Mike Edmisten Follower of Jesus. Husband of Nicki. Father of Ryan & Brock. Communicator of the Word.

Big Weekend

This was definitely a "Holy Wow!" kind of weekend.

Our elders made a huge announcement today. Beginning June 10, we will offer two Sunday morning worship services each week. This decision is the result of a ton of prayer, thought, and discussion among our leaders.

In the parable of the talents, Jesus tells us about three servants who were given a portion of their master's money to manage. The first two invested the money, thereby earning more money. The third servant buried his money in the ground. Obviously he earned no interest because he made no investment. The master condemned him, calling him "wicked and lazy." Then the master took the money away from this lazy servant and gave it to the first servant because he had proven he knew how to manage it.

We are in the sweet spot of God's blessing at ACC and our numbers have reflected that. But with greater blessing comes greater responsibility. If we don't manage our current blessings well, we can be assured that we won't receive additional blessings. Not only that, but we also risk losing the blessings God has already given us. Pardon my selfishness, but I don't want somebody else receiving our blessings! The decision to move to dual services is a decision to be good stewards of the blessings that God has given us. And by managing these blessings well, we're opening ourselves up to even greater blessings.

What is so incredibly exciting to me is the fact that I have yet to hear a single negative comment about this bold move by our leadership! That is an amazing sign of unity in our church family and confidence in our church's leadership. Sadly, that is not the case in many churches.

I want to give serious props to our leaders…especially our elders. This is a courageous and visionary decision. It is a decision that is going to stretch our comfort zones. But if we hope to keep reaching Clermont County with God's good news, then we have to stay on offense. Far too many churches waste all their time playing defense. They're so busy dealing with infighting and bitterness within their own walls that they never turn their attention to those outside their church who need to meet Jesus. They're always playing defense. Today, our leaders made a bold statement that ACC is on offense. Life is too short and our mission is too important to waste time playing defense.