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| Intrepid Class Spacecraft |
There are many ways to share the story of this adventure in faith and trust.
Linear: In January 2012, FBC committed to a home developed futuring process called Walking by Faith. The church called out over 30 people to listen, discern, and vision cast. In the last year the church has held three Town Hall meetings and celebrated 20 different prayer and share teams who met 8-10 times to pray, listen and dream about the future of the church. The Walking by Faith team has met 7 times, held an over night retreat, and broken up many times in smaller groups. The futuring process has required us to practice patience and trust in God's Spirit to lead and forced us to not out maneuver God (not an easy task).
Faith: Another way to share this story is through the faith built into our WBF team and congregation as we have practiced walking into an unknown future. Over this past year, we have seen a new community soup kitchen develop through the leadership of membership. We have seen a new pastoral care ministry develop to care for our homebound and hospitalized members. We have been challenged to trust God with our finances in a difficult recession. Through each opportunity we have learned that we do not control our future - God does. So, we need to spend the time getting to know the source of our power as a church.
Direction: The other way to share this story is through the movement of the Holy Spirit inside our WBF team. Each time I struggled as pastor wondering how God would lead us through the mire of differing ideas and vision for the future - God continued to light the way. For example, at the Walking By Faith team retreat in January 2013, the team divided into three groups to pull together the congregational values we had heard from our many listening sessions. We were struggling with the human and holy sides of being church when our youngest member - a high school sophomore - broke the barrier and said, "AGAPE! That is who we are as a church." Quickly, we began to develop an acrostic with AGAPE of the values statements we had heard. It made so much sense. AGAPE - the Greek word for sacrificial love - is the name of a 42 year old camp our church has held for the community. It lies at the heart of who we are! Thus, an AGAPE value statement was born. Out of these values emerged a missional vision based on AGAPE.
However we share this faith story, it is as unique to First Baptist Cornelia as the Vision and Values that have emerged. I am excited to share them with you now. Here they are!
Vision: To love the world in the same
way God loves us.
[Biblical Foundation: Jesus says, “’This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you.’” John 15:12]
Identity: We are a People of God defined by AGAPE.
[Biblical
Foundation: John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave his only
begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal
life.”
Values: We
express God’s AGAPE in the following ways:
Advancing God’s Kingdom
(Mission): We seek God’s
Kingdom first in our lives, church, community and world through partnership
strategies which result in individual and community transformation
Growing Disciples
(Discipleship): We
passionately seek to be formed into the image of Jesus for the sake of the
world.
All Inclusive, Intentional Worship
(Worship): We
value inclusive, intentional, creative worship that exalts God with awe and
wonder, celebrates Jesus with joy and thanksgiving, and submits to the Holy
Spirit in reverence and humility.
Praying, Spirit Led Family of Followers
(Community): We
seek first to be a people of prayer and spiritual discernment who live in unity
with God’s purposes.
Extending God’s Grace
(Worth): As
we are all called to be good stewards
of God’s incredible gift to us, we value the divine uniqueness and giftedness
of each individual from newest infant to the oldest adult, blessing both men
and women in positions of leadership and ministry.
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