To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
It is hard not to be meeting on Sunday's as God's people physically! We are starting to gather for specific ministries, like our prayer meetings, and some Growth Groups, but are still waiting for access to larger numbers for Sunday Mornings. Please stay informed as we try to minister effectively in a difficult time! For now, please continue to make gathering online a priority, especially Sunday morning and Wednesday night.
We are delighted that we have found ways to meet together, and hope you can start to gather as Growth Groups and smaller groups (Phase 2) in homes even as we long for the bigger gathering! Try to include people you don't know well in this, and seek to be an encouragement to at least 3 other people this week. The longer this goes on, the more we will find people struggling with loneliness and what I now describe as the Corona Grumps, and we want to make sure we leave no one out, and are constantly seeking to be a blessing to others in Jesus name. If you are feeling unsafe, please do not feel pressure to gather, but do feel pressure to express love and grace, and build others up! If you are vulnerable, PLEASE STAY HOME & STAY CONNECTED!
Prayer meeting tonight is our first meeting at the church since the start of this journey, and I am thankful that we can take this next step carefully and respectfully and start to gather in smaller groups now!
Many of you are sharing of difficulties that you are having Sunday mornings with the live feed. We are doing our very best to make this excellent, and continue to work on providing a clean feed. It is always two way, so make sure if you are having problems that you check it on your end even as we seek perfection here. This week we did lose our server near the end of the sermon, but got it back after a brief break (this is beyond our control). We are wanting to stay with the live feed as it is the closest we can be to a gathered church, so will continue to work on this with you, and thank you for your grace and PRAYERS. We do have the entire service, and just the sermon, up on Sunday's on our website by around 4:00, so if you do struggle with the feed, you can watch a little later. Again, our goal is to stay gathered, so to continue on as we have seeking to constantly improve and provide the best service possible to you during this time! Thank you for the efforts each of you are making to stay connected, and also a HUGE thank you to our team that is helping in this! Without people serving you in these ministries we would be in trouble, so again, if you know any of them personally send them a love note, a quick thank you, or a blessing, as often we hear when it is not working, and not as much when it does.
We are ramping up our KIDS MINISTRY (huge thank you to Robyn and Hanna), and starting this Sunday will have an online Kids program available to you by 9:30 am Sunday morning. You can watch this before the service, if you have multiple feeds, during the service, or you can find it on our website after the service as well as on our kids facebook page. Also, please note the CAMP IN A BOX announcements that will be coming your way, and if you have children join us in seeking to reach and teach this precious next generation of followers of Jesus! So this Sunday you will notice that we are not doing the mid-service children's time, but have replaced that with a more significant ministry time for children before the service. Please SIGN UP NOW online for CAMP IN A BOX!
Bible Study This Week: Please continue to join us on Wednesday nights for our Bible study. This week there is a call to commitment and we want to help you mark this commitment with certificates. They can be printed off on your own if you want (included in your notes), but also you can pick up an official copy of one at the church office during office hours. We are praying this would be a wonderful opportunity for all of us to take a serious look at our lives and make sure we see ourselves in relationship to God first and foremost, and use our lives fully for His glory! If each of our people take this seriously, and commit to live their lives as stewards, not owners, the world we live in will be changed!
Over the summer we are planning to answer questions that those who don't know Jesus yet are asking. If you have people in your life that have questions about God, or the Gospel that you would love to watch with them, please send them to me or Pastor Ray and we will seek to answer them in a way that you can watch with them, and use in your goal to invite people to respond in faith to the Gospel.
Please PRAY! For what you ask? Well a few things, but first and foremost that we would have wisdom and unity as we tread these uncertain waters. We are living in unprecedented times, at least in this generation, and the wisdom we need is from God so that we can flourish during these times! Oh that our God would work in each individual, and in us as an entire church and that we would see all of us come out of this pandemic with a deeper faith, a more life-defining relationship with Jesus, and a church that is ever healthier! Thank you for your continued giving to the LORD, we are amazed and thankful to God for you all who have given and even increased your giving so that we can continue to serve Him here and around the world!
THANK YOU!
Sunday Is Coming:
Please make sure to prepare your hearts, and to PRAY for our teams that are serving you on the tech side, and on the service side. We need God's help in all we do!
Title: What Now?
Text: Acts 2:1-11
It is Pentecost Sunday, and over the last few years we have taken the time to focus in on the amazing difference that this can make in our lives!
In your faith tradition, did you celebrate pentecost?
Why do people focus on the coming of the Holy Spirit, and/or the birthday of the local church during this time?
What are some ways that you can celebrate this special event in our history?
What difference does it make to you personally, to have the Holy Spirit active in your life?
As we say Happy Birthday to the church, what are some things you can do for her?
One of the chief consequences of the coming of the Holy Spirt was that those with Him would be empowered witnesses. Can you see this in your life? How can you seek the Spirit's filling so that you can see it more?
Looking forward to another great Sunday with you,
Your servant in Christ Jesus,
Pastor Rob