To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
Christmas is coming! As a child, those words brought butterflies to my heart, and incredible impatience to my life. I could not wait for the day to come. On Christmas eve, after service it was so hard to fall asleep, because in the morning awaited so much that I was looking forward to. I would awaken, as early as possible (and allowed by my parents), and rush to the fire place and open the treasured stocking, filled with candy and one gift. Then after an amazing breakfast, and the Christmas story read from God's Word, the real reward for all my butterflies and waiting, the gifts. I never remember being disappointed, each year filled with joy and treasures that warmed my childlike heart.
Christmas is an amazing celebration. As Christians it is so much more profound! We celebrate what Jesus has done for us with incredible, overwhelmed awe. We worship together as families in joy, and call others to know this God who loved us so much. It is also a reminder, as those who God calls His children, to have childlike anticipation of His return. Just as my heart longed for Christmas day, almost to the point of agony in my anticipation, so we should long for Jesus return, as our greatest treasure and gift.
Merry Christmas! And may we all enjoy an amazing time of celebration and anticipation, and may it deepen our longing for Jesus return!
Reminder: Christmas Eve Service is at 6:00, we should have enough seats, so bring family and friends as we remind ourselves why this celebration is so important!
We have been reviewing what it means to be a healthy church, and have seen that central is our relationship with Jesus, that drives and defines us. Experiencing the love of Jesus through the Gospel is the centre and focus of every healthy church. We also saw that Holiness, as we experience it through Jesus and pursue it practically is essential to every healthy church. HTML...TRUTH is what the T is representative of, and it displays our value of the Word of God. We long to be a church that holds firmly to the Word of God, and does not add (legalism), or take away (license) from what He says. This is not easy in a world that loves to move back and forth in terms of adding to God's Word, or taking away from it. Key in this is the preaching of God's Word, and the willingness to evaluate all we believe and do with the Word of God as our authority, not the world or traditions. As we let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, we can accomplish this together as a church. Come Sunday morning, longing to feed on the Word of God, and as you hear, and check with the Word, seek to apply it in all of life, all of the time.
We as a church are desperate for God to work. In fact, we believe that unless God moves we can do nothing! So we long for God to work in us and through us. One of the key ways that we depend on God actively as a church is PRAYER. This year we are planning on beginning our year in corporate prayer and encourage you to join us. All other church ministries (other than AWANA) will be shut down, as we focus on seeking God, and His blessing together. Please come and join us in depending fully on God together. We long to be a PRAYING CHURCH!
Schedule: January 10- 16
- Sunday Morning Service: Focus On Prayer. Followed by a church luncheon focused on prayer
- Sunday Night Service: 6:00 Movie: War Room
- Mornings: Monday - Friday: 10:00 Informal prayer gatherings in the prayer room (upper office)
- Evenings: 7:00 Gathering for Focused Corporate Prayer
- Saturday Morning: 9:00 - 10:30: Prayer with muffins and coffee.
The only way we will become a praying church is to be a praying church, so encourage you to join us for this week of prayer. It will be successful if only two of us gather, but I long for so much more for us and from us!
Sunday Is Coming:
Text: John 10
Title: What Child Is This? Jesus is the Good Shepherd
Why is our understanding of Jesus as our Good Shepherd so important?
How does Jesus guard His sheep?
Meditate on what it means to be a sheep, with Psalm 23 and John 10 to guide you.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
See you on Christmas Eve, and on Sunday, and may you enjoy this time of celebration with a special focus on our Lord Jesus!
A fellow sheep
Pastor Rob