Genesis 28:10-22

10?Jacob left Beer-sheba and went towards Haran. 11He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. 12And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13And the Lord stood beside him and said, ?I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; 14and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. 15Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.? 16Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, ?Surely the Lord is in this place?and I did not know it!? 17And he was afraid, and said, ?How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.?

18?So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. 19He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. 20Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ?If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, 21so that I come again to my father?s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, 22and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God?s house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one-tenth to you.?

One of my new years resolutions was to truly engage in a daily devotional and prayer time. In order for me to do this, I realized I would need a guide and a plan to help me. So I ordered this resource, Sacred Ordinary, which is a liturgical calendar and devotional book. Each day, I have a prayer and 3 scripture passages to reflect and think about throughout my day. I am also able to write down the priorities for the day, a to-do list, and appointments. Included in every week is a way to reflect on the week and think about the ways I would like to grow in the week to come. Now, I have not done the devotional daily, but I am getting better at doing it daily. In beginning this new spiritual discipline, because for me and many pastors, our scripture reading is connected to the passages we are preaching and teaching on; so doing something additional, but necessary for me spiritual growth, has been fruitful in many ways. As I read through Genesis 28 two weeks ago, I realized it was such a great passage about planting a new church and knowing the importance of God being in the place.

From the beginning, the people of Wintergarden have been caring, compassionate, welcoming, and loving.

Last week I gave us some new years resolutions. I think all of these need to apply to our personal lives and our life together as a congregation and with our community. It is a threefold resolution. Ready for your review? The first resolution I want us to make is to grow in faith and strengthen our relationship with God-learning to depend on God. The second resolution I want to propose is that we change the patterns of the past that have caused us failure. And the third resolution is to work towards growing our congregation by inviting people to join us in worship, fellowship, study, and fun.

And I reinforce that it is incredibly important for Christians to do in their lives. This might sound like too many resolutions, but I think they are possible. Because I think they can apply to our lives together as a worshiping community and individually. For so many years, we have based church growth on numbers and statistics. Now don?t get me wrong, I think these things are important. But I would love to create an alternative way to track church growth. What if we tracked church growth by some of these measures: 20 people dedicated their lives to Christ, put God first, and are faithfully growing through worship, fellowship, and service? What if we said, 10 children from the community joined a weekly kids program where they learned about God?s love and shared that love with others? What if we said, 30 people from our neighborhood consistently attended the Neighborhood Watch meetings, Community Meals, Movie Night, Adopt-A-Road, and events for the neighborhood. What if we said, 50 people experienced an authentic conversation about faith and God because WE talked with folks. If we live into these resolutions, then these measurements would be really powerful and life changing for all of the people involved. ?? So maybe it is part of my dream for God?s people-deeper relationship with God, letting go of the past, and faith communities growing authentically. It is my dream, my hope, and my goal. But I also believe it is God?s dream, hope, and goal for every person, every one of God?s children.

Pastor Bob stayed with the new church for 3 years before he retired. During those 3 years, the beginning of something exciting happened. And although people were excited, it was clear from the beginning that not everyone knew the purpose of a faith community being placed on Wintergarden Ave. Peace River Presbytery had a purpose, a dream, a vision?but the people who had begun to gather for worship, might not have had the same understanding. After Bob retired, many people left the newly formed congregation. Some folks went back to First Presbyterian, while others wandered. Pastor Bill Clark arrived as the interim pastor for 6 months, followed by Pastor Larry Barnes as the designated pastor. There seemed to be many issues during the time of Pastor Larry and after 9 months, he resigned. A search committee was restarted, the third search in less than 2 years, for the next pastor. During this time, four different pastors filled the pulpit for the new church. After an extended search, Pastor Kathi Wiggins became the designated pastor on a 3 year contract. When she started, there were less than 50 people remaining and the NCD was in its 4th year of ministry. A lot happened in those early days?

While Pastor Kathi was with Wintergarden, the congregation grew, funding was raised for the building we are in today, ground was broken in July 1997, and the mortgage for the building of $320,000 was paid off in November of 2002. Pastor Kathi became the installed pastor in February of 1998. Outreach to the community through events on the grounds, as well as faithful worship, new adventures, and a faithful group, Wintergarden had what I would call, ?The Golden Years? as a congregation. In May of 2003, Pastor Kathi accepted a new call to Siesta Key Presbyterian Church in Sarasota.

After that, Pastor Myles MacDonald became the interim for 6 months until a new pastor was called. Through that search, Pastor Larry Yerger became the pastor in 2004. During the time when Pastor Larry was here, Port Charlotte experienced Hurricane Charlie and this negatively impacted Pastor Larry personally as well as the congregation. Many members were affected by the hurricane, many people left the area, it was a challenge to lead the congregation for Pastor Larry, and finances were difficult during this time. Pastor Larry resigned and accepted another call to a church in Texas in 2009. It was during this time when the Presbytery came back into the picture to help Wintergarden Presbyterian Church determine if they were a viable congregation and could reach a level of sustainability for the future. At that time, John Scott became the student pastor for Wintergarden. After that another period of different pastors preaching every week began. Followed by Pastor Ruth Schaff spending an intentional interim with Wintergarden in 2011. Ruth was able to bring stability to a challenging situation. Then Pastor Ron Kruezel was placed with Wintergarden in 2012. After about 6 months, Pastor Ron resigned and Pastor Ruth came back to Wintergarden in 2013. Pastor Ruth stayed another 9 months with re-establishing the congregation after a difficult time with Pastor Ron. Pastor Devon Ducheneau, now Andrews, became the temporary supply pastor in May of 2014. Devon?s role with the congregation has been as a church redevelopment pastor.

As you have heard, the last 25-30 years have been anything but smooth. Yet, I think God is up to something pretty amazing. Just like God used the experiences that Jesus had for his 30 years of preparing for ministry until the day of his baptism, I believe God can take our story of the past and turn it into something that brings new life to our community. But all of that depends on where your resolutions, or goals, for our congregation.? God?s goal for Jesus was to create a new way for people to have a relationship with him. Shouldn?t our goal be the same? I want us to remember our baptism individually, be reminded that the Spirit of God is upon us, individually and as a congregation?and that God is saying to each of us and collectively, ?You are my children, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.? It is time to live into being made new again. I pray that you will reflect on our goals:

First-to grow in faith and strengthen our relationship with God-learning to depend on God.

Second- we change the patterns of the past that have caused us failure.

Third- to work towards growing our congregation by inviting people to join us in worship, fellowship, study, and fun.

I pray you will begin this with me and embrace the ways God is calling us into new beginnings. Amen.