As we watch the end of another year, there is always the temptation to look and see how far we've come. The New Year offers an opportunity to assess our past efforts in light of our desires and goals for the upcoming stretch ahead. Looking back on what we have accomplished, I see many things to give thanks for. We created a feeling of revival with out Holy Week of Worship, which I look forward to continuing and expanding this year. We have started new Bible and book studies which have allowed us to develop opportunities for small group interaction outside of worship which bring us closer to our Wesleyan roots. We have reached out to the surrounding community with greater efforts at compassionate care for those in need, a block party for our immediate neighbors, and our partnership with SERVE in the monthly food pantry. The new website has made our church and what we do real to a whole group of people we may not even know yet. Our Advent Worship series helped to develop a broader sense of what worship can ne, while our midnight Christmas Eve service brought in six people from the community who had never been in our church before.
Yet the temptation to rest on our current accomplishments is tempered by the realization that we need to continue to build on these efforts. Just as the New Year signals that God's time continues to march forward, so it compels us to ask what new things can we do in order to keep the momentum going. As I was cleaning the office to make room for the new equipment for the evening worship service, I ran across a number of items that drew my attention back to the past accomplishments of this church. I found scrapbooks and assorted pictures full of prior activities such as VBS, an active youth program, a banner making group, and remembrances of the Cedar City congregations which gave me a new sense of where we have come from. Some of them are lying on tables in the Fellowship Hall, and I would suggest that everyone take the opportunity to go down and study our heritage. For me it serves as a catalyst for continuing to move forward in the accomplishment of God's work in our current community. The spirit of the Cedar City United Methodist Church is alive and well in Holts Summit, and it is our charge to keep that flame of Methodist renewal burning bright.
In the spirit of those who would not let the flood waters overwhelm the rich history that is part of our legacy, I encourage all of us to draw on that determination to continue to move forward in proclaiming the saving grace of God to our current community. As we continue to reach out, and reach in, and reach up, may we grow in faith and hope and love. I wish you all a happy and productive New Year. May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).
Yours in Christ, Pastor Dave
