Thankful for God's Work Around the World

I am so thankful that God is at work building His church.  He said He would do this, and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. He is doing it around the globe, in Florida where we are privileged to serve, and in a beautiful place like Mililani, Hawaii, using some dear friends of ours that left California a few years ago to plant a church on that island. Island Grace Church celebrated their 3rd anniversary yesterday, and I'm sharing the following letter because it is so encouraging and because it so clearly articulates the right vision for ministry.  May we all keep the vision of the exalted Christ before us as we work to see the Gospel go forth.

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A note from Pastor Ray Polompo as we celebrate IGC's 3rd anniversary:

Dear Island Grace Church Family,

I stand in awe that the King of the universe would use such feeble and finite beings like you and me to do His work. And yet we are celebrating 3 years of just that. Amazing God, amazing mercy, and amazing grace. So when I get over (I really don't) the fact that God has put us into ministry here in Mililani, that we do exist as a church, and that there is something that we must do here, I come to these two points:

1. The most desperate need, the biggest problem, the greatest plight of man is not the economy, foreign affairs, or hurricanes. All needs are as nothing compared to the eternally devastating havoc sin wreaks upon the soul of man. Sin destroys any relationship with God and access to all the blessings He provides and it condemns man to eternal separation from God into an eternity of torment (which is the only fitting punishment for the crimes against a perfectly holy King who is God). Bad news.

2. The church has the supreme mission of bringing the only good news that can remedy the bad news. And this Gospel doesn't originate with us. It comes mercifully and graciously from this holy King who has been offended. It is the power of God to salvation to any who believe (Romans 1:16). Delivering this good news is our supreme mission. We will help the poor,meet needs, and do ministry along the way, but these are only done with the view of pointing man to Christ the Savior. That's it. There is no other priority. God has given us no other pressing business but to lead others to the salvation of souls and their worship of the exalted Christ. And we do this by opening our mouths and opening our lives. We speak the Gospel and we live the Gospel. We must keep pursuing to be a holy church delivering a holy message. We can't get bogged down with anything else because He hasn't given us anything else to do.

So what does that look like? It's you continuing to build relationships at home, at work, and at school. Keep pursuing holy lives and speaking a holy message to friends and family. Don't grow weary in this. IGC is growing roots in Mililani for the sake of the Gospel.

And for us leaders (as I was reminded recently), while it may be the "in" thing to cast vision for the church, as a pastor on the verge of our church's 3rd anniversary, the only vision I want to put before you is the vision of Christ Himself. Seeing your God in all of His glory and holiness is the only needed vision. Seeing Christ as supreme and exalted is sufficient vision. Like Isaiah and Ezekiel, the way to move men to holiness and evangelism is to show more of Him! And we recommit to doing this by revealing Christ in Scripture. From Genesis to Revelation, all Scripture speak of Him, as He told the disciples on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24:27). So, by the power of the Spirit, we will preach Christ and Him crucified from all of Scripture and unfold the vision of Christ. We will cast vision all year long and hope to stoke the fires of our people to fulfill the supreme mission.

Happy 3rd anniversary, Island Grace Church!

Serving alongside you to exalt Christ,

Ray Palompo
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