2024 November news-letter article

Dear friends,

(If that expression is good enough for Jesus’ younger half-brother, as we read in the past month, it’s good enough for me!)  I write to you on Tuesday, October 29, and two Sundays ago we wrapped up a sermon series through the letter from Judas/Jude/Judah.  I thoroughly enjoyed that sermon series, and I hope you did too!  This-past Sunday, I began a brief (three-week; well, at this point I think it will be three Sundays; we never really know what God has in store) series reminding us of our mission statement and articulating a vision for our church moving forward.  As I articulated in the autumn of 2022, we want to lean into our values, while seeing what God would have us to see, so that we might go where God would have us to go.  I am NOT trying to reinvent anything this time around, simply keep these thoughts and principles from two years ago, fresh in our minds.  May we be sensitive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, going where He would have us to go, getting there the way He would have us to get there.

As we think about this journey together, I am flooded with excitement.  As we bear back into standard time (where we belong year-long!!) and the temperatures lower, it warms my heart to get my long sleeves back out!  On the fourth Thursday of November, our country will observe Thanksgiving Day (and if you’re a civilized human being, you’ll wait until then to put up a tree and play “that” music!!).  Over the next 10 weeks or so, my calendar will be filled with family dinners and festive gatherings, lots of poultry and ham, and many a “seasonal greeting”.  As we greet one another, and visit, sharing stories and merry making, I am always reminded of how much I have for which to be thankful.  It is good that our great country observes a Thanksgiving Day, but I shouldn’t have to remind you, that for the follower of Jesus, every day ought be a day of thanks-giving.  A dear saint in our church family (who has gone on to be with Jesus) once told me that she didn’t like the hymn Count Your Blessings; she wasn’t able to count all of hers.  I told her “that’s the point, just start”.

We, as a church family, have much for which to be thankful.  We have, perhaps, the most handsome piece of property in Walnut Cove.  On it, we have a great facility, in great shape, that far exceeds our needs.  We are debt-free and have money in the bank.  Our greatest resource (as I am so often reminded) is that of “human capital”!  We have a great staff and volunteers, ministry leaders and committees, faithful servants of God, many of whom serve quietly below even my radar.  We have received about a dozen “yellow cards” since Easter, and guests continue to bless us with their presence.  We have a New Life Center teeming with little ones and staff, many of whose families have no church home.  We have a good reputation in this county, with many of our neighbors knowing us as “the church that feeds every body at the end of the month”.  We have relationships and partners in ministry, and opportunities to make profound Kingdom impact.

As God drives us to our knees in profound thankfulness, let’s seek His face together.  Let’s seek His will for our church in the days ahead.  Let’s pray that He will show us what He wants us to see, and let’s be willing to leverage every man-hour, and square foot of real estate, and every cent in the bank, and every networking relationship we have to see souls saved and lives changed.  We want every man, woman, and child in the southeastern quarter of Stokes County to see, hear, and respond to the Good News.  O, that we would begin to count our blessings, be thankful for them, and use them to bless others.  Above all, we are thankful to have a Good News.  A Good News of salvation in Jesus’ name; a message of His gracious love for us, bearing our sins, conquering death, and giving us eternal life in its place!  This News is Good indeed; good enough to tell, good enough that we want others to hear it!  Are we telling it?

Serve YHWH with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.
Enter His gates giving thanks and His courts with praise!
--A.J.