Monday, August 10, 2009
Change To Reap The Harvest - Happy 6th Year Anniversary
Dear Fellow Citadelians and Visitors,
I can't believe that it's yet another year that the Lord has so graciously allowed me, Nancy and Tiffany to serve here in Detroit at Citadel. It seemed like only yesterday that I was packing boxes and saying my farewells making our way to Detroit from Chicago. Days followed and we were sitting in a living room with some new friends who seemed to have interest in this "idea" called Citadel. Well, to God be the glory for the things that He has done. Several hundred souls later and hundreds of members later, God has proven Himself to show us His unbelievable faithfulness. For that I'm eternally grateful.
At the beginning of this year, the Lord impressed on my heart that this would be the year that we would need to prepare to Change to reap the harvest. Well, much has changed! We planted our first church, The Bridge Covenant Church pastored by our own very capable, Pastor Janine Simpson. We also hired our outstanding Minister of music, Adrian B. King. And lately we've added to our full time staff, Pastor Shaun Marshall as our Executive Pastor. Much is changing and we're seeing God do some amazing things. We have a goal of adding to our church family 5oo new members by year end and we are well on our way with over 270 plus new members already. But most importantly, we're seeing some changes in the way our membership is viewing stewardship, involvement and ownership. God is up to something and it's thrilling.
I have had the privilege of sharing with leaders from across America and around the world at this years Leadership Summit out of the Chicagoland area. An estimated 100,000 people viewed this event, and the message was really about YOU Citadel. Your courage, willingness to "get out of the boat", and unwavering love for God's Word has made it quite easy to share the Lord's work here in Detroit, because you are allowing Him to use YOU! Thanks for being the best flock a pastor could dream of serving!
I want to encourage each of you who read this blog to allow yourselves to not be boxed in to your own limitations and self-imposed reasons for not dreaming big. What are your dreams? What is it that God has shown you about your destiny that you've allowed circumstances to derail? I want to admonish you to get back on track and believe again. This is the greatest tool of the believer....faith. As a matter of fact this is the name of our church Citadel (Fortress) of FAITH! Believe!!!!! That might be all you have, but it's all that you need. Not money, friends, influence...faith. Faith can move mountains. Faith can uproot past failures and disappointments. Allow this season to be the one that you choose God over your own failures. This is the season where the promises of God should be held onto. Dream...come on what to do you have to lose? Indeed you have EVERYTHING to gain! Go for it!
Blessings,
Pastor
posted by Pastor Carey @ 11:57 PM
2 Comments:
August 11, 2009 at 10:54 PM
Kevin said...
Pastor, I was able to be a part of the leadership summit and watched your talk from a simulcast site in Canton. You were very impressive. A friend of mine asked me to sum up your talk in a couple of sentences. I told him you encouraged people to take a step of faith and reach out to a broken world. To put it simply, it is time to act on what we know to be true about God's word. I said that if I had to restate your talk into one statement it would be this: "if Christ is the hope of the world, than the local church needs to be the hope of the community in which it serves." I said your message had more to do with getting off of our back sides, stop making excuses about how or why we can't make a difference in the world we live in, and start taking some small incremental steps towards furthing God's kingdom here on earth. In a world where we lift up athletes and movie stars to God like status, how come we can't seem to find an hour and a half on a Sunday morning to worship the God of the universe? I just want to say thank you for being such an inspiration to a world where circumstances and situations seem to dictate our standing with God. When in fact, we know that our
God uses even our most difficult moments to strengthen and shape us into the people he has called us to be. I pray that God would continue to use you as His instrument to shine His light into the lives of a desperate people who are looking for hope in the midst of heartache. Looking forward to your Thursday night Bible Study. Thank You, Kevin Bruce
Mrs. B said...
Hello Pastor Carey
My husband and I had the privilege to see you at the Leadership Summit. We are members of Willow Creek - DuPage and a few weekends ago - we did step out of our church into the community. It was amazing!
We will be home (Grosse Pointe) this Thanksgiving and would love to meet you at Citadel. Can you please email us and let us know if you will be around Thanksgiving weekend?
It was a true honor to hear you speak and to see how God is utilizing you to spread His word, grace and love.
Blessings
The Bedsworths
Previous Posts
- Happy New Year
- Nights of Terror and Thanksgiving
- The Economic Crisis and The Believer's Response
- The BIG DAY and a New Season
- Summer at Citadel