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Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
I hope your holidays have been restful and full of the joy of Jesus. This time of year I love to think back on what God has done in my life and in our church over the past 12 months. I think through my goals, evaluating what worked and what didn't, and start planning my goals for the coming year. For the past several years, I've finished my Bible reading early and use the extra weeks to read through the New Testament a second time. That's a goal that has become a really enjoyable habit!
I encourage you to use this week to do something similar (see the blog post below for some great ideas and a link to download the
2017 Connection Guide
with Bible reading plan).
But before you begin thinking about next year, take time to be grateful for this year! A few things I'm grateful for...
- One of our church members told me recently that his 91-year-old father accepted Christ. My own mother accepted Christ in her 90s. Both incidences are powerful reminders that God never stops working to draw us to Himself. Be grateful for His perseverance and patience in your own life, and pray for someone else you know who needs to experience His salvation.
- We had a phenomenal Christmas season here at Shandon with over 15,000 on campus for our 2 Christmas events. Many of you have shared how meaningful Glorious, The Singing Christmas Tree, and the Christmas Eve services are to you and how they've become holiday traditions in your family. I'm grateful for that, and pray that they become meaningful traditions for new people we reach each year.
- We had a tremendous start to our Even Greater initiative, and I'm so proud of our church for taking small and big leaps of faith in the area of giving.
As you reflect on 2016, will you also think about how you've responded to God through giving? If you made a pledge, evaluate how you followed through on your commitment and do what you can to finish well. Prayerfully consider how God may lead you to surrender to Him in the area of your finances as you end this year and set goals for next year.
Our church office will be open until 5pm every day this week through Friday. You can drop by your contributions or mail them in. Or save yourself the time or stamp, and
give online.
I hope you end this week with a long list of God's blessings and provisions and few good spiritual goals for 2017. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for all of us and for our church in the year to come!
Your pastor,
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