I’ve been reading through Galatians today.   What an amazing story.

Paul and Barnabas travel through Galatia beginning in AD 47.  They plant a church in Antioch of Psidia, where they are beaten and banished.  Then it’s off to Iconium where they escape being stoned by a narrow margin.   When they arrive at Lystra Paul heals a man and Paul and Barnabas are then mistaken for Zeus and Hermes.   Later a crowd in the city rises against them and Paul is stoned, dragged from the city, and left for dead.  (Timothy enters the scene – a witness to all of this).   They plant a church in Derbe and then, despite being beaten, banished, and stoned, they return to these cities!  (See Acts 13-14 for most of this).

After they depart, the churches survive.  But then false teachers show up and confuse the Galatian followers of Christ. 

So Paul writes his letter to the Galatians somewhere around AD 49 to encourage those congregations and dispel the false teaching.  (BTW, this makes Galatians one of the first pieces of Christian literature penned, certainly one of the first two books of the New Testament to be written – the other being James).

And in the 5^th chapter, Paul writes:

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters.  But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature.  Instead use your freedom to serve one another in love. “ – Galatians 5:13

Christ makes us free.   I think I miss that message too often and suspect many who have not accepted Christ miss that message.    I certainly miss it in relation to everything Paul and Barnabas went through when they planted the Galatian churches.   He was preaching a message of freedom to a province known for its slavery and poverty.    This message stood in stark contrast to the religious culture of that day.   Paul and Barnabas were beaten repeatedly for spreading this message.  And this message to the Galatians is equally true today – whatever our circumstances, we are free.  Free to live in Christs grace.

What an amazing story!

  

 

  

During our September Church Council meeting we received a report from Mission India - and the churches that we support in India report 100 baptisms this year!  Amazing!  Truly amazing!

The September Church Council meeting was held on September 19^th - it was a very productive meeting with numerous motions passed, but I think the most important of these is the Church Council vote to propose a 3-Year budget to the congregation this year.  

Historically, SOTH operates with a one year budget.  The problem with a 1-year budget is that it doesn’t provide a longer term view for the ministry and mission work that we support and it consumes a lot of time and focus – not only from the lay leadership, but the entire SOTH staff.   We estimate that the budgeting process consumes 3 – 4 man-months of effort each year.    This is time that could be focused on mission, outreach, and ministry.  So we voted to change this, and we pray that the congregation will support this change.  

What does this mean?  This means we will propose a budget to the congregation that will cover three years rather than a single year.  We will have checkpoints each year, but will not have to go through the entire budgeting process each year.  This will free up a significant amount of time for our leadership and staff to focus on our core mission goals.

It also means we will be able to look at the mission and ministry work that we fund with a longer term perspective.  We will no longer have to make long term decisions based on the budget constraints of a single year.   

And as significant as this is – less focus on money and more focus on ministry! – we want to ensure that the 3-year budget is fully funded over a 3-year timeframe and that we build in a campaign to pay down all of our long term debt (the mortgages for the property that we own).

With this approach, we have a great opportunity to prepare the congregation for what comes next.

Please join us on October 14^th for more details. 

Blessings!