I have been receiving a lot of questions lately, both firsthand and secondhand, that start with the phrase, “Is it true?”  “Is it true that worship times are being changed?”  “Is it true that we are changing adult classes in Sunday School?”  “Is it true that I am going to lose my home group?”  The answer to these questions is yes, we are looking at new ministry ideas that may mean restructuring some things, but no final decisions have been made about anything.  The reason we are looking at new ministry strategies is because the results of our congregational survey clearly indicate that we need new ways to do ministry if we are going to be effective in reaching our community for Jesus Christ.  The general agreement seems to be that what we are currently doing isn’t as effective as it could be so we need to make some changes.
It is understandable to have a certain level of anxiety whenever we hear about change.  The first thing we tend to do is focus on how that change affects us on a personal level. It’s easy to say that we need to do new things until that change impacts us directly.  The Bible challenges us to go beyond self-interest in our discipleship.  The Apostle Paul said, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:4).  It’s fine to think about how change is going to affect us on a personal level but we must also look at the big picture as well and ask what is best for the church as a whole.
On August 29th, at our fifth Sunday service, I will be laying out the strategies we want to use to fulfill the mission God is giving us as a church.  These strategies will challenge us to view ministry in new ways and will require us to do some things differently.  Each of us must be prepared to ask ourselves if it is worth moving out of our comfort zone in order to be more effective at communicating the Gospel to the world.  As Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).   I look forward to some exciting times ahead as we seek to “reach the world for Jesus Christ, one person at a time.”

Blessings,

Pastor John