Hi Everyone,
The Preaching and Teaching ministry of Apex has experienced significant changes within this past year. As I get older it seems like the scope of year goes by faster and faster and I do not realize all that has taken place until I do an activity like this blog entry to force me to observe what God has done. At the risk of sounding trite, I can only think time and again of God’s faithfulness so I type the following words with a heart that has been warmed and enlarged over God’s goodness to His children.
As many of you know, 2011 began our journey within our gatherings to preach through the Gospel of John in its entirety. This is not the first time that we have preached through a whole book of the Bible, but nothing to this magnitude. It is December 9th as I write this and we are going to finish John 9 at this weekend’s gatherings. That means it has taken us a whole year to preach through less than half of the Gospel of John! I will not speak to anybody’s heart except my own, but I have greatly needed this sermon series to anchor me deeper into the joy of the deity of Jesus. By His grace, I look forward to the next year and a half of walking through this important Gospel.
In 2011, we also saw the beginnings of what will be known in 2012 as the Apex Preaching Collective (APC). Over a period of a few months I met weekly with eight men who were exploring at varying levels the ministry of preaching. These were wonderful, challenging times as we explored together the character and competence of proclaiming God’s Word. The outflow of that experience contributed to the first “official” round of the APC, which begins in mid-January. Please be in prayer for the thirteen men who have been selected for this five-month weekly endeavor.
More personally, this past year has altered my personal preaching ministry to Apex Community. In October, Apex launched another venue of worship gatherings in Xenia, OH. As of this writing I can safely say that this launch has been highly encouraging and challenging at the same time. The participation in these two new gatherings has been numerous, which creates leadership challenges that we are entrusting to the Lord for wisdom, dependence, and perseverance. Practically this new venue has contoured my Apex preaching schedule that is now divided between Apex Xenia and Apex Kettering. Within that rotation is a veteran Apexer in Jason Wing. The preaching gifting in this brother has been growing exponentially within the last three years and I am enjoying how God is using him as he preaches at both Apex sites. It is a good thing if you are reading this to pause and pray for Jason and his precious wife, Rachel, as they experience the weight that can accompany a preaching responsibility.
One of the convictions of the Apex elders has been the continual emphasis on leadership development throughout the Apex network of house churches. To aid that end, Jason Zastrow was brought on staff this past Fall to help with network solidarity and to teach head (knowledge), heart (affections), and hand (practical) principles to our wonderful house church leaders in order that they may lead more effectively. I have known Jason for three years and am confident that God will use him to infuse further health into the house church network. He has a daunting task but God is faithful and I again exhort you to pray for Jason Zastrow.
I want to conclude by saying that our family has been lavished with grace to be a part of the Apex Community. There are countless moments, seasons, and years where the Lord used this body to draw me time and time again to the well of Christ. It is always an honor and grace to serve you, and my family is reaping the benefit of your collective pursuit of our precious Christ. Merry Christmas and let us pray that this year would be the year where we can see our Jesus face to face!
Needing Him, Rob