Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow!

Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great ~ Revelation 19:5

In 2019, we focused on stabilizing our membership, budget, elders, and staff. The Lord was faithful, so in 2020, we set out to Prepare for Growth. Little did we know we would face a global pandemic by the third month of the year. Admittedly, 2020 was unusual and challenging. Still, we must take a moment to reflect on God’s faithfulness. When we count our blessings and consider God’s faithfulness, we will be moved to praise and thanksgiving.

Our Membership
Still, because our God is both sovereign and good, he remained faithful. Our membership grew from 482 to 513. We even received more new members in 2020 than we did in 2019. Praise be to our God! As we seek to Engage our Neighbors and Nations with the Gospel in 2021, would you join us in praying that the Lord would continue bringing new members to High Pointe that will join us in our mission to see all peoples become wholehearted followers of Christ?

Remember our first resolution from Ephesians 6:18-24. Let us resolve in 2021 to pray for the bold proclamation of the gospel for the good of the elect and the glory of God.

Our Giving
In 2020, our giving also grew by over $100,000.00. Though we are still receiving income from 2020, we can now let you know we surpassed our budget goal, leaving us with a surplus for 2020. To acknowledge our thanks to God and practice faithful stewardship, we will give 10% of that surplus to one of our strategic gospel partners. By doing this, we want to model generous giving and encourage our gospel partners. The elders are working this week on a wise plan for the remainder of the budget surplus. We look forward to communicating that to you in the near future.

Remember our second resolution from Ephesians 6:18-24. Let us resolve in 2021 to build lasting relationships with our gospel partners for mutual accountability and encouragement.

Our Elders and Staff
Finally, we saw the Lord bless us by providing more elders than we’ve ever had and two new staff members. We affirmed three new elders (Otis Fields, Johnathan Oskins, and John Thompson), bringing our total to twelve elders. We also welcomed Dan Lisa as our new Director of Student Ministry in August and Eric McAllister as our new Director of Music and Liturgy just this week. Eric will begin leading our corporate singing on February 7. Together, our elders and staff want to serve you and encourage you to speak the truth to one another in love until we all reach Christlikeness that we may be a faithful display of God’s wisdom to the world and heaven and hell.

Remember, then, our third resolution from Ephesians 6:18-24. Let us resolve in 2021 to desire for one another the peace, love, and grace that come from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we look back on 2020, we cannot help but see how the Lord blessed us beyond anything we asked for or could have imagined. Let us rejoice in the Lord’s faithfulness and praise his name! As we enter into this new year together, we ask that the Lord continue blessing us so that we would faithfully engage our neighbors and the nations with the gospel.

Love,

Pastor Juan