Thriving in Ten Years

Thriving

in Ten Years

Elders Day Report
There are so many captions to include with this photo!  Maybe...Where are we!?  ...or ...Where did we lose the trail!?  Thankfully, neither of those describes our time last Saturday.  Instead, it was meaningful and rich, both spiritually with one another and earnestly seeking the Lord's direction for RIC.  Here is the question we tackled...

What would need to happen this year to see RIC thriving in ten years?  As elders, we take very seriously Paul's charge to the Ephesian elders. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. Acts 20:28. More than caring about the Ephesian church's survival, Paul knew that sheep cared for today yield healthy, multiplying sheep down the road. The means Jesus uses to build his church is the gospel preached, taught and studied from the Word, and applied by the Spirit's power. As your elders reflected on God's work at RIC, we rejoiced that this is true of us presently.

Our conviction is that discipleship must be at the heart of everything we do. Therefore, how do we all participate in being discipled and discipling others? That is where we asked the Lord for direction. With limited resources, time, members, and volunteers, how should we focus the resources God has given?

Ten years from now, many of you will not be here anymore! So, in order to strive for a healthy, multiplying church that lives and breathes discipleship ten years from now, we must focus on discipling the next disciples of Jesus.

We spent the day in prayer and conversation about what this will look like in practice. It's such a big vision, that we will need everyone if we are going to see this vision realized. On September 3, we will have our first members meeting to discuss the details of implementation. Until then, please be in prayer for RIC and ask the Lord how He may have you participate in the coming weeks. More details to follow...

Together for His Glory,

Loren