For many weeks God has been soaking my heart with some substantial desires on behalf of the people of Meadow.
We are in our 49th year of existence as a local assembly and His grace to us has been nothing short of amazing. What a transformation has occurred since a small group of believers gathered together for the first time in a home in 1962; this handful of faithful ones began what the current Meadow family is reaping today. There have been thousands of people to come, stay and go. Missionaries have been raised up, sent out and provided for.
Who knows how many preachers have been called, licensed to proclaim the Gospel, ordained and dispatched to other places?
Training, equipping, educating and mentoring have been a large part of what has been accomplished historically at Meadow. There were seven pastors in the first forty years and I have served as the eighth since 2002. Three building projects have been undertaken as the church has experienced numerical growth and one relocation from Duluth to was granted in 2008. It is only known in Heaven what God has graciously and powerfully accomplished for and through the people of Meadow.
But I am trusting that the best is yet to come. I’m praying that God might deepen us and expand our gospel influence in ways that dwarf all that has come before.
Tomorrow I plan to begin a six-week sermon series called 4:4 Church.
The title of the series is based on what is written in Ephesians 4:1-6, with a strong anchor in 4:4. The tenor of the series will be to help the Meadow family to know, biblically, who we are. In doing so we will be challenged to define ourselves according to the terms of a New Testament Church and engage in a tenacious commitment to accept no other defining marks from our cultural trends, our Baptist traditions or our personal preferences. We will take a long look at what Scripture says concerning the mission of a local, New Testament church. Our call to unity (not uniformity!) will be examined as well as our commission to reach those around us with the message of Jesus Christ. The call for every child of God to engage in sacrificial living will be a portion of what is highlighted each week. Amongst the other topics, I plan to address the exemplification of Christ’s presence in us by how we are caring for one another. Lazy, disengaged church members, beware! If you are not careful you might get saved! Worshiping and growing saints, be prepared to be encouraged and inspired by God’s word as it affirms your life-purpose. Leaders should expect to be deeply convicted, thoroughly challenged and greatly motivated in the privileged work that God has entrusted to us. If all goes as I have been praying, this six-week series has the potential to shore up what is currently lacking in the ministry of Meadow. We must pray for God’s presence & power in these days and ask Him to do something lasting in our midst. No sermon has the ability to change one heart – it is the work of God the Spirit through a sermon that can bring glorious results. Meadow family, friends of Meadow and Transforming Truth, prepare your own hearts and ask God to speak directly to you for the result of faith, repentance, restoration, a committed will and a fruitful work.
“Let Your work be shown to your servants, and Your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” –Psalm 90:16-17