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“Up we Go”
The reach, Foothold, The climb, The Summit, The top
Up We Go:
I believe that God is bringing New Heights onto the scene. I believe that we will grow in numbers and in maturity. I believe that we will individually seek out how God wants us to reach new heights in Christ and that the movement of God that we have become a part of will be attractive to those who realize it.
The Reach:
We will schedule a calendar of events intending to inform and recruit persons. We will capitalize on the ministries that God has working in our midst already without being quick to add new ministries. We can develop people to take over portions of ministries within the current structure rather than to devise new things to do. We will reach into schools, partner with Garfield and Waite in particular. We will establish a strong presence over a period of time beginning with promoting programs to help people with specific needs and to activate their interest in “The Fellowship Center.” The reach includes Platform, Partnership, and prospects as well as personal development in us and any newcomers.
The Foothold:
We have a geographical location and a strong body of believers that has stayed the course despite many challenges. We will encourage ourselves to look outward and to harvest from interested parties additional long-lasting believers. We will emphasize “joining our journeys together.” We need to build in celebrating what we have seen God do to this point and our steadfastness. We need to find a balance between the foothold and the reach. Note: I believe this balance will be constructed strongly only by removing the contempt that people feel for one another, and promoting acceptance of those who are trying to live for Jesus. Summary: the foothold is us, here, remaining, and celebrating our success in the Lord.
The Climb:
The climb will be us reaching new heights in Jesus Christ. Us means anyone who wants to joint their journeys to ours in the Lord. We will strive forward in the Kingdom advance as God gains influence in us and in the community that we minister to. We will work to see first God’s name and then the name of our church to be a household word. Even those who never come to the Lord need to hear the gospel and know where they can go to know what to do next and/or to hear more about the God of all who loves them. We will need to train for this climb during the climb. We have God as our guide, the ultimate guide book, and others who have experienced our part of the climb to listen to. It will be messy at times and the single most important step is committing to never quit and keeping that commitment. A Godly sorrow for sin will be appreciated more than a prideful “sinless” life choice.
The Summit:
The top of each individual’s climb may be in view but the ultimate summit is life after death, heaven, a life lived for the glory of God. The church’s top will be to see every individual inside the city of Toledo (in the span of one generation) have the opportunity to decide for or against a life lived for God. This will mean that presenting the Gospel in every arena will be crucial. It will also mean that new and creative opportunities will have to be designed to get the gospel out while still utilizing those methods that have already been put in place to share the truth with every Toledoan. To be clear, this is not about only telling those who are already interested but sharing the truth with all persons. Only the interested are likely to accept but the goal will be to share with every person alive in Toledo. We will measure reaching the summit by survey work designed to see whether a sample of Toledo citizens have heard the gospel truth and heard of New Heights. We will conduct the survey work yearly (probably each summer) tracking responses and considering variances looking to draw closer to the summit (100% have heard the gospel we teach and made a yes or no decision.)
The Top:
The difference between the summit as discussed above and the top which I believe God is aiming us toward is primarily in the way we approach the journey of our church and the way will be intimately tied to whether we achieve the top. We are to keep our sights on Christ all the while. We must never stray to doing what would be unacceptable in the eyes of the Lord. We must not build in sin. We must continue to do all that we do for His glory, loving richly and with all that we are. We must never let the summit which is a Godly goal interfere with the relationship with God that we have been called to. We must keep the end in mind of bringing Him glory so that having done all we may not lose what we have in Him. Also, that when He comes they will have seen our good works and glorify Him! The Top is A Kingdom of God in us that looks like He made it.
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