The vision to serve Christ continues into 2008, and we believe God will prosper the work here at Heritage Fellowship Church. Indeed, it is our vision to preach and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ so as to equip mature believers to live in this lost world. As we seek to be a gathering of people who are standing on the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23), seeking the Will of God (Matthew 7:21), sure in our Worship of God (John 4:23-24), and steadfast in the Work of God (1 Corinthians 15:58), we will surely achieve this vision. As you are aware, our church building program is well underway. We will soon move into our interim space soon and will start the demolition of our existing facility shortly thereafter. Although there is a lot of activity around our new church building ministry, the purpose of the existing church building, interim worship space, and ultimate new church edifice remain the same – to facilitate our ministries and enable us as we teach and preach the Gospel of Christ. Accomplishing the work that God wants us to do is our true focus of our activities and why we are building.

When Nehemiah was informed that the building effort in Jerusalem had stalled (Neh 1:2-3), he left his position in the Persian King’s palace to return to Jerusalem to rally the people and to rejuvenate the building program. Nehemiah returned and found that the people were not ready to build because their hopes of completing the program had been dashed. With all the odds seemingly against him, Nehemiah began the project on his own. He prayed, surveyed the land, and allowed God to give him a plan. Only then did he meet with the people of Israel, at which time, he reminded them of the resources the Lord had already provided for them. Note that Nehemiah was not speaking to a new group of Israelites – these were the same people who surrendered any hope they could complete that which that started – the building project. When their leader demonstrated confidence in the Living God, the people responded accordingly.

Initially, they did not have everything they needed to build, but God was faithful and continued to bless them with all they needed to complete the building. Nehemiah was then able to complete the first section of his book by stating “so built we the wall… because the people had a mind to work.” (Neh 4:6).