Vital Congregations Initiative
As I learned more about the Vital Congregations Initiative, I became more and more enthused and convinced this would be of great benefit for our church. One of the things that got my attention is this is not another program for a church to embrace. This is not a program at all. It is an opportunity for a congregation to take stock of where it is and seek to discover the future it believes God might be calling it to live into. With the upcoming transition for our church as my retirement approaches it seemed like a good fit for us. I shared how I saw this benefitting our church with our Session, and they agreed.
We begin this journey with a Lenten sermon series I have entitled, Signs of a Vital, Loving and Life-giving Congregation. Each Sunday I will be preaching on one of the 7 “marks” or characteristics of a Vital Congregation. We will follow the worship service with a congregational meal and a chance to talk at tables about what each Sunday’s topic and what it could mean for our church. I think you will find this an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. Here are the topics for this Lenten Sermon series:
March 6, 2022 Discipleship: Growing in the Soil of Grace Acts 2:42-47
March 13, 2022 Evangelism: Its Not What You Think John 4:1-26
March 20, 2022 Outreach: Finding Jesus in the Forgotten Matthew 25:31-46
March 27, 2022 Servanthood: Love in Action John 13:1-20
April 3, 2022 Worship: The Transforming Power of the Spirit Romans 12:1-2
April 10, 2022 Caring: Bearing the Burdens of Love Galatian 6:1-10
April 17, 2022 Easter: The Rest of the Story Luke 24:13-35
Grace and Peace, John