GraceLife Transition Team

Seeking God’s Direction for the Next Season of GraceLife

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Spiritual Markers

Looking back in reflection. Looking forward in anticipation.

 

Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature, but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14 (HCSB)

When the Apostle Paul wrote those words in the third chapter of his letter to the Philippians, he was summing up the transition that every believer makes from death to life. But there was a unique aspect to what he was expressing. Earlier in the chapter, he lists the things  he had previously attained in life – frequently called “spiritual markers”. We often look at this passage as “putting the past behind us.” But it is so much more as Paul explains that he is not content to rest in the past as good as that might have seemed. Instead, he strives every day to come closer to the goal God has for us all, to be fully perfected in heaven. It’s been said that Paul expected to grow every single day in his quest to become fully mature in Christ.

We can look back at so many spiritual markers in the last 30 years at GraceLife. Some markers the team recognized were three Life Action crusades, several trips through Blackaby’s Experiencing God, members called into both short term and vocational ministry as pastors and missionaries, the free provision of 48 acres in the center of the New River Valley, the Ndau of Zimbabwe moving from unreached to on fire for God, Helping Hands, and countless changes in the lives or our members and neighbors. Even now, as we respond to the growth God has brought in our next generation ministries and church support staff, we recognize that God continues to work in our midst. He is not done growing us into what He wants us to become.

As the transition team began to meet and to pray together, we discovered that several of us were dealing with the issue of fully embracing, and resting in, God’s absolute sovereignty. Nowhere is His sovereignty more apparent than His timing of a building program and search for a new senior pastor. Those two tasks would be daunting separately, but together they can only be accomplished by trusting God and His sovereign plan. And through this process we will grow, pressing on towards that for which Christ has taken hold of each of us and GraceLife as a church.

How are you dealing with embracing God’s absolute sovereignty? How is He growing you into the person He wants you to become? Are you able to list the legacy of your spiritual markers? Are you “resting” on the accomplishments those markers represent or are you pressing on each day?

We’d love to hear what you sense God is telling you in these days. What are some spiritual markers that God brings to your mind in your life and in the life of the GraceLife family? Help us compile a list of spiritual markers that we can use to remind ourselves of the faithfulness of God as He encourages us to expect even more in the days ahead. Email us with the spiritual markers that have been important in your life at, transitionteam@gracelifefamily.org and we’ll add them to the list. We’re so glad to be walking with you on this journey of FAITH – Fantastic Adventures In Trusting Him. Thank you, Corrie Ten Boom, for this acrostic, through Pastor Tim’s reminder in a recent sermon.

A Letter from the Transition Team

To the GraceLife family…

Questions You
May Have…

How is the search going?

We jokingly say that the process is from disappointment to disappointment to disppointment... to the Jordan! In reality, the team has discovered that finding out whom God is not calling is as much an answer to prayer as it will be when we find the man God is calling! We now know several men that people thought might have been that man, but they weren't. So we continue to pray, watch a lot of sermons and try the doors as God presents them. We ask you to continue in diligent prayer because we want the man God is calling to hear that call and respond in obedience. When he does, we want the team and GraceLife to recognize that and be obedient as well. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
What should I do if I know of a prospective candidate?
First, pray and ask God to give you a peace about reaching out to this person. If He does, speak to that person first and ask if you can supply his name to the Transition Team. If he says "yes,” then feel free to send his contact information or resume to transitionteam@gracelifefamily.org.
If I submit someone's resume, will the team contact me?
If the team feels like they need additional information before contacting the person you suggested, they may contact you directly. Because of the sensitive nature of this process, the team is unable to give feedback or a status update regarding any of the prospects.
How will Pastor Tim's retirement announcement impact plans for the building addition?
Pastor Tim's retirement and the proposed building addition will both require significant time and effort from many of us at GraceLife. But the greatest similarity between them is that we are unable to meet either need apart from God's grace and provision. Just as God put on Pastor Tim's heart that his tenure as our senior pastor was coming to an end, God put on many other hearts the need for enlarged preschool, children, youth and office space. We know that God is fully able to work through both of those needs at the same time, if that's His desire.
What can I do to help the Transition Team?
Pray. Pray for the team members, that God would lead them to the man He has chosen and they would know that as with one heart. Pray for GraceLife, that we would be obedient to share names God has given us and follow the shepherd He provides. Pray that Pastor Tim would be able to continue to lead us as we wait on the Lord's provision of the next pastor. Pray for this man and his family that even now, God would be preparing their hearts for what lies ahead. Pray that God will give him and his family grace to obey God in spite of the cost. And when all else is done, pray some more.