2019 was a long time ago!
So many dreams we believed God was putting on our heart. Some of you may remember this little booklet which summarised our priorities.
We were looking at putting on a new full time associate with a focus on discipleship and families. We were planning an inter-church evangelism conference.
We were beginning conversations with the BUV and their architect about developing the front of the church property both for local mission (e.g low cost housing, community garden) and generating income to support further mission. We were planning to upgrade our internship programme; We were about to launch a number of missional communities. We were considering another Vanuatu missions trip.
We were looking at reframing our Sunday evenings for an outreach focus running Alpha and the Jesus the Game-changer series. We were working with an outreach consultant about relaunching the Outreach HUB, and putting on a community mission worker. We had a team together to encourage social enterprises and were working on an inter-church conference for young Christian entrepreneurs. We were exploring when and how to plant some sort of a centre maybe out in the Woodstock area past Doreen.
Then it all changed!
And then quite suddenly our circumstances changed and Sunday morning 15th of March 2021 was our last regular service, as along with everyone else we went into the first of many lockdowns.
Here we are almost two years later; over a 100 episodes of Diamo Online and 80 online sermons later, and we are still not out of the woods! Yes, things seem to be opening up a little more, but ‘back-to-normal’ is still a fair ways off!
And 2022 onwards?
Like most others, we are still coming to terms with (when) and what this new ‘post-covid world’ will look like. Many people now want to work from home; Online education is far more of a thing; enjoying neighbourhood and living locally is becoming important.
On the other hand, the data seems to show that many who were ‘going through the motions’ of doing church are finally giving up and may not return. Others still hold to their beliefs, but are not convinced that coming to a typical weekly Sunday service, sitting in pews singing and listening to a sermon cuts it — they yearn for something more relaxed, relational and communal.
There’s uncertainty and anxiety about the future — will the economy bounce back? Will we ever travel overseas again? Will all the Covid ‘tree-changers’ head right back to the big cities? Will migration pick up again one day, or will the budding new estates at the outer edges of Melbourne decline?
Certainly anxiety and mental fatigue are at an all time high. People’s creative edge has been dulled. The way many feel has been described as “languishing.” It’s that lethargic space where one is not technically depressed, but neither is one doing well.
What that means is that we (and many others) are in a season of refuelling and reflection. We are waiting on the Lord and watching to see how our church community and our mission field is changing, rather than just rolling out the old menu and hoping it still works.
As a matter of fact, as we watch the news of new variants, and new covid ‘waves’ we are all still uncertain week-by-week as to whether these bleak times and restrictions will ramp up or ease up.
Waiting and watching and witnessing!
Isaiah 40:31 says: “They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Psalm 27:14 says: “… Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
We are in a season of waiting, watching and ensuring that each of us maintains their personal witness!
Our Church Council had a ‘visioning retreat’ back in mid-2021 to begin to prayerfully reflect on our church vision of two years ago. Our purpose and our heartbeat for loving God and others stays unchanged. That’s our compass, but it will take prayer, time and discernment to gauge what the Lord is saying about the many priorities and projects we had pencilled in way back then.
Our mission field is changing. We ourselves have been changed through this time. We need to wait and watch patiently and prayerfully together through this next season to hear the Holy Spirit clearly through the fog of these times.
We have had a church community ‘dreaming’ forum pencilled in the calendar for quite a while. I think we’ve had to quietly postpone it and move it forward about five times because of various restrictions! God willing, early in the new year, when were can ALL meet together, we will be able to share together.
Does that mean we don’t have a ‘Vision?’
Certainly not! For now we may need to hold our long-term plans lightly before the Lord, but our call and our mission are unchanged!
The ancient Greeks talked about the importance of three things for true communication.
They said you needed ‘Ethos’ ‘Pathos’ and ‘Logos’ to powerfully communicate.
Ethos - that’s integrity living out as an example, what you say you believe. It’s having integrity, it’s BEING real,
Pathos - that’s showing genuine compassion, genuine empathy and thoughtful care to those around you. It’s DOING what’s real.
Logos - it’s the actual message; the words, the appeal that explains it. It’s SAYING what’s real.
Each of us needs all three if we are to represent Jesus on earth, and that’s our calling: It’s our integrity; our compassion and our testimony wherever we live and work.
And that doesn’t change, regardless of our circumstances!
As Diamond Valley Baptist church:
We live and serve together as followers of Jesus - Ethos
We bring wholeness and health to our community - Pathos
We help people to find and follow Jesus - Logos
This is what marks us as ‘missionaries,’ as salt and light in our neighbourhoods. As we faithfully do these things, further opportunities and larger projects will certainly emerge. Often the Holy Spirit surprises us with unexpected and amazing possibilities.
Where does it begin?
It begins with a wholehearted commitment to our Lord and a desire for the Holy Spirit to flow through us and use us.
As we come to the start of a New Year, the words of Keith Green’s song are a wonderful prayer to offer from the heart:
“Make my life a prayer to You
I wanna do what you want me to
No empty words and no white lies
No token prayers no compromise
I wanna shine the light You gave
Through Your Son You sent to save us
From ourselves and our despair
It comforts me to know You're really there.”
God bless you and a shalom and joy filled new year to you all!
