The summer is quickly passing by. With the Independence Day celebrations upon us, we are halfway through the season of travel and vacation. We have made several out of town trips and have one more to go. I want to share with you a bit about my work in Lombard in June. As most of you know, I am working on a Doctor of Ministry degree at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. I travel to Northern for a week each winter and a week each summer. This summer, the class was entitled Leadership through Preaching. I spent the week with five other pastors discussing the role of preaching in congregational leadership. It was a time of challenge, growth, and development. In this time, I had the chance to reflect on what is going on at First Baptist Church. It is my estimation that we are on the brink of considerable transformation. We have spent the past year getting to know you. Christy and I have learned that this community is a loving, close-knit, caring, hospitable people. We have grown to love our First Baptist Church family. At the same time, we have listened to your stories. While we have not experienced your past, we have learned much about your history. Recent years have not been pleasant. Change and conflict have pervaded the environment. While we hope that we will not replicate these events, we must understand that they are a part of us. And in some ways, these events have brought us to the place where God wants us. While we grieve those who have left, we look forward to a bright and hopeful future. So what does our future hold? I am not sure. But I am sure that we need to begin the process of discerning God’s future for us. Next month, we will begin to discuss the process of discerning God’s working. We will ask questions about where we have been, where we are going, and what God is calling us to do. We will look at God’s working in the past and talk about what this means for First Baptist Church in 2009. I will have been with you for a year in August. We will begin a sermon series at this time. We celebrate our 150th anniversary in September. This series will bring us to anniversary celebration on September 13th. I ask that you would begin to pray specifically for God’s leading, the movement of the Holy Spirit among us, and wisdom for your pastor and church leaders.