2011...from the beginning

While the rest of the world is thinking about tinsel and the birth of our Savior in the tiny town of Bethlehem, we on the church staff are already looking forward to 2011.

The first event of the New Year is our New Year Prayer service on Monday, January 3 at 7 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room. Join us as we spend time laying the next twelve months before the Lord and dedicating our ministries, church families and our community to God.

January 16 we will be observing Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. The following Sunday, January 24, Pastor Steve will be starting a sermon series on the first twelve chapters of John.

Jumping into February, we have best-selling authors, Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn joining us for the "He Said, She Said" conference on February 11 and 12. You may remember Shaunti and Jeff from the popular books, "For Women Only," and "For Men Only."

At the end of March, author/speaker, Doug Pollock will be sharing his thoughts on reaching the lost one Sunday morning. A conference led by Doug will follow on Saturday, April 9, 2011, where we will learn the dos and don't of having spiritual conversations with our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers.

We are looking forward to serving you and alongside you as we make more and better disciples here and around the world.

May your Christmas bring you great joy as you celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. May the New Year be full of hope and growth as we all continue to grow in our faith.

Blessings,
Sharon Siepel
on behalf of the Faith Church staff.

PS I will be on vacation for the next few weeks, so I look forward to blogging again in 2011.

One Month to Live

The ministry associates usually provide breakfast or lunch each year for Boss's Day. This year, it was lunch, and to provide a little entertainment to go along with the meal that Tuesday, Elaine found a short Boss's Day video recorded by a Texas pastor and his staff - a spoof on The Office, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJZyxJf3rb4. Feel free to watch it and see what it's like working with the Faith Church pastors. Just teasing!! Go ahead and watch the video for a good laugh, but of course, it in no way represents our excellent bosses.

I mention this because just that morning, the mail brought a brochure promoting a new book by a Texas pastor. Harvey wasn't familiar with the author, but the book sounded good and had great reviews. Then we went to lunch . . . and there was the pastor/author as the star of the video. What a coincidence! This guy obviously has a wonderful sense of humor and likes to have fun. He is Kerry Shook at Woodlands Church in Houston.

Now, just a few weeks later, another flyer has arrived offering another book by Kerry and his wife, One Month to Live: Thirty Days to a No-Regrets Life. It focuses on what Jesus did when He knew He had one month left on earth - how He lived his last 30 days with no regrets.

I'm not promoting this book. I haven't read it yet. But its theme intrigued me. What if we knew we had just 30 days to live? Would it change how we spend our time?

No doubt, we would charge out of the house each morning with more passion and determination to share Christ with family and neighbors. People are, after all, the only thing we can take with us when we die. We would guard our words and not waste our breath whining and criticizing, but try to make every conversation count for eternity. We would not boast or brag, knowing we will soon stand before the King of Kings - the only Person worthy of praise.

Please share with us one way you think your life would change if this were your situation.

Yes, our attitude and outlook would be altered drastically if we knew we had only one month left on this earth. Just suppose we were to live with this changed mindset . . . ALL the time.