Changing the calendar at the end of the year causes one to reflect past, present, future.  From my vantage point in life, all I can say is that the calendar is starting to turn too quickly.  Time feels like it is running out.  I have been in ministry for over 23 years now.  By usual working standards, I probably have at least 20 more, and from a ministry perspective the rest of my life, whatever the Lord gives to me.  But the clock is ticking for me and you and The Unity of the Brethren.
 
The Past
25 years ago we had four students in seminary.  While we, as a denomination were not sure what we were going to do with that many young pastors all at one time, many within the denomination believed that the Brethren Church was ripe for something new; that The Unity of the Brethren would experience revitalization and new vitality; that with this influx of pastoral leadership, The Unity of the Brethren would step forward into a new era of ministry, service and growth.
 
How have the hopes, dreams and the vision faired so far?  Honestly, it just hasn’t happened.  Membership has dwindled and stagnated and generally grown older.  We have fewer congregations; too many are content with the way things have always been.  New church development has struggled and often been short lived.  But remember this is the past 25 years, not the next.  Things have just not materialized, YET.
 
Certainly we have seen growth in missions, added a youth coordinator, increased pastoral leadership in a number of congregations, touched lives through the ministry of the camp, and seen pockets of new life.  These are blessings, and we praise and thank God for these victories in the building up of the Body of Christ,  The Church.
 
The Present
None of us have a quick fix for a church that tends to be tradition bound - translated that’s not the way we do it, this is the way we’ve always done it, we tried that once years ago or that won’t work here and sometimes a little too restricted by constitutions, by-laws and votes as well as our thinking and openness to new.  I believe what is needed is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on me, my family, the congregation I serve and the denomination as a whole.  I simply pray now for God to change us and trust that in His time we will be more in step with Jesus Christ the Head of the Church and the leading of the Holy Spirit instead of just getting by.
 
The Future
As we step into 2005, the 102nd year of our existence as a denomination, I am not advocating making any more resolutions.  I am encouraging prayer and increased spiritual preparation in anticipation of Jesus as the Head of the Church doing a new thing in us, through us, and among us - on the Lord’s terms and in the Lord’s time as well as His Second Coming.  That does not mean we do nothing; it means that we steady ourselves more faithfully in the ministry and mission before us and know that God will take care of the rest.  Here’s how...
 
1.  Reaffirm My Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ
Because so many of us have grown up in church, in the Brethren Church, we sometimes are more complacent and ho-hum about our relationship than we ought to be.  How is my relationship with the Lord?  How is it with me and Jesus?  Where am I holding back?  Is Jesus Christ my first love?
 
2.  Spend Personal Time with Jesus Christ Everyday
If you are not already, spend time with Jesus - everyday in prayer, Bible reading and praise.  You cannot really maintain any relationship if you do not spend time together, just ask your spouse.
 
3.  Worship Every Lord’s Day with the Body of Christ
Faithful, weekly worship is important.  The first step to spiritual suicide is what many of us have been suckered into thinking by society:  I work 5 days a week, Saturday is the day to do home work.  Sunday is my day.  Wrong...Sunday, for Christians, is the Lord’s Day first.  I have seen too many people drift out of the church for thinking just that way and their walk with the Lord goes with it.  Jesus found himself in the synagogue on the Sabbath.  Need I say more?  If the Son of God needed to be connected with others on a weekly basis, what makes us think we don’t or rather haphazardly?
 
Notice I didn’t say church attendance.  We can attend and still not really worship - just go through the motions of being there.  Giving the Lord the love of our hearts is what is at stake.
 
4.  Discover a Passion for a Personal Ministry
What excites you about Jesus’ call upon your life - not what you ought to do out of a sense of obligation or duty.  What do you believe God is calling you to do?  You are here for a purpose - a divine and holy purpose.  You are called to be more than a pew/bench warmer or a veto vote on everything new or different in the congregation.
 
What excites you for the Lord?  Do it, and don’t wait for permission and blessing from any other than Jesus Christ as the Head of the Church and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
 
5.  Take a Personal Spiritual Inventory
Check your life against the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), the Great Commandment (love God and love your neighbor) and Great Commission (make disciples).  What needs adjusting or tweaking in your life?  What needs confession?  To whom do you need to seek forgiveness?
 
6.  Forgive Others
If you need forgiveness in your life from #5 above and we all do, the truth is you will need to forgive someone else as well - forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  Who do you need to release from your grudge list?  Usually the person you are angry with has long gone on with life, and the only person nursing the hurt is you.
 
As we embark into the future, resolutions are out and preparations are in.  Let us prepare in hope and anticipation of the Lord doing a new thing in us, through us and among us, in His time and in His way. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.