let's go for it, bethel!

We have reached that annual time of transition. The summer is just about over. The kids are back in school or are about to be.  Our summer vacationing (if we were able to get away at all) is done - or perhaps you will use this long weekend as a last opportunity to soak in the remaining summer rays. At the time, we are at making a new beginning as fall sets in, bringing its new yet familiar patterns.

“Time of new beginnings” certainly describes where we are at in our church calendar. We are set to go, go, go. And personally?  I’m not looking nostalgically backward. I’ve got my eyes full forward. I’m totally invested in what’s ahead. 

I am usually excited about a new church year, but I feel something special about the one ahead of us. I think God wants to do some big and exciting things. I am convinced He wants to lead us into ministry that is more transformative than ever, to touch and change lives like never before, and to take us as partners into some new, God-sized adventures. 

I know it can sound like hype to say that I think this year is going to be better than before. But I would be lying if I told you I thought otherwise. I genuinely believe this to be true, and honestly, I hope I will be able to say the same thing about next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. After all, we serve a God who “is able to do more than we could ever ask or  imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). If we are following His lead, expecting Him to work in power, and are being obedient when he calls us to trust Him - why shouldn’t we expect Him to glorify His name more and more in ways that are startling and amazing?

Did you receive the Life in Bethel Update this week? The one listing all the “firsts”? All of Bethel’s ministries will have their first meetings soon. The small group’s launch banquet will mark the first small group meeting of the new year. On Sunday September 13 we will take in the first message of the year-launching sermon series. The week after that, we connect for the church picnic to celebrate the start of another church year together.  

On your marks, everyone. The race is starting. I hope you feel excited, as I do, about the new year ahead. Please pray and invest yourself in making it all that it can be.

– Pastor Tom

 

---