Pray for Greater Impact!

“And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

– Acts 2:47

In our church secretary’s office, there is a little record book. It contains the names of all the people who have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior and been baptized at First Christian Church between 1925 and 2015. We ran out of pages in 2016, so our secretary bought a second book.

Last week I spent some time going through the pages, looking at the names of those who’ve given their lives to the Lord over the last 94 years. As I made my way through the years recorded in those two little books, I recognized more and more names. Many have gone to be with the Lord. Many have moved on for one reason or another. And a whole lot of them are still at the church—loving God, learning God’s word and serving Christ and our community.

It’s quite a story. Back in 1925, 55 Christians were used of God to form First Christian Church. For the next 69 years, we called downtown Victorville our home. During most of those years our church family met every Sunday in a little chapel on the corner of 6^th and B streets, a short block from the downtown movie theater. From that location, we reached many people for Jesus Christ. Last week, going through our little book, I added up the number of baptisms during the first 69 years of our church’s existence. There are probably some names missing, but I discovered that at that little church in downtown Victorville, in those 69 years, God worked through us to lead 297 people to Christ. What a blessing!

Then, in 1994, our church family made a decision that I like to describe as “a brilliant act of lunacy.” We moved to the chapel on the decommissioned George Air Force Base. It seemed like a great idea at the time: a big, beautiful chapel in an area that was surely destined for future growth. But little did we know that the once-booming residential area would turn into a dilapidated ghost town. And little did we know that a federal penitentiary would be build right down the street. We’ve never been able to get enough visitors through the front door to experience sustained growth.

But then I consider what I see in those two little books. During our first 69 years, God graciously worked through our church to save 297 souls. But in the past 25 years in the ghost town—right up the street from a federal penitentiary—God has graciously worked through our church to save 581 souls! My friends, logic can’t explain that. It’s a God Thing.

And if that’s what God has done through us in a ghost town, with very few visitors coming through the front door, I’m so excited to see what comes next. On October 6^th, FCC will become Impact Christian Church—and we’ll begin meeting at the brand new Dr. Ralph H. Baker 21^st Century Learning Center at Mojave and El Evado Roads, right in the middle of growing neighborhoods in Victorville.

Within a 5-mile radius of our current facility at George Air Force Base, we have about 12,000 neighbors. Within a 5-mile radius of our new meeting place, there are—wait for it—78,647 residents. Can you even imagine what God will do through us as we move toward the center of town? I’m no prophet, but I’ll tell you what I think. God has used our church to save 878 souls in the past 94 years. I believe God is going to use us to impact tens of thousands and save at least 1,000 souls in the next 10 years.

The founding members of this church felt led to come together with other Christians to worship God, learn God’s word, and make an impact in our community for Jesus Christ. And that story is about to enter an exciting new chapter. There are a lot of pages left in Volume Two of our baptism record book, and I can’t wait to fill them. How many lives will you impact in your next chapter?

Dane Davis is the Lead Pastor of First Christian Church in Victorville and the author of "Holy Huldah: Lessons You Should Never Forget from Bible Characters You've Never Heard Of." For more information, visit www.YourVictorvilleChurch.com, and join us for our Worship Celebration Sundays at 10 a.m.