Dear Church Family,
I am aware that many of you have been anxious about our church over the last several months. I understand your worry and sympathize with your fears. We have experienced some difficult changes that have come about with seemingly uncharacteristic speed. The truth is some of these changes have been a long time in the making. Trust me. It hasn’t been easy not being able to openly discuss everything, especially with regard to personnel. On top of all this, more change seems to be ahead.
Let me assure you of my complete confidence that each of these changes, although separate on their merits, is a part of a larger work of God to move our church onward as an evangelical enterprise in the New Testament model of evangelism and missions, guided by our vision of grounding people in God, growing them in Christ, so that they are giving themselves to God and others.
At the heart of this is a profoundly important question, and how we answer this question will determine both the extent of our struggle and the success of our mission and purpose as a church. This is the fundamental question: Is our mission, purpose, and obligation to our Lord to preserve the status quo at all cost, or is it to reach our community and our world with the Gospel? In other words, do we exist for ourselves, or do we exist for the sake of the Gospel?
I believe in our heart of hearts we know the right answer to that question. I believe we know deep down that we exist for the sake of the Gospel, to proclaim the Gospel and win as many people to faith in Christ as we possibly can. However, we struggle to live out that conviction because we know it means change. We know it means a fundamental shift in focus from what we on the “inside” have become accustomed to and comfortable with as a church to those on the “outside.” We struggle with truly embracing our mission and purpose because it means letting go of the familiar ways of our comfortable Christianity and surrender to the high calling of God in Christ. We know there’s a cost to being obedient to the Great Commission. We know the Scripture. We see the sacrifice the early Christians made to advance the Gospel, and we’re not sure just how willing we are to pay the price.
I know that many of you have been praying for a fresh work of God in our church for a long time. We have been praying for a powerful, new moving of the Spirit of God. I know I have been in earnest prayer for this, and I know I’m not alone. But here’s something I’ve come to realize: When we pray and ask God to do something, we don’t get to tell God how he’s going to answer those prayers. God answers the prayers of his people, but he answers prayer according to his own sovereign will and in a way that accomplishes his divine purposes. And as we all know, he often surprises us in the way he chooses to answer prayer. That has become amazingly clear to me in recent days, and I hope it becomes clear to you as well.
As I announced on Sunday, we will be having a special, joint worship service on Sunday, February 27, in which you will learn more specifically how God seems to be answering our prayers for renewal. A remarkable story has been developing and unfolding for months, which now needs to be told. It’s an exciting story of God’s faithfulness, answered prayer, and hope for our church. As I indicated, Shawn Wood will join me in sharing a message about how God is moving in our lives in an unusual and surprising way. We have come to call this “the story.” As we share this story, we will challenge you to see God’s hand at work, to see the possibilities and potential of renewal, and, most importantly, to seek his will through a season of prayer and fasting.
This story has been told to the Staff Study Committee and the Deacons. Both the Staff Study Committee and Deacons want the entire church to hear it. We believe that once you hear this story, it will bring clarity and understanding to your hearts and minds about all that has happened so that you can join with us in rejoicing that God is still at work at First Baptist Church, that God is still answering prayer, and that God has an exciting future for this church family.
Until the 27th, I urge you to put your fears to rest, have faith in our gracious God, and pray that Satan will have no opportunity to cloud our hearts and confuse our minds about what God is doing. Pray that we will be united together and resolved as never before to become that family of God, which seized the opportunity for renewal when it came.
To help us toward clarity and understanding about where God might be leading us, I want to invite you to our Wednesday night services. Beginning on March 2, following our prayer time, I will be hosting a “Dialog With the Pastor” session where we can talk together, ask questions, and share our hearts.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
In His love,
Hal West,
Pastor
I am aware that many of you have been anxious about our church over the last several months. I understand your worry and sympathize with your fears. We have experienced some difficult changes that have come about with seemingly uncharacteristic speed. The truth is some of these changes have been a long time in the making. Trust me. It hasn’t been easy not being able to openly discuss everything, especially with regard to personnel. On top of all this, more change seems to be ahead.
Let me assure you of my complete confidence that each of these changes, although separate on their merits, is a part of a larger work of God to move our church onward as an evangelical enterprise in the New Testament model of evangelism and missions, guided by our vision of grounding people in God, growing them in Christ, so that they are giving themselves to God and others.
At the heart of this is a profoundly important question, and how we answer this question will determine both the extent of our struggle and the success of our mission and purpose as a church. This is the fundamental question: Is our mission, purpose, and obligation to our Lord to preserve the status quo at all cost, or is it to reach our community and our world with the Gospel? In other words, do we exist for ourselves, or do we exist for the sake of the Gospel?
I believe in our heart of hearts we know the right answer to that question. I believe we know deep down that we exist for the sake of the Gospel, to proclaim the Gospel and win as many people to faith in Christ as we possibly can. However, we struggle to live out that conviction because we know it means change. We know it means a fundamental shift in focus from what we on the “inside” have become accustomed to and comfortable with as a church to those on the “outside.” We struggle with truly embracing our mission and purpose because it means letting go of the familiar ways of our comfortable Christianity and surrender to the high calling of God in Christ. We know there’s a cost to being obedient to the Great Commission. We know the Scripture. We see the sacrifice the early Christians made to advance the Gospel, and we’re not sure just how willing we are to pay the price.
I know that many of you have been praying for a fresh work of God in our church for a long time. We have been praying for a powerful, new moving of the Spirit of God. I know I have been in earnest prayer for this, and I know I’m not alone. But here’s something I’ve come to realize: When we pray and ask God to do something, we don’t get to tell God how he’s going to answer those prayers. God answers the prayers of his people, but he answers prayer according to his own sovereign will and in a way that accomplishes his divine purposes. And as we all know, he often surprises us in the way he chooses to answer prayer. That has become amazingly clear to me in recent days, and I hope it becomes clear to you as well.
As I announced on Sunday, we will be having a special, joint worship service on Sunday, February 27, in which you will learn more specifically how God seems to be answering our prayers for renewal. A remarkable story has been developing and unfolding for months, which now needs to be told. It’s an exciting story of God’s faithfulness, answered prayer, and hope for our church. As I indicated, Shawn Wood will join me in sharing a message about how God is moving in our lives in an unusual and surprising way. We have come to call this “the story.” As we share this story, we will challenge you to see God’s hand at work, to see the possibilities and potential of renewal, and, most importantly, to seek his will through a season of prayer and fasting.
This story has been told to the Staff Study Committee and the Deacons. Both the Staff Study Committee and Deacons want the entire church to hear it. We believe that once you hear this story, it will bring clarity and understanding to your hearts and minds about all that has happened so that you can join with us in rejoicing that God is still at work at First Baptist Church, that God is still answering prayer, and that God has an exciting future for this church family.
Until the 27th, I urge you to put your fears to rest, have faith in our gracious God, and pray that Satan will have no opportunity to cloud our hearts and confuse our minds about what God is doing. Pray that we will be united together and resolved as never before to become that family of God, which seized the opportunity for renewal when it came.
To help us toward clarity and understanding about where God might be leading us, I want to invite you to our Wednesday night services. Beginning on March 2, following our prayer time, I will be hosting a “Dialog With the Pastor” session where we can talk together, ask questions, and share our hearts.
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:4-7)
In His love,
Hal West,
Pastor
RSS Feed