Why can't we worship God in the comfort of our homes, enjoying the best preaching and music that television has to offer? Why can't we just enjoy being alone in the woods, with God and the pine trees? Why can't we meet God at the water's edge, wiggling our toes in the warm sand? Read More...
I've been thinking I would like to go to church, but I don't know anyone.
I don't know what to do, where to go, what to expect when I get there. It's hard and it feels awkward to do anything for the first few times. Here are some suggestions:
Have you noticed a church near you or one you drive by often? If not, check the phone book. Call the church office. You should find a friendly voice to talk to. (Some churches don't have a full-time staff. If no ones there leave a message so they can get back to you.)
If you'd like, ask to be matched up with someone in the church, any of us would love to meet you even before you attend. That way, you will know someone before you come!
Also, we could pick you up Sunday morning, meet you for breakfast or coffee before church or at least meet you in the parking lot to show you where to go and what to do.
Stop by a church on a weekday and ask someone to show you around so the place doesn't feel so foreign when you come on Sunday.
Just show up. Check out when the worship service starts. Many churches have greeters to help you as you enter the sanctuary. If you'd like, ask them to introduce you to someone you can sit with.
Wow! By the time you get this newsletter it'll be a New Year. The age old thought arises, where does "time go". A lot has gone on in 2008, some good, some bad, but amongst it all there's one constant, our God has been faithful.
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you," Jesus, The Bible book of John 15:7
The first and greatest commandment is to love God with our whole hearts, our whole minds, and our whole souls. The second commandment is similar, to love our neigbors as ourselves. As we develop a personal relationship with God through prayer, we experience God's love for us which spills over into a love for others. Prayer is at the center of Christian life.
O Zion, You who bring good tidings, Get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, You who bring good tidings, Lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; Say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” Isaiah 40:9
Oh! The peace of God, how in the world do people survive without God's peace. I love what Jesus said in John 14:27, peace I leave with you my peace I give unto you not as the world giveth, give I unto you, let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. In Epesians 6:14,15 Paul talks about having our feet shod with the gospel of peace. Protective shoes allowed soldiers to go on long journeys over difficult ground to be able to overcome during the days of battle.
Some women in Ohio, tired of hearing "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" everywhere they went, decided to take things into their own hands. They raised enough money to put up billboards encouraging people to say "Merry Christmas!"
"Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, But wickedness overthrows the sinner." (Proverbs 13:6)
Wow! What a scripture, "righteousness guards him whose way is blameless, but wickedness overthrows the sinner" Oh! how wonderful it is to be a Christian. Please allow me to say right off the bat, even in the day we're living, we can live a holy, godly life, through the power of Christ.
The News
