Where Is God Leading Us?

              From:  Ashley Norris

                  To:  Pastor, Northbridge Baptist

               I am just so happy that I have found your church website.  A year ago, I accepted Jesus into my heart and got baptized at your church.  I was pregnant with a little boy in which I didn’t know whether to keep, abort, or give up until I met a member of your church who works with the Crisis Pregnancy Center (Diane Treiber).    I wanted to contact you and tell you that my baby boy is now taking his first steps and also I am still unable to find a church that I feel at home with up here in New York (but I am still looking) and that I truly love the whole Northbridge family.  Going to your church really changed my life.  Thank you!

                                                              Sincerely,   Ashley and Estovon

      I hope that you are as pleased as I am that we were used by God to be a blessing to this young lady at a crucial time in her life. Not only was a member of our church available and willing to share the gospel and God’s compassion with her (i.e. Diane Treiber), but also, Ashley got to experience the love and doctrine of a true Christian church, which had a major impact on her life, “before” she went to New York to live.  (NOTE: To keep her growing in her faith, I have sent her some Bible Study material to work on and some advice on how to find a good conservative Christian church in her area.) 

      I am so excited to be the pastor of a church that made a difference in so many people’s lives in 2011.  By the grace of God, we have had the privilege to minister together to many different people over the past 9+ years. However, since there are many more Ashley Norris’ out there that need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and to be discipled with love and truth, we need to make sure we faithfully continue to follow God’s leadership in “what” He wants us to do as a church and “where”, “when”, and “how” He wants us to do it.  No matter how successful we have been in the past in honoring the Lord and accomplishing the work He has called us to do, we are still held accountable to be faithful servants of His TODAY and in the FUTURE...until He comes for us and gives us the “rest” and “rewards” our efforts deserve (Matthew 25:14-30; 2Timothy 4:7-8).

      In order to do this together wisely in the year 2012, we will be having our Annual Church Goal Setting Meeting on Saturday, January 21^st, from 8:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall.  Everyone is invited to come out and review where we currently are as a church (physically, spiritually, financially, etc., etc.) and to discuss where we think God is leading us in 2012. Child care will be provided, as well as a continental breakfast, mid-meal snacks, and a sandwich lunch.  The desired results of this meeting will be our agreed upon Top Ten Goals that we will be working on together as a church family in order to “go” where Christ is leading us... and to “become” what He desires us to be.

      With this in mind, I want to share with you in advance something I need for you to pray about “beforehand”, so that you will have the “mind of Christ” (1Corinthians 2:16) in this matter when we meet on January 21^st.  On a regular basis, we are over 80% of our capacity in attendance in both of our worship services and our Sunday School hour.  Our ability to grow (numerically) as a church family has been brought to a halt by a lack of physical space.  Because monies are tight and the economic forecasts for our country are still terrible, I do not see “building” additional space in the near future as feasible.  However, we could possibly provide additional space and room to grow with “very little financial risks”, if we were willing to add an additional worship service and Sunday School hour to our current Sunday Morning Schedule.  Of course this would require some detailed planning and an additional workload on me and the music ministry, but I believe it is definitely feasible.  A suggested new Sunday morning schedule may look something like this:

                                                        8:00 – 9:15 a.m.     First Sunday Morning Worship Service

                                                        8:15 – 9:15 a.m.     First Sunday School Hour

                                                        9:30 – 10:45 a.m.   Second Morning Worship Service

                                                        9:45 – 10:45 a.m.   Second Sunday School Hour

                                                        11:00 – 12:15 p.m.  Third Worship Service

      Now before anyone has a “heart attack” or gets too “upset” over this mere “proposal” I am offering up for consideration, please know that NOTHING HAS BEEN DECIDED YET!!!  As your pastor, I am merely asking you to come to this important church-wide planning session to SEEK GOD’S WILL on whether or not He wants us to stop growing as a church, add additional services to grow, or do some other “Spirit provided” options...that we will be asking God to provide us.  Instead of immediately saying “no” to any change (as many of us are “prone” to do), please spend time in serious prayer...listening for God’s guidance...so that when we come together, there will be no “arguments” about what “we” want...instead, there will be only “agreements” about what “our Lord” wants!