Coming Together For The Future

I love the background image in our Coming Together for the Future prayer card.  The highway is the place where our tires meet the payment.  First Baptist Church of Charleston is entering an intersection of sorts that can direct us to the interstate of faith.  However, our bus is currently idling at a stop sign, and we do not know whether to turn left, right, or continue forward.  We need direction or a GPS unit to lead us to our destination.  The theme verse for this road trip is Psalm 127:1.  “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain.”  Allow me to “Artie this up” for you.  Unless God is in this, we are wasting our time and resources. 

I am confident that our congregation must gaze ahead and determine future facility needs and map out a plan to meet those needs.  If we are not focusing our thoughts towards the future, we are in reality moving backwards.  Focusing on the future is clearly our only option.  The key is to gain an understanding of what God desires for our future.  During this journey of faith, we must allow God to chart our course.  So, how do we make sure God is guiding us?  James, the half-brother of Jesus wrote, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.”  James 1:5.  What is the difference between knowledge and wisdom?  Knowledge is a human reserve of information where wisdom is an understanding obtained from the mind of God.  Church family, we are blessed with a tremendous reservoir of man’s knowledge, but now more than ever, we need Godly wisdom.  God’s mind is greater than all of our pooled knowledge.  We cannot and will not ever understand all the ways of God.  When we need answers or Godly wisdom, we ask God for an understanding from Him of what we need to do or not do.  Through His Spirit, He unlocks in our minds an understanding of what we need to know. 

A journey of faith requires that we ask God for exactly what He wants; we listen carefully and receive His direction; then we obediently go where He leads us.  My simplified version of this statement is that we must pray, listen, and do. 

This journey of faith has absolutely nothing to do with building a worship center; it is all about His church hearing His voice and walking with Him in faith.  God is giving FBC Charleston a vision to “Come Together” and walk in faith.  Now is the time to seek His face in prayer.