Today is the beginning of a new journey for me. For the first Sunday since August of 1995 I will not be in full time ministry. More specifically, for the first Sunday since March of 2000, I will not be at Mt Olive Baptist Church as the associate pastor.

Last Sunday was my family’s last official Sunday at MOBC. It was an emotional day for us and for many in attendance as well. I had the privilege of sharing that day with the students we love and ministered to for the last several years. We were also blessed to have at church many former students and many dear and close friends. It was wonderful to look out and see Mt. Olive like it was when we came to it almost 12 years ago. Thank you to everyone who came. You are and will always be a blessing to us.

As I prepared for my message in the weeks prior, I struggled with what I should preach on this last Sunday for us. In the month of December I taught our students on the topic of what a true disciple looks like and we looked at several passages from the Gospel of Mark. We saw from Mark 1:16-20 that a follower of Jesus obeys what Jesus tells him to do immediately and without question. We saw from Mark 2:1-5 that a follower of Jesus does what is needed without the need for recognition. We don’t know the names of those 4 guys who brought their friend on a stretcher to Jesus, but their faith caught Jesus’ attention. We also saw from Mark 2 and Mark 3:1-6 that followers of Jesus must be prepared to face opposition as Jesus did (John 15:20). That opposition may be silent, vocal, or even physical.

These passages provided the backdrop of what I felt God calling me to preach on my last Sunday at MOBC and calling me to do as our family began this new journey of faith. God spoke clearly to me through these messages and as I shared with our students through these talks, I was sharing from what God was speaking directly to me regarding my future.

The sermon I preached on January 1 came from Mark 3:13-19 and the title was “What Is God Calling Us To Do?”. It was a message about what we as a family were being called to do but also a challenge for all followers of Jesus to do that which Jesus is calling ALL of us to do.

I hope you will watch the video of the message and that you will commit in 2012 to choose to do that which is best instead of just doing that which is good.

To our Mt. Olive family, thank you for your love, your support, and your encouragement over these last 12 years. We will miss you dearly but we know that we’ll see each other around as well. We love you.

May God bless you in 2012. Keep checking in on this blog and keep praying for us. We are excited for what God has in store as we take this season to sit at Jesus’ feet for a while.

In Christ,

CESAR

What Is God Calling Us To Do?
from Cesar Correa on Vimeo.

For almost 12 years I have been the associate pastor for students and young adults at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Knoxville, TN.  Since the first day my wife and I drove to the church in January of 2000 to interview with the church committee, we fell in love with the church and the community and have felt called to minister to it.  Mount Olive welcomed us with open arms and has played a key role in helping us to raise our two children.  Both our kids love going to church, they love their teachers and they love their church family.

I have been privileged to be able to minister to hundreds of great students and young adults over the last 11+ years.  Not many youth ministers can say they have been at the same church for as long as I have and I have had the privilege of seeing students become “passionate, contagious, and lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ.”  I have seen students be a part of our ministry from 6th grade to college graduation and beyond.  I have officiated weddings, preached at ordinations and sent missionaries – all former students.  Some of my former students are church planters, youth pastors, teachers, nurses, missionaries, fathers, mothers, husbands and wives.  It’s been a blast!

The wonderful time we’ve had at Mount Olive only makes our recent decision the more difficult.  This past Sunday, I resigned from my position at Mt. Olive.   When God called me to full time ministry at the age of 16, I knew then that I would be a pastor.  Over the last couple of years, God has been telling me that it was time for me to take a step of faith and begin to process of starting to pursue that call.  At first, I resisted God’s voice.  But lately, God’s voice has gotten louder and louder… and harder to ignore.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been doing a series of talks on the Gospel of Mark with our students and we have been studying how often the word “immediately” is used throughout Mark’s gospel.  In one of the lessons I taught, we talked that followers of Jesus must be attentive to the call of God in their lives and whenever Jesus calls, they must obey it immediately and completely.  I have been preaching everything that God has been teaching me over the last few months as I have prayed and searched for God’s will and direction for my ministry and my family.

God is calling us to a new journey of faith.  I don’t know exactly where He will lead us but I am so excited about it.  God hasn’t told me all the steps of this journey… just the first one.  So I’m taking it, trusting that God will keep showing me each step of this new journey.

We want you to join us in this journey.  We will still be in the South Knoxville community that we have called home for almost 12 years.  We still feel called to minister in this community that we fell in love with back in 2000.  I will post new updates about what God is doing in and through us in this blog, so keep checking it, keep praying for us and keep in touch.

The name of this blog is also significant.  It’s called The Open House because when we moved into our house we wanted it to always be open and welcoming to our neighbors and friends.  We wanted it to be a place where we could share our lives and share our faith.  That is still our desire and very much a part of our future plan.  Our house is always open and for those of you who know where we live, we would love for you to come by and say hello.

So keep in touch and keep us in your prayers.  Stop by and say hello.  The door is open… come on in!

Cesar.