Old Dreams...

By Pastor Kevin Van Wyk

Recently, someone left a historic collage of pictures on a wood plank in the church work room. On the back was the name L. Blonien with “R3 Watertown Wisc” for a location. 

​​One picture is damaged by water and appears to be the attic of the church. Another shows 13 workers. The attached paper lists several names of men from NE Fond du Lac County.
 
I love this stuff. Pictures and stories revealing old dreams the church had as they sought to live out their faith in Alto. The picture of the church reveals a dream to rebuild, to put up a bigger and grander place to worship. This is a far cry from the one room house they met in first and a big step from the white church, which you can see still standing to the left. Since the sanctuary was built, the church added the bell tower, offices to the East, the “new sanctuary addition” to the North, then lobby and offices, and finally the nursery. Each of these building projects reveals a need, a vision, and hard work. 
 
How inspiring it is to see Godly people identify a need, dream of how God wants them to respond, and then do it! 
 
My current teaching series has been revealing to me, uncovering the immensity of the need we face. We wish to make disciples, but the world is bombarding young people to be great athletes, to look to their phone for friendship, to medicate their emotions, and to believe they evolved from monkeys. And I’m not done with this series. 
 
Many of you grew up in an entirely different world… little pressure to win the big game and get a scholarship, friends were real people, alcohol and drugs were not as easily accessible, and creation was still taught in schools. 
 
How do you develop and deploy Christlike leaders in such an anti-Jesus culture? It’s no longer just Sunday worship nor just Sunday school or small groups or women’s ministry or men’s ministry. Nor is it sending everyone to seminary. 
 
There are churches exploring new and old strategies for disciple making. I like the idea of “transformation groups”, where groups of three read scripture, confess sin, and pray for lost friends. Other churches are creating comprehensive online curriculum. Still others are focusing on in-house leadership development classes. 
 
We see the need and have the vision. Now we must find some new ways to develop and deploy Christ-like leaders. Please pray for God to...

• Plant a deep desire for spiritual maturity in young people,
• Guide us in implementing effective strategies for discipleship, and
• Direct our search team in hiring a new staff member to help in this area.

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