Good and Better

I love chess. I love playing it. I love watching it. And I love teaching it.

You sit at the board and suddenly your heart leaps. Your hand trembles to pick up the piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must sit there calmly and think about whether it's really a good idea and whether there are other, better ideas. –Stanley Kubrick

And so it is with life…

Sometimes in life, right and wrong are as clear as the sky on a cold, cloudless winter night. It is wrong to intentionally hurt somebody for no reason. It is right to have character and integrity in our actions. It is wrong to steal something that doesn’t belong to you. It is right to be a good parent.

Other things aren’t so clear. For the high school senior going to college, the right answer of which college to attend simply doesn’t exist. The home buyer will not find the perfect home. The choice is between a good home and a better home.

Many of life’s most important decisions aren’t between right and wrong. Many of life’s most important choices are between good and better.

Over the next week, the Church Council will share with and listen to the people of the church as we dream about our future. We will all listen to each other and we will all listen to God. The Church Council has prayed about, thought about, and talked about the following questions:

• What is the will of God for the future relationship between Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge?
• Moving forward, what ministry systems and structures are going to make the most sense?
• What is working well in making and multiplying disciples and how do we build on our strengths?

The Church Council has three different scenarios for moving forward that will be presented to the church. Other possibilities exist, but the Church Council has discerned these to be the best options.

1. Remain one church, redefine what it means to be one church, and change the current leadership structure of The Water’s Edge so that we will remain one church.
2. Become two churches with no transitional period.
3. Become two churches with a transitional period having shared ministries such as Vacation Bible School, Middle School and High School Ministries, women’s ministries, and office space.

Five years ago, The Water’s Edge was still a dream. We had no name, no place to worship, one small group, and a few excited people on the leadership team. Over the last five years, I have learned this: When God provides a vision God also provides resources for that vision. God’s will does not take us where God’s grace will not sustain us. Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fish and fed thousands of people.

Whichever path God leads us down, I believe the best is yet to come.

Craig