Hey Church,
As I write these words I am surrounded by your work. All around my office walls hang large, sticky, white sheets of paper with your thoughts about what it is that makes this place so special, and what we need to keep leaning into as we continue to pursue God’s vision for us as we head into the future. As my eyes scan those pages I see words and phrases like this: “Staying true to the Word of God!” “Caring, comradery, family” and “Being faithful” just to name a few.
Friends I truly cannot put into words how encouraging this season of vision has been for me, and I hope it has been for you as well. It has been such a privilege to hear your voices and listen to your stories. I am more encouraged than ever that God is not done with us yet, and that by His grace the best really is yet to come. This season of vision revealed to me freshly that there is a foundation present here at Faith for God to build upon. It’s a foundation made up of a membership committed to outreach and service, a beautiful and useful facility in a strategic location, and direct, relevant Bible teaching that brings God’s Word to life.
But I don’t want you to take my word for it. Rather, I wanted to take some time in this space to share a bit of an email I received this past week from a family who spent some time at our church over the summer. While this family has gone on to a new church that they now call home, I was so encouraged by what they had to say about their experience here, and I think you will be as well.
The first thing this family highlighted was how they came to our church. Specifically they wrote, “You drew us in with your wonderful family friendly events.” This family was a part of our Egg Drop, VBS, and Famfest events over the summer. It was the events that drew them in. What strikes me as I consider that is that just a few years ago those events didn’t exist! Praise God for your work in making them happen.
The next thing the family highlighted was how welcomed they felt. They wrote, “The people were amazing, everyone was so nice and we felt so welcomed.” Again, it’s you all that get the credit for this one. We have spent a lot of time these past few years talking about the importance of being a place that’s welcoming for those who aren’t here yet and this family celebrated that we were just that for them!
The next thing the family highlighted was our personal follow-up with them. They wrote, “You all took the time to know us, and when we came back you guys remembered our kids names and made us feel so welcomed!” One of the great benefits of being a smaller church is that we have an opportunity to follow-up this well with every family who comes through our doors. I was encouraged as I read this family’s celebration that our church not only welcomed them one time, but continued to re-welcome them and show they cared through simple things like remembering their kid’s names.
I could go on but I hope the point is clear. God is working here at Faith. Even though this family didn’t ultimately stick around and now worships at another church, our church made an impact on their life that will not soon be forgotten. I’ll close by borrowing an admonition of Paul’s. Friends let us not grow weary of doing good, for in the proper time we will reap the harvest if we don’t give up! (Gal. 6:9)