May 18, 2023
Dear Central Church,
The Bible is filled with people who are called to do bold and audacious things for God. The prophet Elisha does something in 2 Kings 4 that didn’t make a lot of sense: he told a women with nothing but a small jar of olive oil to go and collect empty vessels. He tells her, “Do not gather few.” Elisha is inviting her to dream big and not limit what God can do in her situation.
I wonder if we miss out on what God wants to do because our imagination is too small. We don’t have the capacity to think about vessels being filled with our limited resources. We don’t have the imagination to think about water being turned to wine or for five loaves and two fish to become enough to feed 5,000.
God wants to do the miraculous among us, but it begins with our willingness to offer to him what we have. In offering God what we have, Elisha’s advice is still good today: “Do not gather few.”
Over the last four weeks, our leadership team has presented the “Our Turn Now” vision to you. We believe it’s a “God-sized” vision for ministry. We made the decision a few months ago that we didn’t want to “gather few,” but wanted to imagine a redesigned space that positions our church to thrive for years to come. The reimagined sanctuary, the expanded upper atrium, the additional hospitality spaces, and the relocation of the food pantry are necessary tools for future ministry.
This Sunday, we’ll commit together financially to see this vision become a reality. We’re asking God for an additional $700,000 in commitments to complete this project. This is your chance to bring a “vessel” and offer something to God that he can bless.
As you have prayed about this over the last few weeks, would you come to worship this Sunday ready to participate in this vision? If you have not received a commitment card yet, we’ll have them available in the sanctuary. You also can fill out a digital commitment card by clicking here. These additional commitments are for 1 year, with the goal of having all commitments fulfilled by June of 2024.
Here’s my prayer for this Sunday: I’m asking the Holy Spirit to move in all of our hearts at the same time and direct us to give sacrificially to see this happen. I look forward to all of us committing together and saying with one voice, “It’s our turn now to give God something he can bless.”
Until He’s Finished,
Pastor Mark
