In 1882, the first church building was located on the corner of Highways 281 and 29, right in the heart of downtown.  In 1893 two wings were added to accommodate the increased membership. The church remained there until 1938 when it moved to the corner of Johnson and Main streets. In 1977 it moved to this location, again, to accommodate a growing church family. With the dawning of the new millennium, in May 2000 this church opened the adjacent building as the Family Life Center. Wow – are we blessed or what?

            I’m sure you’re sitting there wondering why I’m sharing our history. Because, my friends, I want to remind you that we worship God here today because of the sacrifice and commitment of those earlier Christian pioneers.  We are now called to look to the future with hope and excitement, taking the next step in the journey. There is an urgent need to continue that path of faithfulness. Here in Burnet County and beyond, there are people who are hurting and in need of a relationship with the Lord. Our society is becoming increasingly less Christian. As Methodists, we need to rediscover and reclaim our evangelistic passion. It’s in our Wesleyan DNA! It’s who we are as the people called “Methodist”.

            Last June at annual conference, we voted to hold a capital funds’ campaign called, “Offering Christ Today for Tomorrow”. The purpose of the campaign is to raise five million dollars to resource the start of new congregations all throughout the conference, just like our forefathers did here I Burnet. My friends, what is at stake is whether or not our children or grandchildren will be Christian. Look with me, if you will, at this text from Psalm 78.  Verses 6-7 are the inspiration of our goal when it says, “that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and rise up and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments.” Here the Lord commands us to teach our children the way of the Lord so that the next generation might know. My friends, this scripture underscores for us what this is all about. Last June, your lay delegates to the annual conference session, Susan Johnson and Debbie Clark joined me as we voted to support this vital campaign, so “the next generation might know…” Our children. Our grandchildren.

            I was reading an article just this week in a magazine called, “Good News” which is a magazine for United Methodist Renewal. In the November/December edition there were several articles dealing with this exact issue, preparing the delegates for the 2008 General Conference who will no doubt, deal with the reality that the United Methodist Church, like many mainline Christian denominations, is facing a real crisis. One of the articles, written by Bishop Lindsey Davis of the North Georgia Annual Conference supports the need for exactly what we are doing in this campaign. He said, “we need to acknowledge that we have been largely ineffective over the past 50 years in making new disciples for Jesus Christ in the United States… Therefore urgent action is required. Planting new churches must be our number one priority”. In another article in the same magazine, Robert Renfroe a pastor of discipleship from the Woodlands UMC said, “Nearly half of our United Methodist Churches in any given year do not receive a single member by profession of faith. In 1940, the average Methodist was 30 years old; today the average member is almost 60.”

            But my friends, the news is not all bad. New churches are already being started. Thirty-three locations for new church starts have been identified here in our conference. Two of them are in the Kerrville district of which we are a part. New disciples are being made right here in the Southwest Texas Annual Conference. I have a video I want to show you in just a few minutes and you will see glimpses of what is happening right at our back door. There are actually two videos on one disc and I’ve asked Dorothy to play the short version for us at the conclusion of my sermon. It’s only 3 minutes long. Following the service, if you’d like to see the longer version which is 11 minutes, please remain here and I’ll ask Dorothy to show that one to us as well. If you stay for that, you’ll see a familiar face in it – and it’s not mine.  It’s the face of one you have supported in ministry from his calling in his youth and you will be proud to see him fulfilling that calling in this beautiful presentation.

            So what’s the next step? I think by now you know me well enough to know that I will never ask you to do something I’m not willing to do myself. So, let me tell you about the three different kinds of commitments I have made to this campaign. First of all, I have committed to pray mightily for this campaign, and for the exciting opportunity we have to help make new disciples! Secondly, at the invitation of the bishop, I have committed myself to participate in one of the steering committees for this campaign. That means I am attending meetings monthly in the conference office and visiting other congregations in the Kerrville district as needed to help them facilitate the campaign in their local churches. Thirdly, Wade and I have already made a personal financial commitment to the campaign because we believe the success of starting new churches in our conference is vital to making new disciples. Now let me be clear about that financial commitment. It is not in place of our tithing commitment to the work and ministry of our wonderful church right here in Burnet. Our pledge is in addition to what we already committed financially right here at our home church. That will be a challenge for us, but we are prepared and know that God is faithful in all things. He has blessed us in ways too numerous to count. How can we do any less?

            Friends, each individual and each congregation in this conference are being invited to pledge financial resources “so that the next generation might know”. You will be hearing more about that in the days to come. Let me invite you to begin now, prayerfully considering how you might participate in this special campaign to make a difference “Offering Christ Today for Tomorrow”. Won’t you join me in praying for this campaign? Won’t you prayerfully consider making a 3-5 year commitment to the work of creating new churches? Won’t you join me in reaching out to those who don’t know Jesus Christ, offering them a living relationship with him through the Body of Christ? In the 1850’s some pioneers did the same thing for us with the birth of this church. Now, we have the opportunity to do the same for others, for “the children yet unborn”. What a marvelous opportunity! Thanks be to God! Amen!

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