I just took a few moments to check Facebook and I see a post by a new family at Highlands, with their picture and under it says “Jesus is the greatest gift.” 1 year ago, I didn’t know this family. They were in Vernon, right under our noses and now they have joined our new church family and they have become very dear to us.
Mel and I were remarking recently that this year, we have a lot more Christmas cards to send out – we have a lot more new families and friends on our list.
A year ago, our Launch Team was being commissioned at the morning services of Green Pond Bible Chapel. There were tears, hugs, some fear of the unknown and lot of hope that God would move to establish His church.
What a difference a year makes. A year later, we can see that He has. When we look back at all the ways we have seen God work, it is amazing.
One church planter wrote that “the church is God’s ‘Plan A’, there is no ‘Plan B’.” Ephesians tells us that he has established the church to display the manifold wisdom of God through the gospel of Jesus.
The church is one of the things that God promises will not fail – it literally cannot fail in it’s mission, because it is God who will establish it. On the foundation of the gospel, Jesus famously tells Peter in Matthew 16:18 that “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.”
This isn’t exclusively Highlands church, or Green Pond church, or the church in America, but the “capital C” church. God’s “Plan A” cannot fail because He will establish His Church through the faithful proclamation of and perseverance in the gospel. We are just instruments in his hand, diligently working to bring Him glory by making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ.
So, a year later, we can see the God is doing His work, keeping His promise, establishing His church. This Christmas gives us a chance to reflect on all that, thank Him for the new friends and families he has brought us, but most importantly – thank him for the the greatest gift – Jesus His Son.
Onward to 2017!
-Pastor Mike
