Next Year's Report Card
Pastoral | August 7, 2025 | By: Scott Anderson
Lately, I’ve been feeling driven to look back on what hasn’t happened yet. Not just with plans or projections, but imagining what it might look like when God shows up and does more than we expect. I’m not suggesting I have some sort of crystal ball, and I haven’t had a prophetic vision like John on the island of Patmos. In fact, throughout most of my 29 years in vocational ministry, I’ve been better at handling challenges as they come than predicting them in advance.
So, I can’t promise I’m right about what’s ahead. But as I look into this next ministry year at Scottsdale Bible Church, here’s what’s swirling around in your executive pastor’s head as we look back on a year that’s just starting. It’s always fun to consider…’what if?’
Wow! Looking back, it’s clear: the Body of Christ at SBC is waking up to its potential in the grand evangelical plan Christ left us with over 2,000 years ago. What started in 2024 with an awakening in our students has overflowed into our entire church. Students have become evangelists to their families and friends, driven by the simple, irresistible message of the gospel.
It’s always fun to consider… ‘what if?’
It’s been messier than expected, because people are messy. But God has moved in the hearts of SBC’s leaders to see a bigger picture. We’re trusting the Holy Spirit to transform on His timetable, not ours. Predictably, the thing that’s kept us in the ring together, despite potential conflicts, has been an outpouring of God’s Spirit in prayer. It’s captivated our church and its people in ways we could never have planned or programmed. From one-on-one moments to gatherings of thousands, prayer has bound us together like never before—helping us withstand the slings and arrows that come our way and uniting us around a shared purpose.
Adults across SBC have taken a hard look at what they truly believe—about God, His Church, and their own callings. Thousands have re-ordered their lives around Kingdom priorities. Jesus’ words have taken on new weight: "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life also, he cannot be My disciple."
Rather than trying to balance work, family, and God, we’re responding to God’s call to be world-changers in every aspect of our lives. No longer driven by an urge to ‘fit in,’ thousands desire ‘eyes to see’ what God is doing right in front of us and insist on being a part of it.
We’re responding to God’s call to be world-changers in every aspect of our lives.
Fear of the unknown has been replaced by peace, knowing that God is with us in every circumstance, good or bad. People who felt disqualified because they didn’t have all the answers are admitting it and stepping up and out as God leads.
Hundreds of 50+ SBCers are finding purpose by befriending younger men, women, and families in the church—something simple but profound in its impact. It’s reviving their faith and excitement of being newly saved, inspiring them to pour into others in ways they had convinced themselves were no longer wanted or needed.
Thousands find themselves in areas of the city they would never have traversed in the past, simply being friendly in the name of Jesus—putting themselves in harm’s way because they must personally be part of God’s plan to reach the lost among us.
It’s been amazing to see God raise up an army of gifted servants to do the work of the ministry! For example, dozens are on call to help with plumbing needs at SBC. Beyond that, these experts are helping our partner ministries and even serving in people’s homes, using their unique skills and gifts to bless the Church in all its expressions! That’s just the start of it. We have electricians, housekeepers, administrative coordinators, painters, and IT people—all deployed with joy as they sacrificially use their skills to honor and glorify God.
God is raising up an army of gifted servants to do the work of the ministry.
Then there’s the money. Coming into this year, the world economy was shaky at best, with global conflict, financial uncertainty, and cultural instability causing people rich and poor to hang on for dear life. Yet, It’s been humbling to see God at work in a place like ours, where money flows freely and status and stuff reign supreme. People of great financial success are seeing God’s economy at work, some for the first time, and realizing that their stuff and ideas of success are holding them back from the fullness of Christ’s work in their lives.
Many have reoriented their life’s work to be pointed at the Cross of Christ rather than only building more barns—and they’re seeing God bring about a renaissance in their lives, families, and businesses. Some have made plans to liquidate their wealth for Kingdom purposes—not just for future impact, but to see God use it today.
SBC’s people are beginning to understand that our careers, our abilities, even the benefits of being born where we were, are gifts to deploy once our families are taken care of. Rather than seek our own acclaim or comfort, our people are prioritizing their giving to God’s Kingdom. As a result, SBC is resourced to meet real needs and step into new opportunities to serve the less fortunate in our city.
Finally, we’ve started measuring success differently. Instead of focusing on activities, attendance, or programs, we’re focused on mission—believing that lives are transformed one by one. The Kingdom is built through mentoring the new or non-believer over endless cups of coffee (or Diet Coke), through shared meals, small groups, word of mouth, acts of kindness, and selfless sacrifice on behalf of others.
We’ve started measuring success differently.
Our leaders are guiding people to live missionally and equipping them for their unique calling. Few things are as impactful to a couple experiencing marriage problems than an older couple choosing to walk with them sacrificially through their pain and into their joy. Our paid staff are becoming people whose main role is to deploy the people of the church into the adventure of a lifetime, and to expect a lot of them.
We are shaking free from the self-isolated safety of our Netflix and Amazon Prime fantasies and getting out into a real world that is filled with equal parts danger and opportunity. And we are coming alive as we lay our lives down for the call of Christ—as individuals and as the Body of Believers known as Scottsdale Bible Church.
So, it’s been a pretty amazing year! Thanks for walking this journey with us. Change is always hard before it’s great, but you have worn it well. I can’t wait to see what God does next. Maybe next year…we’ll find out!
God Bless.
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