Now It Happened Like This

The book of Matthew begins the Christmas story by saying, "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise."  We understand that phrase "was on this wise" to mean, "it happened like this."  What a comfort to know that God was in control of all the "this."  An additional comfort is knowing that He still is.

At this Christmas season, take time to look for God's hand at work. As it relates to the "things" of Jesus, they all happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. As it relates to us, if we know the Savior, He is working all "things" together for our good to conform us to His image.

The story of Jesus has now been told for over two thousand years.  It happened like this...  Our stories will be told for years to come.  Don't wait for the history books to write it down, recognize the hand of God at work.  He knew what He was doing with the "things" of His Son, and He knows what He is doing with you.

Christian Camp

Our young people just returned from a great week of camp at The Wilds in North Carolina. Praise the Lord for the decisions that were made. One young man in our group accepted Christ as his Savior. Camp is a unique environment where peer pressure is minimized, outside influences from the world are eliminated, and God's word is elevated. Our teens have benefited from the week every time we go. This year, we had the opportunity to hear Pastor Jim Schettler who pastored the Campus Church at PCC for many years. I am glad that my own children got a chance to hear the man that had such a great influence in my life while I was in college. His messages were full of energy and connected with the young people. Pray for our teens that they will continue in the decisions that they made. Praise the Lord for those who gave so that our youth could go to camp. Camp is an investment in the future of our church. As it relates to The Wilds, I wish that I could take every adult in the church. Perhaps we can get new sponsors to go every year. Perhaps we can talk folks into going to different conferences throughout the year. One thing is for sure, The Wilds is a special place.

Making Church Essential in 2012

January is about over.  The church has selected new officers for the coming year. We have seen our attendance on Sunday mornings go above 140 for the last four weeks in a row.  God is blessing the people known as Pine Forest Estates Baptist Church.

Our goal is to make church essential to the lives of our people this year.  When I talk about church, attendance is not really the main issue.  It is important, but church is much more than attendance.  May God help us to be the people that He wants us to be this year.  As we meet each other's needs and develop relationships for fellowship and ministry, the church becomes essential to our lives.

Recently, I read a statement about making the church essential that caught my eye.  The statement went something like this.  "It ought to be harder to leave a church than it is to join one."  In general, it is easy to leave a church.  Our hope is that we can develop a culture, through discipleship that keeps track of and supports our members.  We must get better at meeting the needs of the body of Christ.

As life changes and life stages change, we must grow in our knowledge of people.  The old adage says, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care."  We do care.  Now we need to do a better job of showing it.  Can you think of any ways to demonstrate your care for the body of Christ?  Let's demonstrate that the church (people) is essential (can't live without it) this year.