One Year Together & Another Year in Front of Us!
What an odd headline to start this newsletter off. Usually you see headlines like that at the beginning of the new year; however, the truth is that July 4th marks our first full year together, and I hope you can say that it has been a wonderful year because that is how Evelyn and I feel. A lot has happened this past year at Saint John and much of it has been captured in the monthly newsletters archives. One of the first projects we took on together was cleaning up Hester Street and the area surrounding the church, and they still remain clean today, with some maintenance of course. Another thing that Saint John accomplished involved God’s shared vision of preparing Saint John for future ministries, and we joined God in His vision by cleaning up and organizing the facilities at Saint John. This took the better part of the year and just this past month, we saw God’s vision come to life when children filled the Darby Building for Vacation Bible School (you’ll see a video on the next page). Again, so much has happened this past year and what it boils down to is this: God is actively working through all of you! Why? Because you have opened yourselves up to the possibility of doing what many would call impossible things! God Bless you!
So, now what? What does God have planned ahead of us? How is God leading us into his next vision. Well, one thing is for sure — it is not my vision—it is God’s vision given to us through His Holy Spirit, which means that God is invested in the future of Saint John, but here is the thing about receiving God’s vision: It takes a little imagining, and what we have to do is imagine together. Let’s start with this: Imagine a place where children are loving God. . . Imagine a place where the next generation of Christians are being nurtured to change the world. . . Imagine a place where memories are being created with every smile and every question (those same memories that many of you have). . . Imagine joy, happiness, grace and understanding. . . . Imagine all of that at Saint John. . . . Just imagine!
"See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:19)