Although we had good attendance at our last church family meeting, I wanted to be sure to let you all know that we have decided to move forward and finish up our expansion project and will restart construction the week of May 15. This means that Sunday, May 15, will be our last Sunday in the current Worship Center for up to eleven weeks. Pastor Chris gave us a rundown that evening of the financial numbers, and the good news we heard was that the church saved, or rather, did not have to spend, over $350,000 during the first phase of our construction, and did not have to take out a single short-term construction loan to cover the cost. In other words, we paid for everything we have expanded up to this point with cash. That is a testament to the graciousness of God toward us, and to your stewardship and generosity. As it stands today, if the remainder of our pledge comes in, we will have enough money on hand to pay off the second phase of our construction as well. Since we are not starting out this second phase (the Worship Center, lighting, sound, etc.) with cash on hand in our building fund like we did the first, we will likely need to take some short-term construction loans. But again, those should be paid off quickly as the building fund gains momentum with the remainder of our pledge dollars. So, we will be inconvenienced a bit this summer by noise, dust, and worshipping in the Multi-Purpose Room in three identical services at 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m., but the end result will be the completion of construction and a facility ready to be occupied, worshipped in, and grown into. If you were unable to be at the meeting and have specific questions, feel free to contact Pastor Chris and he can give you more details. In fact, rather than contact me about anything, why not just get into the habit of contacting Chris for everything except nice things you want to say about me. : )
On another topic altogether, we are entering into the fray of another national election cycle. Most of you will vote in next week’s Indiana primary. I think we have an obligation to be informed about what is happening in our nation on the political landscape, and to prayerfully consider who we believe will lead our nation or local governments in a way that will honor the Lord. That is becoming a more and more difficult task in our society, but it is nevertheless important. Our task as the local church is not to endorse particular candidates or to tell you who you should vote for, but to proclaim the gospel, equip the saints, and worship the Lord in all his majesty and splendor. A majesty and splendor, incidentally, that far eclipses anything that even the best of our political candidates can hope to offer us. My simple advice to you during these elections is to be informed as much as possible, think soundly, think biblically, and think about our future as Americans. Then go and vote if you are legally permitted to do so. Christians should be the best citizens of any nation. Sometimes being the best citizen means stirring the pot and letting your voice be heard. One primary way to do that in a democracy is to vote. Most of your brothers and sisters in Christ throughout history, and even in our world today, have not enjoyed that privilege. Except in rare circumstances, I think we should exercise that privilege as Christians first, and Americans second.
While on the topic of privileges, I took the opportunity at the church family meeting to share once again how privileged I am to serve as your Lead Pastor. I’ll take that opportunity again here in case you were not in attendance. I thank God for allowing me to serve Christ by serving and ministering to you on a daily basis!
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym