To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
It is good to be a part of the family of God, and to see so many praying and joining together to accomplish God's plan! May our God use us way beyond our potential in this community and world to accomplish His purpose for us: Display His Infinite Worth; Bear Fruit Together.
This past week was fun to watch our people engaged in ministry, especially our young people (not forgetting us old people), and know that God uses people of all ages to accomplish His mission for us! It is a privilege to reach out with the Gospel together! Was also great to see our young people serving Jesus at Sunnybrae, pointing effectively and tiredly to Jesus. Please continue to pray that through this church family God would impact His world, and that together we would effectively be a John 15 church.
Baptism: This Sunday we are having a baptism again. Praise God! If you have never been baptized as a believer please contact one of our pastors about taking this step of obedience to our LORD.
Prayer Meeting: Every week we have had more people, encourage you to join us tonight for a time of EXTREME DEPENDENCE on our God. 7-8, led by our Elders.
Summer Reading: As you relax in what feels to be continuous sun, reminder to look ever deeper at the Son. Encourage you to pick up a good book or two and meditate on the greatness of God! Obviously the most important book to read is your Bible, so make that a priority, and read for quantity and quality! A few books that might bring you deeper: Called To Greatness, by Ron Hutchcraft: A simple call to greatness God's way by pointing people to Jesus. Full of great illustrations, and the strong encouragement to share the Gospel with friends and neighbours! Knowledge Of The Holy, A.W. Tozer: One of the classics that is worth re-reading every year...deep, and joyful as it points to who God is. Knowing God: J.I. Packer: Perhaps the most famous book by Packer, and a classic. Anything by Jerry Bridges is excellent, and his book Trusting God, is the foundation of our kick off series in September, and worth your careful read. There are many good books that can draw you deeper, and allow your impact to be wider, and as you choose them, always remember to be Word saturated in your pursuit of depth in your relationship with God! Our elders have read, 9 Marks Of A Healthy Church, together, and it is helpful in pointing out who we are seeking to be, and use Spiritual Reformation, by D.A. Carson to guide our passion for prayer. I know many more great books available, but these are a few that have changed my life.
Sunday Is Coming:
Title: Living The Dream: Delight In It
Text: John 15:1-17
"Show me your friends and I will show you your future"
Why is it important to have good friends?
What does this text teach us about being a friend of God?
Why do you think that no one (Jeremiah 3:4 the sad exception) claimed to be God's friend in the Bible?
Why should it overwhelm us that God would call us friend?
According to this passage, how can we delight in this, and pursue this friendship?
How can we effectively experience this joy, love, and friendship in our every day lives?
Have a great week, and I am excited to join you again in worship and Word as we seek to grow to love our God, and experience His love more an more.
A Fellow Friend Of Jesus,
Pastor Rob