I cannot believe we are entering March, and the Lenten season is here! Time flies by, whether we are purposeful and focused with the time God gives us, or not. We can’t stop time and I certainly don’t want to stop it, but I pray we are savoring and soaring within the time God gives us.

If you will recall in the January-February Greeter, I shared a few Scriptures that help us focus on what it means to be the Church (with the Capital “C”):

• The Church belongs to God; Jesus is the true Head; we are His Body. 1 Corinthians 12:11-12
• Discipleship is the primary mission of the church. Matthew 28:19-20
• Every Christian is created for ministry. 1 Peter 4:10
• The propelling and regulating force of Church ministry is her Spiritual DNA, empowered and embedded within her by the Holy Spirit. John 15:5
• The Church is flexible yet provides the framework by which she moves to fulfill God’s call for her at any and every moment in time. Mark 2:22

To sum it up: The Church is God’s witness to the life, love, and mission of Jesus to our community!

How does our church go about being witness to the life, love, and mission of Jesus to our community? I suspect this is where a vision comes in. According to Rick Warren, a “church’s vision is your faith dream for your church.” I love that idea of a “Faith Dream”! A vision for us would encourage unity, create
energy, supply purpose, foster risk-taking, guide leadership (and all that we do), and sustain our ministry. It has been quite some time since Green Tree COB has written out the vision and mission God has for this Church Body. In fact, it is over 30 years since the last mission statement was put to paper. What if God has
new dreams, new visions? What are the needs of today’s Oaks community (which likely has changed since 1992 when the last mission statement was finalized)?

Please pray that God will share “faith dreams” that He is planting within you, as well as ask Him for the “faith dreams” He has for Green Tree Church. I’d love to hear about those dreams, hear about the visual images God gives you, hear what excites you and makes your heart beat a little faster, and hear what you are sensing God is asking us to risk and do as we represent Him. Please write anything God shares with you or you sense may be a “faith dream” down on paper and I’d love to read it! You can put these
notes in my mailbox, email me at pastor@greentreecob.org or on my personal email kimream@ptd.net, or come see me and let’s talk about it!

In Habakkuk 2:2 (HCSB), the Lord tells His faithful follower: “Write down this vision; clearly inscribe it on tablets so one may easily read it.”

Let’s start praying, listening, writing, dreaming, and sharing what we hear!
~Pastor Kim