Notes From the Pastor
Friday, September 01, 2006
!Blink * Blink * It is Gone!
.
It is official. I am getting old! Exhibit A is that I find myself saying things I remember my father saying when I was a kid. “Man, this month just flew by….sure seemed like time crawled when we were kids!” Well that is exactly how I feel about the month of August. It has flown by. Perhaps you feel the same way so let me recap a few things for you so you can celebrate with me what God has done in our midst!
At the end of July we sent 35 of our church family to minister to Buenas Nuevas Baptist Church in New Mexico. I am so proud of each individual who was willing to give of their time to help rebuild a building so a sister church can have a place to worship. The group did an incredible job of reaching into their community through backyard Bible clubs as well as the construction. Let me encourage you now if you have never been on a mission trip to save a week of vacation next year to experience the privilege of doing missions.
On August 5th we had our Family Fun Night in Cleburne. It was a huge success! We easily had 700 people and probably more! What a blessing. As I was looking at the event from an evaluation standpoint, I was proud of everything that led up to and followed the actual event. We had so many people come to hear Ty Daughtery speak about follow up that we had to bring chairs into the Fellowship Hall. We have seen new and fresh prayer groups spring up to pray for the event and people involved. Following the event we have made personal visits to ninety-five families in our community! That is amazing! The event brought into focus for me the need to continue to reach out to our neighbors!
On August 13th we invited every employee of the Grandview ISD to worship and a luncheon. What a blessing it is to know our church prays for and cares about the people who are shaping the children and youth of our community. I am so proud of all of the people who used their gifts decorating, cooking and serving to make this a special day.
Yet there is still so much to do. As a staff we believe for our church to move forward we must focus on discipleship and outreach. We have had a small taste of both and with that in mind, I want to share with you something that excites me.
On September 17th we will add a new opportunity on Sunday evenings for a couple of months. Daniel will be leading a class called Jesus Focused Ministry. It is a strong discipleship based study designed to help us develop our current teachers as well as challenge others to take a more proactive role in ministering to others. The five points that will be focused on are prayer, going deeper with Christ, building adult leadership, penetrating the culture and creating outreach opportunities. Remember . . . this is not only for teachers or potential teachers. It is for anyone who wants to grow in the Great Commission! The group will be meeting in addition to our regular Sunday Evening Worship. I pray that we will have a good number of people desiring to grow in these areas.
Don’t blink or you will miss something! ¶ 8:07 AM 0 comments
It is official. I am getting old! Exhibit A is that I find myself saying things I remember my father saying when I was a kid. “Man, this month just flew by….sure seemed like time crawled when we were kids!” Well that is exactly how I feel about the month of August. It has flown by. Perhaps you feel the same way so let me recap a few things for you so you can celebrate with me what God has done in our midst!
At the end of July we sent 35 of our church family to minister to Buenas Nuevas Baptist Church in New Mexico. I am so proud of each individual who was willing to give of their time to help rebuild a building so a sister church can have a place to worship. The group did an incredible job of reaching into their community through backyard Bible clubs as well as the construction. Let me encourage you now if you have never been on a mission trip to save a week of vacation next year to experience the privilege of doing missions.
On August 5th we had our Family Fun Night in Cleburne. It was a huge success! We easily had 700 people and probably more! What a blessing. As I was looking at the event from an evaluation standpoint, I was proud of everything that led up to and followed the actual event. We had so many people come to hear Ty Daughtery speak about follow up that we had to bring chairs into the Fellowship Hall. We have seen new and fresh prayer groups spring up to pray for the event and people involved. Following the event we have made personal visits to ninety-five families in our community! That is amazing! The event brought into focus for me the need to continue to reach out to our neighbors!
On August 13th we invited every employee of the Grandview ISD to worship and a luncheon. What a blessing it is to know our church prays for and cares about the people who are shaping the children and youth of our community. I am so proud of all of the people who used their gifts decorating, cooking and serving to make this a special day.
Yet there is still so much to do. As a staff we believe for our church to move forward we must focus on discipleship and outreach. We have had a small taste of both and with that in mind, I want to share with you something that excites me.
On September 17th we will add a new opportunity on Sunday evenings for a couple of months. Daniel will be leading a class called Jesus Focused Ministry. It is a strong discipleship based study designed to help us develop our current teachers as well as challenge others to take a more proactive role in ministering to others. The five points that will be focused on are prayer, going deeper with Christ, building adult leadership, penetrating the culture and creating outreach opportunities. Remember . . . this is not only for teachers or potential teachers. It is for anyone who wants to grow in the Great Commission! The group will be meeting in addition to our regular Sunday Evening Worship. I pray that we will have a good number of people desiring to grow in these areas.
Don’t blink or you will miss something! ¶ 8:07 AM 0 comments
