The daily devotions QB provided for churches this week have been excellent. If you haven’t had a chance to go through them, they are available on the YouVersion Bible App. Simply search for ‘Beyond Your Wildest Dreams’ in plans and you will find them. They are based on Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians and couldn’t be more timely for us as a church. 

God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

As we approach Vision Sunday, these words capture the heart of what we believe the Lord is planning to do. Immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine. I love how this is in response to prayer, which has been a focus and growth area in 2024 for The Grove. What’s coming next is all of God, but our call is to have faith in him for more…immeasurably more.

Vision seasons always give me an opportunity to read back over my journals and our history, looking for what God has said to us or promised The Grove. I came across some words given to us at the Grand Opening of our church building from Peter Sweetman, the Founding Pastor who sent us out from Bridgeman to plant The Grove in 2007. 

You have already known great measures of fruitfulness and joy in your short life as a church, but hear this…what God has already done, is going to seem tiny compared to what is coming. He has got you positioned for huge and amazing revival blessings. 

Think about those words, “he has got you positioned”. The Lord has been preparing The Grove for immeasurably more. He has strategically positioned us in our neighbourhood for this time, as a city on a hill. We can see the signs of an increased movement of God, as he awakens more people to himself…people who are just done with the empty promises of the world. Perhaps we really are on the brink of something beyond our wildest dreams. 

These are defining moments in church life when the Lord calls us to have faith in him for immeasurably more. Faith is not a passive but an active word. That's why immeasurably more is the name of our vision for the new financial year. It’s time to place our lives in Jesus hands, and courageously step out in faith. It’s what Jesus asked of the disciples when faced with a hungry crowd of more than 5000 people. You give them something to eat (Luke 9:13). They didn’t have much, but two fish and fives loaves was enough in Jesus hands to do immeasurably more. 

What do you say church family? We need to embrace the opportunities before us; to call more pastors, to complete the building, and to welcome more people into Jesus church. I am not sure we have enough strength, ability, resources or people to meet the needs. However, in Jesus hands God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power at work within us. He is the one who will make the former blessings seem tiny compared to what he is about to do. Our faith is in God. 

Marty