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

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1/24 – Prayer Kick-Off Luncheon

Posted on January 12th, 2010

We are continuing our prayer groups as part of our Spiritual Transformation Journey!

On Sunday, January 24, there will be a kick-off luncheon for all of our prayer participants AND for anyone who is interested in learning more about our prayer groups.

During the luncheon, there will be a brief orientation and Q&A session.  Afterwards, there will be an opportunity for people to sign up.

Each prayer participant is required to purchase a prayer and devotional book called Cultivating Fruitfulness for $7.  The book is available in the church office.

Here are the confirmed meeting times of our prayer groups:

Sunday mornings, starting Feb. 7, 9:30 to 11 am, every other Sunday.

Location: FBC, Associate Pastor’s office
Facilitator: John Slade
Members: Deborah Slade, Tim Trent, Cecil Yeatts, Dave Landrum

Sunday mornings, starting Jan. 31, 9:30 to 10:30 am, every other Sunday.

Location: FBC, Associate Pastor’s office
Facilitator: Elizabeth Whiley
Members: Jim Davis, Sandy Yeatts, Don Kyper

Sunday afternoons, starting Jan. 31, 4 to 5 pm, every other Sunday.

Location: 1100 4th Ave. Ext.
Facilitator: Doris Weaver
Members: Sandy East, Mc Amoss, Cindy Landrum

Monday evenings, starting Jan. 25, 6 to 7 pm, every other Monday.

Location: FBC, Fellowship Hall.
Facilitator: Ken Copeland
Members: Chuck Daniel, Ruth Patteson, Cindy Cave, Toby Towler

Thursday evenings, starting Jan. 28, 6 to 7 pm, weekly.

Location: FBC Parlor.
Facilitator: Crystal Cupp
Members: Gene Watson, Suzanne Towler, Peggy Cave

Friday at noon, starting Feb. 5, 12 to 1 pm, weekly.

Location: FBC Parlor.
Facilitator: Michael Cheuk
Members: George Carter, Anita Lynn, Patti Trent, Gail Cave

The PURPOSE of these Prayer Groups

The purpose of these prayer groups is ultimately

• NOT about getting to know your prayer partners better, or fellowship
• NOT about coming away with a good “experience”
• NOT about “growing” the attendance, budget or programs of the church
• NOT about completing the prayer guide book in a certain time frame

The purpose of these prayer groups is

• About spiritual formation – centering our lives on Jesus Christ and being His disciples
• About continually asking for God’s guidance in leading the church into her future
• About continually seeking opportunities to be the presence of Christ to those outside the church and outside your prayer group
• About continually knocking so that God will open the doors for new ministries

As we pray, we will pay attention to how God is speaking to the congregation as a whole regarding these questions:

1. WHO is God calling us to serve and to witness the good news of God’s Kingdom?
2. WHAT unifying direction of ministry is God calling us to head toward?
   
3. WHAT new ministries can emerge for us to serve those whom God has identified?
4. WHAT are some outcomes that God might want us to look out as we live into our future story?

As a member of these prayer groups, you will be a part of our sustaining leadership community to help the church discern God’s future story for Farmville Baptist Church!

Contact Michael if you’d like to join a prayer group and be a part of this exciting journey!

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Looking Toward a New Year with Thanksgiving and Hope

Posted on December 31st, 2009

Pastor’s Column published in The Informer (FBC’s Newsletter for January, 2010)

As 2009 draws to a close, I look back with thanksgiving for the ways God has been active and working in Farmville Baptist Church.  I am thankful for

• our church going on a spiritual journey to renew its vision and mission
• the Initiating Leadership Community for our spiritual journey
• the thirty people who participated in our prayer triplets
• a burgeoning collegiate ministry that has over 35 students adopted by our church members, and an active contingent of students attending worship
• Julie Gaines and Sara Thompson, our two college ministry interns
• an increasing number of members volunteering at FACES each month
• young adults and young families attending and joining the church
• a wonderful group of deacons excited about mobilizing the church for greater ministry and service
• our Sunday School teachers and students, choir members, children’s volunteers, and Wednesday night prayer group for their ongoing ministry
• our Social Committee members who minister through their gift of hospitality and cooking
• our building that is being used by “Reclaiming Our Lives Ministry” to serve the spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of single mothers and their children
• a great staff in Kathy, Anita, Mc and Al

As I look toward 2010, I am hopeful that God will continue to show and lead us to be the presence of Christ in our community and beyond.  God is good!  I’m eager to see what God has in store for Farmville Baptist in 2010!

— Journeying on, Michael

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Paying Attention

Posted on August 1st, 2009

Pastor’s Column published in The Informer (FBC’s Newsletter for August 2009)

It has been a joy for me to come back after my vacation to hear of all the exciting things that God is doing in the lives of the members of Farmville Baptist Church.  In our Laity Sunday worship service on July 19, I loved seeing members of our prayer triplets being so at ease with each other and sharing about all the things they are learning from God.  I heard the excitement in their voices as common themes came to the fore – themes like the blessing they are receiving from a closer relationship with God through prayer, and a deeper connection with members of their triplets.  More than once, participants shared about how we need to trust God to lead us into our future and be less anxious to control and manage what might come.  I also heard how God may be calling us to risk more in focusing our energy and resources to people and causes outside the walls of our church.

The next Sunday evening, I attended our youth group’s “No Holds Barred” meeting where I heard reports from our youth about their experience at Passport Camp the previous week.  There was such energy and excitement during that meeting as youth after youth shared about how that week at camp was one of the most spiritually transformative experiences they’ve had as a Christian.  God had gotten their attention, and now they were eager to follow in God’s footsteps.

Those two experiences reminded me of the wise words of John Westerhoff and John Eusden in their book The Spiritual Life:

For too long we have thought of the Christian life as essentially either involvement in political, economic, social concerns that wear us out and result in depression or activity which keeps the church intact and doctrinally pure.  Our primary orientation cannot be an institution or some great cause or even other people, but first and forever to God.  Unless our identity is hid in God we will never know who we are or what we are to do.  Our first act must be prayer.  . . .  We are called to continuously formed and transformed by the thought of God within us.  Prayer is a disciplined dedication to paying attention.  Without the single-minded attentiveness of prayer we will rarely hear anything worth repeating or catch a vision worth asking anyone else to gaze upon.

In the coming weeks and months, I am eager to pay attention to what God will be telling us and what vision He may be revealing to us through prayer and through the members of Farmville Baptist — our children, our youth, our prayer triplet participants and others.  I’m confident that we will hear things worth repeating and catch a vision worth following!

— Journeying on, Michael

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The Right “GPS” for the Journey

Posted on June 6th, 2009

Pastor’s Column published in The Informer (FBC’s Newsletter for June 2009)

As we prepare to take family trips to St. Louis and Houston this summer, one thing that we are glad to have in our car is a “GPS,” or a “Global Positioning System.”  A GPS is a very handy device.  We program into the little box our final destination, and then a voice calls out directions, turn by turn, through every intersection along the route.  If I fail to follow the instructions, the GPS pauses and then announces “recalculating,” and then it guides you along an alternate route or suggests that I make the nearest U-turn.  While our GPS is not perfect, it certainly has been very useful in guiding us in our travels, especially while driving through strange and unfamiliar parts of the country.

As we launched our ten Prayer Triplets the last two Sundays, I have often wondered where our church’s Spiritual Transformation Journey will take us.  But then I’m reminded that we have the right “GPS” for the journey – we have “God’s Positioning System!”  God knows our destination even though we do not.  God also promises that His Spirit will come to guide us into all truth (John 16:13).  We just need to be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10) and trust that God will show us the way that we should go (Psalm 143:8).  The formation of  Prayer Triplets is just one way that we can intentionally set aside time to be still and listen to God’s voice as He guides us every step of the way as individuals and as a church in our faith journey.

And our destination?  I am reminded of the words of Gary Shockley in his book Following the Spirit’s Leading: “I am trying to learn something at once both simple and incredibly difficult: the destination is not a place but a person-a person who loves me very much and more than anything wants to be with me along the journey of life.  I am much more open these days to the idea that God isn’t all that interested in getting me somewhere.  God is just interested in getting me!”

May God “get us” in the coming months, so that wherever He leads, we’ll go.

Journeying on, Michael

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“Spiritual Transformation Journey” Retreat

Posted on April 30th, 2009

On April 24-25, members of our Spiritual Transformation Journey Initiating Leadership Team (pictured above) attended our first cluster retreat at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. Led by congregational coach Bill Moore, we joined the leadership teams from West End Baptist in Suffolk and Patterson Ave. Baptist in Richmond to learn more about what this “Spiritual Transformation Journey” is all about.

Here’s what we learned:

1. This is a spiritual journey to rekindle our first love for God.
2. We lose our passion for God when we become distracted by the “noise” and the busyness of our everyday lives.
3. The way to rekindle our love for God is to concentrate less on doing things for God and to focus more on being with God, communing with Jesus and abiding in God’s Spirit.
4. We commune with God through prayer, Bible reading, silence and meditation as individuals and as a community.
5. When we center ourselves in God and in Christ, we have a better chance to hear and discern what God wants us to be and to do.
6. When the whole church embarks on this journey, our church’s spiritual life will be transformed and we will gain a clearer vision of what God wants us to be and to do as a church.
7. God is already at work in leading Farmville Baptist into His preferred future. We just have to be still, and listen, and then follow!

On the journey – Michael

For more pictures of the retreat . . . Read the rest of this entry »

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“What I Think This Spiritual Journey Is About”

Posted on April 30th, 2009

Here are some thoughts from our Initiating Leadership Team members regarding what they think this spiritual journey is about.

“The retreat was a heart-opening experience that helped me understand God’s desire for a closer relationship with me.  I grew spiritually and I am excited about my future and Farmville Baptist Church’s future.  The spirit of our church is alive and the adventure that we are about to take with one another will certainly honor every member that blessed our church before us.  I am excited to seek God’s will by being still and just ‘being” in God’s presence.”                                – Crystal Cupp

“In the Sunday School text for April 26 (Acts 9:40), before Peter raised Tabitha from the dead, he knelt and prayed.  The spiritual transformation journey that Farmville Baptist has now begun urges our entire congregation to PRAY FIRST and then see what God leads us to DO.  We were reminded throughout the weekend retreat that in order to hear from God, we have to be still and listen.  Transformation will commence when we first seek God’s will.”                    – Ken Copeland

“‘Be still . . . and know that I am God.’  Once we can establish and embrace a church-wide journey together, only then can we maximize Christ’s impact on our community.”                                    – Don Kyper

“At the retreat, I realized that we must fully accept that Jesus lives in us and just as he did when he was here on Earth, we must continue to seek effective ways to bring all people closer to God.  I learned that we all can be prophets if we live our lives secure in the faith that we are doing God’s will.  I look forward to forming my prayer triplet so that I can share with them what I experienced initially on this transformation journey and hopefully be able to benefit from their commitment to the transformation process.  And I ask God to let our prayers rise like incense and give us the ability to inspire this congregation, so that as a church we may implement his will with boldness and confidence.”                            – John Slade

“I feel that the journey on which we are about to embark, as a congregation, is going to be a very uplifting experience.  It will be a journey on which we will not only grow closer to God but closer to each other.  As we turn the planning of our mission completely over to God, our vision will clear, our bearings will be sharper and our hearts happier. Excitement grows . . . let’s get started!”                          – Doris Weaver

“The word ‘journey’ can be synonymous with adventure, exploration, and expedition.  These three words have connotations that convey how I feel about being on this spiritual journey.  This adventure is exciting.  The exploration is inside each and every one of us.  The expedition is progress toward fulfilling our role in the Kingdom of God.  The journey has commenced.”                                                 – Elizabeth Whiley

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Spiritual Transformation Journey “Prayer Triplets”

Posted on April 30th, 2009

Prayer is at the heart of our Spiritual Transformation Journey.  In the coming weeks, under the guidance of the Initiating Leadership Team, we will organize at least seven small prayer groups.  Each group will have three participants who have signed a “No-Exit” covenant, committing to meet 10 times over approximately 100 days for about 100 minutes each time.  In each meeting of these “prayer triplets,” there will be a prayer guide to direct Bible reading, silence and meditation, sharing and prayer for one another.  Participants will also be asked to keep a journal to record significant discussions, experiences, learning, and discernments during those meetings and in their private time with God.

Below is a sample covenant that each participant will sign:

Members of each Prayer Triplet will covenant together to:

1. Meet in prayer 10 times over approximately 100 days for about 100 minutes each time.  The times and places for each meeting are to be determined by members of each Prayer Triplet.  It is okay to add several extra weeks to allow for conflicts in personal and church calendars.

2. Faithfully attend each triplet gathering and do not drop out before the tenth session.

3. Be open and honest in our conversations.

4. Be positive and constructive and not let it turn into a gripe session.

5. Respect the views of those in my triplet.

6. Keep private what is shared in confidence during the meeting.

7. Pray daily for one another, the other triplet gatherings, our congregation, and our pastor and staff.

8. Be open to God’s voice and sensitive to his leading.

9. Maintain a journal to record significant discussions, experiences, learning, and discernments during the gathering of your share and prayer triplet and in your private time with God.

10.  Read each week’s share and prayer study guide before the meeting.

Having read this covenant, if you are interested in participating in a Prayer Triplet, please contact the church office.

Participants will be asked to attend an orientation meeting (with their Prayer Triplet partners) on either Sunday, May 17, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m.,  or Sunday, May 24, 12:15 to 1:45 p.m.  You only have to attend one of the sessions.  Michael Cheuk will lead both sessions.

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Spiritual Transformation Journey Leadership Training

Posted on April 6th, 2009

Last Saturday, April 4, the Initiating Leadership Community for our Spiritual Transformation Journey met from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for our leadership training session.  The Leadership Community (pictured above from left to right: Crystal Cupp, Ken Copeland, Elizabeth Whiley, John Slade, Don Kyper, Doris Weaver & Michael Cheuk) met with Bill Moore, our congregational coach, who taught us the importance of being in relationship with God before doing things for God.

We spent much of our time discussing our perspectives on where we perceive Farmville Baptist to be regarding the strength of our vision, the depth of our relationships, the quality and scope of our programs, the accountability of our management structure, and other areas of the church.  That exercise provided a great conversation starter for us to share our experiences about the church.  While there were some divergent views expressed, we were encouraged to find that all seven of us believe that we have good people in positions of responsibility and leadership.

We also learned about the life cycle and stages of congregational development and we shared our take on what life cycle stage we think Farmville Baptist is presently. There was consensus that Farmville Baptist is on the “aging” side of the congregational life cycle, probably in the “empty nest” stage.  We are in need of a renewed vision for the church to draw us into the future that God has for us.

It was a wonderful time of learning and fellowship and we pledged to pray for one another as we prepare for our first retreat at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond on April 24-25.

Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers as we prayerfully seek God’s leadership and direction for our lives and for Farmville Baptist Church.

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Journeying Into a Hopeful Future

Posted on April 1st, 2009

Pastor’s Column published in The Informer (FBC’s Newsletter for April 2009)

Easter is once again around the corner, and lately, I have been pondering that first Easter day.  For us, more than two thousand years on this side of that miraculous morning, Easter is a celebrative reminder of the living power of God, and a confirmation of the wonderful future that we have in Christ.  But as I read the Gospel accounts of Easter, I sense that there was not only joy and celebration, but also shock, confusion and doubt as the disciples grappled with the impact that Jesus’ resurrection would have on their futures and the future of their community.  On that morning, those followers of Jesus embarked on a Easter Journey into an unknown but hopeful future.

I feel that we at Farmville Baptist Church also are about to embark on an Easter Journey that will take us into an unknown but hopeful future.  On Sunday, March 22, a taskforce consisting of Mc Amoss, Anita Lynn, George Carter, Jim Davis and I looked over the nominations submitted by the congregation for our initiating leadership team of our Spiritual Transformation Journey.  We came up with a list of church members to contact, and after personal conversations with each person on that list, I’m happy and excited to announce that Ken Copeland, Crystal Cupp, Don Kyper, John Slade, Doris Weaver and Elizabeth Whiley have all agreed to serve!  They will join me in an all-day training session with Bill Moore at Farmville Baptist on Saturday, April 4.  Later, we will join the leadership teams of West End Baptist in Suffolk and Patterson Ave. Baptist in Richmond on an overnight training retreat at the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond on April 24-25.  Please pray for the members of this team as we seek to lead Farmville Baptist in the Spiritual Transformation Journey.  While I don’t know exactly the future may bring, I am excited and hopeful that this journey will lead us toward a wonderful future that God has in store for us!

On the journey with Christ, Michael

Tags: Spiritual transformation journey
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