A Bigger Vision:
A Year in Review
Part I

It’s somewhat normal in churches today to have what’s often referred to as a “ministry season.” It’s simply a way of bringing one year in the life of the church to an end and beginning another. Everyone marks time differently. The Jewish calendar begins with Rosh Hashanah in the fall. The Christian liturgical year begins with Advent. Most of us, however, follow the civil calendar, which begins on January 1. For LakePoint, our new ministry season begins each year on September 1. It’s more than just the beginning of another ministry year; it also coincides with the beginning of our fiscal year. Our budgets reset, ministries begin again, and we turn our attention toward the year ahead.

There is something meaningful about having a set time to pause, look back, and begin again.
In one of his more famous poems, T.S. Eliot wrote, “What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.” I’m not nearly as eloquent, so I’ll simply say this: Both endings and beginnings are important. Endings allow us to look back. They help us to remember what happened, to celebrate what went well, and to recognize what we’ve learned. Beginnings allow us to look ahead. They consider where we’re going and what we might do differently. In that sense, an ending is never simply an ending. It can become the starting point for whatever comes next.

That’s why a new ministry season matters. Before we just rush into another year, it’s worth taking a moment to look back. What has God been doing among us? Where have we grown? Where are we healthy? And where might God be inviting us to grow?

Last year, the leadership asked the congregation to take a survey that helped to give us some direction as to where we felt God was calling us as a church to move toward. Some questions asked about church leadership, spiritual formation, and evangelism. There were also suggestions of places we could improve, as well as our strengths.

The survey was conducted through Gloo, a platform that helps churches understand the health and development of their congregations. We weren’t necessarily looking for a grade, and we definitely weren't looking for a way to prove that we were doing everything right. “What we were really looking for was a snapshot that would help us see more clearly where we were healthy, where we had room to grow, and where we needed to become more intentional.”

What we discovered was encouraging. LakePoint has a healthy foundation. We scored highest in areas such as Worship Experience and Trusted Leaders. We also scored highly in Faith Sharing and Serving Others. These are not small things. They tell us that some important things are happening within the life of our church. People trust their leaders and value worship. People are willing to share their faith and are willing to serve.

But the survey also showed us that though we have a healthy foundation, that doesn’t mean the house is finished.

We scored lower in Spiritual Formation and Connected Community. In the area of sending and outward impact, Leadership Development emerged as an area where we need to grow. And in the area of leading the organization, Data-Informed Decision-Making
and Resource Stability were identified as places where we could become stronger.
In other words, the survey didn't tell us that LakePoint was unhealthy. It told us that we have a healthy foundation, but we need to become more intentional about forming people, connecting people, developing leaders, and measuring what we're doing.

Churches can be very busy without necessarily being very intentional. Sometimes we can just offer programs, hold services, fill calendars, and recruit volunteers. We might accomplish a great deal, but can still miss some of the deeper work Jesus has called us to do. The question isn't simply, How much are we doing? The better question is, What kind of fruit is all of this producing in us?

The better questions: Are people becoming more like Jesus? Are people finding meaningful community? Are people discovering their gifts and learning to lead? How much sharing the good news and serving our neighbors is taking place? Are we paying attention to what is actually happening among us?

These types of questions have shaped much of our thinking over this past year. And they have led us to a simple conclusion: we don't need to abandon what is working. We just need to build on it.

We want to continue investing in worship and prayer, and we want to strengthen the things that are already healthy. But at the same time, we want to become more intentional about discipleship, spiritual formation, community, evangelism, leadership, and stewardship.
That has meant some very practical changes. We’ve hired a Worship Pastor and committed ourselves to creating more opportunities for worship and prayer. We've developed new discipleship and spiritual formation classes. We've begun thinking differently about the structure of our church. We've created a leadership manual and are preparing leadership training for the coming ministry year. We've also begun publishing attendance and financial information because we believe healthy churches should pay attention to what is happening and be willing to talk honestly about it.

And this isn’t the vision. They are really just steps toward the vision. And that's really what a new ministry season is about. We look back—not simply to celebrate what happened, and not simply to identify what went wrong—but so that we can look forward with greater clarity. The end is where we start from.

So as we begin another ministry season at LakePoint, we are carrying both gratitude and expectation with us. We are grateful for the foundation God has given us. And we are expecting God to continue building something through us that is bigger than any one program, sermon, ministry, or season.

The question isn't simply: Where have we been?
The question is: Where is God leading us next?

And that is where our vision begins. Not with a new program or strategy, but with a willingness to follow where God is leading us next.

THE FAMILY GOD CREATES
5/8/28

The other day on the trail, I passed a pond in a nearby ravine. Suddenly, ducklings appeared out of nowhere, scattering and then racing across the water toward their mother. She quacked loudly at my presence as they cut quick, panicked V-shapes to reach her. It was a simple moment, but a picture of protection, instinct, and, at the same time, belonging.

This coming Sunday is Mother’s Day, and this picture stuck in my mind as a perfect picture of not only motherhood but also of God Himself. It’s a day to honor the different women who have shaped our lives. For some, that’s a biological mother; for others, it’s a spiritual mother, a mentor, or someone who helped guide us in faith. We may be able to celebrate with them, or we may be honoring their memory. Some of us are celebrating our own children, while others are celebrating children we’ve helped raise and pour into. However it looks, it’s a day to celebrate.

But as a pastor, I know Mother’s Day can also be a difficult day. For some, memories of our mother are not easy. Some may not have had the relationship they’d hoped for, and others have never known their mother at all. Some have experienced the pain of not being able to have children. Others carry the unimaginable weight of losing a child. These are real experiences, and they make this day complex.

And it’s in the middle of that complexity that we’re reminded of something deeper: God is forming a family.

Jesus pointed to those who followed Him and said, “These are my brothers and sisters.” He wasn’t building something defined only by biology, but by belonging. He didn’t come to build something defined only by a kingdom; He came to create a family. And the Apostle Paul tells us that God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family through Jesus Christ.

Even though God reveals Himself to us as Father, Scripture also shows us the depth and tenderness of His love in ways that reflect a mother’s heart. In Isaiah, God says, “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even though she might forget, I will never forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15). Or in a prayer of Moses, God is seen as one who gives birth, and he asks God, “Was it I who conceived all this people? or was it I who gave them birth…?” (Numbers 11:12). And Jesus describes Himself as a mother hen lamenting to gather her children under His wings in the midst of pain and confusion (Matt. 23:37). God’s love is not distant, rather it is nurturing, attentive, and fiercely committed.

So Mother’s Day isn’t just about the families we come from, it’s also about the family God is creating.

Whether women have raised children, felt the ache of wanting to have them, poured into others spiritually, or have gone through the almost impossible task of trying to live after losing them, they are all part of that family. These women reflect the heart of a God who sees, who nurtures, and who never forgets His children.

And because that’s who God is, it shapes what we do.

So my hope on that day is that your children, biological, adoptive, or spiritual, rise up and call you blessed! May we support one another, pray for one another, and worship together as one family.

To all women, mothers in every sense: Happy Mother’s Day!

Pastor Jesse Holt

MIND, DEBT, & FORGIVENESS
5/1/26

Some debts are harder to stop paying than others. In a recent interview, actor Oscar Isaac said, “Find a way to make your mind your friend.” But too often, our minds act less like friends and more like debt collectors, calling at all hours to remind us of what we still owe for our past.
Lately, I’ve been studying what have become known as King David’s Penitential Psalms, partly for a deeper understanding, but mostly for the current sermon series we’re in called “The Rhythm of Prayer.” These Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143) illuminate the part of Jesus’ Model Prayer: Forgive us our debts…

Most people don’t know the full weight of your worst sin or mine. Yet, after 3,000 years, everyone still knows David’s. While he thought his failure was buried in the palace floorboards, it was eventually broadcast and retold for generations. David’s greatest sin became public history, and while his failure remained part of the story, his guilt did not. What God forgave, David no longer kept trying to pay for. “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you,” he wrote, “and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” (Psalm 32:5, NLT). This Psalm captures that turning point with startling honesty. Notice the freedom begins not only in confession, but in no longer hiding it. David’s sin wasn’t only mental torture; it was compounded by the exhausting labor of concealment and self-payment.

It’s like a woman who once walked into her bank, ready to make another student loan payment, only to discover her balance was zero. Paid in full. The shock wasn’t just financial; it was psychological. She came prepared to participate in a burden that no longer belonged to her. That image feels deeply theological. So many people approach God the same way: still trying to pay toward a debt Christ has already marked PAID. Provision means the cost has been covered; participation is the courage to walk out of the bank without looking back. Someone else has absorbed the cost.

I have a close friend who often says to me, “Be your own best friend.” I think David discovered a way to do this. And though he might have learned how to make peace with his mind, he didn’t find that peace by looking inward alone. He found it by bringing his guilt before God. Too many times, we look internally for the forgiveness we seek. And while self-compassion matters, peace cannot be found within ourselves alone. We must learn to quiet the noise of our sinfulness in the character of God. Once David brought his debt into the open, God didn’t offer a payment plan. He offered release. The guilt was gone. Not reduced. Not refinanced. Gone.

Maybe that’s how the mind becomes a friend: when it stops arguing with grace and finally agrees with it. We don’t just think more positively. We actually give ourselves the better narrative of the Gospel and align ourselves with what God has declared forgiven. Why? Because some of us are still standing at the counter, ready to pay balances that have already cleared. Healing begins when we accept what mercy says is true: the debt isn’t reduced. It’s gone.

Pastor Jesse Holt