From the top down

Last night was a pretty incredible night at Hill Country Bible Church. It was the annual leadership meeting, where Tim Hawks (the Senior Pastor at HCBC) cast the vision for the next year. As the leader of our church, he sets the spiritual tone for reaching every man, woman, and child with the Gospel and guess what? He is serious about this! It's more than just a catchy slogan or motto for the church. More than just a purpose statement that stays on the wall or website. It is the heartbeat of Hill Country. It is a vital part of our strategic planning. It consumes our time, energy, and resources. Every man, woman, and child has to be reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tim nailed down a few areas that needs our focus and attention for next year. The first one being church planting, of course. As the most successful form of evangelism in our culture today, it is necessary that Austin is saturated with church plants. Only 17% of Austin is churched, this means somewhere around 1.2 - 1.3 million people in the Greater Austin area do not participate in a local body. We have to plant churches to reach these individuals. We have to have missional communities of faith stretching into every pocket of Austin.

Next, we have to pass the baton of faith to the next generation. My generation has drifted further and further from Jesus and the church. They are the largest segment of the population missing from the church today. My generation needs to be rescued from a Christ-less grave. We have to prayerfully and strategically reach these individuals. If we miss this generation, I fear that the church will lose any foothold it had in America and we will become a completely lost and dark society. Reaching 35 and under has to be at the forefront of our efforts.

This is the mission and vision! May God use Hill Country and the other churches in the area to reach Austin! If you want to check out the video, here it is Leadership Community Meeting (then click on the video file to watch).