Goals and Prayers for the Beginning of the Year
I wanted to bring you up to speed on what is going on here in Culpeper and how you can pray for us.
A Look at Culpeper
Church planters are nerds about demographics. We all have a sneaking suspicion that we don't know our communities as well as we should. So when the 2010 census data started rolling out I began paying attention.
I also know that many of you have never been and may never come to Culpeper. However, through the miracle of modern technology you can take a peak into this community that you are supporting from a far. When you support orphan ministries they send you a snapshot of the kids your donations go to help. Consider the next few links as your snapshot of Culpeper:
- Mapping America: Every City, Every Block - Go to this link and type in 22701 for Culpeper's zipcode. Take a look around the map and see to whom we are ministering. Of course, you can enter in your own zipcode and take a look around your community as well.
- The Star Exponent is our local paper (and the editor attends our church plant). They've been doing a series of articles on what the census tells us about Culpeper. You can find those articles here:
- Culpeper: A social snaphshot of town
- Census provides look into county's economy
- A closer look at housing in the county
- Census examines county's sex, age, and race
Goals for the first few months of 2011
- Receive New Members - We have a number of families that are going to be joining over the next few months.
- Start Self-Study Theological Education - In the next month we will begin four self-study courses on the topics of Christian Character, Bible Exegesis, Church Life, and World Engagement.
- Grow our Community Groups - We have just launched our fourth community group. I'll be working with our groups and leaders to make sure our groups are healthy, centered on Jesus, and equipped to reach folks who don't know Christ.
- Informally Assess Potential Elders - God is blessing our plant with men who are actively participating in the life of the church. A large part of what I do is meet with these men to encourage them and assess whether or not God is equipping them as elders.
Prayer
- For the suffering - There is a ton of suffering in our congregation. Pray for us that God would give us the strength to suffer well and the perseverance to depend on him when we don't see the reason for the suffering.
- For conversions - We have a number of folks who aren't Christians who are engaging our congregation at different levels. Pray that they would profess faith in Jesus.
- For peace and unity in Christ - With such a small congregation I'm constantly worried that unresolved conflict will grow in our congregation. Pray that we will be kind and tenderhearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave us.
- Giving - Pray that our members would find tithing a joy—giving as an act of worship and kingdom extension.
Parting Picture
The attached picture is of our family this past Thanksgiving. If anyone knows how to slow down the aging process in children, please let me know. Because these boys are growing up way too fast.
