Pastor's Corner
January 2006
"Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days you would not believe if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5
Dear Church Family,
As I review and think back over the year 2005 at Ustick Baptist, I can't help but hear the words spoken to the prophet Habakkuk so long ago by the Lord! I am astonished to see what the Lord has been doing in "our days"! We have seen so many blessings of God that we are indeed convinced that He is doing something beyond even what we can see!
One area where we have clearly seen the Lord's work is in causing the increase in attendance for our worship service. This growth has been amazing and has led to an average attendance close to 700 people per Sunday! This has led to some obvious "problems" from finding seating for everyone to parking issues. Since our seating capacity in the sanctuary is around 770 people, you can see that we don't have much margin for further increase to allow everyone to be in worship together! So, as we announced at our congregational meeting on December 4th, we will be going to two worship services beginning on February 5th. The first worship service will be from 8:00a.m. until 9:15a.m. Then Sunday School for all ages will be from 9:30a.m. until 10:30a.m. with our second worship service being from 10:45a.m. until 12:00noon.
With this change it would be easy to simply attribute it to over-crowding. However as the elders have prayerfully and carefully looked at this change, we realize it is more than that. At the heart of this change is really the mission of our church. We want to reach people for Christ and help them become fully devoted followers of Him! As God continues to "bring the increase" we want to provide every opportunity for everyone to be in worship! We have seen people leave our parking lot because they couldn't find a parking space on a Sunday morning. We have seen people (especially visitors) try to find a seat for the worship service and then leave because the church sanctuary was full! Obviously that's not what we want to see happen! So the two services will give everyone a chance to be in worship. Also this will maximize our church facilities and allow us to make sure every visitor is welcomed. In addition this will allow us to use the balcony much less and allow a greater sense of unity with everyone in the same lower sanctuary area. We've also heard how having an earlier service will minister to those working all-night shifts.
So we are "astonished" at how God has brought the people to our church. We are excited about how two services will allow us the opportunity for greater outreach; to see more and more people following our Savior! Yes, it is a huge change and we will have to work even harder to connect with one another and to continue our unity but again we know that God is in our growth and it is all worth it to see His kingdom work being done! We ask for your patience and prayers in the logistical challenges that come with this change. I am excited to keep "looking" to see more things in the year ahead that God will do that we "will not believe if we were told!"
Serving with you,
