Annual Report

Recently I sent out the following email to everyone who attends ABC that I have an email address for. (If you didn’t receive it, it’s because I don’t have your address! See what you miss out on?)

Subject: How is God working?
Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:51:29
Good Afternoon,
As I sit and contemplate our church and the past year the thought crossed my mind, how do we (can we) measure spiritual growth in ourselves personally and in our church corporately?
My kids make fun of me because I keep track of various things, such as how many books/pages I read and this year I'll be adding how many miles I run. One reason I do this is because I'm a little OCD in some areas. Another reason is to compare myself to previous years to see if I'm increasing or decreasing in various areas. Spiritual growth is a little harder to gauge. All this to say, how do you measure spiritual growth personally and for our church?
One way I know of to measure spiritual growth within the church is to see if God is working in people's lives. I would love to hear from you how God has worked in your life in 2008? What has He taught you? How have you grown spiritually? It would be an encouragement to me to hear from you on this. Don't worry, nothing you say will be used against you!
I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for your help!
Nate

Fortunately I got several replies! Here are some of the ways God has worked in the past year:

I’m truly grateful for everything that happened last year, despite the difficulties.... While I had days of despair, I never doubted God for a moment. As I look back at this past year, I have to honestly say I grew more spiritually than any other single year of my life.

I have been praying for more boldness in sharing Christ. The Lord has answered by giving me more opportunities.

I have a hard time figuring out exactly what it is that He’s trying to teach me, even though I’m sure it’s a pretty basic principle. It centers around faith – accepting & allowing Him to give me His peace and contentment even when I don’t particularly like what’s going on around me.... I know that He’s in control and that, in the end, He’s already won the victory. It’s just all those details between now & then that cause the problems.

I am learning that we can have more of a moment-to-moment relationship with Him.... If we’re really sensitive to God, it’s almost like standing in the middle of a river of opportunity to hear Him, & to say “yes” to Him. He does the work, we’re just the tool or the vessel He uses.

I have been praying for new younger families for the church.... I was beginning to wonder what plans the Lord had for the church. Then almost suddenly families with younger kids started to come.

I needed a lesson in financial stewardship.... I had to submit all my finances to God in the form of a strict budget.

I can verify that God’s ways are not my ways. In the last few years God has shown me that I do not know much, He has dashed most of my dreams, He has limited our financial possibilities, He has us looking at unemployment, & our family is still far away. All this & yet I can say that God has grown me more spiritually in the last year than for a long time.... Keeping my relationship with God healthy has to be the focus of my efforts.... When I walk with God, I am not responsible for me, God is.

God has worked in my life in the past year ... so I can start trying to be the husband, father, and man of God that I need to be.

Even when we lose the strength at times, God always somehow, someway, sustains us.

I have learned a few things about trusting God to take care of me and to not worry so much about the future and things that I cannot change.

We work so hard to be productive for God that we often forget to be with God.... God wants us to know Him first, service second.... Study + Service = Spirit-filled Life. Study + No Service = Stifling the Spirit. Service + No Study = Self

I think I have learned to accept the fact that God allows things to happen in our lives that are not very much fun. I’ve realized that I am not being punished. I believe I have developed more patience and acceptance and tried to be more concerned for others that experience difficult events in their lives.

These are a few of the ways that God has been working in ABC. Thank you all who took the time and effort to respond! I encourage all of us to share with others what God is teaching us and how He is growing us.

What the coming year holds for us, only God knows, but it will include continuing our study through the Gospel of John. Also, God still wants us involved in missions, locally & globally. Some have expressed interest in a missions conference. Brent is planning on going with Wheels for the World to Romania. It’s been suggested that we put together a team from within our church to distribute wheel chairs in Argentina. Be praying about these things and let me know if you’re interested in working in these areas.

Speaking of prayer, it’s vital that we be a people of prayer, individually & as a church. It’s God’s desire that we come to Him at all times in prayer. We have an active prayer chain, each of our small group Bible studies includes a time of prayer, & once a month we meet just to pray. Please pray for our nation, our church, and our church leadership.

I remain convinced that we need to be involved in each others lives more than just on Sunday mornings. We need to interact with one another & hold each other accountable before God. The best place for this to happen is in a small group Bible study. We have several that are active. I encourage you to join one & see how God uses it in your life. If none work into your schedule, let one of the elders know so that we might see how we can accommodate you in this.

As always, I am grateful to you for your love, support, & prayers. Please continue to pray for my family & I. Of my 20 years of being a pastor (I must be getting old!) this has been the most difficult personally. But God is good. Recently this verse seemed to jump out of the pages of Scripture to minister to me: Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; How blessed are all those who long for Him (Isaiah 30:18). Will you long for Him together with me in the coming year?

With love & thanksgiving,

Nate