Cadence May 07

Dear Del Rosa Family

Springtime is upon us. One of the more telling signs for me has been the all-too-common question springing from the mouths of many lately, “Where do you want to go?”

As several people have departed for vacation through the month of April, myself included, the question posed has often been, “Where do you want to go?”

As United Methodists in the California Pacific Annual Conference the question has been put to our churches, “Where do you want to go?” This question has been given a purpose as each church has been asked to form a “Visioning Our Future Team”. The team is composed of persons in the church, excluding the pastor to help shape the future of the local church, and to add purpose to each congregation for the long haul.

The interesting part is that as Christians we have already been told where to go and what to do. You have heard it as The Great Commission and Jesus tells the Disciples in Matthew 28:18-20 what the vision for them is:

18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Jesus imparts a vision for the Disciples as one that sees them multiplying themselves by making disciples of all nations, baptizing as they go, and teaching the commands that Jesus has given to the disciples to future generations.

Lately, I have been struck by the simplicity of Jesus’ vision of ministry, and we have are working on developing some of the avenues for each of you to expand your own ministries to others, that you might multiply as Jesus commanded the Disciples. Our ongoing work to discern Spiritual Gifts and to gather those reports back into the office have provided some insights for you to better understand how to bring the faith to people (realize I did not say “bring people to faith”). The more I look our job has been defined as one that goes.

Let us then continue to ask the question of Del Rosa UMC, “Where do you want to go?” For in the knowledge of where we are going, the guide to get there becomes much easier to discern.

Let’s go find out where we want to go!

On the road,

Pastor David