I told a recent meeting of church leaders that we are partners together in the most exciting work on earth: making disciples. We are reaching, connecting and growing for God's glory. This year our church is faced with both great financial challenges and great ministry opportunities. Our elders are leading us to go beyond mere survival and to thrive in the coming year.

In this installment of my Messages About Purpose and Strategy, I'll communicate a little more about what we are calling the GO Fund Campaign. You will hear even more about it in next weekend's services.

Every year churches have to grapple with whether to be realistic in setting their annul budget or to reflect faith. Your elders and pastors don't think of this as an either-or proposition. This year we must recognize reality but we must also to go beyond and stretch out to take hold of all God is calling us to be and do. We know that these are harsh times economically yet we also know that God is giving us great opportunities for ministry. In the name of good stewardship, the elders have developed the GO Campaign.

An important lesson jumps out at me from what Caleb said to the Israelites, recorded in Num 13. He encouraged the people by saying, "We can do what we should do!" The principle is that God empowers us to do what he calls us to do. And I believe that we should go beyond a bare-bones budget that is essentially all fixed costs. God is calling us to do more than merely survive. While going forward involves sacrifice, the cost is not so high when we each do our part.