Pea Ridge Baptist Church

In June of last year, I preached a sermon that laid the ground work for some steps into the future that would be extremely important for the future of our church.  In that sermon I said,

“I think you should know that we are at a crossroads.  We are at the point in our church where we need to take some major steps of faith.  The Bible states, “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5: 7).  Abraham took steps of faith when he left his homeland and went to the place God had prepared for him (remember he didn’t know at first where that was… see Genesis 12).   Matthew and the other disciples took steps of faith when Jesus called them to follow him… (see Matthew 4: 18-22; 9: 9).  Peter and John took steps of faith when they boldly proclaimed Jesus Christ when they had been instructed to keep silent about Jesus… (see Acts 4).  Like those who have gone before us, we must also take steps of faith.   Taking a step of faith requires trust in God to provide and give direction…steps of faith require focusing on God and His plans and not our human desire and understanding.”

Since that time, we have taken some steps and we have been working in several areas that deserve some attention.

First, I called on each of you to “Consecrate Yourself to God”.  You have been doing this. You have been giving of yourself in many ways.  We have seen a renewed commitment to prayer and seeking God’s face in the midst many competitive voices in the world.  We continue to seek God’s will and plan for our church in prayer and study of the Word of God. Jesus said “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:28 – 29, NIV).  Our belief in Jesus Christ will lead us and prepare us for the future.

Second, I called on the church to participate in a Capital Funds Campaign.  This campaign was designed to complete some much needed repairs and upgrades to our facility, as well as fund some mission and ministry around the world.  To date, you have given $74,061.15 toward our goal of $118,000.  We also have a total of $31,255.85 in outstanding pledges toward our goal.  That means we have in cash received and pledges a total of $105,317.00!! That just leaves us with $12,683 from reaching our goal!

With this money, we have completed the kitchen, placed folding partitions in the fellowship hall adding two Sunday School rooms, painted the outside of the building, and replaced the pew cushions in the sanctuary.  We also were able to give a large gift to our sister church, Hope Church of Ryazan, Russia!  This month, a video system will be installed in the sanctuary.  This will give us the capability of recording the service to DVD for outreach purposes and also allowing the service to be seen in the nursery, fellowship hall, kitchen and youth room.  We will also be installing new lighting on the platform area of the sanctuary.   That leaves us with one major project to complete…PARKING!!!  We will need the remainder of goal to complete this very important part of our plan.

Let me say a few things about your giving to the Capital Funds Project…

1. Thank You!  Thank You!  Thank You! Your giving has been overwhelming and sacrificial to say the least.  I am pleased with your response to God’s call and work.
2. We have completed all the listed projects above with NO ADDITIONAL DEBT!  We will continue to pay for things as we go.  We don’t want to add any further debt to the church.
3. Please continue to be faithful in your pledge fulfillment.  Your pledge giving has been very faithful and will allow us to complete the final projects.
4. If you have not given to the Capital Funds Campaign, it is not too late.  You can be the one to fill the gap from our pledge amount to the goal.  Prayerfully consider being part of this great plan.

Third, I called for the formation of a Vision Team to look at all aspects of our church and to begin the process of Strategic Planning for the Future.  The writer of Proverbs said, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…” (Prov.  29:18a, KJV).  We need to have a vision of where God is taking us in the future and a plan to keep us current and ready for the future.  Our vision team has been meeting for three months and has begun the process of looking at our church and praying for God’s direction for the future.  Team members are Carla Booth, Louie Gaunch, Kim Warnock, Paul Bock, Erica Mullins, Ken Harman, Betty Crouch and Mike Myers.  We have been praying, reading, and studying about the church and God’s call and plan for the church.  This month, four members (Carla Booth, Mike Myers, Erica Mullins and Paul Bock) will be traveling to Green Lake Conference Center to participant with me in the Center for Excellence in Congregational Leadership (CECL).

Please continue to pray with us as we seek God’s direction for our church.  We will be giving a report soon about our ecommendations for the future.

I believe that we have a better picture of the future today, but there is still so much to learn.  We are open to God’s leading and want to keep focused on His plan and goal for our church.  The steps of faith that we must take are still before us.  We need to continue in our consecrated service to God…complete our giving to the Capital Funds Campaign and make the necessary changes for the future of our church.  Thanks for your faithfulness to the Lord.  I look forward to walking with you into what the Lord holds for the future!

Rev. Greg Creasy, Pastor