Enjoy!

We are right in the middle of the holiday season now and let me encourage you to enjoy it. Make the most of it. Enjoy your family. Enjoy the giving. Enjoy the receiving. (I know you do!!) Enjoy the lights. Enjoy the parties. And…enjoy Your Savior. Perhaps at no other time are we more keenly aware that God has visited us…personally. Jesus came for you and for me. We are the only reason that He came. He came to save us from our sins. He came because we were helpless. He came because we needed Him more than we have ever needed anything else. The cool thing is that we have an entire month to bathe in that wonderful truth. God came and visited us for the express purpose of loving us and forgiving us and making atonement, payment for our sin.

Now, it may be very true that by the end of December we will be so over the shopping, cooking, eating, drinking, partying, giving, receiving and all, but what would it be like if we never got over the fact that God came to us? What would our lives be like, what would our walk with Christ be like if every morning when we woke up we acknowledged God’s wonderful and undeserved work in our lives? What if every morning, not just in December, but every morning we thanked God for the gift of His Son? What if we enjoyed our salvation every day? What if every day in 2008 started with a prayer of thanks for God’s visit to us realizing, all the while, that we have the opportunity to meet with Him and have community with Him that day?

I think that we ought to enjoy this Christmas. I want you to enjoy this Christmas. Enjoy your Savior this Christmas.

Let's Wrap It Up

This is an exciting time of year.
Thanksgiving is upon us.

We are wrapping up our 40 Days of Purpose campaign.
There is just one and ½ weeks remaining. Hang in there. Be diligent. Read the book. Memorize your memory verse. It is worth it. It will pay dividends. You will continue to grow to be the person that God has created you to be.

We will move closer to being the church that God has called us to be.


Upcoming Events:
Women’s Ministry – Saturday November 17th @ 9:00 AM.

Baptism – Sunday @ 10:40 AM.

Thanksgiving Testimonies – Sunday November 25th in both services.

Christmas Decorating – Sunday November 25th @ 2:00 PM.

Women’s Christmas Party – Saturday December 1st @ 6:00 PM.

Men’s Ministry – Saturday December 8th @ 10:00 AM.

Feeding the Homeless & Hurting – December 15th.

Christmas Eve Service – Monday December 24th @ 6:00 PM.

Your Story

We are well past the half-way point of 40 Days of Purpose and it is my prayer that you have been encouraged and renewed and revived in your walk with Christ. I trust that you are keeping up with your reading. I know that if you are...you are being challenged by Rick’s book. I want to encourage you to hang in there and stay with it all the way to the end. It will make a difference in your life and it will make a difference in our church and ultimately it will make a difference in our community as we share God’s purposes with our friends, loved ones, and acquaintances.

The stories of life change are already pouring in. I received an email from a lady this week who visited Venice for the first time just two weeks before we began the campaign. She decided to return and experience the 40 days with us. She has been in the services and joined herself to a small group. She emailed me this week to tell me about a breakthrough that she has experienced in her life. This week’s lesson on Created to Be Like Christ really hit home and God’s Spirit has taught her that her problems have a purpose. Glory to God!

I know that there will be many other stories. You will have story. I would love for you to share your story with me. If God has taught you something during the campaign, if you have had a breakthrough, if you have taken a “next step” with God, even if it was a baby step, would you tell me about it? Send me an email and share your story with me. I would love to praise God with you for His marvelous work in your life.