Last month I shared some thoughts with you from the book Reveal, which was principally written by Greg Hawkins and Cathy Parkinson and published by the Willow Creek Association. The book as we mentioned was written as a result of an extensive survey done at the Willow Creek church. The survey attempted to ask those involved “Where Are You?” Having asked the questions and done the survey, the second part of the book attempted to analyze the answers and in effect tried to ascertain how the people were doing. This month I want to look at some of the conclusions of the book.

Where are you? The Willow Creek Community Church in Barrington Illinois recently did an in depth survey of the church to ask that question. The result of that survey which was done principally by Greg L. Hawkins and Cally Parkinson was published in a small book entitled REVEAL. In this article we will take a look at the first part of that book.

In Luke 10, Luke tells of Jesus sending out the Seventy (two) and verse 17 tells us that they “returned with joy.” Only those who have gone out to serve the Lord in some way can truly appreciate the joy that comes from ‘going out’ and ‘serving’.

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It has been correctly pointed out that our job isn’t to build the church. We’re supposed to BE the church, and build the kingdom. The best expression of the church is NOT what happens on Sunday morning. It’s what happens in the world during the week. And that’s not something you can market.”

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Lessons learned about the place of suffering in our spiritual lives.

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I’ve been forced recently to ask myself a number of questions concerning the purpose of the church. Why does the church exist? What is its reason for being? Am I doing what I should be doing as part of the church?

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A retired preacher was cleaning out an old dresser one day when he found five eggs and a thousand dollars. He asked his wife about it and she said that had she saved one egg for every bad sermon he had preached. He thought, "Five eggs in all those years. That’s not too bad. But what’s the money for?" "Well," she said, "Every time I got a dozen eggs, I sold them." As someone well said: “Just think, if it weren’t for marriage, men would go through life thinking they had no faults at all.”

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While the leaves are already out on the trees in Maryland, the snow here is still above my office windows. Whoever said that life is fair?

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The Latin word janua means a door or window from which a person may look both ways, in other words, in and out--forward and back. Historians say that January is also derived from the name Janus, a common household god among the Romans. He was often depicted facing in two directions. Basically, he was looking forward and back. As we stand now in the month of January and at the beginning of a new year we naturally look back over the way we have come. We also naturally look ahead to the New Year and where we are going.

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At this time of year it is a good thing, although often not an easy thing, to pause and reflect on all that God has done throughout the past year and to contemplate those things that we expect to see Him do in the year to come.

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