Scriptures: 1 Thessalonians 2:10-12, 2:19-20, 3 John 1:4, Acts 20:35, Luke 12:34, Psalm 100:2

At key moments in the life of your church, it's important to take a look back at what God has done, and a look forward at what we are praying for God to do or to continue in the life of His Body. In this unconventional message, originally preached at a church milestone, Dr. Merritt talks candidly about his prayerful wishes for the church he shepherds.

"Pastors think a whole lot more about the church than the church thinks about the pastor. After you leave church, for the most part, most of you don’t give me a second thought the rest of the week. You don’t think a whole lot about me. But I think about you all the time. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t think about this church and about you people who sit in these seats. I will think about not the last few years, but the next few years. So today I want to share five things I would wish for every one of you that would happen, not just in the next few years, but for the rest of your life. Just as a parent has dreams for their children, I have dreams for you. Just as a parent has wishes for their children, I have wishes for you. If I knew that you would carry out only five things that I would wish for you this would be my list..." --Dr. Merritt

Keywords: wishes, prayer, motivation, purpose, past, present, future, church, body, believers, trust, respond, character