Dear Saints,
We give thanks to the Lord for his grace in choosing and using our church family to participate in his kingdom work. Over the next several weeks you will be receiving communications explaining what is on the hearts and minds of the pastoral staff and Session. We want to talk about the vision and doing what it takes to help the next generation succeed. These communications will help you engage in the conversation during a Town Hall meeting to be held in September.
I have been blessed to be a servant among you, the saints of Grace Church, for nearly 18 years. I have been an Assistant Pastor, then an Associate Pastor, a Senior Pastor, and now again an Associate Pastor. These years and transitions have been times of seeing the vision of Grace Church continue. Continuity of the vision and mission have been what has driven us as a church thus far. A vision, as we have heard our beloved brother, Jonathan Seda, say, “Is a picture of a preferable future.”
Back in 2006 when the church extended to my family and I a call, it was to advance the picture of that preferable future of Grace. In 2020, after thirty-seven years, Jonathan Seda retired and I was voted to be the Senior Pastor, it was for the continuity of the vision. In further pursuit of the vision and mission of the church, God led us to Joshua Suh who at the start of this year, became the Senior Pastor to continue the vision of Grace Church for years to come. Grace in its history has had multiethnic leadership walking together to show the continuity of the biblical vision of Revelation 7:9, where people from every nation, all tribes and peoples and languages are standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes…and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
This is the vision, the picture of a preferable future, that Scripture sets before us. How can we not seek its fulfillment? God has always provided what we needed to obey him in pursuing this vision. And now, as we consider where we are today, we must think about how we are setting up the next generation to continue the vision and mission of Grace.
Did you know that we have 6 generations present at Grace? We are 5% Post War, 28% Boomers, 14% Gen X, 13% Millennials, 16% Gen Z, and 21% Gen Alpha. The ages range from ninety-eight to less than 1 year old. A further breakdown looks like this, 152 souls between the ages of 0-29, and 137 between the ages of 60 and 98, with another 104 between the ages of 30-59. With these demographics in mind, we want to cast a vision for setting up the next generation to be successful in continuing the vision and mission of Grace. Can you see 25 years from now the nations serving together, in unity and harmony, exclaiming to the city of Dover, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb!” What can we do now to help ensure their success?
First, we want to pray! As we pray, proactively make plans and provisions for future growth and maturation in Christ. Provide pastoral leadership to train our children and young people to be intentional in making disciples across the lines of race and class. Provide for the worship to continue to be the centerpiece of our community, utilizing and developing the gifts and skills of musicians and singers across the generations. Asking the Lord to enable us to invest in the future through legacy giving, so that after we have gone to glory what God has given to us is still being used to advance the kingdom, relieve human suffering, and promote unity between the ethnicities as the nations are brought to faith in Jesus Christ.
Is that a preferable vision of the future? The opportunity is before us now. God, who has been faithful to supply us with grace and resources for more than 40 years, will be faithful still. We know because Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) But how will we respond to his faithfulness? I trust it will be like the Psalmist in Psalm 78:5-7. After the Lord established a testimony of faithfulness (grace) in his people, he said he did it, “…that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments.”
God has given a testimony through us. What a blessing to have been a part of it! He expects us to help the next generation to set their hope in God. (I want to be a part of that too!) The continuity of vision is going to happen. Revelation 7:9 is our destiny! May the Lord be pleased to use us to help the next generation succeed.
Kenny Foster, Associate Pastor
On behalf of the Session