Shepherd's Heart 10/3/25
Good Shepherd,
There are moments in the life of a church when you can almost feel the ground shift beneath your feet, not in fear or uncertainty, but in holy anticipation. I believe we are living in one of those moments.
Last year, we dared to dream. We prayed, we stretched, and we committed ourselves to Forward: Part One. And God did what only God can do: not only did we meet our goal, but we exceeded it by over $400,000. That number still makes me shake my head in awe. But more than numbers, what excites me is what it reveals about you, that is, the faith of this community, the hunger to trust God for more, and the willingness to believe that the Kingdom of God is worth everything we have.
Foundation matters. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of two builders. One builds on sand, the other on rock. When the storm comes—and it always comes—only the house on the rock stands firm. Friends, we are not a church built on sand. We are not a church chasing fads, quick fixes, or surface solutions. We are a church building on the Rock of Jesus Christ. And that means whatever storms may come, whatever cultural winds may blow, our hope and our future remain secure.
And yet—while our foundation is unshakeable—God is calling us to build. Not just to maintain, not just to preserve, but to prepare. To prepare for the children we have not yet met. To prepare for the students who will walk through our doors in crisis. To prepare for the neighbors searching for hope. To prepare for the generations to come who will rise up and call Jesus Lord because of the space we made for them.
Last week, as I stood in our worship center for the final time before construction begins, I was overcome with emotion. I thought of how my family’s name is written in the foundation of that room. I thought of the sacred waters where both my boys were baptized. I thought of the countless Sundays when voices rose in unison, prayers were whispered, tears were shed, and lives were changed. That space is holy ground to me, and I know it is holy ground to many of you.
And yet, with my tears came something else - a deep, undeniable hope. Because God is not finished with Good Shepherd. In fact, I believe we are standing on the threshold of something new, something so glorious that one day we will tell our grandchildren, and they will tell theirs: “We were there when God stirred something fresh. We were there when the Spirit was birthing new life.”
This November, we begin Forward: Together. Together—not one of us alone, not a handful of leaders, not just the staff, but the whole body of Christ at Good Shepherd. This is a vision bigger than any one of us. It is a God-sized dream. At our next Summit on Wednesday, October 22, we will share some of these dreams for our spaces and for our future. These are not dreams of luxury or comfort. They are dreams of mission, of presence, of being a people who say: “We are for our neighbors, for the world, for 1310, and most of all, for the Kingdom.”
I feel it in my bones: God is stirring. There is a holy brewing in our midst. We are pregnant with vision, with ideas, with dreams that we have not even yet imagined. The Spirit is preparing to birth something through us that is not just for today but for tomorrow—for the generations yet to come.
So let us rise together, Church. Let us not shrink back in fear. Let us not grow weary in the work. Let us press forward with expectation and with joy, because the God who has brought us this far is faithful still. And if the foundation is Christ—and it is—then what we build will stand.
From my heart,
Pastor Tara Beth
There are moments in the life of a church when you can almost feel the ground shift beneath your feet, not in fear or uncertainty, but in holy anticipation. I believe we are living in one of those moments.
Last year, we dared to dream. We prayed, we stretched, and we committed ourselves to Forward: Part One. And God did what only God can do: not only did we meet our goal, but we exceeded it by over $400,000. That number still makes me shake my head in awe. But more than numbers, what excites me is what it reveals about you, that is, the faith of this community, the hunger to trust God for more, and the willingness to believe that the Kingdom of God is worth everything we have.
Foundation matters. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of two builders. One builds on sand, the other on rock. When the storm comes—and it always comes—only the house on the rock stands firm. Friends, we are not a church built on sand. We are not a church chasing fads, quick fixes, or surface solutions. We are a church building on the Rock of Jesus Christ. And that means whatever storms may come, whatever cultural winds may blow, our hope and our future remain secure.
And yet—while our foundation is unshakeable—God is calling us to build. Not just to maintain, not just to preserve, but to prepare. To prepare for the children we have not yet met. To prepare for the students who will walk through our doors in crisis. To prepare for the neighbors searching for hope. To prepare for the generations to come who will rise up and call Jesus Lord because of the space we made for them.
Last week, as I stood in our worship center for the final time before construction begins, I was overcome with emotion. I thought of how my family’s name is written in the foundation of that room. I thought of the sacred waters where both my boys were baptized. I thought of the countless Sundays when voices rose in unison, prayers were whispered, tears were shed, and lives were changed. That space is holy ground to me, and I know it is holy ground to many of you.
And yet, with my tears came something else - a deep, undeniable hope. Because God is not finished with Good Shepherd. In fact, I believe we are standing on the threshold of something new, something so glorious that one day we will tell our grandchildren, and they will tell theirs: “We were there when God stirred something fresh. We were there when the Spirit was birthing new life.”
This November, we begin Forward: Together. Together—not one of us alone, not a handful of leaders, not just the staff, but the whole body of Christ at Good Shepherd. This is a vision bigger than any one of us. It is a God-sized dream. At our next Summit on Wednesday, October 22, we will share some of these dreams for our spaces and for our future. These are not dreams of luxury or comfort. They are dreams of mission, of presence, of being a people who say: “We are for our neighbors, for the world, for 1310, and most of all, for the Kingdom.”
I feel it in my bones: God is stirring. There is a holy brewing in our midst. We are pregnant with vision, with ideas, with dreams that we have not even yet imagined. The Spirit is preparing to birth something through us that is not just for today but for tomorrow—for the generations yet to come.
So let us rise together, Church. Let us not shrink back in fear. Let us not grow weary in the work. Let us press forward with expectation and with joy, because the God who has brought us this far is faithful still. And if the foundation is Christ—and it is—then what we build will stand.
From my heart,
Pastor Tara Beth
Posted in Shepherds Heart