A Word Of Welcome
I've a confession to make. I love to run. If you're not a runner, you may find it unusual that a 51- year old pastor enjoys running 6 to 10 miles every other day in the pre-dawn darkness before 6:30 a.m. Yet, those 60-90 minutes offer an invaluable quiet time for prayer, reflection and planning. What follows is, in fact, what might be called a "reflection on the run.” I share it with a twofold hope: First, so you may better understand the direction we're headed at West Shore Baptist Church; and second, so you may better know me as the pastor at WSBC. I hope to have the privilege of getting acquainted with you. Maybe we can share an early morning run!
--Pastor Gary Bruland
Discovering a New Purpose
Do you recall when you first discovered the joy of running? Perhaps you were a toddler eager to explore. Perhaps you were a young child playing tag with an older brother or sister in your backyard. Do you recall your sense of freedom and delight to run, jump and play? If you can, try to recapture and savor that memory for a moment.
During the 1960's I was attending elementary and junior high school in Traverse City, Michigan. With other kids from our East Bay Township neighborhood, I took the bus to school each morning. But after spending the day in class and on the playground, this same group of kids would usually opt to walk, skip, run or race the roughly one mile road and trail course back to our neighborhood in the afternoon. During those after school treks, I learned: 1. It's fun to run and race. 2. Many girls and some boys can run fast. 3. It's fun to stop at Mitchell's half-way home. 4. I seem to run faster with a grape Fizzie in my mouth.
Ah, yes, Mitchell's Gas and Grocery Store. It was a typical Mom and Pop variety store. You could buy hardware and house wares, fishing tackle and fishing licenses, as well as milk, meat, bread and other basic essentials. Of course, the most important thing to any eight or nine year old kid was the candy behind the glass counter. Everything cost a penny: Pixie Sticks, Tootsie Rolls, pretzel rods, Bazooka Bubble Gum and grape Fizzies. If you were able to save your pennies you could buy a pack of Topps baseball cards with a slab of bubblegum for a nickel.
On those days after school when we literally ran into the store, it always seemed like Mr. Mitchell was puttering with the hardware and Mrs. Mitchell was rearranging the house wares. Now and then a car would pull up and Mr. Mitchell would pump gas from one of the two pumps out front featuring regular or premium Sinclair Gasoline.
However, fewer people were stopping at Mitchell's to buy gas ever since a new gas station with six pumps had opened just down the street. Now and then one of their regular customers would drive up to buy milk or bread, or just to talk to Mr. or Mrs. Mitchell. But beyond these faithful regulars, even to a neighborhood kid, it seemed apparent that there weren't many new customers who stopped to shop.
Yet, that seemed alright with Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell. They prided themselves on saying that they had run their little grocery in the same way for forty years. They had made many friends. They had been able to raise and support their own family. Now in retirement they were satisfied with the way things were and saw no reason to change with the times. Running the store as they did became a way of life. The daily rituals of sweeping the sidewalk and straightening the merchandise, at the same time and in the same way every day, almost seemed to provide them with a sense of comfort and security.
But the times were a changin'. The summer before I entered the fifth grade, a new store opened less than a mile away. Giantway was more than another grocery store. Giantway was a combination super market and discount department store! Traverse City had never seen such a place. Oh, we had our A&P. We had our Western Auto. But combining all of that under one roof? It was truly amazing.
Giantway had a candy counter with ten times the number of flavors and brands of candy, plus a whole lot of other neat stuff that we never dreamed of seeing at Mitchell's Grocery and Gas. Needless to say, fewer and fewer kids ran into Mitchell's anymore. All of our families shopped at Giantway, and now our interests had expanded way beyond candy to new bicycles and baseball gloves.
As I recall, within a few years, sometime while I was in junior high, Mitchell's Grocery and Gas closed for good. I guess that Mr. Mitchell became ill. Their adult children had long since moved away, and the daily duties were just too much for Mrs. Mitchell to carry on by herself. The times were a changin', indeed.
Fast-forward forty years. Giantway is now Tom's Market. It's no longer a department store. Instead, it's an excellent supermarket with a highly-regarded deli and bakery, along with an efficient pharmacy, a one-hour photo-finishing lab and a great floral department. That's it. But it's an incredibly busy store. During recent years Tom's Market has continually expanded and changed to meet the changing needs of the growing Traverse City community. I'll admit that I'm only an outsider looking in. I'm certainly not trained in grocery or retail business. But at least part of the secret to Tom's success seems to be reasonably evident.
First, this store has long-affirmed certain purposes and core principles. Among these are customer "service, quality and savings” and "your satisfaction guaranteed”. These phrases are well-known to Tom's shoppers.
Second, it's a store that has identified its primary target or customer base, and it has tried to understand the real needs and desires of its customers—both resident and vacationer. You will not find fresher meat, baked goods, or a wider range of cherry-related products. Tom's knows what its customers want.
Third, based on its clearly-stated purposes and identified target, Tom's is also a store that has been willing to continually develop and redevelop its strategies and programs to reach new customers, while expanding its loyal, satisfied customer base.
Today a Tom's Market anchors several busy and profitable shopping plazas near East and West Grand Traverse Bay, as well as several other plazas in other northern Michigan communities. Whenever my wife Esther, our 15 year-old son Peter and I return to my old hometown, we always go to Tom's to do our shopping. Convenience, selection, price, quality and "your satisfaction guaranteed” are all reasons why so many have shopped for so long there. Friends tell friends about what they like about Tom's, so every month new shoppers become loyal, satisfied customers who tell other friends about their favorite market.
At the risk of sounding simplistic, let me suggest that prosperous grocery stores and healthy, growing churches like WSBC have something in common. Consider three similarities.
First, both will discover, define and declare their purposes. They will do the things which most contribute to fulfilling their clearly-stated purposes. Whatever they do, they will seek to do it with excellence.
Second, both will work to determine who exactly is at the bulls-eye of the target they are trying to reach. While welcoming everyone, they will identify the wants and needs of that quintessential "customer,” becoming especially mindful of when, why and how a new visitor will be most receptive to becoming a satisfied customer or a growing member.
Third, both will decide on specific, carefully-considered programs or strategies designed to hit the identified target's bulls-eye in fulfillment of their clearly-stated purposes. That is, if the basic purpose of a church or grocery store is to reach new residents or new customers, then it's necessary to identify what are the compelling needs or desires of this un-reached target group. Only then can meaningful program strategies be developed to meet these needs and reach these newcomers.
I know very little about grocery stores, but I do know something about churches. I know that thousands of churches, including West Shore Baptist, are benefiting from the insights Dan Southerland offers in his book Transitioning (Zondervan, 2000). These principles including the purpose—target—strategy concepts are based on a purpose driven model. Today thousands of churches are using a PD approach to enhance church health and growth. This model is presented by Rick Warren in his highly-acclaimed book The Purpose Driven Church (Zondervan, 1995).
Through the insights presented in The Purpose Driven Church, churches across the globe are rediscovering the five purposes our Lord Jesus Christ has established for his body of believers. These five purposes are evangelism, worship, fellowship, discipleship and service.
Growing churches magnify the Lord in worship and guide persons from membership, to maturity, to ministry and life mission. Growing churches are willing to do whatever is necessary to reach the un-reached. Growing churches exist to meet the needs of un-reached persons in their community, sharing the Good News and Christ's love. Growing churches change with the times. They do not change the timeless message of Christ, but they will change the way they share this message. They aren't changing the contents of the Good News, but they will change the container. They are doing church, not haphazardly, but based on a rediscovery of Christ's purposes for his church.
If you desire to grow in a more purposeful walk with Christ as your Lord and Leader, I invite you to visit us at West Shore Baptist Church. If you long for a church that is seeking to joyfully celebrate and to obediently serve and share the Good News, I invite you to visit us at West Shore Baptist Church.
While up in Traverse City a few years ago to run the Bayshore Marathon, I walked through our old neighborhood, by the site of what was once Mitchell's store and on to what was once East Bay School. I wondered what if… What if Mitchell's Grocery had rediscovered a new purpose before its decline? I guess I'll never know. Now it's too late.
Developing a New Relationship
Have you ever wondered, "Is it really possible for me to have a fresh start with God? Can I really know and follow Christ?" If that's where you're at, let me share some Good News. God helping you, you can begin a new relationship or renew your relationship with Jesus Christ where you are right now. They are steps which you can take today. May the Lord guide you forward in your journey of faith!
Admit. Begin by admitting to God that you've lived a less-than-perfect life. That's what the Bible calls sin. That's why the church exists—it's a hospital for sinners. Each of us must admit that we are sinners. Like every person who has ever lived, before we come to the Lord, we live for our own self-interest. We push God out of His rightful place in our lives. We make ourselves and our own pursuits, pleasures, possessions, prestige, position or power the god of our lives. That's at the heart of what the Bible calls "sin”, for it breaks the first commandment, "I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1,3).
Ask. Once you admit to God that you are a sinner, you must ask God to forgive your sin. Ask Him to give you a new beginning and a right relationship with Him. Ask Him to help you turn away from your sin and to turn to Him instead. Thankfully, God is both giving and forgiving. That's because God loves each of us and wants to have a real, life-changing relationship with us. The Bible says, "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong” (1 John 1:9, NLT).
Accept. Once you've admitted your sin and asked God to forgive you, you need to accept God's answer. God guides and provides for our needs in the most perfect way. God's answer to our greatest need is His Son, Jesus Christ, whom God sent to be our Savior. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin, to place us in a right relationship with God, and with his death on the cross, Jesus purchased for you and me the gift of new life—a fresh start, a clean slate and a new beginning with God. Tell me, has there been a point in your life when you have personally accepted God's gift? If not, there's no better time than right now. Even as you read this, you can talk with God. Here and now, you can begin a new life in Christ by admitting your sin, by asking for God's forgiveness and by accepting God's Son Jesus as your personal Savior. If you wish, you might make this your prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus: I know that I am sinful. I need your forgiveness. I believe that you died to pay the penalty for my sin. I want to turn from my sinful ways, and follow you instead. Thank you for dying on the cross for me. I ask you, Lord Jesus, to come into my heart and life as my Savior and Leader. In your name I pray, Amen.
We have this Good News given to us by Jesus: "I assure you, anyone who believes in me already has eternal life” (John 6:47, NLT). If Christ is now your Savior and Leader, let me be the first to say, "Welcome to the family!”
Act. If you've genuinely prayed that prayer and invited Jesus Christ into your life, would you share your decision with someone today? You see, once we've admitted our sin, asked God to forgive us and accepted Jesus as our Savior and Leader, we need to take action. Tell a Christian friend or call me, Pastor Gary, at WSBC. Let's encourage one another in the journey of faith!
Bruland Backgrounder
Born in Detroit in 1955, Gary Bruland grew up in Traverse City, Michigan. His undergraduate studies were at Calvin College, his seminary work took place at Gordon-Conwell (M.Div.) and Eastern Baptist (D.Min), with further grad studies at the University of Akron (M.Ed). He has served as a pastor of American Baptist Churches since 1980.
Since June 2005, Bruland has been the pastor of the West Shore Baptist Church of Camp Hill, PA. Most recently he served for a decade (1995-2005) as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Howell, MI. A licensed professional counselor (in PA, OH, MI) and marriage and family therapist (in MI), Bruland also maintains a part-time private counseling practice. He has also written over 15 articles and sermons which have appeared in Preaching and Preaching On-Line. He is the author of Running Well or Running Ragged? (Lulu, 2006).
He married Esther Byle Bruland, PhD, in 1980. They have one son, Peter. As a family, the Brulands enjoy reading, writing, walking and running well.