Recently I had a vision. It came to me in a dream and it has been haunting me ever since. It is a dream for Our Savior’s. Here is what I dreamed. I was standing in the middle of the church, the carpet had turned to lush green grass and everywhere I looked there were people smiling and laughing. It was wall-to-wall people all participating in different things. Some were praying, some were reading the Bible, some were singing, others were visiting and drinking coffee, while still others were playing games. I looked outside and I saw people getting into vans and on buses, others boarding planes (you know how dreams go) they were headed out to serve the world in various missions. After I woke up I felt as if God had spoken to me, saying “Jamie... this can be the church!”

If my dream is to become a reality, it will not be an easy task. The statistics right now are not in our favor. Churches are closing all around us. Young people are not attending and joining like they did twenty and thirty years ago. According to the Alban Institute, 70% of Americans do not attend a church. Of that 70%, just 35% attend more than once-a-month. The Institute also reports that Sunday has now become the busiest day of the week for families with activities such as: hockey, skating, karate, basketball, and dance, not to mention shopping and outdoor recreation. What are we to do?

Here is my vision, my plan, my strategy. It’s called H.E.S. It is an acrostic which stands for these three Biblical principles:

“H” Hearing. The Word of God has to reach people in order be “heard”. The Word reaches people in a variety of ways. It can be spoken, it can be modeled, it can be through actions...it can use many methods just as long as it gets out there and is “heard”. Therefore, we will be working on a variety of ways, methods and means for getting the Word out there to the public in this complex and busy society we live in today.

“E” Equipping. Worship will begin to become more prescriptive rather than descriptive. In other words, instead of describing what Jesus and his disciples did, we will be prescribing what Jesus is calling us to do in our time, in our place and in our lives. The direction will be focused more outwardly so the Word might be more clearly “heard” in our families, with our neighbors and in our neighborhoods.

“S” Serving. Jesus called us to “love God and love our neighbors”. An effective way to do that is three fold: Members-we will love those next to us in times of joy and in times of crisis. Community-we will love and serve those in our Devils Lake Region by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless and striving for justice. Country and World-we will continue to send people and finances to places like New Orleans to re-build broken communities and to Mexico to aid and give hope to the poor and to our companion synod the Central African Republic to dig wells to provide them with clean water.

Hear. Equip. Send. I believe this is a good vision God has given us. Now comes the question I have for you: “Will you join us?” “Will you commit yourself to a five year H.E.S. strategy?” “Will you support the vision of Our Savior’s with your presence, time, and finances?

In 1967 Our Savior’s began with a vision. A vision to reach out to this community and beyond with Jesus’ Gospel of acceptance, forgiveness and love. Today He is calling us again. Let us continue our forty-three year old mission to reach out to our hurting world in the name of Jesus. Come and join us as we make a difference in this world in the name of our risen Lord, Jesus Christ.

God’s hope and peace,

Pastor Jamie