Pastor's Thoughts: January

It is hard to believe, but we are in 2024 now. I think, at this time of year, it is always good to take time and reflect on what God has done over the past year. It is good to remember all the ways that God demonstrated His faithful to us. It is good to reflect on all the ways that God has worked in each of our lives. As we reflect on the things that God has done, we can give thanks to Him for His great love and faithfulness.

As we begin 2024, let me invite you to join me in prayer. I would encourage all of us together to set a goal to begin each day with a time of prayer. Our individual prayer life is foundational to our discipleship. If we are not praying regularly, we will not be growing to be more like Jesus in our lives. One of the initiatives that we are going to be launching this year is "Bless Every Home." The focus of this initiative is that we would be lights in our communities by praying for our neighbors daily. You can sign up for Bless Every Home here. Bless Every Home also has an app that will send you daily reminders to pray for your neighbors. This will be a powerful tool that God will use in our lives to bless our neighbors.

Just as our individual prayer life is necessary for our spiritual growth individually, our corporate prayer life is necessary for the church to grow too. I believe the most powerful thing that a church can do is pray together. As we enter into the new year, I encourage you to plan on attending our Sacred Assembly time on Sundays at 5:30 p.m. We will begin a new sermon series on 1/7/24 that is focused on looking at the book of Acts when the church gathered for prayer and God answered in powerful ways. I am hoping this will encourage all of us to be more committed to corporate prayer. 

As I take time to reflect on 2023, I think it was a great year for NHBC. I believe that God did some great things in and through NHBC over the course of the last year. He brought us 144 first-time guests last year! God is bringing people to our church and that is exciting. We also saw an increase in worship attendance from 2022 to 2023 from 72 to 95. There were more people in Sunday School over the last year as well, we went from 52 in 2022 to 62 in 2023. I wanted to share these numbers with you so that we would be encouraged by how God is at work at NHBC. However, we must always remember that numbers are not the end-all-be-all. We are called to make disciples and it is the job of the church to do ministry that fulfills that calling. However, God was at work in that area too.

One of the ways that God was at work building up the ministry in our church last year was the beginning of our Who's Your One evangelism initiative. Since the launch of Who's Your One on September 24th, we have prayed for (white balls) fifty-six people to come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, we have presented the gospel (orange balls) seventy-two times, three people have come to faith in Christ (green balls), and we have baptized three people (blue balls). Each one of those balls represents different ways that God has been at work in and through our church.

Another way that God worked over the last year is through the Launch Team. The Launch Team has been working hard over the last year to develop a strategic and long-range plan for the church. On November 11, the church voted to adopt Phase 1a of the Launch Team's plan to move the church into the future that God has for us. This plan is designed for the church to be able to engage in more ministry.

These are just a few of the ways that God has been at work over the past year. I believe there is no greater purpose than being used by God to do His work. To know that God is at work in our church is a great encouragement for all of us. It is also a reason to give God thanks and to continue to praise and worship Him for all that He has done and all that He is going to do through NHBC. 

Looking back at what God has done and how He has demonstrated faithfulness to us should always result in thanksgiving. However, we must remember that God does not want us to fix our gaze on the past. We must look ahead to the future that God has for us at NHBC. There is still much kingdom work to be done in our community. There are thousands and thousands of people in our community that need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ and God has placed NHBC here for a time such as this. There is a quote that says, "The windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror because where we are going is more important than where we have been."

I am not sure what God is going to do in and through NHBC in 2024, but I am excited to see how God is going to continue to work in our church. Join me in praying that God would have His way with His church for His glory.  Pray that God would use each one of us as His servants to build His kingdom. Pray that we would be a church that is unified in love and truth as we seek to expand God's kingdom to the ends of the earth.