Last year Bronx Bethany, with much fanfare and celebration,
celebrated its fiftieth year of ministry. But, what about our fifty-first year?
On Sunday, Pastor Sam shared with us that year fifty-one is a time to begin
again, to start anew, and to do something new.
In this fifty-first year of ministry, we are believing that
people will make the shift from being consumers to being participants in the
plan and program of God. However, our belief is not based on having done a
survey to measure the interests and abilities of those who call Bronx Bethany
their church home. Rather, it is a belief that is initiated, supported, and carried by our
prayers.
What are we praying to see in this new season?
- Competence (the skills that God was pleased to give to us); and
- Character (the thoughts and actions we demonstrate that are pleasing to God)
Doing a new thing will involve us moving, as Pastor Sam
exhorted us, “from the back to the front” in terms of our ministry roles. There
will be a shift in which the men and women who have labored for years will find
partnership and assistance from those men and women who heretofore have known
what to do, and who have solid Christian character, but who had previously been
content to watch from the sidelines. But, the past is past: it’s year fifty-one, and the season of “sideline”
consumerism is over. It's the season for new ministries, new strategies, new visions, and new people to join in the battle for souls.
I will be doing some new things this season. How about you?
"So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields." (Matthew 9:38, New Living Translation)
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