Open Road

"The church of Jesus, you see, was never meant to be merely a group of goodhearted, inwardly focused religious people, collective energy invested in caring for one another, ensuring adequate building upkeep for in-person activities, and managing finances to keep everything afloat. Instead, the distinguishing hallmark of the movement of Christ followers called the Church is to be an expectant focus up and out in pursuit of uncharted spiritual adventure to embrace and transform the world. Read the entire book of Acts in the Bible's New Testament, and then read it carefully again. It's the original dynamic illustration of what God still intends. So, if that's the Divine hope for every church, what's gone wrong in a perfectly good faith-filled, well-intentioned, settled-in congregation that's instead become plateaued or even started into decline? Maybe like yours, or a church that you know? Perhaps it's happened gradually as the church has become comfortable and complacent over time. Or, maybe the rapidly changing factors of our current community and world environment have resulted in us church-goers hanging on even more tightly to each other, our facility and our budget to just survive? A better question might be to ask, What is missing? The answer to that question is straightforward and non-negotiable. It is the author's desire to help you embrace and deploy the missing ingredient anew in your own personal life, your expedition, and in the life of your church. Sue Nilson Kibbey's intent is to inspire you about what is Divinely possible, provide you a practical path of steps you can take with ideas you could deploy to add this ingredient and recount a few of the many stories from your sister churches that may add to your inspiration. Sue's heartfelt hope that you, too, can set the stage for your own and your church's next future chapter, and to enable you to recognize God's irresistible summons to the open road - which is that greatest expedition of all"--