Today, on this one-year anniversary of our presence in this new location, I have to compliment everyone who is a part of the Grace church family for their hard work that has resulted in a multitude of blessings from the Lord. Let me just name a few:
- We have completed our “One Mile for God’s Glory” Capital Campaign by reaching our goal of $150,000
- We have completed total renovation of the upper building and worship center.
- We have started the TeamKid discipleship ministry for children
- We have added 39 new members
- We have extended ministries into the community through block parties, Vacation Bible School, and service projects.
- Our worship has been blessed through the ministry of praise and worship led by our Praise Team.
- Our Student Ministry meets regularly to worship, memorize scripture, study God’s word, have fun, and grow in number and devotion to the Lord.
- We have active Women’s Ministry and Men’s Ministry work.
There is more to be celebrated, but this list is enough to convince any onlooker that the people of Grace have worked diligently throughout this first year. I am thrilled with the progress our church has made and the obvious blessing God has provided over these past 12 months. We give thanks to God for His amazing gift of power and grace as He has led us in spiritual advancement all year long. I truly believe that we are a better, more unified and firmly engaged congregation in the work of God’s kingdom because He has brought us to this location and given us these facilities. We are not the same church we were just one year ago.
What are the next steps? I think Paul had it right and points us toward the future when he says, “…let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”
- We keep on doing good.
- We are to plan good ministry that will reach new people.
- We should perform good work that will meet the needs of people who live in our communities.
- We must speak good words that will encourage people and point them in the right direction.
- We are called to live good, wholesome lives that will show people what it means to be fully committed to Jesus.
- We are committed to treat each other with respect and caring compassion.
Can you ever do too much good? The obvious answer is NO! Year number 2 should be a duplicate of year number 1. We keep on doing good because we serve a God who is good in every way. Let’s make this coming year GOODER than any other we have ever had.