One of the things that we try and do as the Pastors of FBCER is to evaluate how successful we are being in the lives of the people that God has entrusted to us. Now to be honest, success is a hard thing to quantify when it comes to the church because we believe that we are about more than just numbers, we are about people’s lives. Numbers can give us a glimpse into some things, but numbers don’t tell stories. When we look at our body, we see more than numbers. We want to see lives that are being transformed and looking more like the qualities we see that are expected in Scripture. After all Christianity is more than just a set of rules to follow, it is about following a person, Jesus Christ.

That being said there are three criteria that we have tried to use over the years to help us determine health and success within the body. I share these with you because I want you to know that these are the expectations we have for you as part of this body of Christ. These really aren’t our expectations at all, but we believe they are mandated from scripture.

Here are the three things we are looking for, people who are devoted to: 1) Worship 2) Growth 3) Sharing. When we say worship, we mean both personal and corporate.  We are asking God to make a people who are devoted to worshipping God in all areas of their lives and are devoted to meeting with the people of God for corporate worship. When we say growth, we are looking to see if the people of FBCER are devoted to personal growth through the Word of God and the people of God. Spiritual maturity will happen when we are seeking after God. We hope to see people in discipleship relationships where they are meeting with other believers in the pursuit of Godliness. When we say sharing, we want to see people move from being about themselves to investing in others through serving, giving, and evangelism.

This month our sermon series is geared to explaining these expectations in more detail. I ask that you would join us weekly as we unfold what we believe Scripture is calling us to in our journey of faith.

For His glory and your joy,

Pastor Charlie