"In Light Of Your Vision"

A Note From Pastor Kendall:

"In Light of your Vision"

At our recent leaders retreat we had lots of important conversations regarding the vi-sion of our church and how we can accomplish the goals we believe God is leading us to pursue. Keith Doornbos, a church consultant with our denomination, lead the dis-cussions. Pretty soon we will hold a Town Hall type congregational meeting to share some of the things we talked about, including our results from a congregational sur-vey. As we discussed some important church-related topics, Keith kept coming back to a phrase we should be asking ourselves--"in light of your vision". There are usually plenty of things we want to talk about relating to church ministry--good ideas of things to try, what to do with a particular ministry, how to pursue the right opportunities, how to raise up new people to serve and lead. However, with so many ideas swirling, how do we make sure we stay focused on what God is leading us to do? We ask those questions "in light of our vision".

What's our vision? At Sussex Christian Reformed Church, our vision is to "Grow disci-ples of Jesus who transform lives for Christ". So the question we should always be asking ourselves is, "how does this help us grow disciples of Jesus who transform lives for Christ?" It's one thing to offer ministries to help God's people grow in their walk with Jesus; it's always good for us to be pursuing spiritual growth! But a big part of walking with Jesus is not just growing close to him for our own sake, but also grow-ing close to him for the sake of his kingdom. That's why it's another thing to train the people of God to walk with Jesus in such a way that others' lives are changed too! Our vision is not just about adding to our church numbers, it's about multiplying disciple-makers.

How are you pursuing life with Christ? Do you regularly read and study God's Word so you can hear his voice? Do you pray both individually and with the people of God? Do you intentionally gather and connect with other believers to encourage each other? Is transforming other people's lives with the grace of Jesus a key goal in all of your spir-itual practices?

Here's a challenge for us all to pursue: Seek and pray for opportunities to grow as fol-lowers of Jesus for the sake of others. How can your Bible study be a chance to trans-form lives? How can your life group be a chance to multiply disciples? How can you think of your home, job or other community connection as an opportunity to transform lives for Christ? We hope and pray our church grows even more focused on the multi-plication of disciples of Jesus as we grow in Him!