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Our latest newsletter...
From Pastor Steve
On the passing of time … Has anyone seen where January went? I can't believe that it's already gone. But the calendar is relentless, isn't it? The pages just keep turning. And when the pages that are turning are on the church calendar, it can be quite a race to keep ahead of it.
So in staff meeting this week our discussion 
centered around preparations for the Lenten season that begins on the 22nd of this month; then we focused on our church wide Spiritual Life Conference in March; then we reviewed Passion Week; then looked at a timeline for raising some out fitting support for Stevie and Jenny Brown as they leave to go overseas and then figured out the details for their farewell; then it was trouble shooting the planning for Pastor Tim's sabbatical this summer; then came strategizing about short term summer mission trips and Partner Church summer projects; then came the scheduling Fall programming; and I do believe someone mentioned Christmas. (Good thing we had two staff people out that day or we might still be in that meeting!)
centered around preparations for the Lenten season that begins on the 22nd of this month; then we focused on our church wide Spiritual Life Conference in March; then we reviewed Passion Week; then looked at a timeline for raising some out fitting support for Stevie and Jenny Brown as they leave to go overseas and then figured out the details for their farewell; then it was trouble shooting the planning for Pastor Tim's sabbatical this summer; then came strategizing about short term summer mission trips and Partner Church summer projects; then came the scheduling Fall programming; and I do believe someone mentioned Christmas. (Good thing we had two staff people out that day or we might still be in that meeting!) All of this to say the calendar passes so fast I wonder why I hang one on my wall. But more importantly, it's in the fullness of the calendar of church life that we discover all the meaningful ministry moments and events that give us opportunity to stretch and grow in our faith, to encounter God in a variety of ways and to be enriched in our relationships together. So rather than lament how fast our church calendar passes, I choose to rejoice in all that it offers.
On keeping lent … So we agree, we're all too busy, right? How perfect then is the Season of Lent to make a deliberate choice to slow down in some small way and invite God's grace into the space you intentionally have created by that choice. Time has always been a bit of thief and Lent gives us the opportunity to steal some of that time back.
As some might know, I gave up facebook last year and got some time back that I was at times, just frittering away. I haven't gone back on facebook, I am still here alive and well, and I still have that extra measure of time in my day. And when I am most wise, I use it to invite God to fill it with Himself. Could there be some time consuming thing in your life that you could 'fast' over Lent as a way of taking time back? You've got about 20 more days to determine what that might be. But we all know, those days will go by in a blink! ;-)!
On childlike faith … This Sunday we will celebrate communion in both services, but especially with our children present in the first service at 9:00. From time to time we like to keep our kids in so they might learn from the experience of sharing in communion, the richness of all that Jesus has done for them. Pastor Tim has put together a guide for parents and kids to talk about communion and what it means together. (Click here to see it!) We work hard to express all it means at the level of childlike faith. Could it be, that as we do, we adults capture of fresh sense of the roots of our own faith?
On Groundhog Day … Groundhog day kind of introduces us to the month on the calendar known for the celebration of love. But it's an inauspicious way for the month to begin, don't you think? Because if a groundhog sees his shadow on the morning of Feb 2, it's supposed to mean 6 more weeks of cold weather. Well, I think he did see his shadow because I know I saw my shadow this morning and it's a bigger shadow than I want it to be! So that means 6 more weeks of trying to diet my way to a smaller shadow.
When my kids were small, I used to tease them about this day. Things like, "Why do groundhogs hog the ground? Don't you think they should share some of it?" (Come to think of it, why do hedgehogs hog the hedge? Don't you think there are enough hedges to go round for everyone? But I digress…)Well, groundhog day came again this year and will soon be gone. If it leaves us with six more weeks of cold weather, maybe it will help to remember that the month it ushers is the one that celebrates love. Because it strikes me that if you know you are loved, there is something in the truth of that message that will always bring you in out of the cold … no matter how cold it gets. So may you always remember that you are loved by the One who is Love incarnate. And that's a truth no shadow can hide.
Chasing life and following Jesus,
Steve Elliott
