July Newsletter
Build It And I Will Bring Them!
How many of you have ever heard of, or seen the movie ‘Field Of Dreams’? I’m a little weird, or maybe a lot weird, as many of you know. The LORD talks to me through His word—the Bible, in prayer, in silence etc. etc. like with all of us. But as a movie buff, the LORD often talks to me through and during movies. 9 years ago, I was watching the movie ‘Field OF Dreams’ on TV. I had seen the movie before—only this time the LORD spoke to me—with almost an audible voice. In one of the scenes where Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) hears the voice in the cornfield, ‘Build It And They Will Come,”—I heard the LORD, again in almost an audible voice say, “Build It And I Will Bring Them.”
Then the LORD Jesus gave me a passage of scripture. It’s Isaiah 54:2-3a, “Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your house and spare no expense! 3 For you will soon be bursting at the seams…”
The LORD told me very clearly that our growth and success in reaching non-believers was going to be conditional on WVC taking a step of faith and adding onto our facility. I was very excited about what the LORD told me and shared it with the church board. That church board were wonderful people—but they did not want to take that step of faith. Consequently, after they said no to this step of faith, our church family plateaued in our growth and success in reaching non-believers.
This is very consistent with scripture and the people of God throughout the Bible. God’s people have often had to take steps of faith before God moved or performed a miracle. Noah had to build an ark and take constant criticism before it rained. The Israelites had to get to the edge of the Red Sea before God parted the Red Sea for them to walk through on dry land. The priests had to step into the water at flood stage before God parted the Jordan River for Israel to go and take the Promised Land!
We could go on and on with examples. Both God’s Promises and Faith often require us to take the first step, trusting in God’s promise. I am so glad our current Lead Board are people—who take steps of faith. We are taking the first step and will be building soon.
God has given me a number of promises about building. One is Haggai 1:2-3, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: The people are saying, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the Lord.’” 3 Then the Lord sent this message through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Why are you living in luxurious houses while my house lies in ruins?”
Now, while our church building doesn’t lie in ruins, the two main issues here are: 1. The people saying it was not time to build were wrong. It was time to rebuild God’s house. 2. Make God, his commands and His House a priority and He will bless you and your lives, but if you don’t, you’ll lose His greater blessings. Again, God’s promises are conditional on us taking steps of faith.
We read again, just a few verses down: Hagai 1:7-8, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says… 8 Now go up into the hills, bring down timber, and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord.”
We read again in Haggai 2:8-9, “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 9 The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place, I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”
All The Silver And Gold Is God’s, He’ll Finance this—as long as we are faithful to give and do what God says. We’re not going to go in debt. But when we take this step of faith, they will come—God will bring them! One of our goals as we build God’s family—is to depopulate hell—and populate Heaven!
So, I challenge you to:
- Stay faithful in your tithes and offerings.
- Give to the building fund.
- Pray for non-believers, Build Friendships with them, and Invite them to Sunday worship.
- Be in worship faithfully each Sunday.
- Serve in a ministry here at WVC. We need you!
We read again in Haggai 2:19, “I am giving you a promise now while the seed is still in the barn. You have not yet harvested your grain, and your grapevines, fig trees, pomegranates, and olive trees have not yet produced their crops. But from this day onward I will bless you.”
Zechariah 4:6-7, “…This is what the Lord says…: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. 7 Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in your way; it will become a level plain before you! And when you set the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’”
God’s given us a new promise of blessing and fruitfulness. He’s going to bless us—if we trust Him, work and take steps of faith! “Build It And They Will Come!” — “Build It And I Will Bring Them!” I hope you take this step of faith with us—as a church family! God will bless you!
In Christ,
PD and Julie