New 2 Thousand 8 Year

Before the first month of ‘08 gets completely away, here’s an update on the latest.

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1. Our 2007 wrapped up really well.  Our church plant has maintained growing and consistent numbers over last year at the same time.  Our Christmas programs were also “sharpened” and well attended.  The spirit of the congregation is positive and I am still personally energized about the work.  I truly believe that each Sunday is an opportunity for Divine appointments and a time to thank God for His Divine provisions.

2. Our January started with 3 important details of note:  First, my trip back to SC (with family) for the ARP’s Church Planter’s retreat.  We were hosted by First Presbyterian Church of Columbia and Dr. Sinclair Ferguson.  What a fantastic place and ministry!  The physical plant is phenomenal for an inner city church, and those who hosted us were incredibly gracious.  It was actually the best kind of vacation really: No planning, and just soaking in great teaching!  The wife and kids had a wonderful time receiving southern hospitality!

3. Secondly, My week-long trip meant another guest preacher =-) Dr. Timothy Finlay, my former Hebrew professor presented a message from Genesis 1 on the creation of humankind.  So many layers of insight from this passage to help us establish not only our worldview, but also our anticipation of Christ’s work for a fallen humanity.  One of our parishioners said, “Preaching like that makes me want to go back to college and learn so much more about the Bible!”  Very nice!  Thanks Dr. Finlay!

4. Finally, January is also “Founders Dinner” month.  This is a free banquet hosted by our church for the entire congregation designed to celebrate another year of ministry together.  The night features: our children singing, video reviews, encouraging statistics, recalling of our founding purposes, sharing goals for the future (chief among them: possible new staff position, and additional elders), and a gift to the congregation… a stylish T for wearing around town!

It was a very enjoyable night with more than just happy people — it was a gathering of thankful family members who know God’s unique call upon their lives.  We’ll post the videos on-line soon!  We trust that the Lord will make next January’s dinner a major, MAJOR event as we welcome more saints into this communion.

Peace,
RevK