Mid-Week Memo

Hey Everybody,

I have a few things I want to share with you:

#1- Loved the opening last weekend with the slides and music calling us to worship. And I heard lots of comments on the stripped down worship that included the upright bass. I loved it. Oh yeah, the jazzy/funky outro was fun and engaging. Lots of people hung around to hear it to the end (not really the purpose of it, but fun). Thank you worship team.

#2- We wrapped up the EVERYTHING series talking about our work. I think the last point about being able to rest when you know your work belongs to God hit home the most. It certainly did with me.

#3- Lots of child dedications this last weekend too. I love the commitment we're all making when we dedicate children. Interesting thing is that we have more and more diversity of age groups every year. More and more of the empty-nesters like Lois and me and lots of young families. When I first came fifteen years ago we had one handful of people over 50. 

#4- 88 students are registered for the Challenge Conference in New Orleans! That's the largest group we've ever had go. It's a life changing conference. They also do a fair amount of community work at the conference. In fact, they're staying longer this year to do more work in the community. 

#5- The Jr. High ministry is working on raising funds to support a Compassion child for five years! I look forward to hearing how that goes.

#6- The Feed Event is full but you can call the office and get on a waiting list. Some spots will open. I love that people are bringing groups from work. Ashley Perry told me twenty plus Gold's Gym employees are coming (that's the gym where I work out). Love it!

#7- I'm loving my Kid's Hope sessions, but the child I'm mentoring is constantly afraid that he's missing lunch or recess. How do you explain that we're meeting for an hour with to a kindergartener? Anyway, the time flies by.

#8- We've set Easter times: Saturday at 5pm and Sunday at 8:30am, 9:45am and 11:15am. If they fill up, we'll add Saturday at 3:30pm. We hope to start registerations early so we can add the extra service with plenty of time.

#9- Several of our staff will be going to the Relevance Conference at Eagle Brook in May.

#10- We launch our new "A Praying Life" series on Luke 11 this weekend. This week our focus is on why Jesus prayed. If you figure that out, you have a big motivation for your own prayer life. We're also promoting a book by the same name that's my absolute favorite on prayer (and, interestingly, on parenting). Great stories and insights. Really, if you want a boost to encourage your relationship with God, this book will give it. We'll be selling it at the Resource Table. Check it out.

God bless you all,

Pastor Henry