Do you know how historical the month of May was for us? We had three business meetings! Now, most of you are saying, “My, how boring!” Well, business meetings don’t have to be boring. Besides, we go to business meetings to conduct God’s business for the church, not for entertainment. And, God has been busy.
To use an analogy with mountain climbing, this was the last staging point before the big push to get our new church built. We have come from the valley below, up the ridges and crevices, stopping some along the way to acclimate and refresh our supplies. Now we have reached the last staging point. We are packed, ready for the sun to rise and get on to the summit. Sound exciting? It is! Is it hard work making it the last leg of the way? It is!
We began the dream before I came in 2005. The church was growing out of it’s capacity. When I came, we began to talk. The expected crowd showed up – some ‘agin’ it and some ‘fer’ it. The more we prayed and thought about God’s will for us, the more convinced we were that God was up to something. We considered remodeling and realized that was not feasible. We prayed some more and God began to give us the dream of a new facility – new building on a new piece of land.
It was scary. Our church has not built a whole new facility since 1920, before any of us were born. I am sure that the men and women of Timber Ridge at that time were scared too! But they had faith that God would be faithful and supply the need if they would launch out trusting Him. We have to trust God today too.
Well, I would not be fulfilling my responsibility as pastor without warning you of the challenges ahead. Life continues. The routine of daily life continues with its unique stressors and joys. The devil also continues to attack us where we least expect it. He is not happy when God’s people follow His directions. He is not happy with us! Be cautious. Keep your focus on Christ. Constantly pray and giving thanks to God for everything, even the challenges. He will provide for you just as He is providing for our church. Praise to God in the Highest!