What Will It Take?

As we consider the specifics of the project, we want to be clear: We want the Lord to guide you. God is the ultimate Giver, and we are merely receivers and stewards of his gifts. Let that basic truth comfort and inspire you. Your job is not to out-give God.

Rather, as a steward of God’s resources, we pray you seek his guidance. If this expansion is what allows Grace Rancho to carry out the church’s mission from this location, then we are confident the Lord will work in us and through us.

The book of Ezra provides some encouragement for us. It begins with God’s people still in exile, far from home, displaced and disorganized, and surrounded by enemies. Their beloved Jerusalem had been captured and their temple is in ruins. To restore proper worship of God, they need to return to Jerusalem, rebuild the temple, and reestablish God’s law. But that seems impossible in light of the circumstances.

But of course, “Nothing is impossible with God.” The Spirit stirs the Persian King Cyrus so let the Israelites return to their land (1:1). The Spirit of God begins moving in people to motivate them to rebuild the temple (1:7). And though adversaries arise to thwart these plans, we are told how “the hand of the Lord” is upon the people to accomplish the work.

The “hand of the Lord” is upon Ezra as he makes requests of the king (7:6). The “hand of the Lord is upon him as he teaches Israel the law (7:9-10). He is courageous, because “the hand of the Lord my God was upon me” (7:27). The right people are raised up “by the good hand of our God” (8:18), they are protected by the Lord from their enemies because “the hand of our God was upon us” (8:31). 

As Nehemiah is raised up to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem, God’s continues to help: “And the king granted what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me” (2:8), “And I told them of the hand of my God that had been upon me for good” (2:18). When the wall around the city is completed in a breathtakingly fast 52 days, the enemies of Israel are afraid “for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God” (6:16).

God did it all, but he worked through his people.

As we take on our Making (More) Disciples Building Project, we are praying for God to do great things through us. We are praying that he would stir us up toward fervent prayer, humble trust, and sacrificial giving. We are praying that God’s Spirit “stirs” among us and that his “good hand” is upon us to work in us to accomplish this work. 

When God is at work among his people, he is at work through his people. God works in and through his people to accomplish his great deeds. May God stir our hearts and motivate us to work and serve and give to establish a more lasting and useful hub for ministry here.