As published last week, we aim to dedicate our new facility on July 29 at 6 PM in the evening. The occasion for dedicating a building to the glory of God provides an ideal opportunity for a rededicating of the people of God to their covenant commitments to Him and one another.

I take my cue for that notion from places like Nehemiah 9 and 10 where the people of Israel rededicated themselves to Yahweh upon completing the rebuilding of the walls surrounding Jerusalem. In the spirit of just such a renewal, our leadership has crafted a written covenant for the membership of OGC to sign as those who have helped build the facility and will worship and serve within it for years to come. The covenant and the various names will be framed and displayed in the entry way of the building as a testimony to God and His faithfulness through His people for this endeavor.

Here is how the covenant reads:

On this July 29, 2012 for the occasion of dedicating to the glory of God our church’s first facility constructed for worship and ministry, We, the members of Orlando Grace Church, bound together by gospel love in covenant membership and having undertaken in recent years to rebuild the “walls” and repair the “gates” of our beloved fellowship, in order to gladly and solemnly renew this firm covenant in writing, do hereby reflect the following commitments with God’s help as fully-devoted followers of our Lord Jesus:

• We will relentlessly pursue our joy in God by abiding in Christ through the practice of the means of grace that are the spiritual disciplines (John 15:1-11).
• We will diligently manifest our godliness of character by obeying God’s word through the power of His Spirit (2 Peter 1:5-11).
• We will consistently fulfill our roles in society by embracing God’s design for functioning in each of the ordained spheres – home, church, and state (Colossians 1:18-21; 1 Peter 5:5; Romans 13:1).
• We will lovingly share our faith with unbelievers by engaging them through a wise combination of gracious words and merciful works (Colossians 4:5-6).
• We will strategically do our part in global missions by maximizing our investment through praying, sending, and/or going (Matthew 28:18-20).
• We will zealously accomplish our ministries to others by using our spiritual gift(s) in the domain(s) of God’s calling (1 Peter 4:10-11).
• We will faithfully manage our resources from God by utilizing them according to the principles of biblical stewardship (1 Timothy 6:17-19).
• We will fervently demonstrate our love for believers by engaging in fellowship through keeping the covenants of church membership (Romans 12:9-13).

Signed believing only in the hope of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit for the strength and ability to do any and all of the above,

May I ask you to begin to pray now if the Lord would have you embrace this gesture during this strategic season and that you might be among those who will sign the document? More information will come as to how and when we will facilitate this, but we wanted to plant the seeds for this as soon as we knew when we would finally take ownership of our facility.

This is a terrific opportunity to examine our hearts and lives and rededicate ourselves to God’s glorious purposes as part of OGC!