There are all sorts of people at the gym. I am always amazed by the variety. There are the professional gym people. Their outfits all match, they never miss, and they do their thing and get out. There are the social butterflies. Those who barely break a sweat or lift a weight, but spend an hour and half talking to their friends the whole time. Then there are the desperate people. Those who are there to lose weight in a hurry. They are normally newbies who sweat a lot and keep looking around to see what everyone else is doing. Lots of different motivations. But everyone is there for one basic reason – their health. They want to live longer, feel better and look better in the process. I overheard one conversation the other day from an older women who was at the gym so she could live long enough to see her grandchildren married. It wasn’t just about her. Going to the gym is an investment in the future. Over the next eight Sundays, we will concentrate on our future. Churches that do not understand why they gather and what they try to accomplish, end up aging out eventually. Everyone in the church gets a year older every year. So, churches who do not start investing in their future, eventually just grow old together. God has a plan for our church. He has a plan for every church. It begins with a simple call to come together to live as the church. Loving each other, teaching, encouraging, and praying for each other. But that is not the only part. Churches who just live that mission, eventually grow old and die. The church is also called to reach to the world around it. To make disciples, share truth, and love people by serving them. Many come to church like people in the gym. They come for their own personal reasons. For some, it is a long-standing habit. Their clothes all match and they get in and get out. But to be the church that God wants, we must come for more than that. We’re part of the church to influence the world around us. We are at church because we want to see other generations come to faith. And not just our own kids, but generations of Americans who have not had faith passed on to them. We are talking about how to mobilize our church for the transformation of our community. We want to see people transform from living for themselves, to living for God. We want them to find a salvation that can only come from Jesus. We want to see lives changed so they're living for God’s purpose; not just for their own faith, but for other’s faith too. For the next two months, we're talking about how we invest in our future as a church. It’s not just about our individual growth, it's about a kingdom that God has been building since the beginning of time. I believe we are ready for this challenge. I believe we are ready to embrace the full purpose that God has for our lives. Join us for this series. Join us on this journey. It'll be quite a workout... but worth it for our future.