Happy Thanksgiving & Sunday

I will go home this afternoon(it's Wednesday) and begin hours of preparation along with others - so let's just say a total of 25 hours by different people in our group will be spent to prepare a meal for 13 of us that will gather on Thanksgiving day for at most an hour long meal, What's the point - that a lot of life is about preparation - the hard work of doing something for those few meaningful moments.

But I love those meaningful moments. In the crazy world that most of us live in around here; it is these special moments of connectedness that mean so much. Pastor Jay is preaching from the movie Home Alone this coming Sunday and there are some valuable spiritual lessons to be learned from not living life alone. But we have to be intentional about those relationships and put in the preparation for those meaningful moments. My encouragement for all of us is to be more intentional about our connectedness.

I pray that you enjoy your Thanksgiving and that you will have a blessed Holiday season. See you Sunday.

Pastor Rich

Storytellers

There are great storytellers that we all know. They are relatives, friends, co-workers, and inspirational speakers. They weave facts with emotions and events we can relate to. Their story conveys a message, has a point, evokes a laugh, makes us empathize.

You are a storyteller. Your life tells a story. The way you live it, the way you talk, the way you behave. In the pressure cooker of getting it right on a day to day basis we let our lives tell a story and sometimes its not too pretty. It's important for we as Christians not to be perfect, but to be Christlike. That does not happen by accident.

Join us this Sunday as we talk about telling the right story. Tapping into the resources and tools that God has given us to ensure that our life is telling the right, redeemed, life giving story of someone that has met the Savior.

Remember we are called (all of us that follow Christ) to be salt and light. I may read that and wish it, but there are some steps to take ensure that our saltiness is good and our light is shining on a stand brightly.

blessings

Pastor J

Deeper In

That is what we are talking about on Sunday. How to have a deeper prayer life. For most of us; our prayer lives our centered around our petitions. But the prayer life that God desires for us to have in this plentiful life is a much richer and deeper experience than what is common to most of us.

One of my favorite albums this year has been Gungor's Beautiful Things - track 11 is Late Have I Loved You. The lyrics are taken from Augustine's Confessions and speak to the challenge we all face in really communing with God. But our experiences with God do not have to be a challenge; maybe we just need a better education about prayer and that is what we will focus on Sunday.

I encourage you to attend this Sunday so that you can go deeper in with God and then make a commitment to come to the Prayer and Worship night on November 12th.

Pastor Rich