Pastor's Points May 2018
Dear Church Family,
I pray that you and your family are doing well and are enjoying the blessings of God that He provides in our lives! We have so much to be thankful for. I know our church family has been blessed in great ways! I have no answer as to why, other than the good pleasure of God upon us. God has been drawing people to our church and we are growing in numbers and in our financial support as well. Last year we finished a little less than 100% of our budget so we adjusted our 2018 budget to reflect this. But so far in 2018 we are ahead of budget by about 10%! This level of giving will fund the ministries of our church as well allow us to give more to our North American and International missions ministries! All I can say is thank you God and thank you all for being faithful to give out of God’s blessings in your lives. I am so excited to see what God is going to continue to do among us as we serve Him together.
In the month of May we have many things to celebrate, but one group that we will honor is our recent graduates. It is a great achievement to graduate whether it be high school or college. But the one thing that I have learned in this life is that we must be continual learners throughout our lives. Especially as followers of Jesus. We never graduate or arrive spiritually in this life. I love what David Mathis has to say about ongoing learning. He says…
“Wisdom does not come automatically with age (Job 32:8–9). You’ll find plenty of foolish old fogies out there.
For many aged saints, gray hair and a good head go hand in hand. But for others, far too many others, length of life only entrenches stubbornness, irritability, and careless ways of thinking and living. Life experience may increase inevitably with age, but without some long-term pattern of receptivity and intentionality, multiplied experiences will only create more confusion than clarity.
For Christians in particular, the stakes are even higher for cultivating holy curiosity and the mindset of a lifelong learner. Teaching and learning are at the very heart of our faith. To be a “disciple” means to be a “learner.” Our Master is the consummate teacher, and the central task of his under shepherds in the local church is teaching (Titus 1:9; 1 Timothy 3:2; 5:17; Hebrews 13:7; Matthew 28:20). God designed the church to be a community of lifelong learners under the earthly guidance of leaders who are teachers at heart.
The Christian faith is not a finite course of study for the front-end of adulthood. Our mindset shouldn’t be to first do our learning and then spend the rest of our lives drawing from that original deposit of knowledge. Rather, ongoing health in the Christian life is inextricably linked to ongoing learning.”
Let’s keep loving and learning together for the glory of God!
I love you and I love being your pastor!