You will be my witnesses . . .

 

  

            In the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, Jesus tells the gathered disciples, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

             The call to become a more fruitful congregation is not about becoming bigger, younger, or richer, or raising our status in the community as a religious institution.  The call to become a more faithful and fruitful a congregation is a call to be witnesses; in what we say, in what we do, to witness to the grace and power of Jesus Christ in our life together.

            Over the past five weeks, we have focused on Robert Schnase's book "Five Practices of  Fruitful Congregations" where we discovered the true meaning of:  Radical Hospitality; Passionate Worship; Intentional Faith Development; Risk-taking Mission and Service; and, Extravagant Generosity.  These practices, rooted in Scripture and fed by the Spirit through our life together in community, strengthen the faithfulness and fruitfulness of congregations wherever they are taken up.

             During Pentecost, as we celebrate the live-giving Spirit that filled the new church with joyful commitment to God and one another, we invite you to make a commitment to God and the church.  Please pray and think carefully how God has given you particular gifts to share.  It may be a ministry in which you are already engaged and finding joyful; it may be something new.

            I look forward to a summer and fall full of spiritual surprises; as we break ground on a new building, may the body of Christ in this place witness to the grace and power of Jesus Christ among us, into the community, and throughout the world.

Pastor Neill Morgan