Pastor's Page for Dec. 28, 2003: Write your Vision Down

You made it! The end of the year is here, and you made it. God be praised!

Through illness and financial hardship, you made it. Through misunderstandings and broken relationships, you made it. Through depression and anxiety, you made it. And guess what? Because you made it you are NOT the same person you were at the beginning of the year.

Part of being different is understanding that our God expects us to achieve His vision for our lives. “Though it tarry, wait for it,” says the prophet Habakkuk. Writing the vision is a powerful thing!

Few of us write down our goals and expectations for ourselves, so we probably don’t “make it” as far as we can. Writing down our goals and expectations makes us push ourselves and work harder. My goal for 2003 was to get my second book published. I did it. Among my goals for 2004 are to run another marathon, write another book, and make some professional moves. The goals gear me up and inspire me.

Part of the reason we met a couple of weeks ago as a church was to do the same thing for us as a body of believers. We’ve come a long way this year, but we now need to plot our course and be deliberate about who we are, what we want to do, and where we want to go. Knowing that will give us energy and direction and inspiration. It’ll make Advent United Church of Christ the kind of place that makes God smile. It’ll insure that members are ministered to, as well as the community. It’ll make us have a purpose that we all agree on, and we cannot help but fly with that being the case.

So, if you haven’t done so, take a few moments before the 31st and write down what you want to accomplish this year. Give yourself deadlines and milestones that you want to include in your Victory Report for 2004. This time next year, I want there to be a lot of testimonies of how you “stayed the course” and accomplished a portion of what God wants you to accomplish for Him and for yourself!

See you Wednesday evening at Watchnight service.

In Christian Love,

Pastor Smith