| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Hearing from God” Our Bible verse for today: “I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.” 1 Corinthians 9:22-23 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Laying the foundation for the church of tomorrow” Let’s return now to our discussion from yesterday regarding how our congregation arrived at a difficult group consensus about an important issue without allowing the dynamic of groupthink to drive the outcome. As I noted yesterday, it took us three-and-one-half years to decide the issue of what kind of new sign we should purchase for the church. During that time God spoke to us about it in numerous ways. First, the circumstances pertaining to the situation changed over time. The old sign continued to deteriorate to the point that we could no longer delay replacing it. Something had to be done. Second, during that time the financial position of the church improved significantly. It had always been strong (we weren’t in debt and we did have reserves), but it had improved to the point where we could easily write a check for the most expensive option (the digital sign) without it having a significant negative impact on our savings. The third thing that happened is that in one of our meetings about the sign, we considered the importance of the lesson the Apostle Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23. In that passage Paul explained how he constantly adjusted his methods of ministry in order to be most effective with whatever group he was attempting to reach. Whether it was Jew or Gentile, old or young, rich or poor, educated or uneducated, Paul adjusted his methods accordingly. The message never changed, but the methods of communicating that message had to change in order to effectively communicate with different groups of people. That example in the Bible was God speaking to us about our sign. We needed to consider generational and cultural issues. The fact is that we live in a digital age now. Technology is a big deal and it is an effective means of communicating with young adults, teenagers, and children. Even if a digital sign doesn’t seem important to the older generation, it does matter to the younger ones, and one of the most important jobs of the older generation in any church is to help lay the foundation for the church of tomorrow. As decisions are made in a church, they have to be made with an eye towards the future. The entire two-thousand-year history of the Christian church is a textbook example of that. The Holy Spirit overcomes generational, cultural, language, and geographic boundaries as the message continues to spread. The message has never changed, but the methods of communicating it have continuously changed. As we did our research and sought counsel on the issue, we discovered that multiple studies confirm the effectiveness of digital signs in communicating with the younger generations – which is why so many businesses, organizations, schools, and churches, have moved to digital signs. All of that helped us to hear from God on the issue and to arrive at a group consensus based upon what we were hearing from Him. And how did that work out for us? I’ll have some final thoughts to share with you about that tomorrow. For now, as your group seeks to hear from God on an issue, I encourage you to take your time and do your homework, God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00 – in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville) |
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