Engaging Our Neighbors and the Nations with the Gospel

“...making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for that which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” - Ephesians 6:18-20

As Paul fulfilled his ministry through the proclamation of the gospel, he understood the necessity of prayer and how dependent his ministry was on God, so he asked the Ephesians to pray for him to have boldness as he preached Christ. If Paul needed prayer for boldness in gospel proclamation, how much more do we?

The proclamation of the Gospel is central to what we do as a church and to our lives as Christians. We proclaim the gospel when we gather on Sundays, when we meet in life groups, when we meet one on one, and when we have gospel conversations with unbelievers. As a church, we want Christ to be proclaimed in everything we do.

As we think outside of our church, our desire is to proclaim the gospel to the community around High Pointe, to the communities we live in, to our nation, and to the ends of the earth. If we are going to faithfully proclaim the gospel, we will need boldness, and if we are going to have boldness, we will need God’s help. So the elders are making 2 requests of you as we prepare to enter into 2021: (1) Will you join us in praying that HPBC will proclaim the gospel and for the Lord to give our church opportunities to declare his goodness in our city, our nation, and throughout the world? And (2) Will you depend on the strength God supplies and open your mouth to boldly proclaim the gospel?

As 2020 comes to a close, and we begin to prepare for 2021, the elders have been working with David Andrews, our Deacon of Budget, to prepare next year’s budget.

The theme of HPBC’s 2021 budget is Engaging our Neighbors and the Nations with the Gospel.

The year 2020 has been a year of preparing High Pointe for growth. Much to our surprise, the growth intended by God in 2020 has come despite a pandemic. By God’s grace, we were able to see God answer our prayers as he has raised up 3 new elders, 2 new staff (Dan Lisa, our Director of Youth Ministry, and Eric McAllister, who will begin serving as Director of Music & Liturgy in January), and God has even been so kind to allow us to see our membership grow to over 500, compared to 482 last year. Now, still in the midst of a pandemic, we believe there is great opportunity for the spread of the gospel.

In 2021, we are asking the Lord to allow us to engage our neighbors with the gospel, to support the spread of the gospel in strategic parts of the U.S., and to engage the nations with the gospel. So we’ve allocated funds to help us reach our neighbors through ESL and other outreach events. We will support Scott Cope’s church plant in a very strategic location (Boston). And as we seek to engage the nations, we are planning to send a HPBC team to Mexico City for a Vision Trip, a team to the Middle East to support our Gospel Partners, and another team to Uganda to train pastors. We have also been able to lay the foundation for future efforts in international missions. We have been working to rebuild our missions mobilization strategy. We are praying that the Lord will allow us to see members of High Pointe mobilized for missions.

God has also been very kind in allowing us to see much stronger giving in 2020. As of Oct 31, 2020, our giving is $98,011 ahead of where we were at this point in 2019. That’s a 9% increase from 2019. And in 2019 we saw a 7% increase in giving compared to 2018. Praise God for how he has graciously provided this year! Putting all of this together, the elders are proposing a 2021 budget of $1,500,000, which is a 4% increase over 2020.

With the increased budget for 2021, we ask that you let it challenge you and lead you to self-examination. Ask yourself if you give joyfully, sacrificially, and generously. If you do, we praise God for your generosity. May the Lord remind us that our giving is a reflection of our hearts and may our hearts be filled with a passion for Christ and for proclaiming His Gospel. After all, that’s what the mission of HPBC is all about – seeing all peoples become whole-hearted followers of Jesus Christ.

For those interested in more details, the 2021 Budget Packet was sent to the congregation in a church-wide email yesterday. This document will provide further explanation of the proposed expenses for 2021. We invite you to come prepared to discuss the budget during a Q&A on Sunday, November 29 at 9:00 am or on December 6, at 9:00 am. You are welcome to contact me or any of the elders with your questions in advance. Doing so will actually allow us time to research the item to ensure we provide an adequate response. On Sunday, December 13, you will be asked to vote on this budget during our December Member’s Meeting.

Love,

Pastor Davey