A Note from Phil Caturan | October 30, 2026
Together for the Kingdom: Serving Our Community and Advancing the Gospel
Are y’all enjoying this beautiful fall weather? I certainly am! Fall and spring are my two favorite seasons, and I can already imagine that some of you are nodding your heads in agreement. I’ve even noticed some friends putting up their Christmas trees already. Now, I think that’s just diabolical! Come on, people - give the turkey a chance! Haha!
But as we approach what is probably the busiest season of the year, I would say that our Missions Ministry is even busier than usual! And that’s not a bad thing. In fact, we are incredibly grateful for all the opportunities God has given us to serve.
While we are preparing for more than 30 mission trips next year, we are also in the middle of Serve Week and looking forward to our upcoming World Mission Offering (WMO). I’ll share more about our mission trips in the near future, but for now, I want to highlight these two important opportunities and the heart behind them.
Serve Week: Pursuing the Well-Being of Our Community
Last Sunday, I briefly shared about a visit to one of our local ministry partners, an organization that provides temporary shelter for young girls who have been removed from their homes because of abuse, neglect, abandonment, and other traumatic circumstances. Along with several other pastors and our Missions Resident, Jacob Hooper, I had the opportunity to visit the facility and pray over the girls' rooms. Before we prayed, however, we heard some of their stories. They were heartbreaking.
As I listened and prayed, I was reminded of a sobering reality: There is so much brokenness in our world, and there are so many people who desperately need the hope of Jesus Christ. That experience brought a question to my mind: As followers of Jesus, what is our responsibility toward the community where God has placed us?
I was reminded of Jeremiah 29:7: “Pursue the well-being of the city I have deported you to. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for when it thrives, you will thrive.”
Consider the context of this passage. God's people had been taken into exile and were living in Babylon, a pagan city that worshiped false gods. Yet, instead of calling His people to isolate themselves or rebel against the city, God instructed them to pursue its well-being and pray for it. They were to remain faithful to Him while seeking the good of the community where He had placed them.
That is one of the reasons we do Serve Week. We want to pursue the well-being of our community. We want to love our neighbors, meet practical needs, build relationships, and demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ. Because when our city hurts, we hurt with it. And when our city thrives, we thrive with it. But more than anything, we want people to know that there is hope, and that hope is found in Jesus Christ.
This year marks our second Serve Week. Last year, nearly 900 volunteers came together to serve through more than 90 projects, partnering with over 30 local organizations. While we may not always see the immediate harvest from the seeds we plant, we trust that God is at work. In fact, one of the greatest wins from last year wasn't simply the number of volunteers or projects completed. It was seeing Connect Groups discover the joy of serving together. Some of those groups continued serving their ministry partners long after Serve Week ended. That is exactly what we hope to see.
We don't want Serve Week to be just one week of service. We want it to inspire a lifestyle of serving and living on mission. As I write this, we are in the middle of this year's Serve Week. We've already completed close to 30 projects, with close to 550 volunteers participating.
Would you join me in praying for our volunteers, our local ministry partners, and especially the individuals and families we are serving? Psalm 127:1 reminds us, “Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain, unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.”
We can organize hundreds of volunteers, plan dozens of projects, and provide countless resources. But unless the Lord is at work, our efforts cannot accomplish what only He can do. My prayer is that God would use every project, every conversation, and every act of kindness to point people to Jesus Christ. After all, Serve Week isn't just about what we do for our community. It's about making Christ known to our community.
World Mission Offering: Together for the Kingdom
Our World Mission Offering is more than an opportunity to give financially. It is a month-long celebration and emphasis on God's mission, both locally and around the world. One of the things I am most grateful for about our church is that we are not only a serving church but also a missions-minded church. Missions is part of our heartbeat!
I remember Pastor David Dykes once saying that two essential elements of a healthy church are preaching the gospel and doing missions. I believe those commitments have been part of our church's DNA for decades. They continue to shape my own heart and ministry. This is the legacy we have inherited, the foundation on which we stand, and the mission we must continue to carry forward.
Our theme for this year is “Together for the Kingdom,” drawn from Philippians 1, where Paul encourages believers to stand firm in one spirit and strive together for the faith of the gospel. Throughout November, we will celebrate missions across all our campuses, with each Sunday highlighting a different emphasis—international missions, national missions and church planting, and local ministry partnerships.
We are excited to welcome church planting and ministry partners serving in Scotland, England, Japan, Boston, Colorado (Thorton and Severance), and Utah, along with organizations such as the International Mission Board (IMB), Church Missions Network (CMN), Upstream Collective, and The Gideons. We will also highlight more than 10 of our local ministry partners.
And here's what excites me: This is more than an opportunity to hear about missions. It's an opportunity to connect with the people who are actually doing the work! Throughout the month, many of our partners will be available in the Worship Foyer between services. I encourage you to stop by their tables, introduce yourself, listen to their stories, learn about their ministries, and ask how you can pray for and encourage them.
And please, don't just walk past their tables! Take a few minutes to let them know how much we love, appreciate, and support them. Sometimes, a simple conversation or word of encouragement can mean more than we realize.
Equipping Our Church to Share the Gospel
Another exciting part of our World Mission Offering emphasis is the opportunity to welcome Daniel Ritchie, an evangelist, author, and gifted communicator who has served as First Vice President of the Southern Baptist Convention. Daniel was born without arms, but that has not stopped him from faithfully serving the Lord and sharing the gospel. His life and testimony remind us that God can use anyone for His glory.
In addition to speaking during one of our Sunday services, Daniel will lead a special evangelism training entitled “How to Share the Gospel with Cultural Christians.” Living in the Bible Belt, we encounter many people who are familiar with Christianity, attend church occasionally, or identify as Christians because of their upbringing. Yet knowing about Jesus is not the same as personally knowing Him.
This training will help equip us to have meaningful gospel conversations with people who may be familiar with Christian beliefs but have not personally placed their faith in Jesus Christ. For more information and to register for the evangelism training, HERE.
More Opportunities to Get Involved
In addition to Serve Week and our World Mission Offering, we have several opportunities for you and your family to get involved. We will host mission trip interest meetings for those considering serving in Africa and Scotland, along with two of our annual outreach events, Feed Our Friends and Grace EmBEDded’s Bed Build.
For more information and registration, please visit the links below:
Trip Interest Meeting
I am excited to see how the Lord will continue to use our church to make His name known and advance His Kingdom in the years to come!
Together for the Kingdom!
Phil Caturan
Local Missions Minister