The Forest & The Trees
SRBC has always been a forward-looking church. In faith, we have crafted vision statements looking towards what we believe God may work in and through this church community. Then each year we set congregational goals and team goals about what we hope to accomplish or move forward.
All of that is good. All of that is part of the fabric that makes up a church that is impacting our local communities for the better. I think this both stirs our faith and keeps us from becoming complacent. But, it can also cultivate a hyper-focus that keeps us from seeing the larger arc of what God is doing. Which is why I have come to cherish my responsibility of making a year-in-review slideshow for our annual January business meetings.
Every January I compile pictures from ministry events throughout the previous year and make a slideshow that we watch during the business meeting. And every year I am deeply moved by the work of the Lord in our midst. It was staggering to look back at these pictures and realize all this happened in 12-months of ministry in lil’ ol’ Steamboat Rock.
- Guatemala mission trip and fundraisers
- Journey to the Cross experience on Palm Sunday
- Community Services on Good Friday service at SH High School, and at the fairgrounds during the county fair
- AWANA, Radiate, and VBS ministries that gather students from our church and beyond.
- Wellsburg GO Day
- Evangelism event at Pine Lake
- Community-building fun & fellowship with the Gravestone Mystery night.
- The NAB Triennial led by our own SRBC Worship Team
- Missionary visits
- 6 baptisms
We also said goodbye to our Senior Pastor and entered into a season of prayerful transition. All of that happened just in 2024.
That was just ‘events’. What is not represented there are the small groups, meals, prayer meetings, lobby conversations, hospital visits, and other times of ministry that often go unnoticed.
All those events and moments are the “trees” of ministry. Individual pillars of work by someone or a team. The “forest” is the broader work of God through all of these “trees”. For those of us serving in ministries, it is easy to get very focused on our “trees” and become unable to see the “forest” of God’s work.
I do not want us to miss the forest for the trees.
If there is anything I took away from reflecting on 2024 it is this:
The Lord is clearly and powerfully at work in our church and
we can have all the confidence He will continue His work in 2025.
So, I would encourage you to watch the 2024 Year in Review slideshow. Not just for warm memories, but to encourage your faith in the work of God right here in Steamboat Rock, Iowa.
