You may know about our 2020 Vision for the year (or you may not, in which you’ll definitely want to click here to learn more about it!), and you may know that it’s part of our larger goal to see our SMCC community double in size by the year 2025. There’s a lot going on, which is why, on the first Thursday of each month, The Peak is stepping aside so that we can take a few moments for a “2020 Vision Check-Up.” Yeah, that pun pretty much wrote itself. The purpose of this monthly check-up is to see where we’re at in each of our 167-initiatives, as well as to highlight what we’re looking forward to in the next month! So without further ado, here is our
 

January 2020 Vision
Check-Up

1. Love167

Where we’re at: The first part of our vision to officially kick off is Love167, our disciple-making initiative. Last night, our very first (of hopefully many!) Love167 training courses began, with a small room of people learning how even the tiniest quirks of our individual personalities were all put in place by God, so that we can each make disciples in ways no one else can. 

Where we’re going: There is still one more Love167 training course kicking off this Sunday, and it has a few limited spots still available (our next course after that doesn’t begin until March)! By mid-February, our first waves of disciple-makers will finish the course, empowered to begin mentoring and encouraging others in their walks with Christ. Our goal is to see 20 active disciples discipling by the end of 2020, and it looks like we’re heading out of the gates with a great start!

2. Serve167

Where we’re at: Also kicking off in the next week is our Serve167 initiative! We set a pretty noteworthy goal of performing a total of 2,020 hours of no-strings-attached service to our Sevier County community this year as a church. This can be service done individually, in groups, as part of an organized event, or spontaneously. It can be serving at a food pantry, cleaning someone’s yard, visiting with someone who is lonely, or anything else that serves others with no-strings-attached; you are allowed to get creative in this! To help us keep track of where we’re at, beginning this weekend, a Serve167 Service Log will be published on our website, so that you can enter service hours in a matter of seconds online. If you (or a group of friends and family) have service to report, make sure to record it in the Serve167 Log! 

Where we’re going: By the end of 2020, our goal is 2,020 hours of service! If we break it down (divide by 12, realize division is hard, carry the one…), that means we should be at approximately 170 hours by the end of January! Can we do it? We definitely can, so let’s each make plans to get out and serve!

(Do remember: recording our service hours is great, but in the end, the result we’re focusing on isn’t a number. The result we hope to see is a deeper joy in service, since we serve a Savior who modeled what it looks like not to be served, but to serve!)

3. Grow167

Where we’re at: If you took biology class in high school, maybe you remember how cells split apart and multiply through a process called mitosis. Yeah, it’s strange. But it’s also the inspiration behind our Grow167 initiative. There’s something unique about meeting to study God’s Word with a small group of people as opposed to the meeting that takes place on Sunday mornings. Deeper relationships form, we’re able to be more honest with others, and we’re willing to ask questions we might otherwise be afraid to ask. When small groups of Christians who meet each week and study the Bible grow, that is GOOD. However, a group of people who keeps growing, at some point, ceases to be a small group. But, going back to our mitosis illustration, this is the perfect time for that group to organically make the choice to MULTIPLY into two groups, who are now readily equipped to continue the growing process!

Where we’re going: Our Grow167 initiative doesn’t officially kick off until March, but the above description is one that applies to our groups that meet to study here at SMCC. If you’re part of one of the studies that meets on a regular basis, then you know the special relationships and growth that occur because of these groups. To help prepare for Grow167’s launch, encourage someone you know to get involved in a group by sharing how being part of one has impacted you! If you aren’t currently part of a group that meets outside of Sunday mornings to study God’s Word, be in prayer about how you can become part of one this year. Our 2020 goal is to purposefully grow 5 groups of believers who are equipped to study the Bible and grow with one another. We’ll have more to say about this next month!

And that’s it for January!

If you’ve read about our initiatives to love, serve, and grow this year and you’re feeling an excitement about the year ahead, then take the first step today to act on it! Register for the next Love167 course, go out and serve your community, and get plugged in with the study groups we already have here at SMCC! The church is made up of individuals, and our goals as a church will only be reached when each of us steps up and loves, serves, and grows, both with God and with others. 

-Joel G.