(By Nate Howard)

Imagine...

Tomorrow, you awaken to find ShopRite has disappeared — along with every other grocery store! What if the police department was no more? What if, heaven forbid, chocolate ceased to exist? What if technology as we know it, including the internet, cell phones, even electricity, vanished without a trace?

It’s hard to imagine survival without life’s so-called necessities. But here’s a more challenging question: What if all Christian churches disappeared? What if Living Faith Alliance disappeared? Would it make any difference if we didn’t exist? Would anyone notice?
God imagines His church to be a world-changing church — that our presence would be felt, that people would know we exist. God said, "I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, that they might be for me a people, a name, a
praise, and a glory." (Jeremiah 13:11)
God intends the life of Jesus in His people to significantly alter the world. That’s what we want as well. We’ve set the course of LFA to be in pursuit of the life-changing presence of Jesus, impacting
South Jersey one life at a time.
The 5-year goals we have embraced (see the front cover) describe the kind of impact we imagine, not just as one church, but as a number of networked churches — call them church plants or multisite.
We want to engage our world, intentionally talking with our friends about the Gospel, experiencing the joy of watching them become Jesus followers, connected in true community, living a
purposeful life of mission.

Look again at the graphic. Do you see the five essential practices we intend to grow in? It really does start with you and me. So as we begin this new year, the questions facing each of us are:
‣ What values need to shift in our life?
‣ How must we change?
‣ What will God need to do in you and me for us to become the
church God envisions?

I hope you can see there is an urgency that each of us connect with
God. That’s why we are beginning 2015 with an all-church week of
prayer. Please use this guide to enter in to the life of your church.
Set aside this week and let your faith rise to grasp what God has
for us.