FBC Gallatin,
This past Sunday during announcements I mentioned some recent training pastor Wood and I had with our association about the importance of defining for our church what it means to “win” or to be successful as a church. The problem with our modern situation, is that the metrics of success have been taken more from fortune 500 companies and the business world rather than the Bible. Since the church growth movement took off, churches everywhere have been measuring success by the number one metric of people in the building and that thinking has seeped its way into churches of all sizes across the nation and even world.
I want to pose to you a very important worldview shift that I think it will be good for our church to ponder and take to heart, winning or success should not be measured by worldly standards, but biblical standards that promotes faithfulness to God’s Word, and church health as an outworking of faithful churches caring more about ministry depth, church member growth in discipleship, and faithfulness to do and obey all that is taught in the Word of God.
This means that Churches that center on the Word and Gospel are successful no matter their size! And churches that don’t to center on faithful ministry are utter failures even if they are a mega church bursting at the seams.
So, here’s where my letter turns to the thankfulness that this month celebrates, I am so thankful for our church and the many ways we see faithfulness and growth in the centered commitments that the Bible puts forth. There are a lot of churches that do not preach the Word in all of its content and authority but we have seen the primacy of Word ministry here at FBC Gallatin over the years through a robust expository preaching ministry as one of our clear centered commitments! We just finished Jonah, and we are moving on to a series in 1 Timothy, and we let the Word set the agenda for our sermons and spiritual growth, and that is a very healthy and commendable thing going on at FBC Gallatin!
Furthermore, we have many examples of intentional discipleship going on at our church in a variety of contexts where Christians are seeking to grow themselves, and also prioritize helping others grow as well! Praise God for the organic relationships of fellow church member friends that have developed over the years and serve as a strong source of spiritual growth for so many of our members. Praise God for the biblical counseling ministry at FBC and the many men, women, and children that have been strengthened and helped work through really complex and hard struggles and situations right here in our church! Praise God for the intentional discipleship table talks ministry that has been going on for almost 4 years in a variety of small group meetings wrestling with important issues in the Christian life and seeking to learn and grow! Praise God for our longstanding faithful Sunday School classes and the teachers that lead them and members who participate in biblical discussion and mutual prayer and care for one another! Praise God for our monthly prayer service, and meaningful members meetings where we can engage with one another in prayer and also participate using our gifts in the life of the church! All of this should be celebrated as biblical "wins" for us to be thankful for!
And lastly, our great commission priority is seen right here in our weekly gatherings as we are seeking to teach disciples to believe and live out all that Christ Jesus commanded and that happens in ours and all the other churches throughout the world that we support and partner with in our Gospel Motivated Giving! Praise God for the local outreach our church members are doing to connect with neighbors and friends most recently seen in our presence at the local trunk or treat event at our elementary school where we were able to connect with and provide information about our church and the ministries we have going on at FBC Gallatin (we won the first place prize by the way with the amazing decorations that Brandie Dennis setup for the event)! Praise God for the way our giving connected with the SBC fuels ministry locally, domestically, and internationally and that we have a relationship with the Hill family in South East Asia personally here at FBC and continue partnership in prayer and support. Praise God also for our Gospel Motivated Partnership with Sam Parkison in Abu Dhabi and the great opportunity our church has to promote and support his faithful ministry in the 10/40 window to train and support ministry in unreached areas. Praise God for our annual participation in operation Christmas child and the great opportunity to work together with our Pioneer Clubs Ministry and pack shoeboxes to provide gifts to needy families for Christmas! On that note, Praise God for our Youth and Children's ministries sharing the gospel with unbelieving children to evangelize the lost for the Glory of God!
Now we can go on and on, noticing and praising God for the “wins” at FBC which is such a blessing and I hope we can all be excited about and involved in the great things God is doing at our church through each and every member of our church! Lean into meaningful membership and play a roll in all that God is doing here for the glory of God and the good of His Church here and abroad!!!
Sincerely,
Pastor Daniel Pelichowski
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