The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. Psalm 126:3
This April will mark four years since the members of our congregation signed the final large beam installed in our building expansion…the very beam we walk under each Sunday as we enter the foyer. The picture of that beam-signing day is still visible on our website homepage! Much was signified by the signing of this beam…
But the God who does great things did an amazing work in our little congregation. He called us to step out in faith, and the Renton Bible Church family stepped up! We knew this project was beyond our ability to accomplish. Although 2016 saw a slight bump in attendance following more than twenty years of decline, we struggled to fill our small sanctuary, let alone the much larger one envisioned in this project. And though our congregation has always been faithful and generous in giving, we knew that it would take an extraordinary level of sacrifice, on the part of our members, and an extraordinary level of provision, on the part of our God, to pay for this project. As if all these obstacles were not large enough, added to it in the final year of our expansion was a global pandemic, the ensuing rise in the cost of materials and challenges for a volunteer workforce in the face of pandemic fears. Yet, through it all, God was faithful and His people were unwavering. With what result? We have gone from a church struggling to fill our tiny sanctuary to the need to find ways to fit more chairs into our new sanctuary. We have seen an explosion in children’s ministries attendance both Sunday mornings and during AWANA Wednesday evenings. It’s amazing to think that the same year we were contemplating giving up on our building expansion, we were also on the cusp of ending our AWANA ministry. Yet, once again, God provided with a new AWANA commander and a new vision for this ministry. We now have nearly double the number of kids we are reaching through this ministry. As I shared at our 2023 annual meeting, with the building completed and so many great signs of revitalization taking place in our church, it would be easy to think that all of this points to Mission Accomplished! We have been praying that God would revitalize our church through spiritual formation, and at the start of 2023 we see so many signs that this revitalization has come. Maybe now is our opportunity to just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride. We can put it in cruise control and coast! It was this temptation the elders discussed at our annual retreat in January. With what conclusion? These signs of revitalization are not indicators that our job is done, but now we can really commence with the expanding Kingdom ministry we believe God has called us to. Or in the words of our new long term vision statement:
This long term vision statement was broken down into three shorter term areas of emphasis:
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
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