Thinking ahead

I pray that you and your family had a very enjoyable Christmas.  For the first time in several years our son and daughter were able to be here with their families for Christmas.  My wife fixed way too much food for dinner (which was nearly all consumed), and we had a great time exchanging gifts and memories.  There has been much laughter in our home during the past three days.  Now, everyone has returned to their homes, and life is returning to normal.  For me, that means it is time to start thinking about about the upcoming year.

Our judicatory has a theme for 2010 called "1010 in 2010."  We are challenging our churches to have 1010 baptisms in 2010.  We are making evangelism an emphasis in the new year.  I think it should be the emphasis in all our churches every year, but let's be honest...it isn't always.  For too many of our churches the emphasis is on survival.  I don't think that is the right emphasis because I'm not sure that God cares whether or not a particular church survives or not.  I believe He is passionately interested in whether or not our churches are on mission with Him, and that means at the very least that we are seeking to lead people into a personal relationship with Him.  If one church isn't interested in doing that He will raise up another church that will.

The Great Commission and The Great Commandment should be the focus of everything a church does.  The two work hand-in-hand.  We cannot earn the right to share the good news of the Gospel if we do not love people and allow them to experience that love.  I want to challenge you today: How will your church intentionally do that in 2010?  What intentional steps or actions are you planning for 2010 to take the Gospel into your community in new ways?  Have you set a goal of the number of people you want to see come to a personal relationship with Christ in 2010?  Do you have goals set for your church and for yourself?  If you are a leader in your church, the members of the church won't make anything a priority that isn't a priority in the life of the leader.

I encourage you to look at your community and determine the best ways you could show the love of Jesus Christ.  As you begin doing that you can then begin to ask God how you can share the hope found in the Gospel to those whose lives you are touching.  Faithfully and intentionally doing these two things can bring transformation to people as they begin to experience a personal relationship with Christ, and that can make 2010 a very good year.