To God’s Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
- I am thankful that God is seated on the throne, and we can trust Him always!
- I am thankful to God for you, God’s family that He has blessed me to serve.
- I am thankful for the privilege of being able to study His Word, and pray for you all as a part of God’s calling on my life.
- I am MOST OF ALL thankful for the Gospel, and that His grace is sufficient for me!
- I am thankful for my family, and that it is growing as we speak.
We serve an amazing God, and thanksgiving is the supernatural overflow of a heart devoted to God, a way to choose, and a measure that displays our maturity! I don’t always pass, but today…AM THANKFUL.
What are you thankful for? Share with five or six people and let us continue to create a culture that is saturated with thanksgiving!
We can be thankful in ALL (1 Thessalonians 5:18), in fact, we must be as followers of Jesus.
A quick update on how we are doing as a church. It seems our numbers in the morning are growing, even as we are holding good numbers online. HOWEVER, we still have many of us who are not here on Sunday mornings (last number I got was 330 livestreaming, which when you realize there are more than one person doing this, it is a lot).
Here is the pastoral question that is causing me to fall to my knees; how do we stay connected and unified during this time? I am not absolutely sure, as we seem to be a little fragmented on earthly perspectives and attendance, but I am sure that one of the ways is if each of us makes an effort to reach out to people we haven’t seen in a while. Would you consider that. Maybe you feel lonely and like people haven’t reached out to you, if this is the case would you redouble your efforts to make sure no one else feels that way! One of the ways we will thrive as a family during COVID is your efforts! Please focus in these conversations on building one another up, and avoid the earthly threats to our unity!
We are not making budget, and our giving is down from last year, that said, so is our spending so we are not in panic mode, but we are a little concerned. As such, we encourage you to continue to give so that we can together accomplish the mission God has given us! We ended the year with giving down, and spending down, and money we can put into our contingency fund, so praising God that during this time we can still invest in ministry!
Please continue to be committed to prayer…we need it, especially as those called to be your SERVANT LEADERS. This has not been an easy few years, and it can wear on us. We need your prayers and support. Rick has decided to step back from the elders board, and he goes with our appreciation for the time and effort he put in over the last year especially. I am thankful that Bob and Ken continue to serve as Elders Emeritus, and that Paul Weme is willing to join our team, something we believe to be God’s will, that we will bring to the congregation at the AGM for affirmation. The COVID journey we are on is not easy, and your prayers are essential to our unity and thriving during times like these!
Membership Class begins this week…and we are excited. It is happening during the Sunday School hour, and if you are new to our church, or want to learn more about who we believe God has called us to be, please join us this Sunday morning from 9:10 – 10:00 for the first class. This will be in the Fellowship Hall, and Pastor Ray’s class on the Sermon On The Mount will be moved upstairs to class 246. We will max this class out at 20, and know this is not ideal, but think at this time best.
Elaine Hirsch has gone through the membership process and we are putting her name in the bulletin for two weeks for your prayers for her, and to give you a chance if you have any concerns to let us know.
Sunday Is Coming
The sermon this week is from my friend Stephen Bray: He is a godly man, and will be taking us to John 15 to see how we can live as an overflow of our intimate relationship with Jesus. Take the time to read John 15 to prepare your hearts for worship and anticipation of the Spirit’s work in you and through you on Sunday.
It is a privilege to be in your family, living on mission for Him together for His glory,
Pastor Rob
Don’t forget to stay informed: Online Bulletin:
https://www.
Growth Group Notes For October 10, 2021
Title: The Church: Thankful For Her Mission
Text: John 20:19-23
- What are some things that you are thankful for?
- How can you live life more thankfully?
- Why do you think the Bible commands thanksgiving?
- Read the text:
- What are the other Great commission texts in the Bible? (see if you can name all 5)
What is the mission this text shares that we are to have for Him?- What is His peace mentioned here?
- How do we experience it for salvation?
- How do we experience it in all of life (Philippians 4:4-6)?
- What is the importance of the Holy Spirit in our call to live missionally in the community He has placed us in?
- How do you experience His power in your life and witness?
- What does it mean to live on mission with our life and with our lips?
- 1 Peter 2:11-12
- How are you doing this in your life?
- What are some steps you can take to live a, “sent life”, on mission for God?
- Pastor Rob’s:
- Communion with Him: Seek A deeper more intimate relationship with God
- Commissioned By Him: Realize you are called to be an Ambassador
- Community for Him: Live in a healthy way with your local church for His glory
- What can you do to be a part of building Jesus church at CBC?
- Be specific, and try to apply all of the messages on the importance Jesus places on the local church.
Pray that we would be a Great Commission people and impact our communities for Christ!