An Authentic Change Series                Knowing Jesus and Making Him Known Introduction:People are funny. Our culture tries to sell that people are alert, innovative and clever beyond all measure. That’s all true to a degree. But it’s also true that people are masters at missing what is right in front of them. I’ve noticed this again and again, people set themselves into patterns. We drive to work the same way, we buy the same groceries, we sit in the same chairs on Sunday morning. Well these pattern’s can be good, comfortable or helpful, they can also blind us. I don’t know about you but I do this all the time when I’m driving. I am going along to brandon or moosomin or Edmonton and I completely zone out. I just don’t remember a part of the trip. During that time my mind was on auto pilot. I might have been moving towards the destination, but I didn’t even notice. Sometimes you do that and you end up in the wrong place completely! I can’t count the number of time back in edmonton I sit they there going how the heck did I end up in this neighbourhood!Church’s do that too. We get stuck in a rut. We keep living without stopping to look around us and see the state of things.  So for the past nine months the board and myself, your leadership team, has been working hard to do just that, to stop and look at the state of our church. To evaluate and pray and wait on God. We’ve been working to find a God-given picture of the future, a vision of what should be. Knowing Jesus & Making Him Known. Those six words will change the future if we use them well. Section 1:The ProblemThe book of Proverbs says this “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding.” Get understanding, That’s been our goal as a leadership team for the past nine months and my personal goal since I got here last July. Rocanville is completely different then what I grew up in. The pace is different, the values are different and the things people like to do are different. I’ve gotten to meet so many different people.More then anywhere I’ve gotten to know this church, and it’s been a huge blessing. I’ve loved getting to know each of your stories and to know your hearts. I’ve got have personal conversations we everyone here. Now, anyone who knows me knows I’m not one to pull my punches, I’m not going to start today. As I’ve gotten to know everyone there is something I’ve noticed something. A problem underlining our church: We haven’t been effective in a long time. That’s the truth, out in the open. We haven’t been effective in a long time. These are the things I’ve not only heard but seen as someone new to our church family. That it’s been years since we’ve seen people consistently come to faith. We as a family feel stuck in a rut spiritually. We feel like there is no community here. That the church is made up of factions instead of one healthy family. People feel burnt out. you may remember the vision survey we did back in the spring. Everyone who was here that day spent the morning working out their convictions. The things that moved them. Here’s the top 3 Authenticity, Faith and Love. It’s funny though, because Authenticity picked twice as much as faith or love. Our church is craving something authentic. A real faith and real love. It’s something that has been missing. We have been feeling fake and lost. We’ve been feeling like were just doing for no reason at all. And, as i’ve been seeking out understanding & wisdom, I think it’s fair to say the town around us sees us as ineffective. We haven’t been a church that reaches out. No-one knows us as the people who care for “the widow, the fatherless, the stranger, or the poor”. Here’s the hard truth. A lot of people in town that I’ve talked to don’t even know that this is the Pentecostal church. Sure, there is no sign on the building but in a town like this we shouldn’t need o