From the Pastor
As we are preparing to give God thanks and celebrate
125 years of ministry in Guthrie, KY and the
surrounding area, it occurs to me that vision has
a lot to do with who we are.
Someone said,
“A vision is like looking at a little carved trinket in a Swiss village window and then looking above the roof of the shop to the forest where the wood was nourished and finally looking higher still, above the tree-line, to the everlasting snow, which nourishes the forest.”
We can learn a couple of things from this analogy. First of all, we need to remember to look on-high from the beginning. We need to be reminded of the greatness of our God and the vastness of His resources. We should not forget the power of the Holy Spirit, Who lives within us.
Secondly, we must not limit God in our lives or in our church. We must not settle for a “trinket” of a vision, because God has so much more for us.
“Searching for Hope.” It recently occurred to me, vision and hope have a lot in common. The cutest illustration of hope I’ve found is about a little boy who is standing at the foot of the escalator at a large department store, intently watching the handrail. He never took his eyes off the handrail as the escalator kept going around and around. A salesperson saw him and finally asked him if he was lost. The little fellow replied, “Nope, I’m just waiting for my chewing gum to come back.”
When God gives us a vision, we’ve got to stick with it and not give up. When our vision is from God and our hope is in God, then God will see us through, no matter how long the odds may be.
Vision also has a lot in common with purpose. What is our purpose? Why do we exist as a church?
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
God wants us all to be saved and to bring as many as we can with us.
“God did not call us to impurity, but to holiness” (2 Thessalonians 4:7).
God’s not through with us yet. Our holy God wants His people to live holy lives.
“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).
Jesus came that we, by faith in Him, might have eternal life and that He would abundantly meet all our needs in this life.
“Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).
By living grace filled lives that are “positive and upbeat” people will ask, “What do you have that I don’t have?” Then, give them Christ.
