Goals

by Gary Sciascia

 

“If you aim at nothing, you'll hit it every time.” - Author Unknown

 

This is a familiar expression that holds true beyond business and sports; it is true spiritually. For the past several years, the Groton/New London church has not set congregational baptism goals. We never had bad intensions, but we “aimed at nothing.” Although we’ve had some wonderful baptisms over that period of time, and most of them are doing well spiritually, baptisms have been too few and far between. However, after many discussions and much prayer, this year the leadership has decided that a baptism goal, properly used, can be a useful tool in serving our purposes as we serve and worship a great and almighty God.

 

“The rung of a ladder was never meant to rest upon, but only to hold a man's foot long enough to enable him to put the other somewhat higher.” - Thomas Henry

 

“God gives us dreams a size too big so that we can grow in them.” - Author Unknown

 

For 2007, we have decided to shoot for a total of 15 baptisms and/or restorations. We feel this goal is just about right for where we are at presently, and where we want to go. By faith, at the end of 2007, we will feel that a goal of 15 is too small for 2008. We understand that this goal is nothing more than a tool. We do not want to worship the goal, but we do want to give all the disciples in the church something to aim at, pray for, and most of all act on as we reach out to a lost world with the wonderful good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

“If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.” - Lawrence J. Peter

 

We believe that the church, and each individual disciple, has been commissioned by Jesus himself to go and make other disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). While numeric results do not tell the whole story, they do have a story to tell, and we will do well to hear it. The numbers tell us that for the most part, we have not been about God’s business of seeking and saving the lost. Not only does this cause our church to begin to die, which will be inevitable over time if we do not love the lost, but we will not be as happy and fulfilled as we are designed to be. Show me a disciple that actively shares his/her faith and is frequently involved in studying the Bible with non-Christians, and I will show you a very happy, thriving disciple of Jesus! When this focus is left out of our life, we tend to get self-centered and more involved in worldly affairs, something spoken against by Paul in 2 Timothy 2:4. This process of becoming worldly is imperceptible; it doesn’t happen all at once, but it happens nonetheless. And the cure is always focusing on sharing the gospel with others.

 

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action with without vision is a nightmare.” - Japanese Proverb

 

“There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” - Beverly Sills

 

Setting a goal is the easy part, seeing it become a reality takes a great deal of hard work. There is no program or shortcut that will serve as a replacement for hard work. In order to help 15 people go from the dark to the light (1 Peter 2:9) this year, it will take nights sacrificed studying the Bible with our friends, phone calls following up on invitations to church or Bible Talk, and cowardice overcome with boldness to open our mouths and share with people. But we will never regret one moment sacrificed or one person reached out to. If anything, it will cause us to grow spiritually as Satan’s plans are thwarted.

 

“You must have long-range goals to keep you from being frustrated by short-range failures.” - Charles C. Noble.

 

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” - Henry Ford

 

Undoubtedly, we will study the Bible with many friends that choose not to follow Jesus for now. But the disciples who study with those people will be just as much a part of our success as those that study with people that do decide to follow Jesus now. Those who share their faith all year long without getting so much as a nibble, are just as important to reaching our goal as those that meet the wide open “Ethiopian Eunuchs”. While we must take action as individuals, we rejoice and celebrate together whenever anyone decides to make Jesus Lord! So let’s not allow Satan to sidetrack or discourage our long-range goals with short-term rejection.

 

“Between the great things we cannot do and the small things we will not do, the danger is that we shall do nothing.” - Adolph Monod

 

“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” – Jesus Christ (John 9:4)

 

If you are a disciple of Jesus, then you have been left on this earth with a mission. His mission is not burdensome, but it is work. It is a mission that gives us a purpose and makes us happy. It is simply sharing the good news of forgiveness of sin (Acts 2:38), and a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17). Jesus did not leave us the option for alternative missions. It was his mission, and now he has passed it on to us. When life is over, our only regret may be that we did not aim higher, and tell more people about this wonderful news. Let’s pray to God that we will exceed this goal of 15 for 2007. It would be great to hit it early in the year and have to make a new goal. God is great and he can do it! Amen!