As I mentioned this most recent Sunday, September is a good month for us as a church for an annual check up. We transition out of the busy summer months and into more regular routines and rhythms. Together we move into a new year in the life of this church as we celebrate our anniversary. Both of these transitions make for a good time to stop and ask two important reflection questions, (1) “How have I been doing in my devotion to the Lord and to His people and where do I need to grow in the next year?” and (2) “In what ways will I help contribute to the continuance of a faithful evangelical ministry in this church?”
Pastor Micah Fries helpfully reminds us that “as we increasingly love and commit to the church, we will find ourselves being pushed more toward the likeness of Jesus.” Family, I ask and strongly encourage you to make time over these next couple of weeks to prayerfully consider these questions as we enter into year 10 together as a church. My hope and prayer is that we all desire to look more like our Savior and that we can see His bride, the church, as a key means of His accomplishing this.
I also wanted to take this time to remind us of the vision for community groups this year. The aim is to commit to one group of people from September through May of next year. Our desire as Elders is for every member to be connected to a community group. Even if you cannot physically gather on a regular basis, you can still serve those in a group and be served by a group. We want you to see your community group as another means of God’s grace in helping you follow Jesus. Whether you can meet physically or not, your community group will be the primary group of people looking out for you, checking in on you, and praying for you. Your group can also help you stay relationally connected in other ways (i.e. sharing a meal or meeting up for coffee on a different day). Don’t miss the opportunity to get connected! I’m excited to see how the Lord will use our groups over these next nine months of doing life together.
We have much to celebrate with regards to God’s faithfulness to us and we have every reason to be Biblically optimistic about our future because Jesus still sits on His throne! I look forward to celebrating our 10 year anniversary with you all this month. Unless of course the Lord returns before then and gives us a much greater reason to celebrate! But if He will wait, we will celebrate how He has carried us thus far!
In Christ’s love,
Pastor Paul
Announcements, events, and things to pray for this month:
New sermon series on Lamentations beginning this Sunday, Sept. 10!
Members’ Meeting on Sunday Sept. 17th at 3PM
Community Groups beginning the week of Sept. 18th
HRF 10 Year Anniversary Service and Potluck on Sunday the 24th
No Breakfast Fellowship this month. We will still take a break from NEST, HRF Kids/Students, and Adult Institutes class. Coffee will be available in the Fellowship Hall at 10AM for anyone that would like to gather before our time of Corporate Worship.