To God's Beloved At Cloverdale Baptist Church:
Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as a church family over the last 10 years. It is a joy to be in God's will and to have the privilege to serve people who want to grow in their faith! God is so good to us, and worthy of our focus and our praise. This morning I read Psalm 34, and it has this great invitation, "My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt His name together". What a great challenge and encouragement for my heart, and my hearts invitation to us as a church family. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to magnify the LORD with you! We are looking forward to many more great years for God's glory with you as God wills! I praise God for Lori and my boys and the privilege of serving you as a family. Thank you!
It has been a blessing to have Jonathan and Korinna with us over the past two years. I believe that God has great plans for this man (couple) and it has been our privilege to be a part of his (their) development. Thank you for the chance to have interns, and to be a blessing and be blessed. Jonathan has been gifted by God as a preacher, and it will be exciting to see where God calls him as he takes his next step in training. Please be in prayer for them as they take ministry training at Southern Seminary and over the next two weeks take the time to thank them, if they have been a ministry to you, and commit to pray for them. We will miss them, and rejoice in the privilege of being a part of God's work here and around the world together.
Prayer Meeting tonight from 7:00 - 8:00. I would encourage you, if you love God and our church to join us in prayer. I know these are busy times, and this is a priority for us. If you are busy, all the more reason to join us to pray. It was Martin Luther, who so fully understood this, who said in the midst of his busy schedule, "I have so much to do, I will spend the first three hours in prayer". A good reminder for us that if we want to do God's work, and that is the desperate plea of our hearts, we need His strength to do it, so we must be a people who pray together. Last week, it was a joy to gather and pray, join us this week. If you need babysitting, we will supply it, please let me know with an answer to this email. The elders believe that this is something that we must be doing together if we are going to be a healthy church today forward, so please make it a priority, and join us for a time of worship in prayer! In the call to spiritual battle, this call to prayer is essential, "praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication, to that end, keep alert with all perseverance making supplication for all the saints."
One of the key areas that we will be spending time in prayer on is our calling of a new pastor who will focus on Worship in Song and Assimilation. Please join us in praying that we would together discover God's will, and come to the events we have planned this week, so that you can observe in your praying and see if this is the man God has for us. We long to be a multi-generational, multi-ethnic church that sings praises together to our God. Friday night, Pastor Les will be at the church for a time with our seniors (6:3--8:00), you are welcome to join us there no matter what age you are. He will also be leading the worship in song part of the service on Sunday morning, we will then have lunch together and interact with questions for Les. Sunday night will be a time of praise, and exalting God in song with a devotional led by Pastor Les (6-7). Join us in seeking God's will, and rejoicing that He has led the search committee and elders to this point in the process. GOD IS GOOD!
On August 9, we will begin a discipleship class, that will last for four weeks. We are going to be meeting in a designated classroom (depending on numbers) on Sunday's at 9:10 am, and will be spending an hour together focusing on the essentials of growing to be like Jesus. In September, we will begin with a basics discipleship course we think during the Sunday School hour, and we will be seeking to continue to deepen our intimacy with God together as a church family. These are two separate steps in the journey that we are offering to you, so that we can grow together strategically in our relationship with Jesus!
Sunday Is Coming:
Sermon Title: How Great Is Our God: Self Sufficient
Text: Isaiah 40:9-31
What does it mean that God is self sufficient?
Why is this significant?
Why do you think that we struggle with this as individuals and as a church?
Mediate on:
Psalm 50:10-12
Acts 17:24-25
Job 41:11
How does this impact your life?
How can we grasp in a fuller way the profoundness of this reality of who God is and have it change how we see life, how we feel in life, and how we live our lives for God's glory?
Have a great week!
Pastor Rob