Wednesday, January 16

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Ephesians 4:14-16

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

One of my favorite songs as a child was, “Deep and Wide.” Maybe you remember it:

Deep and wide, deep and wide,

There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.

Deep and wide, deep and wide,

There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.

That’s all there was to it – but you could sing it all kinds of ways by dropping words out and just saying, “Deep and hmmmmmm, deep and hmmmmmm…” And I liked it because we always sang it with hand motions.

But, it occurs to me, “deep and wide” are also words that describe my vision for FBCG!

If you think of a meteor falling from the sky and striking the earth, you would assume that the size of the crater it leaves would be related to the size of the meteor; the deeper and wider the crater, the bigger the meteor.

I see the church as being kind of like God’s meteor – designed for maximum impact on the earth! But rather than its impact being measured by the size of a hole in the ground, it’s measured by its impact on people, and on the world.

The Book of Acts describes the growth of the early church this way:

“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47

That tells me Jesus wanted his church to grow wider! He loves to see more and more people drawn to himself through his church. He wants the crater made by his church to be ever expanding. Over this past year we baptized some 55 people, many of whom became followers of Jesus since connecting to FBCG! I dream of the day when we are baptizing 100 new believers every year, or more, because Jesus wants his church to grow wider!

But we also read in Ephesians,

Then we will no longer be infants….blown here and there by every wind of teaching… Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is Christ.

That tells me Jesus wants his church to grow deeper! Once people come to faith in Christ and are connected to his body, the church, he wants them to grow up – spiritually speaking. And that means to grow deeper in his word, deeper in spiritual maturity, deeper in service.

When I look at FBCG, I see a church that is growing both deeper and wider at the same time! In the past couple of years we have had more people connecting to FBCG for the first time; and more people than ever digging deeper through Bible Study, small groups, service, and we have seen greater generosity than ever before. But I also see a church that must remain committed to doing the things that ensure we will continue to grow in both dimensions.

We all know that growing deeper is not easy! Growing deeper as a church means that we must be committed to not only teaching God’s word but encouraging the intentional development of the disciplines of spiritual growth in our church family: the study of God’s word, prayer, worship, generosity, fellowship and service. 

But, then again, growing wider is not easy either! Growing wider as a church means constantly thinking beyond ourselves and about the wider community in which we live – and about the wider world we are called to reach and serve. Growing wider means figuring out how to both reach people and then make room for them in our programs, facilities and worship venues. Growing wider means arriving at a worship service and finding a newcomer sitting in “your seat”! Growing wider means stretching ourselves through initiatives like Serve the World in order to make greater and greater impact for Christ’s kingdom!

The last thing to say about “deep and wide” is that, when it comes to the church, we simply can’t settle for one without the other! To focus only on growing deeper is to be insulated from the world around us; to focus on only growing wider is to ignore whole dimensions of spiritual maturity.

May we, as individuals and as a church family, be committed to growing in both dimensions, deeper and wider, and all for the glory of Christ!

Brian Coffey