By Ben Disney
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” Larry Elder
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Yogi Berra
“It’s a funny thing, how much time we spend planning our lives. We so convince ourselves of what we want to do, that sometimes we don’t see what we’re meant to do.” Susan Gregg Gilmore
“If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” Antoine de Saint-Exupery
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33
For some reason ministers tend to get a lot of mail. I receive a brochure almost every week inviting me to attend some seminar led by a panel of highly successful and well known pastors and consultants, most of whom seem at this stage of my life to be well under 40 years old. The pitch is familiar: “Come to the seminar and you’ll learn the tools to more effectively lead your congregation to unprecedented growth.” I’ve been to more than my share of seminars over the years; some were very helpful and informative, others not so much.
All that is to say every church needs the tools to effectively plan and grow the various ministries of the church. But anyone who has ever been a part of a church knows the most difficult piece of the planning process is struggling to discern where God is leading the congregation. It’s an inexact science at best. We feel our way, pray our way, and follow the way we believe God is guiding us based on our willingness to serve and our ability to stay closely connected to God. Planning is easy; discernment is hard, difficult work. Of course, someone could make up a plan and just announce that it’s God’s will. A lot of people in fact have. But that’s ultimately shortsighted and irresponsible. In the end, to be a church is not simply to do what we want, but to fully become what God desires.
This coming Sunday you will hear the first part of an ongoing conversation taking place between God and the leadership of our congregation. At 9:45 a.m. we’ll gather in the Family Life Center to lay out the direction we feel God is leading the church at this stage of our journey. It’s an important gathering. If we choose to move in this direction, it will have longterm implications about how we carry out our mission and ministry as a church. I hope you’ll join us.
We’ve come this far as a congregation primarily because God has led and we’ve listened. If God can do so many remarkable things with such imperfect people, why would we change now?
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