I hope your desire to pray is stronger today. Yesterday's sermon was one of those sermons where it seems like something has been building up in me for a while and it just started coming out. It's hard to put into words my desire for Christ Community to be a church driven by prayer. I long for us to be so led by God's Spirit that we learn to be in constant communication with Him as we go outside. I hope that my "dump" yesterday is stirring up some desire in you to pray today.. and tomorrow.. and then maybe 3 more days.
Flowers remind me of life in the face of death. Several of you asked about the flowers on stage yesterday. Megan Mattingly brought those from her dad's funeral on Saturday. Death is an awful reality in our fallen world, and it fills us with grieve. We grieve together with Megan and her family. But those flowers reminded me Sunday of the life we have in Christ that defeats death. Take some time and smell the roses of life today..
Little things that help focus our hearts on worship. Katie Gaither's dad, Frank, was kind enough to come volunteer his time to hang the TV's in our lobby that streamed what was happening in the worship center! One of the little benefits of that (and maybe the time change didn't hurt either) was that more of us were in the space ready to worship. That set a tone of being ready to receive that was awesome! I'm thinking, too, about one young dad who talked about the difficulty of leaving a younger child in the back only to wonder if she was ok. Later in the afternoon, I talked to Matt Burgin who was telling me about holding that very child. I'm thankful for tv hangers, stream runners, baby holders, and a slew of other servant leaders who help us focus our hearts on worship.
Praying for Christian voters. I try to pray for the ones we vote in regularly, but today, I'm praying for the Christian voters:
"God, would you encourage and prompt Christian voters to use their freedom to serve and love their neighbors well as they vote tomorrow. Help them to be aware of candidates positions - both political and spiritual - as they cast their votes. And Lord, as they vote, would you lead them not into the temptation of trusting in a politician or a political system. Deliver them as they trust in you, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In your name, Amen."
2024! These next couple weeks leading up to our annual meeting put a ton of my day to day work finalizing plans with our team for 2024! We've got mission trips planned, sermon series designed, marriage ministry details coming, and so much more! And catch this - I'm certain that God's plans are way bigger than any of us human leaders! Here's some things you can do to get excited with us:
Be here for the annual dinner Nov. 19 at 5 pm.
If you're new here, sign-up for 101 and learn how to become part of the CCC family.
If you're a covenant member, nominate a servant leader you've recognized as a pastor/elder or deacon.
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