Looking Back and Pushing Forward
May 1, 05:12 AM
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Recently I had the chance to chat with longtime pastor/member of Fairview, Marvin Gass. Its important to understand that as we look to the future to see what legacy Fairview will have in the coming generations we can best live into the vision God has given us by examining the DNA of our past. I asked Marvin what helped Fairview grow in the past. Without much hesitation Marvin told me that it was relationships that helped Fairview grow. Relationships that were formed when people visited for the first time, relationships that were nourished by visits and ongoing invitations to join the Fairview community, and relationships that were discovered as people connected with the neighbors around them. So the question that haunts us today is, “where are we meeting the neighbors in our world who need Christ?” You and I are Fairview and no amount of programming can replace the open doors that the Spirit creates when you and I reach out to those around us on a one-to-one basis. I challenge you to find someone who does not know Christ and get to know them. Because here are the cold hard facts… if you don’t know someone who is not Christian then you cannot be faithful to the calling God has on your life. You can’t make disciples out of disciples, and you can’t reconcile people to God when they’ve already been reconciled. We must be like Christ… seeking out relationships with the least the last and the lost. Don’t let Heritage Sunday come and go and not remember who you are and who God has called Fairview to be. This is a time to remember the past as we run towards the future that God has for us. Here is your charge Fairview…. Passionately glorify the one who has rescued you from destruction, extravagantly welcome those who do not know Christ and win them to God through his extravagantly, messy, unrelenting love, help each other see what it looks like to take on the mind of Christ as we live it out in service to this world and one another.
Light up the dark!
-Jeremy LaDuke
