Transitions!

I want to start out this edition of Pagh’s Blog by saying that I am so excited about what I see God doing at Christ Church in Otsego, MN.  Every week I am privileged to witness the amazing growth and transformation that is taking place in people’s lives through Jesus Christ.  I feel very blessed to begin my 24th year of serving this congregation and the people that I love.  God has been so faithful and he is not finished with us yet! 

This has been an excellent but challenging year of transitions at Christ Church.  Last Fall we said goodbye to our long-time Associate Pastor, Tom Ness, and he is still missed.  We have also experienced some transition in our membership.  Sometimes people leave a church because they are angry.  Sometimes people leave because they are not in alignment with its vision and mission or its staff and ministries are not meeting their personal needs.  Sometimes people are just in a season of life where they are looking for a change.  These transitions are always difficult in congregational life but they are to be expected.  We are all human beings learning to walk in the love, grace and forgiveness of God.

Brothers and sisters, when you are a follower of Jesus Christ, every “set-back” is a “set-up” for the future God has prepared.  At Christ Church this time of transition has been preparing us for an exciting new season of growth and impact.  We have already added 14 new families in 2014 and will welcome another large group this Fall.  These are wonderful new friends who love the Lord and have awesome gifts to share.  Every Sunday there are new faces in the congregation that are eager to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and grow in their faith.  Let’s be intentional about reaching out in love!  And when you think of someone that you haven’t seen for awhile, give them a call and invite them back.

One of the scriptures read at my ordination 34 years ago was 2 Timothy 4:2.  It says, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage – with great patience and careful instruction.”  In other words, keep preaching the Word and loving the people.

Friends, God is calling Christ Church forward!  If I were to “correct, rebuke and encourage” you today I would say that we don’t have the luxury of longing for the past, clinging to religious tradition, or arguing about personal preferences.  Less than 20% of this generation of youth and young adults has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Most people under 50 consider the church irrelevant in today’s culture.  The problems that confront society require nothing less than a miracle-working God to solve them!

Why does Christ Church continue to innovate through worship, sermon series, life groups, youth and outreach ministries?  We are willing to change, grow and take risks because our calling is to reach this lost generation for Jesus Christ at all costs.  The status quo will not do!

Dear Christ Church family, you have a Spirit-filled staff and Church Council that are passionate about leading this congregation forward into an exciting new season of mission and ministry.  Will you follow our lead?  Will you trust us?  Will you engage with us?  Will you invite someone you know to come and join us?  Will you ask God to reinvigorate your calling as a member of Christ Church for the next part of the journey? 

We all need to step-up in response to God’s calling.  God has been preparing you for such a time as this! God is challenging us to trust him more than ever right now particularly in the area of finances.  The money is there but the breakthrough won’t come until we first lay everything that we are and everything that we have at his feet.  I am praying for nothing less than “Holy Spirit fire” to fall on Christ Church.  Without God we can’t, but without us he won’t!

I just turned 61 years old.  Many of my friends in ministry are starting to talk about retirement.  I could resign my Call to Christ Church, raise support and lead BlessMN for a few years and then ride off into the sunset.  Just so you know; that’s not even on my radar.  My Call to Christ Church burns even stronger now than it did 23 years ago when my family first arrived in Otsego.  This congregation has a calling from God; I will even say an apostolic anointing to lead a revival in the State of Minnesota that will touch the nations! 

And so the Lord continues to say to me, “Greg, preach the Word and love the people.  The best is yet to come!”  What is God saying to you?

Summer Blessings in Jesus!

Pastor Greg Pagh