To God's Beloved Children At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
Save the date: As most of you already know, our Jeff has found the love of His life, Hannah, and they are getting married on Saturday, May 11 at 1:00. In my role as your shepherd we found it impossible to give them a list of people we wanted invited to the wedding, so instead we are INVITING EVERYONE. This is a church wide event,and one that we rejoice in with them, and invite you as our church family to. So, save the date and join us to celebrate the marriage of Jeff and Hannah, and enjoy some dessert and coffee after. We would love to celebrate this event with you, our church family!
Men's Breakfast This Week: Saturday at 8:30, join us for a great time of fellowship and following Jesus. Pastor Thomas is sharing this Saturday, and our goal is to connect men in love for God, and one another.
Revival By Tozer: We have been talking about the marks of revival as seen by Tozer, last week we saw steps 1 and 2: 1. Get thoroughly dissatisfied with yourself; 2. Set your face like a flint toward a sweeping transformation of your life; now the next two...3. Put yourself in the way of blessing. What Tozer means by this is that we are to choose God's path, remove sin from our lives and spend time growing in our walk with God. Blessing, the way God defines it is always an overflow of our relationship with Him, and thus to do this the disciplines of grace are essential. Spend time in prayer, in the Word, with God's people, and being GOSPEL saturated, and you will be in the pathway of blessing! Choose to do the small things right, so you are in the pathway of the great things! 4. Do a thorough job of repenting. I really think this is a lost art that we need to recover. J.I. Packer in his great book called,Rediscovering Holiness, sees this as a lost discipline of God's people today. To repent means to turn our back on the way of thinking that leads to destruction, our back on sin, and our face towards God. Sin in our own lives, and in our nation, should not only break our hearts, it should also lead us to be on our knees in a desire to take captive every thought for God's glory! Never get into what Tozer calls, "our wretched habit of tolerating sin that keeps us in our half dead condition". If we will take these next two marks seriously, we will move towards an experience of freshness with God, and power in accomplishing His plan.
Youth Retreat Update: Reports are that it was amazing! Thank you for your prayers for Pastor Thomas and team, and covet your continued prayers for those who made decisions in surrender to God! May this new life engage and inspire the rest of us to live fully devoted to Jesus! Please pray for our leaders and their sleep recovery as well!
With The LORD: There seems to be a rise in deaths in my sphere of influence lately. A number of opportunities to share of Jesus love and our love for the family. Also a reminder that how we live matters, and even more important what we believe matters. So, take the time this week to get right with your family, love lavishly, and ensure your walk with God is strong, for the time is short, and eternity hangs in the balance. Also, if you know someone who has lost a loved one, make a phone call, send a card, reach out in love (Iris, Donna, Tony), or many many more that are connected to the church. Death is an opportunity to love, make mid-course corrections to our lives, be sure we are prepared for eternity, and awaken afresh a desire to share the GOSPEL with those in our sphere of influence. Don't waste the opportunity to live for God's glory
February can be a difficult month for many. In the midst of what can be a struggle against negativity, two quick helpers: 1. Realize in your own life the danger of grumbling and STOP IT!; 2. Realize the importance of being a blessing and encourager to others and START IT. Find a few people a day that you can bless and encourage, change conversations from negative to positive, and live for the glory of God!
Please pray for Matthew as he continues to serve God on our behalf. Pray for increased intimacy and maximum impact in and through his life.
Sunday Is Coming:
Title: Dead Man Walking
Text: Romans 6:1-14
- Why is understanding that our salvation is by grace alone so important?
- What does it mean that, "you died with Christ?"
- Why is this so significant to living victorious Christian lives?
- What does it mean that we were raised with Christ?
- How does physical baptism display this beautiful reality?
- In what ways do these realities help you to walk in obedience to Jesus?
If you have not been baptized by immersion as a believer, take the time today to prayerfully consider why you haven't submitted to God in this yet, and call your pastor and set up a date to obey Jesus in this and be baptized.
Hope you have a great week, and remember, TODAY choose to be a positive blessing to someone else that God brings across your path!
A Fellow Follower,
Pastor Rob