June 2012 Pastors Update

Here's my Pastor's Update from our quarterly business meeting yesterday...

Praise the Lord, we’re making progress in our mission to “make disciples of Jesus Christ by reaching and teaching everyone.” Worship service attendance is growing and we have several who are moving toward baptism and membership. More people are participating in Wednesday night Bible Study, and we have an average of twenty visitors to our website or podcast every day. We are also reaching our community by handing out free water and flyers at local events and have been able to minister to grieving families by hosting memorial services.

Four issues that need our special prayer are: children’s ministry, spacing issues, leadership development, and mercy ministry. We are noticing more and more families visiting the church looking for a children’s program and we need wisdom how to minister to these families. As attendance grows, we’re also feeling the space limits of our sanctuary, and that our current leaders are getting spread very thin. These are wonderful problems to have! Long-term, we also need to find a way to show the love of Christ in our community and find a holistic, biblical approach to help people with financial need (Soup kitchen? Homeless shelter? Rehab ranch? Food pantry? Job skills training?) Please partner with us in prayer over these opportunities.

As you know, we’re approaching the end of our series through 1 Corinthians on Sunday mornings. I have enjoyed this book immensely and am praying for where to head next. Some of the top contenders are Ecclesiastes, 2 Corinthians, and Titus. Look for a series on Prayer in late July, then a brand new expository series to begin sometime this fall.

March and April were a challenging time for our family as Natalie began to experience fatigue, shakiness, dizziness, and dangerously high blood pressure. This led to many doctor visits, tests, and two late night visits to ER. I’m reminded how blessed we are to have family health insurance. Insurance is a significant cost to our church, but it has saved our family tens (maybe even hundreds) of thousands of dollars. Thank you for obeying God’s word and giving “double honor” to those who labor at preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17) so I can care for my family and give adequate attention to the ministry. We will continue to keep everyone updated as Natalie meets with the endocrinologist and we learn more about her condition.