What Will 2009 Look Like For You?

It is getting close to the end of 2008...and with that comes things that I believe should be our goal for 2009 as a church. Here's a list:

1. We need to be a church who isn't held back by any barriers when it comes to reaching out to lost people. In 2009, I want to have the biggest outreach effort we have ever had! I want to see us Man-Up when it comes to being who we say we are and really get busy in inviting people to church and sharing the gospel! I want this year to be our banner year, a pivotal moment for us where we can look back and say, "That was the year where it all changed."

2. I want our baptismal waters to never be stagnant. I want us to be sincerely focused on winning lost people to Jesus. What else are we supposed to be doing? We're not Rotary Club, for crying out loud! We are the church...the hope of the world! We better start acting like it! We have the only message that will help people in this fallen world.

3. I want our youth and children's ministries to see dynamic growth this year. They both will be experiencing some change with the beginning of the new year...and I want to see them experience radical growth. This can only happen with your: Prayers...they can't make it without you praying for them; volunteer support...they can't grow without more people being willing to step up and help them get to the next level and financial support...let's face it, ministry costs money. I never will apologize for asking people to financially back the MOST important endeavor on earth...helping lost people find God!!

4. I want our church to become real. We still have a lot of people that aren't really taking it serious. They aren't really living out what they claim to believe. How do I know this? Because any and every excuse under the sun is given and taken for some of you to miss church. Because you still don't read your Bible every day and then you wonder why your life is screwed up. Because we have had financial struggles as a church before.

Listen, I believe if we had 30 people in our church who really, I mean, really believed God's Word and lived it out every day of their life for a month. Our church would look nothing like it currently does. It would change us forever! 30 people living out their faith for 30 days! We would shake the city of Des Moines to it's core!

So here we are...at the doorstep of 2009...with no guarantees about our future. Before 2010 comes along, some of us may not be here on earth anymore. Our Lord may return (which would be awesome if it happened because I wouldn't have to finish paying off my mortgage!) So will 2009 be just like 2008? Or are you finally going to step up to the plate this year and get busy serving Jesus like you have never done before?

I plan to. My family will. I hope you join me. Because I don't want to be the same. I want to be different. I want God to change me. I want God to change our church. May it be so, Lord Jesus!