Vision - week 1

Yesterday during morning worship services, we officially rolled out the vision we believe the Lord has given us - here it is: Clinton FCC desires to be a Passionate Community of Disciple Makers! We looked at what this means:

PASSIONATE - we want to be an OPEN church - there are always OPEN chairs; there is always an OPEN door; we strive to move forward with OPEN hearts!

COMMUNITY - we want push back against the "club" concept - punching our God-card for one hour each week - and we desire to be an Acts 2 and Acts 4 community that is devoted to the FELLOWSHIP, a community that BEAR one another's burdens.

DISCIPLE MAKERS - we want to make sure EVERYONE understands the call is not create pew sitters or passive attenders, but DISCIPLES! Matthew 28 gives us Jesus' final words, and the command - the imperative - is to MAKE DISCIPLES - that is our call.

We considered how this will happen - what is our strategy - and we have four avenues we hope to make this VISION our reality:

Worship services - through our regular, large group gathering, we plan through preaching, teaching, worship and testimony to regularly communicate and activate the VISION.

Small Groups - we believe smaller, community groups is the IDEAL avenue for this VISION to become reality! Personally, it is my hope MANY who have never tried regular small groups will give be open and give it a try!

Formation Classes - Rooted, Rooted, Rooted - but that is just the beginning! We hope to develop an entire curriculum connected to the VISION.

Ministry Teams - we believe as people actively commit to being the Hands and Feet of Jesus, this VISION becomes second nature. We want functioning ministry teams that are both MISSION and VISION driven!

And so, can I ask you to do three things today? And this week? And this year?

1. Will you PRAY? Pray for the process itself? Will you pray for unity within the church for the VISION? Satan wants nothing more than for us to get distracted by things that ultimately do not matter and NOT focus on the VISION. We are in a spiritual battle - let us PRAY!

2. Will you INVESTIGATE? Give the VISION a good look and please have an open mind to what God might be saying to YOU through this VISION rollout process.

3. Will you PARTICIPATE? Will you be open to joining a ROOTED group in April or September? Will you be open to joining a Ministry Team? Will you be open to going where the Lord might be leading you?

A Passionate Community of Disciple Makers - that is our VISION - I cannot wait to see where and how the Lord leads us over the next several months and years!

Several other items on my mind this morning:

1. Following our safety and security seminar back in early January, we have begun the process of making our building as safe and secure as possible. Several "updates" and "changes" to our building are beginning to happen, even this week. Please work with us along the way, and understand, sadly, this is a reality of living in 2018.

2. Celebrate Recovery - did you know that just 20 miles from our church - a D1Naz (Decatur First Nazarene Church) - a weekly gathering of Celebrate Recovery takes place? This Christian ministry helps people get over their hurts, habits and hang ups, and several folks from our community participate week in and week out. And YOU should seriously consider doing so if you are struggling w/ addiction of any kind, or feel the need to heal from relationship hurt. It's really good stuff and I would love to tell you more about Celebrate Recovery!

3. Finance Team resignations: Both Dave Glenn and Shirley Fields recently resigned from our finance team and I'm really thankful for the service of both - I love their passion and commitment to their church. Special thanks to Shirley Fields for ALL she has and continues to do at FCC - it is believed she served on the finance team for over 30 years and continues to lead our library and is an go-to office volunteer almost every week - one way or another. Thank you Shirley for allowing the Lord to use you!

4. This Thursday March 1 is the informational meeting for the proposed by-laws changes at 6:30pm in the Family Life Center and Sunday March 11 will bring congregational meetings to affirm these proposed changes.

5. REVEAL student ministries Pancake and Sausage breakfast - Saturday March 17

6. Time Change Sunday is March 11 - we are springing forward (that means we LOSE an hour of sleep but GAIN an hour of sunlight each evening).

blessings to each of you - have a great week!

GT