Courageous. State of the church (living with Godly Direction)

Introduction and Scripture

Joshua 1:1–11 NIV

After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’ ”

Pray.

There is this poor girl on social media that went viral because she recorded herself having what she thought was an enlightened discovery when really she was messing up basic math placeholder situation. In it she says, “It just dawned on me, that some people born in 2025, will live to see the year 3000.”

I just started a read through the bible in a year…reading through Genesis, and it isnt since the day of Adam that people were living 975 years.

New Years Resolutions are funny. I felt it even more with my kids this year trying to explain to them the significance of NY celebration and why folks make such a big deal at the turn of the calendar. I have been very critical of New Years resolution in the past. Likely driven from my own struggle to make and keep personal, spiritual, ministry goals.

I still blame all the churches that did Vision 2020… seeing God’s vision in the New Year…then COVID happened. Did you “see God’s vision?”

But I think it is a helpful marker in time to reevaluate personally, to set goals beyond drop 20 lbs… and for a church, a helpful marker to evaluate where we have been and where we are going.

Every year it is my privilege to stand before you at the beginning of the year to celebrate what God is doing at FMC.

The beginning of 2024, we set out after some bold goals as a church….

Arise

The Woodlands Hills Community Church

Discipleship Pathway

Student Leadership

The Woodlands Hills Community Church

This time last year, we were making preparations to launch our new campus. To begin the lenten season we launch in Meador Elementary off of FM 830, just across the street from the 8 acres of property where we will build a church building. There was a committed core of about 20-30 people. In 2024, they have grown quickly. Worshipping over 100 people for Christmas eve services.

baptisms: 4

25 new members

3 small groups with 30 people meeting in homes

8 Community events

Involved in Meador

42 people on the serve team

6 people on the prayer team

Discipleship

Living in Community

Investing in others

Focus outward

encountering God

(show picture)

There are 8 new Wesleyan Class Meetings (small groups) that are a part of FMC.

Student Leadership

Students preaching, teaching, leading, serving, and investing in other students. Joshua has experienced growth in weekly gatherings, for fun outings like lock-ins, growth in confirmation and participation. He is meeting with a young man now that he has been working closely with that will publically say yes to Christ through the sacrament of baptism.

student intern program

College Pastoral Intern - Scott Stevenson

Now that were our explicit goals but I want to celebrate a few other things quickly.

God is growing FMC

In a time when nearly all protestant mainline churches are declining at alarming rates. The average church in America is still at best at about 85% of pre-pandemic numbers, FMC is continuing to grow.

At the beginning of 2023, we were around 550 in average attendance and going into 2025, our rolling average is nearly 800.

Every worship venue has experienced growth this year.

Denomination Leaders

3 delegates to Costa Rica Convening Conference of the Global Methodist Church

Susan Kent is on the Board of Ordained Ministry

I am supporting churches to help them begin Wesleyan discipleship groups

We are teaching in the conference school of ministry, helping new pastors in training

Leading Workshops at annual conference

Our own, Jan Floro and new member Crissie Chenette (just joining FMC last month) are the prayer coordinators for the Trinity Annual Conference

Celebracion is the 4th largest hispanic worshipping community in the entire conference, across 3 states. Frank is now teaching in the hispanic school of ministry

We are a leader in the conference and denomination.

Financial Opportunities

2024 was a growth year and we knew we needed to make some investments. We set out on a bold 23% increase in the operating budget. We have nearly met all of our goals on the revenue side. Admittedly, there were some challenges that we have had to address for longterm health. We continue to project growth and FMC positive position. This will need ongoing attention to be sure we are faithfully headed in the right direction. We will share more of the business side tonight at the church’s charge conference.

Celebracion only: One of the things that I will cover more in detail tonight, but I wanted to share with you directly. We have growing costs and growing needs in this building as well as preparing for the future. I knew the only way to address this was to take a long hard look at staff and clergy costs. We had to restructure and think carefully about every staff position.

We eliminated the executive pastor and kidLife director position.

We also considered your community for a long time. Your pastors are loved. Having two clergy to serve this community is a big commitment. At the end of the day we believe in you. I believe in what God is doing here in Celebracion. I believe in the calling on Pastor Frank and Elizabeth’s lives. We have found a grant to make sure that your pastors are taken care of and we are exploring a strategy to help them purchase the house they live in from us. This will help their longterm health. Friends, FMC is all in with Celebracion and I encourage you to be all-in on what God is doing here.

We are developing strategies to ensure longterm health at FMC

Courageous

Joshua 1 is a pivotal time in the life of Israel. They are in this liminal space between what was and what will be. This liminal space can be an anxious place because it is in between what was and what will be. I will not allegorize this for FMC as I do not mean to insinuate we are coming from wandering in the wilderness. However I do think this can be a text of our own formation.

In the coming weeks, we will highlight some critical pieces of the recipe for Israel’s turning point and for them to have any success on their journey, as I do think it can be prescriptive for guiding our journey.

The first highlight for the text is the continual reminder to Be strong and courageous. Repeated three times in as many verses.

Like a mom repeating words of assurance to a child on their first day of school

or a father preparing a teenager for something difficult.

Repeated three times so they would get it, so it would soak in, so it would be more than words but a lingering reminder on the journey.

Biblical Courage isn’t just a lightening bolt of strength

In the Bible, courage is the ability to do what is right and act in obedience to God, even when afraid. It's a quality that believers need to navigate life's challenges and uncertainties.

Courageous Discipleship

catechism…teaching the foundations of the faith

Courageous Mission

increased missional partnerships

TWH

Courageous Invitation

hospitality and evangelism

Courageous Generosity

100% participation

Elephant in the room: We just did a capital campaign. I know. I admit to feeling awkward making such a quick turnaround. Truth is we need to fund the vision. I will share more in a couple of weeks but of the approximately 600 giving units at FMC 200 have made pledges to Believing Together and to our budget campaign, about 300. My goal will continue to be about discipleship. Planned giving to your covenant community for the mission we are joined to is discipleship.

Let me also be very clear because there has been confusion. Believing Together is a 3 year journey. Over and beyond giving. Courageous is about your regular tithe and offerings for 2025. The card that was mailed this week and you will receive in the mail and see in the pews are for the 2025 budget. Tonight at 5 pm we will discuss that budget at our charge conference.

Closing:

This charge to Joshua and the Israelites is rooted in their history and context… at the very beginning he clearly states this… the promise I gave to Moses, it is now extended to you. FMC’s history, dating back 150 years is have God’s promise and faithfulness. People of FMC associate seasons to things like who was the pastor or location, but our history is not one of primary human leadership. It is one of God’s faithfulness, therefore, we can hold fast to that promise and we can be courageous.