This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the Lord’s house to be built.’ ” Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” (Haggai 1:2-4 NIV).
“The time is now, Lord!”
That’s how our PMT (Pastor’s Management Team) Retreat concluded its prayer time this past week. After spending the morning following the SOAP (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer) method of devotion through the book of Haggai, our men were stirred up and ready to come back home to lead our church with a sense of urgency and purpose.
I’m so proud to be the pastor of WCC and to have leaders like the men you see above! I want you to know that these men are super FAT (That’s Faithful, Available, and Teachable. Not pounds, except maybe me.)! Each of these men took two days off of work and traveled to Oak Island with me to devote all of their attention to praying and preparing themselves to help lead WCC in 2009. What a privilege to be on a team that loves Jesus and wants to see His Kingdom come in Wilson, NC.
We have organized our leadership around accomplishing three purposes: Celebrating God’s Son, Connecting to God’s People, and Contributing to God’s Kingdom. Stephen Combs is our “celebrate” leader. Jonathan Minter is our “connect” leader. Sonny Allen is our “contribute” leader. We also saw the importance of having a support role to undergird these three purposes, so we have established a “communication” role. George Bryant is our “communicate” leader.
We worked really hard at refining those roles and planning some next steps for each this year. But I guess the big thing was the overall take away that we all left with. And that is this idea that we must not let the lack of owning our own building become an excuse for not “building” God’s church. We also must not let the economy or our own houses become excuses. Saying in essence, “Lord, as soon as I get my stuff in order, then I’ll work for You and Your Kingdom.”
We are convinced that God is clearly calling us to make disciples. This means we must share the gospel with seekers and teach the Word to followers, working to present them all mature in Christ. This is building the church: making disciples.
God will supply our needs for buildings and tools, if we will just focus on being the church. In fact, if we will be the church, Jesus will build the church.
When should we start?
The time is now.