Vision Night

I find it wonderfully amazing when God prompts people to converge for purposes larger that either of them know.  I am experiencing this as I live into my new call as a pastor of a church in Santa Rosa.  As I look back on my experiences and the experiences of the church, I am beginning to see a wonderful convergence that began years ago.

It's a long story than a blog post can't contain, but I'll give you the short version.  Over the years, God has impressed upon me the need for the church to serve not only those who gather for worship, but to serve those in the wider community who don't.  But I also came to see that unless people are being formed spiritually as disciples who are learning to follow Jesus, then all that work beyond the walls is a recipe for burnout.

My current church has a huge heart for reaching out, but it does not have many ways for adults to grow as disciples beyond Sunday.  They've done a bang-up job with kids and students and the worship is highly inspirational.  But they yearn to find ways to reach the wider community and to grow as disciples.  Often these are seen as separate, but I don't think they need to be.

On Sunday night I'll share more about this with my church.  It's called "Vision Night" and I'll share my discernment of an emerging vision for our life together.  I'm both excited and a bit intimidated.  It's a big vision.  And it will take years to unfold–it's not another "program of the month."  But should we move in the direction that God seems to be unveiling, then  it will be deeply transforming.

The apostle Paul writes "God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

It's that convergence between God and those who love God that is wonderfully amazing and encouraging to me.