Pastor's Note - March 31 
Continuing to use this space to answer questions about our Sowing the Seeds campaign (see previous posts if you don’t know what that is!), I want to answer one giant question, that has certainly crossed my mind a number of times. That question is; “What if this all fails?” What if we invest time and energy and money, and in the end the basement renovation is not possible, we fail to be able to cover the costs, or we can’t gather a team to launch a new church, or we launch a new church and it dies months or years later? I’ve asked all these questions. And the answer I keep coming back to is that, regardless of outcome, it’s healthier for us to try and fail than to not try at all. That may sound pithy or trite, but I believe it. There are multiple ways churches die. One of the most pernicious deaths is the slow death of settled comfort. The spiritual death that comes when a church stops trying to reach out beyond itself. I believe that to be a far greater threat to the church than a failed church plant. So we may try to plant, or build out the basement, and there is a possibility it all doesn’t go to plan, and doesn’t work out the way we want. But I believe God blesses and uses the efforts. I believe that even if we “fail,” the practice of setting our hearts and minds on evangelism and growth and the spread of the gospel will shape our hearts and minds, and fruit of some kind will come from it. I hope I’m not twisting this passage around too much, but I believe the Lord would rather us get out of the boat and try to walk after Jesus and risk drowning, then stay in the boat and never take a step at all. Regardless of the outcome, I think this season of attempting to grow and reach out, and trusting God’s will in the process, will be good for our souls and spiritual health. In other words, if our hearts and minds and spirits are truly set on Christ, I don’t think it’s possible to truly fail.