January 27th, 2023
Blessings in Christ, my brethren,
Prayerfully the year 2022 afforded you ample opportunity to find, mark out, and participate in simple, peaceful, and beautiful things. That was our vision for the year and I know many of us saw the peacefulness and beauty of simple things, simple realities, and simple areas of growth in our lives and in our congregation. Glory to God!
This year, 2023, I envision each of us possessing and increasing in healthiness, helpfulness, and happiness. If we possess healthy habits and urge each other toward them, in our individual lives and callings, as well as our studies together and corporate fellowship and worship, we will truly be helpful, especially if we look for opportunities to do be so, and this will foster happiness. And who doesn’t want to be happy?
I’ve been asking others in our congregation to consider asking yourself, ‘What is the healthiest thing I do?’. And simply, do more of that and find ways to share the health with others.
To further develop health and helpfulness in our congregation, especially as it comes to what we seem to do best, help one another and others think through their faith and understand the Bible, we are going to learn more about ‘active listening’ and ‘effective communication’. Throughout this year you will hear me speak to those phrases quite a bit, also providing learning and developmental resources, as well as some social experiments that will build each of us up. After all, we are called to do all things for the edification of the Church (see, 1 Corinthians 14:26).
I want to impress upon each of us the value and importance of gathering together. Theologically speaking, it is through our gathering together, thinking together, strategizing, and working together, as the Church, which was the goal of the ages and is that which manifests the healing the world needs, “the manifold wisdom of God” (see, Ephesians 3:4-6). Practically speaking, our coming together, seeing faces, hearing talks of the week, encourages each of us and surely works toward our benefit. Do you see value in what we have here at The Blue Point Bible Church? If not, take responsibility and help us manifest things you see as valuable. However, if you do see the value, let’s work together to show that to the world. How can we convince the world to see value in what we are doing if we don’t demonstrate that value ourselves? I urge each of us to remember the Covenant, Purpose, and Responsibilities of Membership as outlined in our church constitution. Ask God to lead you in renewed conviction.
When it comes to having a greater effect on the world around us and moving ourselves on to maturity as a congregation, I heed the wisdom shared by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “The answer is only to be found in persistent trying, perpetual experimentation, and persevering together”. And of course, an unyielding trust is the faithfulness of God and the increase of His government. The contrast to that, the reason why just this past Sunday I saw an article on Yahoo News, ‘Losing Their Religion: Why US Churches Are On The Decline’, is also found in wisdom shared by Dr. King, in that he said, “If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority.”
Another pastor on social media asserted, “In an effort to reach the lost, many pastors failed to disciple the found. Hence, the world in 2022”. Unfortunately, he is ‘right on the money’, so to speak. May we relish in our continued discipleship and true seeking, searching, studying, and proving of the truth of the Scriptures and thus the things of God. May we find ourselves blessed with an increase of healthiness, helpfulness, and happiness in 2023, amen? May we do this for the glory of God, the edification of the church, and the proper loving of our neighbor, as we properly love of ourselves.
For the increase of God’s government,
With love, grace, and truth,
Pastor Michael Miano