God tells us in Psalm 50:14 that “the one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.” One of the ways we can show God’s greatness and goodness is to thank him, to remember all the needs he’s met and all the blessings he’s poured out on us.

As I look back on the last year, it’s clear to me that God has blessed us in some remarkable ways, and I don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to thank him:

Church Leadership

More than a year ago, we started praying fervently for God to provide another associate pastor. In July 2018, I asked you to begin praying for a man who (1) had the heart of a shepherd, (2) understood how to lead us in worship (i.e., not just a talented musician), and (3) could help us change to be more like Jesus. Finally, God brought Andrew White to us this past October, and I think we can all say that God blessed us with answered prayer!

We also began praying fervently for guidance in adding deacons. In October 2018, we looked closely together at the teaching of Scripture on the topic of deacons. Then we began to pray and ask for God’s guidance. After a long wait, we now have nine deacons, each of whom is assigned to care especially for a specific list of members here at Indian Creek. I’ve been very impressed with these men and the way they have stepped up to serve our congregation over the last year.

International Missions

Leading up to 2019, our Missions ministry team asked us to make some bold financial decisions to ensure that the spread of the gospel remains top priority for Indian Creek. We increased the percentage of our budget assigned to international missions, so much so that we’re very close to being able to support a full-time IMB missionary for an entire year! Through your generosity and God’s blessing, we were also able to provide international missions scholarships to 13 people assigned to short-term mission teams. In 2020, we look forward to being able to send off one of our own member families to live full-time in the Yucatan as they support a ministry of church planting and pastoral training among those who have no gospel witness.

Investment in the Future

Many of you know that the buildings on the west side of Indian Creek Road are aging quickly, and by God’s grace, they’ve also felt a little crowded at times! This year, God burdened your heart to sacrificially give and embrace a unified vision to buy the land just to the south of our main building, a major milestone toward investing in the future of our physical campus.

We Can Trust Our God

I bring up these three areas of blessing not only to give thanks to God but also to remind us that our God is trustworthy. He knows what he’s doing and he’s able to fulfill his own plans. Our job is simply to trust and obey. I really look forward to seeing how he is going to work in 2020!