Goals for the 2010 ROUTE (Jan 18, 2010)
At this time of year our thoughts turn to the sanctity of human life. The most recent edition of the Sword of the Lord contains my editorial against abortion, and we here at Grace Baptist Church are gearing up for our annual baby dedication service, honoring the parents who had babies in 2009.
Our associate pastor and his wife, Greg and Karen Powell, dedicated their newest arrival, Olivia Grace, to the Lord yesterday during the morning worship service. Both sets of grandparents were in town for the occasion, and we are thrilled that God is blessing the stellar families of our church with what Dr. Jennings used to call "little chunks of heaven."
We also praise the Lord not merely for physical life, but also for spiritual life that He imparts through the new birth. Yesterday morning, McQuetta Carter, walked the aisle to trust the Lord as her personal Savior. She immediately followed the Lord in baptism and was back last night in church. What a blessing to see people who are serious when they trust Christ. Praise the Lord for the difference He makes in the lives of people.
We also saw the Lord breathe some life into our bus ministry. Attendance figures jumped about 20 from the previous week, and three precious children prayed to receive Christ in the counseling center of bus church. Amen!
Our Fort Benning Bible studies also were rejuvenated last week as soldiers returned from their Christmas breaks. 108 attended our various Bible studies last week with 15 of them praying to receive Christ as personal Savior. Amen again!
Our annual leadership retreat was conducted last week where we put the finishing touches on our goals for 2010. These goals were then presented to our congregation during last night's service. You can listen to the entire game plan by logging on to our website and listening to last night's service.
Our theme for this year is "Route - Movin' on Down the Road." We presented broad goals which were based on an acrostic of the word "route." The first is riders. We want to improve our bus ministry with more riders. To do this, bus church will be moving to a new time, new location, targeting new areas, and soliciting new personnel.
The second goal is to reach our outlying areas. We are aggressively recruiting an African American intern to help us provide a positive role model for the African American children of Grace Christian School and bus church. Eventually, we will be planting a church in South Columbus with an African American pastor. We are also targeting Fort Mitchell and Valley, Alabama, as well as Manchester, Georgia for new churches in our chapel ministry.
The third goal is concerned with the uttermost parts of the earth. We will be aggressively expanding our missionary outreach to include 500 missionaries by the year 2030. In addition, we will be providing scholarships for bus children to attend Grace Christian School, with a priority given to those kids who are considering the mission field.
Our fourth goal is tunes. We want music in the car as we move on down the road. During 2010, Grace will produce its fourth CD. This one, however, will be an eclectic CD of various artists within our congregation. Ed Russ, from Faith Music Mission, along with our own Greg Powell, will be working to make this a reality.
Our final goal is expansion. The leadership team is exploring the possibility of breaking ground on a new fellowship hall and gymnasium facility within the immediate vicinity of our main campus. Pray that God will give us wisdom and financing as we pursue these options.
We had over ten different families visit our services yesterday. We are thankful that God keeps bringing people our way. Pray for us as we follow up with these visitors and seek to preach the Gospel here and around the world.
Bob Ingram and I will be traveling to Lawton, Oklahoma later this week for the annual board meetings of the Christian Servicemen Centers, Inc. Pray that we will be a blessing and an encouragement during our presentation times.
May God's richest blessings be yours as you labor in the harvest this week. Please keep us in your prayers.