Greetings Church Family,
What a tremendous time we had this past Sunday in John 21. Our big take-away's for the morning included...
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1) Jesus loves and cares for you! (2) Fishing (evangelism) is the mission of Christ followers and the Church. (3) Fishing for men must have a primary place in your life. (4) We explored the imperative of evangelism, hard work, and dependence on Christ in all we do. (5) Just as there are failures in fishing, there are failures in life. (6) Failure is a foundational component of the process of sanctification...or discipleship. (7)There is grace in the failures of life. (8) If being a friend of Jesus is all you have got today...then that is enough! God loves you! God forgives you! God accepts you! God cares about you! (9) Love God above all else! (10) Be before Do. Service flows out of love. (11) Be honest about your relationship with God. Do you really love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?
This Sunday we begin our summer sermon series from Philippians. This little epistle was written by the Apostle Paul to thank the Christians at Philippi for the gift they had sent him and to strengthen these believers by showing them that true joy comes from Jesus alone. The big themes of our study will be humility, self-sacrifice, unity, Christian living and joy. Our message this Sunday is entitled,
Greeting to the Saints at Philippi
and will provide an overview and introduction to the letter.
Many have commented on how much they have learned about Jesus, John and the Gospel from our study of the Gospel of John. To build on the things we have learned thus far, I will be leading a new study from 1 John beginning Wednesday, May 6, and running through our time together this summer. This study will be delivered digitally on either Zoom or Facebook Live.
This past week the Church Council met and decided to set
the next target for worship gatherings on Sunday, May 24
th
. If this date holds, the church office will reopen on May 18 to prepare for our first Sunday to gather again. Believing that we must err on the side of caution, ongoing Sunday School, Choir, Mission Gatherings and Next Generation Ministries will be postponed until a later date. (More details to come as they become available.)
Additionally... (1) Plans are being made toward a more “family friendly worship service” valuing social distancing among attenders. (2) Modifications and limitations will be made to our foyer and worship room following state recommended guidelines. (3) We are working to enhance the quality of our digital offerings from the worship room and plan to continue to offer the morning worship service digitally (3) We will continue to offer digital Sunday School, Mid-Week Bible Study, Choir and Next Generation Ministry opportunities.
Once again, many thanks for your faithfulness to love, care and serve one another during these challenging days. Thanks also for your faithfulness to support all three of our financial contribution buckets...the general budget, additional missional support and Debt Freedom. God continues to bless our church family greatly.
I love you all and look forward to our gathering together soon.
Peace, Hope, Love, Joy and Jesus to all!
