Every six to eight weeks or so, our family drives to Indianapolis to shop for food, groceries and supplies at Sam's Club to stock up for the next several weeks. It is one of the ways we try to be good stewards and maximize use of our budget.
Last fall, at the beginning of October, my wife Melissa was scheduled to go out of town and leave me for a week/end as a single Dad with six children. (Okay, our eldest was already in college and two children were in public high school, but still, wow, did I feel and pray for single parents.) She had been invited to accompany one of her long-time friends to attend the True Woman Christian women's conference in Chicago the following week. On the weekend before she left, we decided at the spur of the moment to have a special outing prior to our "Sam's run". We drove to Fishers to see the matinee showing of the movie Fireproof.
This film was made by the same team that produced the movie Facing the Giants.
Sometime during the previous year, our entire family had enjoyed watching Facing the Giants with our friends in town at the South Memorial Drive Church of God. They had invited us to join them in experiencing the movie together and to spend some time afterward with each other in fellowship over refreshments. It was a wonderful time had by all present as the inspirational story from the film enlarged our vision of what God can do and how God's people can participate and cooperate with the Holy Spirit in a mighty move of God through prayer.
In these recent days at the beginning of this new year before us that is already in progress, I am sensing a similar dynamic starting to happen among us in our fellowship of faith at New Castle—First Pres. At this past weekend's Sunday school class (led and facilitated by Elder, Jim Howard), those attending heard the leading of the Lord for us to reach out to our community and invite others to join in a shared experience as couples on Valentine's Weekend Sunday, February 15 when we plan to present an evening dinner and movie. The class is right off the bat beginning to apply some of the principles they are learning from materials and resources Jim and I obtained from the introductory workshop of the Acts 16:5 Initiative last September.
This Sunday, the Rev. Dr. Steve Ebling, pastor of New Hope Presbyterian Church in Fishers, Indiana will be coming to our congregation's annual meeting pitch-in as soon as he can get here following their worship service. Steve will be sharing with us his heart for what God has been doing among congregations in Presbyteries across our denomination through the Acts 16:5 Initiative. Elders Susan Denison and Val McNelis joined Pastor Art and me last November in attending a brief informational seminar at which we heard more regarding this endeavor of which fifteen churches in our Presbytery are partnering together. In this mission and ministry started by the Rev. E. Stanley Ott of the Vital Churches Institute, congregations are being renewed in a process of transformation toward revitalization and growth. As we find this transformational event occurring in the life of the church through God's Word and Spirit, "Day after day the congregations became stronger in faith and larger in size." (Acts 16:5 The Message)
Come see and hear more at the annual meeting this Sunday after worship! Let us seek the Lord's face in prayer that we might see a mighty move of God by facing the giants in our life together.
In Christ, Pastor Rex
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