As a church, and as individual followers of Jesus, we believe God is calling us to climb even higher in our journey of faith... to ASCEND.
Since the beginning, Legacy’s mission has always been about transformation. God has called Legacy Christian Church to transform lives by helping people find and follow God… to reach people who feel far from God or the Church, to be a light in the midst of darkness, to help bring the healing power of God to a broken world. And so as a united community of people, we have set our sights on making a lasting impact in people’s lives, in our local community, and in the world. It’s been amazing to see what God has done in and through Legacy over the last 5 years. Lives have been changed forever! Now it’s time for us to look ahead and ask God, “What’s next?”
This fall we’re embarking on a new season at Legacy, which we're referring to as the “ASCEND” initiative. If you’ve heard of people climbing a large mountain, like Mt Everest, you may be familiar with the idea of a base camp. The base camp is located on the side of the mountain, toward the top. To get the base camp, you have to do a lot of climbing; it’s tough work to get there. But when you get there, you replenish your supplies, and you regroup; because the “base camp” isn’t your ultimate goal. Your ultimate goal is the summit, to climb up to reach the top of the mountain. I think we’re at a point in Legacy’s journey where God’s faithfulness in the last 5 years has brought us to a bit of a base camp. And for us right now, the words of the early church leader, the apostle Paul, are very fitting:
“I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me… straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)
It wasn’t easy to get here to “base camp.” We’re only able to celebrate being here through the faithfulness of God, and the generosity of His followers. But this isn’t the place where we put down our packs and consider the climb done. No, this is the place where we prepare ourselves to climb even higher, to ASCEND further up the mountain, to reach the summit.
During this ASCEND season, we are challenging everyone to “reach out” and “reach up” in their generosity and their commitment to Legacy’s mission of transformation over the next 2 years. I encourage you to examine our vision for ASCEND and prayerfully consider what steps of faith God is calling YOU to take during this season.
This is the largest step of faith we have ever taken as a church. I’m excited to take it alongside each one of you!
Jerod Walker, Pastor