Over the past month you have been reading some of my thoughts regarding some insights that George Bullard has shared with me. I receive these insights each day and I now have at least 112 pages worth of nuggets of gold that help to stretch one’s mind and spirit.

As you are reading this, my wife and I will be on our way or even have arrived in Columbia, South Carolina to give me a chance to join a congregational champion’s retreat at the home of George and Betty Bullard. Six others will join us to have some time to fellowship, to pray, and to share various thoughts and ideas that may be impacting today’s church and our faith journey. Excluding the travel time I look forward to making new friends and learning about common threads that help to bind us together in a community of faith.

Please take note: The season of Advent begins on November 27th. To aid in our Advent journey together, Advent Devotional Booklets are available on the table in the narthex. Please take one of these booklets for your personal use. If you would like to help offset the cost, there is a donation basket available.

Over the next month or so I will be opening my articles with insights from my

good friend and church consultant, George Bullard. I will be adding some comments

to what George has written in his book, Faith Soaring Churches.

“Congregations seeking to transform are committed to the big picture of

process. They desire to be captivated by God’s vision for their future. They are able

to focus on the process of adult disciple making. They are not controlled by their

management groups.

Especially they are not controlled by one or two stellar programs that seem to

outshine everything else that happens in the congregation, and seem to attract a

lot of resources and praise. This is a bad thing? Not bad. But a dominating program

can become the vision rather than God’s vision being that which captivates the

congregation.”

There are a number of key thoughts upon which I want you to focus. The first

is that a congregation is captivated by God’s vision for their future.

Disciple making is the second key thought. This means truly following our

Lord’s commission to go into all the world and to make disciples. Who have you

thought to capture in this arena of disciple making? Who have you encouraged to

be a part of First Christian? Don’t get caught in the trap of taking ownership for one

or two programs that are your favorites. These kinds of traps limit our ability and

our chance to make disciples.

Finally allow God’s vision and not your vision or a vision of some group to be

that which captivates our congregation. Always keep God’s vision in the forefront.