After the rush of the Christmas season, as the last
week of the year rolls around, it is our wont to look back and take inventory
of the past 12 months. We note the
things accomplished, and rue tasks and opportunities that have been left
undone. We often make resolutions and
plans for the coming year, and the cycle continues.
As of the time of this writing, the year 2016 is
halfway gone.
I propose that we, as a church family, take a moment
right now to take inventory of the past 6 months, and prayerfully consider
where God may lead us in the remainder of this half gone year.
I rejoice in the fact that we have witnessed the
baptisms of 9 new believers in the past 6 months, and have received a number of
other new members during that time. We had a successful Upward Basketball and
Cheerleading season, and incorporated several of our members into service in
that important children’s ministry. We
have reached several new families as a result of that program.
We completed another year of Good News Bible Club at Central
City Elementary, impacting the lives of 26 children with the Gospel of Christ
every Thursday afternoon. We have seen a
year of growth in our Children’s ministry unparalleled in a number of years.
Several of our members have been involved in pro life
activities, planning for the October Life Chain Sunday, and others volunteering
at the New Beginnings Crisis Pregnancy Center.
WE gave to outside missions through the SBC
Cooperative Program, and also financially supported church planters in Toronto,
Huntington, Barboursville, and Negros Oriental, Philippines.
We performed funeral services and ministered to the
families of six precious souls who have departed us in this life.
As far as facilities go, we have been blessed by God
to complete the parking lot project, upgrading of our heating and cooling
system, install security cameras, and make some other necessary repairs.
In addition to the above, we have done 6 months of
other “churchy” things.
Where do we go from here?
The first thing I am looking forward to, and praying
about is the selection of our new “Associate Pastor for Discipleship and
Student Ministry” I am praying that this additional staff member, who God sends
to us, will serve as a catalyst in reviving our nearly dormant youth ministry.
He will work as a resource person and provide guidance for the faithful
volunteers who teach and work in our Children’s and Youth Ministries. He will be our contact person in the local
schools. He will lead the entire
discipleship ministry of our church – evaluating, tweaking where necessary, and
bringing new discipleship ministries into our work here. He will be responsible
for recruiting and training new teachers and workers in our Discipleship
ministry. He will also fill the pulpit
on occasion, both in my absence, and on other scheduled times.
Our church will have a presence at “Westmorelandpalooza” on Saturday, July
16th at Westmoreland Park (formerly known as Corbin Park). We’ll be
there to meet our neighbors, share the Gospel, and pray with those who wish us
to do so. This will serve as a great tipoff for Vacation Bible School which
begins the next day.
VBS
will
take place July 17-21, providing fun, refreshments, and Bible truths for
children, from preschool to high school.
A visiting Mission
Team from Florida will join us the week of July 24 as we intend to “Crossover Westmoreland”, seeking to
make contact with every resident in our part of the city. We will meet new
people, get to know our neighbors, share the Gospel and offer prayer to those
who desire it. Our people from
Westmoreland Baptist will team up with the Floridians to cover pre planned
mapped out areas of our community.
A
three night revival service will also be held here at the church
that week, with the visiting pastors from Florida bringing the messages.
School
will be starting shortly after these activities. We plan to do something special for the
Teachers on the first week of school. We
will also be prayer walking around each of our schools just prior to their
opening. Prayerfully, WBC will have a greater presence in our local schools
than any time in recent memory. Fifth
Quarters and other youth activities will abound this Fall, and we plan to
host our annual Fall Festival on
Trick or Treat night.
Upward Sports will continue for the young ones, but we
are also planning a more competitive league for the older children this year.
Planning meetings are beginning now.
I also look forward to planning a Church Leadership
Retreat to take place in late October.
More on that to come.
To sum it up, time is passing ever so quickly. We cannot literally buy back a single day.
Therefore let us “redeem the time” by purposing in our hearts to heartily do
whatever God places in our hands, and to do it expeditiously – not for our
glory or to our credit, but for His purpose, His honor, His glory.
As one old preacher said many years ago, we should
plan our activities and our work for the Lord as if we knew we had a hundred
years to work, but to work with such urgency as if we knew Jesus was coming
this evening!
One day, He surely will come. Let’s get to work!
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