First Church of the Nazarene

June has come and gone in a flash! I have seen and heard of God's mighty works at General Assembly and I have heard awesome reports of the moving of Lord at children's and teen camp.  District Assembly and VBS are next in July.  I look forward to seeing and hearing how the Lord has worked in the life of our district and then the opportunity to see children come to know Jesus in their lives at VBS. 

The church board will be meeting on July 8th, laying out our missional strategy plan for this church year.  Please be in prayer for them as they plan and share together the vision God has placed in their hearts for the leading of this congregation in this next year.   The board will need wisdom as they deal with the issue of space for making disciples and worship.  The space issues are now at critical levels, which is a good problem to have.    

There are multiple directions the board can go to respond to the blessings of people God keeps bringing our way.   There is the altering of our worship space to accommodate more, there is starting another service to accommodate our growth, there is the option of a simultaneous service in the Discipleship building, and there is the hastening of the plans to plant another church.  There are options that combine more than one of these possibilities.   Whatever we have to do to keep up with the way God is building His Kingdom, we must respond to His leadership and grace!  Not responding is NOT an option.   

Pray earnestly, pray intentionally, for your board and staff leaders.  Perhaps one of the most important prayers you could pray would be asking God how it is you need to respond, so there is complete obedience to what He wants to do in and through you.   Know for certain, however the board leads, it will not please everyone, it may even fail, but failing to respond is the one option that we do not have!   We must step out in faith by being flexible enough to take a risk for the Kingdom the way we did when we built the Discipleship building.  It was a big risk, but God honored our obedience and now asks us to step out again to win even more.  We must step out in faith, by giving with the kind of generosity Christ has shown to us.  We must step out in faith by seeing people and the mission of winning people they way Jesus did, to bring us into His Kingdom.     Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 (NLT) ²⁴ “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.  Did I mention not responding is NOT an option?  Pray!  

Pastor David