Last Sunday, our church threw a party and it was a great day! We worshiped together, ate together, played games together, spent time connecting with one another, and made many new friends. The time we shared was incredibly special. There was a strong sense of community and a great passion for the vision of New Song Church-an energy unlike we have seen in quite some time. The Holy Spirit was moving in the hearts of people and it was an honor to be a part of that moment.
It had been a while since our entire church celebrated together, so our people were ready to party! Now, we weren’t just partying for the sake of partying, we had a reason. We were celebrating all of the great things that God has done in the life of New Song Church over the past couple of years. Here are a few:
1. Spiritual growth – Dozens of people have given their lives to Christ-both individuals as well as entire families. Nothing gives me more joy than to see someone begin walking with God, and there is something incredibly special about an entire family who surrenders their lives to God and then follows in water Baptism. In addition, we currently have more people in small groups, and more people serving in ministry, than we’ve ever had in the history of our church. People are joining together to encourage, equip, and help one another in their walk with God. We’ve also seen new men’s and women’s groups start with the intention of multiplying after one year. That’s what making disciples is all about! These are great evidences of spiritual growth.
2. Numerical Growth – Numbers tell a story. Our numbers tell us that more people are getting more connected than ever. All of our numbers are trending up, and the growth in our children & student ministries is huge! We are way over capacity in these environments and we are in dire need of more space and more leaders who will help children & teenagers connect to God. Our leadership has begun to dream and plan for the future and it’s very exciting!
3. Financial Growth – God’s hand of blessing has been upon our church’s finances. Over the last two and a half years we have paid off our land debt, reduced our building mortgage from $525,000.00 to $387,000.00, established a contingency fund of one month’s worth of expenses (in the event of an emergency), significantly increased our giving to the mission of the United Methodist Church, and for the first time in the history of New Song Church, we are on track to both meet an exceed our annual operating budget.
There you have it-just a few of the things worth celebrating at New Song Church and there’s plenty more! It’s an exciting time for us. There is a spirit of unity and a sense of momentum that is very present among our people. God’s hand of blessing is upon us and it is our job to respond by being great stewards with what he has entrusted to us. We must make disciples, empower leaders, and invest more in the mission of our church so that we are helping to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus.
I love my church! In fact, a while back I wrote a blog post called “5 Reasons Why I Love My Church.” If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to read it so that you can see what makes New Song Church so incredibly special. It truly is an honor to serve God and to serve New Song Church. I’m excited about the future and look forward to seeing more life-change in our community.
-Danny
Danny, great post. Sorry we missed it. See you soon. God is working at New Song!!
Thanks Ed! We sure miss you guys. Can’t wait to see you and hear all about the trip.
-Danny