Good Friday morning Church Requel!
Do you know that I look forward to my Friday mornings with you each week? As I write these weekly notes to you, I picture each one of you in my mind. I pray that God is continually drawing you to Himself and that you are experiencing His comfort and peace in both your good and tough moments of life.
This has been an especially good week for your pastor as I have been overwhelmed by the love of the Lord for us. That will be the theme of our worship on Sunday morning - that we are each called to be loved by God Himself. I hope that you have been working on your memory verse this week. If so, you've been reminded over and over again that this love of God for you is not something recent.
"I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born."
Isaiah 44:2a (CEV)
I wrote that verse completely from memory. (I deleted the other two times, when I didn't get it right. Ha! Confession is good for the soul. Maybe that would be a good idea for you too - to try to write out from memory this week's verse. That way you'll know if you really have it or not!)
I don't know what this verse does for you, but it reaffirms that God's love for me extends beyond my own earthly existence. He loved me before I was born. He loves me despite my mistakes and failures. He will love me into eternity. I am His son.
As much as we think we know this, we need a steady diet of being reminded. This coming weekend I intend for you to be bathed in Christ's love for you. With the songs we sing, the videos we watch, the prayers we pray, and the sermon we listen to, I intend for you and your family to walk away knowing the love of God for you!
Just a few short reminders. I'm keeping this week's letter to you short in the hopes more of you will read it. I do need to remind you of a couple things: #1 - After church we plan to take the decorations down and put them away. Your help would be greatly appreciated; #2 - A week from Saturday, January 18th, we feed the hungry in our neighborhood. I hope you can participate by volunteering at 4pm and/or by bringing a dessert. Thank you Sheri Nichols for leading the charge.
God loves you... and so do I! Pastor Mark
