Pastor Corner
Vision for 2025
“Giving God Your Best”
The ending of one year and the beginning of a New Year is a great time to appreciate all the good things individually and as a body of Christ to be thankful that God heard and answered our prayers. As we prepare for the uncertainty of 2025, we hold to faith that God will continue to bless his people. The challenge for 2025 (not a New Years resolution) is to give God our best. Satan hates it when we praise, worship and serve our God from the heart!
To the saints of New Mission Baptist Church, there are some in depth questions that we must answer in 2025. First and foremost, we must answer the following questions individually and corporately: “Am I where I want to be with God?”, “Have I reached my potential in Him?”, “Have I discovered my divine destiny?”, “How can I glorify Him more in 2025?” and finally “Am I giving God my best? As a person and as a servant of God, this question is not restricted to just the church house but to every area of our lives.
I have noticed that in our ministries, worship and community service, we often do enough to look like a Christian but not enough to glorify God. So, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the importance of the daily disciplines of our faith. They can produce lasting change and upward growth more than anything else we do. We all know how important the Word, worship, prayer, fellowship and serving are in moving us closer to God. The hard part is being committed to doing it.
New Mission, we not only owe it to God to give our best, but we owe it to our visitors. Serving is vital to our spiritual growth. When we take the initiative to give God our best, I truly believe it will open the flood gates of heaven for God to pour back into our lives. It makes sense; we must give and serve to make room for more. The less we do, the minimal we give, the more settled and complacent we become, the less attractive we are to guests to become members.
As your Pastor, I want to encourage you to pause and examine your walk with God. I am not questioning individuals’ spiritual gifts. My question is “are you working your gift or is your gift working you”? In the midst of 2024, God showed me personally where I was slacking in using my gift to the best of my spiritual ability, and through prayer, God made some immediate changes in my life. I pray he does the same for you. May we enter 2025 thirsty to give God our best!
Colossians 3:23-24: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;
Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ
“Giving God Your Best”
Rev. DR: John O. Graves
New Mission Baptist Church