Happy New Year!

I pray that this letter finds you full of all the peace, hope, love, and joy that the Christmas season offers. I hope that you had some time to relax, be with family, nap, and any other things that you might have wanted to do.

I have been thinking and praying about what 2022 will look like at The Decatur First United Methodist Church. I think we have been through a storm. 2020 and 2021 have been taxing on everyone. We have seen friends come and go. We have buried loved ones. We have seen churches close and the birth of widespread virtual ministry. We have also seen changes in leadership and staff.

From the outside looking in, it might seem like a train wreck. But I believe that God has been preparing us for something great. God has been working on us. God has brought key people and placed them strategically in the church. That combined with a common goal, complementary personalities, and a unified desire to grow the church and to serve God and God’s people in Decatur and Wise County, have given us our arsenal for the new year.

My theme for 2022 is going to be “Revival.”
Everything that we do should focus on the revival of the church, our hearts, our relationships, and our mission statement, “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

God can do immeasurably more. As we come together, seeking God, looking to meet the needs of a broken world, God is going to work through us. We cast aside our biases, our arguing, our notion of “this is the way it’s always been done,” and we open ourselves to what is needed. Instead of offering what we think is needed, we ask questions. And we listen.

I’m excited about this new year. I’m excited to see what God will do through us.

Write it down somewhere – Revival

Peace,

Pastor Donny