Putting the Pieces of the ‘Vision Puzzle’ Together”
Posted on March 2nd, 2010
Pastor’s Column, published in The Informer (FBC’s Newsletter for March, 2010)
As a child, I used to do puzzles. Often, I would choose a puzzle because of the picture on the box cover and I would put the puzzle together by starting with the border pieces on the edge and working my way in. It was so gratifying seeing the pieces of the puzzle coming together and looking like the picture on the box. I felt such a sense of accomplishment when I completed a puzzle. But it sure was frustrating when a piece or two of the puzzle went missing, and the puzzle could not be completed.
As we continue our Spiritual Transformation Journey, I’ve heard people say many times that they are still waiting and praying for God to reveal a vision of our future as a church. It is as if we’re waiting for the fog to lift so that we’ll see clearly a vision or a road map so that we can begin our spiritual journey in earnest. But for now, we’re just waiting and praying.
In the last few weeks, I’m beginning to realize that the vision for our future is not “out there” while we’re just waiting for God to unveil it. It is more likely that the vision for our future is within us! We are the vision of Farmville Baptist Church, and God is waiting on us to live out His call for our lives! We are like the pieces of the puzzle; each of us plays a unique part in the overall picture of God’s plan for our church. To the extent that we discern God’s will for our lives and have the courage to live it out as a church to the best of our understanding, we are putting the pieces of the “vision puzzle” together! No, we can’t see the whole picture beforehand, but we will see with greater clarity what that picture is when we begin to live out what we know. Furthermore, this vision puzzle does not have any edges or borders. We begin in the center and work our way out to an ever-expanding picture of what God wants us to be and to do in our community and our world! Finally, in order for the “vision puzzle” to be complete, every member of Farmville Baptist Church is needed to be a part of this discerning process to see who God is calling us to serve and what ministries God is calling us to join or to start in our community.
During these weeks of Lent, may God lead us all, to place us where He wants us, so that together we will put the pieces of the vision puzzle together and live into the kind of church God wants us to be!
Journeying on, Michael
Filed under News Column, Spiritual Transformation Journey |