Matthew
28: 19-20 (NRSV) reads “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to
the close of the age.”
We have returned to a conversation about an additional
service. We are doing this for many
reasons. One is that we said we would
look at it. Hilltop leadership promised
when we went from three services to one in 2012 to examine later that year to
relook the number of services. That was
done but we weren’t ready in late 2012, early 2013. We talked about it in March/April 2013 and
got some push back on “how do you know what you know?” A survey was our response and it was valuable
in establishing what we think we know.
It is time to look at the idea of an additional service
again. I do not wish to convey in any of
my conversations that there is a human inevitability to the idea but I do pray
we see the need to grow as biblical.
The passage from Matthew forms an important part of my
theology. We should not be advocating
growth because it will help us pay our bills, or to have a larger music program
or allow us to increase the hours available for our Children and Youth Ministry
leaders are able to be financially compensated.
We should be advocating growth
because we believe that this church can be part of leading others to
faithfulness in Jesus. There is not
a one size fits all pattern for this.
The mission of the United Methodist Church is to “make
disciples of Jesus Christ” for a purpose:
“transformation.” The local
church, Hilltop in this case, is where that disciple making leading to
transformation occurs.
I pray we can align our bottom line on this with God’s bottom
line. The Matthew 28: 19-20 guidance
above are the last words Jesus says in Matthew.
They constitute a good bottom line, at least until a better one comes
along. All of the rest of the
conversation should be about the details.
Selah, Pastor Dennis
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