Episode 197: Preparing for a New Year

We all work differently, but some of the things I have done:     1. A Word for the year     In October, I begin praying God would give me a "word" for the coming year. For instance this year was "design." I knew God was leading our association in a new direction. Just as God designed the world with intentional purpose, we need to set up our association with a deliberate design. In the past, the word has been "discipleship" or "trust." The word sets the tone for the year. For me this year is "construct." We are in the process of building a new associational model based on our new design.     2. A vision series     As a senior pastor January was a month where I would always take a Sunday to lay out a visionary message for the church. From the time I sensed I had my "word" from God, I had opportunity to examine the Scripture more closely. Since the word usually arose from my own study, that process was typically natural, but sometimes the word would lead me down a pathway of study that challenged me and surprised me. The most important part in preaching a vision series is that you can share what the church should look like at the end of the year. A vision sermon might be one week, but most of mine ended up being two to four weeks.     3. Personal Development     What are you going to do to grow yourself over the next year? Many pastors don't have an intentional plan of growth. One example I can remember is a sense where I needed to grow a bigger desire for international missions. I registered for a February conference across the country held by a church passionate about missions. By Easter, I had taken a trip to Lebanon, and my church was joining me in developing a greater passion for missions. Books, Conferences, accountability groups or cohorts, seminary or certifications...what are you going to do to develop your skills? (As the churches of DTBA, we are here to help you in this.)     4. A Challenge to be addressed     In ministry, we all grow frustrated with the infrequent attendance issues of our congregation. One year, I challenged our church to address this issue. I asked them to consider their attendance patterns and challenged them to see if greater faithfulness made a difference in their lives. For many it did. We reaped the benefits, we also felt the challenge as it was a year the enemy really attacked our church. That year I saw the benefit of addressing challenges directly. Because we were learning to face obstacles, we were able to overcome them more easily.      Contact Alan: alan@dtbatogether.com Contact Trent: gasconadevalleybaptist@gmail.com Facebook Website