I have said before that I maintain what I call a Spiritual Dissatisfaction.  I do not want to become comfortable with how much I have been conformed into the image of Jesus.  I fear that when that happens, I actually stop growing and in fact, I find I tend to go backwards in my walk.  By reminding myself that I have not “arrived” I keep moving forward.  I will freely acknowledge the wonderful work God has done in my life, and give Him glory for the terrific progress He has helped me to accomplish, but there is more – and I want it.

The same thing holds for my hopes for this church.  After all, that is why we changed our name four years ago to Greater Life.  God has used this church for over 100 years, He has blessed Elko, He has reminded Elko of His Great love for them through this church (and many others, but let’s just talk about us for a while).  Are we getting comfortable?  Do we deserve a rest?  Hasn’t God done enough through us?  Hey, let’s give the other churches a chance to do what we have been doing longer than most of them.  Sorry, we’ll rest when we are dead!  There are people here that have not experienced what God wants to offer them.  We are not finished yet!

To that end, the Leadership Team (The LT) has been praying and has been working to clarify our vision and determine the direction we need to go.  We have been using as a guide a book called Church Unique, written by Wil Mancini.  There is a process outlined in the book that allows a church to bring into laser focus the one thing God has gifted us to be able to do better than 10,000 other churches.  Along with our Congregational Coach, Andy Boetcher, we have begun this Vision Pathway.  What is encouraging to us is that our Region has made it possible for us to get hands on training from the organization that developed this program (Is God great – or what?).  Three of us (Darryl, Bonnie and I) will be attending training once a month in Boise.  We will bring what we learned back to the rest of the LT to do the work.  There will be times we will be coming to you for input, so please be ready.  By that I mean start praying NOW.  Pray for the three of us, for the LT, pray for yourselves that we don’t miss what Greater Life God has for us to give the community we are here to serve.  We will be briefing you as things develop.