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Showing posts from December, 2012

Year End Letter of Gratitude

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December 20, 2012 Dear Church Family, As we near the end of this year, I invite you to reflect with me for just few moments on what the Lord has done in our midst during these last months.   I’ve been thinking about our beginning days of ministry together in the last week or so and just wanted to share my reflections with you.   Diane and I are very grateful that you have opened your hearts to us and made us feel very welcome as new members of the church family.   There is no question in our minds that God has led us here and that we are doing what we have been called and prepared to do.   Every week I ask the staff what they see God doing and if they sense God leading in any particular direction.   Here are some of the things that I have seen in the last several months:   ·          I hear folks talking about “Living the Father’s Grand Story” and I am grateful for open hearts responding to God’s word through the book of Ephesians. ·          Our attendance conti

Spiritual Infrastructure

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  Introduction This is the second Sunday of Advent – the Sunday of peace.   We can get pretty cynical about peace in a world that is full of turmoil.   Beauty contestants seem to always wish for “world peace” and we kind of snicker at their naiveté.   Holiday gatherings should be a wonderful time of celebration, but as many families know all too well, they can also cultivate even more conflict in dysfunctional relationships.   And personal peace?   It can be hard to come by, especially in a season known for its hurry/scurry pace.   Peace, frankly, sometimes seems like a pipe-dream.   My battle with disillusionment   There have been times in my life when peace seemed to be at hand and other times when unsettledness kept me awake or drove me to despair.   I’ve always been a goal-driven kind of guy.   I like to look into the future and dream about what could be.   As a young man, I had lots of dreams.   Some of them, I know now, were “delusions of grandeu