October 2013 - Pressing Forward

I will make the disclaimer that I am writing this before we have our Tree of Life Conference.  I don’t know what Dennis will be sharing with us.  So, if it touches on anything Dennis says, I am not trying to hammer you with these thoughts.

I have been pondering the church’s mission statement lately.  You may or may not have it in your memory yet.  It’s on the back of the bulletin, along with the core values.  The core values that we have hanging on the walls as you make your way from the entrance of the church’s building to the sanctuary.  I am really not trying to sound snide or condescending.  Please hear me out.  I fully realize that I also can and have lost track of these important things at times.  The bulletin can be just a monthly piece of paper I put in my Bible and the pictures—just wall decoration that I barely notice.  It was a year ago that we presented them to the church.

I’m not going to type the whole mission statement here (you can just look on the back of the bulletin), but I want us to consider that the goal is “developing healthy, mature followers of Jesus Christ.”  Healthy is defined as “possessing or enjoying good health or a sound and vigorous mentality.”  Mature is defined as “complete in natural growth or development.” (Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary)  So, it could also be stated as “developing sound, vigorous, complete followers of Jesus Christ.  We are not only co-labouring with God to accomplish this in others; it is the work that God is doing in us.

There are so many Scriptures that come to my mind.  I was actually compiling them to place in this pondering but it would take up too much space.  And then I realized that if you are as committed to the goal of health and maturity that God is for you, then you would want to look them up yourself anyway.  So, here are a few passages form the Bible that you should meditate on: 2 Timothy 1:7; 4:1-4; Romans 8:6; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:3-4; Philippians 3:7-16; Hebrews 12:1-13; 2 Peter 1:2-11.

We must not lose sight of the goal.  Doing so gets people off the path.  Jesus said his disciples must keep their eyes on the goal and not look back.  We must press on towards the goal keeping our eyes on Jesus, Who calls us.  I want to leave one Scripture for you to read here:

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:3-6)

I am thankful for you all and pray for your continued progress in Christ.  God grants the power to accomplish what He calls us to.  You lack nothing in Him.  God is developing us into His healthy, mature sons and daughters so that He might reveal His glory in the earth like never before.

Journeying with you,

Merril