Christ-Centered ChurchWe were asked a couple of months ago, in preparation for the elders/ministers retreat at Glen Rose, to write down our dreams for the Legacy Church of Christ. There were no time frames attached to the request. They could be dreams we have for the congregation in the coming months or visions of what we’d hope to see 20 years from now.

Toward the end of our time together, we shared those dreams with each other. We listened as everyone poured out their hearts and wishes and passions and hopes for the Legacy body. We prayed together that our God would use us for his purposes, to minister to his people in his Kingdom, as he wishes.

I was inspired by the commonality in our individual visions.

Of course, the details differed and the emphasis changed from person to person as we went around the room. One elder would speak of increased membership and a bigger staff. Another would bring up an idea to enhance outreach to the hispanic community or the Lifeline Chaplaincy program or our marriages and kids. Someone wants us to establish a local “Made In The Streets” program here in our area like the one Charles Coulston runs in Kenya. One spoke passionately about handing the “nuts and bolts of running the plant” over to the deacons to allow the elders to focus solely on the Scriptural teaching and praying roles for which they signed up. A couple of elders even tied their dreams to Legacy Small Groups Church and increased participation there.

And while different men and different personalities shared many different things, the overarching themes all connected. Each and all of the Legacy elders and ministers are determined that we become a “city on a hill,” a true force for God in our North Tarrant County communities. All of us want to be more mission-minded and mission-active, reaching out to heal both body and soul here locally and around the world. We’re all committed to faithful marriages and families in our congregation, spiritual growth in our individual and congregational relationships with Christ Jesus, and in more selfless service to one another.

I was never more proud to belong to Legacy than I was that day in Glen Rose.

Naturally, we acknowledged that it was one thing to sit around a big conference table and talk about these ideas and ideals and quite another to actually implement them in practical ways in our Body life. But we vowed to try. And we promised to hold each other accountable to the things we had discussed.

I came back and posted my own dreams and visions for Legacy on the wall above my desk in my study. I want to be continually reminded of my goals and the things I want to equip and inspire our brothers and sisters to be and do.

So, as I look at them and read them on my wall every single day, I think maybe you could be encouraged or inspired by seeing them, too. At the very least, it’ll help you keep me accountable to the things I feel our God is calling me to do and the ways he’s calling me to lead. I’ll my specific goals for the rest of 2008 and my goals for 2009 with you tomorrow.

Here they are, my big-picture dreams for the Legacy Church of Christ:

~to adopt the Ezekiel 34 vision as a motivation for everything we do in the name of God; to search for the lost, to bind up the injured, and to strengthen the weak.

~to be the leader within the Churches of Christ in the Kingdom of God; to provide leadership, ministry, and spiritual formation direction for other churches; that we would do things in a way that would inspire other Christians and other churches; that others outside our immediate fellowship would follow us as we follow Christ.

~100% Small Groups participation; that we would all serve and grow and minister and evangelize, with each other in each other’s homes, therefore becoming more like Christ.

~become a body that reflects the message of the Gospel by uniting and bringing together those from all color, economic, social, career, and ethnic backgrounds; that our Spanish-speakers and our deaf members would be integrated, not separated.

~flex our autonomy; be truly non-denominational; be guided by Christ Jesus and his Word, not outside forces.

~be a center for Christian unity events such as worship assemblies and lectureships and seminars for our brotherhood and beyond.

There they are. Keep me honest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SharonHappy Birthday today to my little sister, Sharon. Smash your sandwich, miss an important turn in downtown Dallas, and have an asthma attack to help her celebrate. I love you, Shassher!

Peace,

Allan