A Note From Chris - January 26, 2023

Church,

This email is exciting! Can you feel it already? Ok maybe just me telling you that doesn’t exactly work. But there are so many exciting things happening all around us. We have much to be excited about! Did you know....

• The past 3 weekends have been our largest attendance in-person regular weekends since COVID.
• Our children’s ministry celebrates some of the largest attendance we’ve seen in years.
• Our student ministry is growing, up around 33% from the previous semester.
• 57% of our students who attend Wednesday nights are also on a team serving our church consistently.
• Groups are off to a great start, with groups filling up both on campus and in homes.
• A team of 8 just returned from the Dominican Republic, serving faithfully with our global partner Eastern Dominican Christian Mission. Among other things, they led a VBS with over 550 Dominican children, sharing the love of Jesus with them.
• A crew of 34 will head to Israel on February 18 for a journey to the Holy Land. They will visit many of the places where Jesus walked and preached during his earthly ministry.
• Our “Life Under Construction” series is off to a great start, with many identifying areas that need to see change. God is moving.
• Kids Club is back for our Cornerstone Kids beginning next Wednesday.

There is so much more. This is an exciting season for our church. Please do a few things with me:

• Pray against the Enemy
  
  

He sure loves to jump into a growth and excitement season and stir division and sinful activity. In Jesus’ name, we are asking him to stay away.

• Show Up and Be Joyful
  
  

With so many new folks attending along with our regular folks, that creates occasional space or parking issues and may even make some folks grumpy. Not us, church! We celebrate growth, guests, being redirected to a weird parking spot, or sitting on a hard chair in a strange spot. Because all of that means that the message of Jesus is reaching many, and we get to be part of it. So let’s keep showing up and keep bringing the joy of Jesus with us!

The message this weekend may be my favorite in the “Life Under Construction” series. I saw this quote this week that challenged me and gives you a bit of a warm-up:
“If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you're eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.” – Kevin Ngo

I don’t know Kevin, but he’s so right! Let’s tackle some change together in Jesus’ name! See you Sunday.

Yours & His,
Chris VandeLinde