January 11, 2024. Hello from all of us at the Church of God in Vandalia. By this time, you’re probably tired of people saying “Happy New Year,” but it really is for us. Our congregation celebrated a bright and joyful Advent season, honoring the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ. We’ve headed into this new year with no less joy and celebration. On the first Sunday in January, we kicked off the year with our congregational meeting (my first as pastor). We broke bread together…well, not so much bread as the phenomenal chicken from Porky’s in Cassopolis and each contributed favorite dishes. The work we came to do in the Lord’s name was the order of the day, though.
I preached on that Sunday morning from the Word, taking the message from Hebrews 10: 24-25. The call that the New Testament writer puts forward in that letter is to never stop gathering together in God’s name, stirring each other on to work together as a church while we await Christ’s triumphant return. The author uses the Greek term for “provoke,” which rings for us beyond just stirring one another to do good work. We urge each other on, prodding, cajoling and (sometimes) pestering one another to be the best Christ-serving church we can be. That was the message mindset I took into the congregational meeting that afternoon: provoke one another to push the church forward in a direction that serves God and engages the surrounding community in the best way for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We heard reports from our congregational leaders on the life-enhancing work of the food and clothing ministry, our stewarship steadfastness and our continued care for the church faciliites.
At the end of that wonderful Sunday together, we emerged from the church building bleary-eyed and having missed afternoon naps. What we came away with however were a number of committments. These included:
*Stirring one another up to continue seeking the lost for Christ and also making sure we choose to hand the church to a new generation on departing, rather than simply handing over the keys to the building.
*A renewed committment to the gift we’ve been given in terms of the church building and property. This committment includes prayerful plans to sell the exisiting church pews and replace them with movable chairs and tables so that the church experiences a multi-use life. A proposal was made to change the pulpit area to accomodate more singing and mulitmedia use, along with proposed changes that would place the piano and organ facing the congregation. The plans for the porch and steps are still going forward during this year.
*The formation of an “ad hoc” church beautification committee as another means of continuing to thank God for the many material blessings we continue to enjoy.
*Our ministries of prayer continue to meet and to be taken on individually each day in order to praise and thank God for His gifts, but also call on God’s help for those in our congregation who are ailing and struggle with a variety of complex issues. Going beyond this, as a pastor I’ve proposed in-week groups and ministries, including Alpha and Celebrate Recovery, which would further reach into the community.
We continue to stir and provoke each other on toward faithful lives of service to God in the church. Not because it’s a “churchy” thing to do, but because God calls us to this service. Not to mention, we know that He has given us a home in this congregation where there is love and welcome. This stirring on will make for an exciting, challenging and fruitful year of ministry and fellowship for the Vandalia Church of God! Thanks!
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