Goal: the end toward which effort is directed. What do you think of when you think of the word “goal”? If you’re a business minded person, you might think of establishing something to work toward throughout the year. Maybe there is a financial goal, or an organizational goal.
We also have goals within the church. Throughout the year we have missions offerings and we try to give a certain amount towards the goal that is set by the church. One goal that has been set, and I am happy to say has been exceeded, is the goal for our disaster hygiene kits. As you know, we have been talking about these kits for the last month and I’m happy to say that as of this past Thursday, we have received 205 kits. That has exceeded the goal we set of 200. Thank you to everyone who has given money or supplies for these kits. Crabtree Valley Baptist Church is very mission minded and this is another example.
While I am excited about sharing the fact that we have reached this missions goal, there is a question I need to ask as your pastor and that is what is the goal of the church? I’m not talking about a financial goal, but I am talking about what are to be doing as a church? There needs to be something we work towards if we are going to be working for Christ. I talked a little bit about this on Sunday when I talked about our vision. We have to have something that motivates us to move forward. So, I have to ask, what is our goal as a church? Do we just want to continue keeping the doors open? Do we want to work at trying to grow the church? Or, are we satisfied with where we are and who is coming and we’re just fine to stay the way we are?
Before we answer this question, I think it has to be bathed in prayer. The reason I say this is because the church’s goal should ultimately be God’s goal for the church. No matter what it is we feel like our goal should be, it should be something that is lined up with the will of God.
The only way we can find His will is to pray and ask God what it is He wants us to do as a church. Then, when we feel God answering our prayer we need to figure out how to reach that goal. There is a lot of discussion about the relevancy of today’s church. I believe church is more than just meeting on Sundays and Wednesdays. I think the church needs to continue to be relevant in the world today. The only way we can do this is to pray and ask God who He wants us to be to the world today. I encourage you to pray and ask God what His will is for you as an individual and for Crabtree Valley Baptist Church. Until next week…
Peace and Blessings, Johnny
