A Year End Review ...
With
the end of 2005 now upon us, I thought it would be a good thing to
revisit where we are with what the Lord gave us at the beginning of
this year as our word for 2005. Do you remember it? PERSISTENCE is
the word.
When I
brought this word in January, I shared with you four key areas that
I sensed the Lord would have us be especially PERSISTENT as a church
family. Let's look at each one for a moment and prayerfully ask
yourself how you've done in each area. Those four areas are as
follows:
... IN
OUR PURSUIT OF THE LORD
How are
you doing in your pursuit of the Lord this year? Is your habit of
spending regular time with the Savior enriching your life, or do you
feel the drag of duty? Remember, it's not about "getting it done"
for Him, but rather it's about being with Him, and allowing His
Spirit to transform who you are.
Our
Celebrations have certainly been marked with His presence and my
sense along with the feedback I receive says that we're deepening
our pursuit of the Lord. Let's ask for more in 2006!
... IN
OUR PURPOSES
Our
mission remains "Building Bigger Hearts & Better Lives". How
is yours? Not your mission, but your heart, and your life?
Earlier
this year, I reminded us that we exist as a church for specific
purposes – to
THANK
God (worship),
TEACH
God's Word (discipleship),
TOUCH people with God's Love (ministry),
and TELL
the world about God's Son (evangelism).
Are you
diving in and finding your place within the purposes that God has
given us? That's how you'll know that NewHeart is really your home,
when you begin to serve, because that's what healthy families do.
They serve one another.
You
might remember (or maybe you're new and
don't know) that serving as our THANK Director is John Cox ...
as our TEACH Director has been myself ... as our TOUCH Directors are
Dave & Rhonda Ruppel ... and as our TELL Director is Martha-Dale
Lesmes.
A
very exciting announcement within this part of our persistence is
the addition of Joe May to our Thank, Teach, Touch, Tell Team.
Effective immediately, Joe is now figuring out what it means to
serve as our TEACH Director, and we are glad to have him on board!
You can email Joe by clicking his picture.
Joe has
been a regular part of our life for almost six years now and has
grown tremendously in his love for Jesus and his desire to know Him
better and help others to do the same. If you've got an idea for how
our TEACH Ministries can be aided and expanded, Joe is the man to
talk to!
His day
job consists of serving our Simi Valley Police Department as a
recently promoted Lieutenant. Welcome Joe to his new task here at
NewHeart when you get a chance!
... IN
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
From
our series on conflict to our current series on Emotionally Healthy
Spirituality to training a group of folks right now in Biblical
Peacemaking, our relationships are strengthening. How about you? Are
you persistently pursuing healthy relationships with others in the
church family? Are you making yourself available to the
opportunities God brings along to grow in this area?
...
WITH OUR PROPERTY
Literally, as I write, I am waiting for the phone call that our
building permit has been issued! As soon as that happens, plans will
be put out to bid. It's my hope that during my annual "State of
the Church" message (currently scheduled for January 16)
will include the details of how and when our Sanctuary expansion
will finally happen!
Between
now and then, I want to encourage especially those new to our church
life to consider how the Lord may lead you to participate
financially toward this project. We currently have about $125,000 on
hand and anticipate the project running about $300,000 or so. I'll
talk about that more later. For now, that's where we stand. Let's be
praying and contending for God's future to unfold before us in
miraculous ways!
All that said, how
are you doing in persisting in these areas?
