Scott's Thoughts

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Pastor's Annual Report (for 2004)

Pastor's Report Pastor Scott Johnson Grace Presbyterian Church Norman, Oklahoma January 2005

Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! (Psalm 106:1)

As I reflect upon the past year, I give thanks for the steadfast love of the Lord for our congregation. He has both blessed our church and sustained us throughout the year. Though I certainly pray that the Lord would pour out many more blessings upon us as we look to a new year, I am thankful for his constant care over us and grace towards us.

For starters, God has nourished us this past year by the Word and sacrament. We have seen up-close the words and deeds of our Savior Jesus Christ as I have preached from the Gospel of Mark during the morning services. In the evening services, I concluded a sermon series through the book of 1 Samuel and began a new series on the Ten Commandments. For the evening service during the summer months, we studied together the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. Throughout the year, we have been fed as well by our monthly observance of the Lord’s Supper. What a privilege we have as God’s people to hear each week the “words of eternal life” (John 6:68) and to feed spiritually on Christ in the sacrament!

In 2004, the people of Grace continued to meet regularly for other times of mutual edification and encouragement. The Wednesday evening prayer meeting, the Women’s Bible study, and the Men’s prayer breakfast all met throughout the year. Also, in August we had a church picnic and in December we gathered for a special Christmas Eve service. In addition, we often met after the evening service for dinner at some family’s house.

With our joint hymn sings, we had opportunity to worship with and be encouraged by other believers in the area. This sort of inter-church fellowship was also facilitated by our participation in the 2004 OKC Conference on Reformed Theology. Also, many of our people took part in the presbytery’s College and Career Camp and Young People’s Camp last year. I am looking forward to our continued involvement with these kinds of gatherings and events in 2005, as well.

One new practice we started in 2004 was to take up a diaconal offering each time we observe the Lord’s Supper. This will increase our ability to minister to the material and physical needs of our people (and others, as well) as those needs arise. This is an important part of the church’s ministry, and I’m glad that we are now setting aside some funds to enable us to serve more effectively in this way.

In 2004, we kept the work of Foreign Missions close to our hearts. Each month we prayed for a different foreign missionary family serving with the OPC. Also, we were blessed by a visit in March from Rev. Doug Clawson, who serves on the OPC Foreign Missions Committee. He spoke to us and the people of Knox OPC (OKC) about our denomination’s missionary endeavors. In addition, we “sent” our very own missionary to the field in 2004! In December, Eric Pyle began his language software development work with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Dallas after spending much of the year raising support.

God blessed us with new members and births in 2004. Caleb Nathaniel Basore was born on January 19th, and was baptized in March. Also in March, Jordan Doerfel was received as a communicant member of the church, and Shane and Rebecca Smith united with the congregation. In August, Brennan Tucker Milligan was born to Pete and Denean Milligan.

In May, the ordination and installation of Mr. Dave Guild to the office of ruling elder took place. The Lord Jesus shepherds and leads his people through those he has called to this office, so it is a blessing for the church when he raises up another man to serve in that capacity.

One of my hopes for Grace is that we will be faithful in reaching out with the gospel to the people of our community. In fact, we did do some outreach in 2004. We had a table at the new student orientation fair at OU, during which we handed out many bookmarks with Grace’s information on it in addition to other church materials and Reformed literature. I put together about 500 door hangers and those were distributed in area neighborhoods. I trust that, Lord willing, these sorts of outreach efforts will eventually bear fruit in increased visitors to our services.

One way in which 2004 was a challenging year for the church was that many people went out from our midst last year for various reasons. Some of them moved away from the area for employment reasons. Sunny, our dear sister from South Korea, returned back home last year. And although he was not in Norman before he left, Jon Rula began a tour of duty in Iraq last fall.

However, we were thankful to see the safe return of John Mantooth after several months of service with the Army in Afghanistan. And in July we rejoiced in the marriage of two members who had earlier left Oklahoma, John and Sarah Evans. They are now living in Michigan.

As I reflect upon this upcoming year, my prayer is that the Lord will continue to bless our church. I pray that together we will grow in the joy of our salvation, that we will increase in our love for and active participation in our worship on the Lord’s Day, that we will abound in thankful obedience to our heavenly Father for his grace, that we will further mature as the body of Christ, and that we will become more effective in reaching out with the gospel to others. Unlike other, larger, churches, we don’t have the luxury to be satisfied with the status quo (though that should never be true of any church!). As God gives us grace, we need to pray and work for the spiritual prosperity and growth of our congregation.

Of course, it is Christ who builds his church (Matthew 16:18). Ultimately the growth comes from him, and we give thanks to him for it. But he builds the church as each member is doing his or her own part (Ephesians 4:16). As the pastor, I plan, by God’s grace, to continue working hard for the edification and strengthening of our church. However, the pastor can only do so much. Genuine growth, in every sense, will come only as each of us gives of himself and herself sacrificially to the life of the church. Remember Paul’s words: The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully (2 Cor. 9:6). In what ways can you sow your resources, time, and talents for the increase of the church?

May the Lord pour out his richest blessings upon us in 2005, and may all we do be to the glory of our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ!

In Christ,

Scott Johnson

Grace e-mail bulletin - 01/05/05