As you detected in my article from Christmas Eve, I am feeling a deep joy at a number of things that God is doing among us. Let me look back and look ahead a bit.
2014 started with the finishing of the Master Planning Process for Grace Community Church. That was a time of some turmoil, as there were fears and concerns expressed about where that process might take us. We have those plans tucked away now for a future time when our building needs are clearer and our consensus together about the future more certain. The concerns have died down a bit as the elders wisely took the master plans and set them aside for the time being. Those well-done plans are there to serve us at another time.
There were some hard seasons this year, of people leaving us for one reason or another. Some dear families moved to other states, while some others moved down the road to other churches. That’s always hard! On the other hand, the Lord has added to our number some wonderful brothers and sisters who have jumped right in and lightened the load.
Some things have come together these last few months. We have a number of newer elders and deacons, and it seems to me that they are learning to work together and love one another well. That leaves me very optimistic. I think the mix of gifts and life experience among your key leaders gives me hope that we can move forward in our vision of discipleship through relationship in ways that are clear and effective.
We have a terrifically talented staff team at GCC right now. They are energetic, hardworking, Christ-loving and fun-loving. They can knock around hard ideas one minute (with differences of opinion expressed), and be laughing together and enjoying one another the next. It seems to me like 2014 has ended with a great deal of unity of purpose and love among our all our leaders. We are ready to move ahead together in unity in 2015.
Looking forward, this is a big year for me and for our life together. It has been nearly seven years since my last sabbatical, and the elders have granted me one during May-July time frame. I’ll talk some more about that later, but a sabbatical is not an extended vacation, but rather a time for spiritual renewal and more intense study and reflection. The first one I had was like having a rocket booster strapped on me! It propelled me forward as a follower of Jesus and as a leader in His church. As I move into a stage of life where I am an experienced leader in the church, I look forward to crystalizing some of my insights and experiences for my life and for our life together.
A couple of others things are worth mentioning for 2015. Some of my efforts will go toward helping us with the core value of Gospel Witness. We want everyone around us to have an opportunity to make an informed response to the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is scary for us and for our neighbors, but still very important. I plan to put in front of you a number of ways that we can keep our friends who find faith foreign on our thoughts and in our prayers. Through faithful prayer our friendships may develop the trust to allow us to share our deep love for Christ with others. Additionally, several of us will be looking at a tool for the fall that will give us a venue for spiritually searching neighbors to get information about Jesus in a safe environment.
Our leaders will be reviewing some of our vision reflection work from 2011, and tweaking that for further clarity of mission and purpose. 2015 should be a year that gives us some clearer direction as a church for the years between now and 2020!
May God bless you in your relationship with Jesus Christ in 2015. We want to help you every way we can to grow as a follower of Christ. Don’t be shy. Let us know how we can help!
In Him,
Don