedication of their new ministry to women modeled after our Vision of Hope – they’ve even asked for the permission to use the Spanish equivalent of VOH as their name…
- they love what the Lord is doing here through community based outreach ministry – an important part of our heritage…and they want to duplicate that model there…
- what’s somewhat surprising is that the president’s wife, the first lady of the DR will be in attendance at that event
- what an incredible opportunity I’ll have to try to articulate what social work that is truly biblical and Christ centered looks like…
- the point is – friends – we’re free to dream about new mission work – let’s be courageous as we do so…
2. New ministries
- maybe there’s some new ministry we’d love to start but we couldn’t have even dreamed of that before…now we can…and by now, I really mean…now…as people of courage
3. New staff members
- or even mundane things like…
4. Rightsizing our contingency funds for all our ministries…
5. Saving for all long-term building maintenance…
- I realize this has been a long message…but that’s because the Lord is at work in an amazing number of ways…and we get the privilege to participate…
- I hope it’s obvious that there is a place for every person here in all of this…
- May the Lord find us celebrating, and completing, and living courageously…