Hi Church!

As we begin this New Year, you may start to see some changes.  As you know we are searching for a new Contemporary Worship Leader, and last week if you were in worship, you heard I am now going to use the words of the Apostles' Creed that I grew up saying.  There may be other changes coming to the order of worship, but nothing that will change who we are as Christ Church!  I know change is hard - but we should not fear change because the intent is to grow as a church body. 

Here is a section from the church growth experts that I think will help us measure our expectations:

Somewhere along the way, a lie crept in:

If your church is healthy, it will grow fast.

And sure, sometimes churches explode in size early on. God can absolutely do that.
But most of the time? That’s not the story.
Most of the time, growth is slow. It’s frustrating. It feels invisible.

You sow.
Then you water.
And after that, you wait.

Sometimes nothing happens for a while.

What you really need is faithfulness.

Faithfulness in the Word.
Devotion in prayer.
And unshakable commitment to the mission.

God isn’t building platforms—He’s building people.

And that takes time.

Because the Kingdom of God doesn’t run on hype.

It runs on hope, humility, and holy persistence.

Healthy churches do grow—sometimes fast, most often slow, but always under the hand of a faithful God.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we have several spots open on the Executive Committee/Church Council, and are in need of folks to serve on Sunday in areas like coffee, greeting, and participating in worship by reading Scripture and/or praying! Lots of options for folks to become more involved!

Just a final reminder - as we begin 2026, remember our new vision is:

CONNECT - GROW - SERVE

Connect people with the saving love of Jesus. 

Help them to grow in that faith and love. 

And then demonstrate that faith and love by how we serve those in need. 

Blessings!

Pastor Marcy

Devotion

The other night as I laid down to sleep finally after a very long and tiring day, I started hearing what sounded like someone stomping up my stairs.  It alarmed me as I didn’t think anyone should be in my house coming up my stairs!  But after a few seconds I realized that pounding wasn’t someone stomping - it was the beating of my heart! I was so tired and so stressed that my heart was beating very loudly - like the sound of stomping up stairs. 

I’ve had this experience before.  When I was 16, someone hit my car after running a red light.  It was a bad accident, and I was barely conscious after they had hit me.  I remember hearing this pounding - a consistent rhythmic banging that was so loud! For a few seconds I was confused as to what this was.  Turns out it was the ticking of my watch. 

The sounds around us can be overwhelming at times - they can become louder than they should be and our brains will hear them over everything else.  This is one of the ploys the devil will use to distract us and make us lose focus. We become interested in the noise around us - the newscasters, the social media, the loud neighbor spewing hate - all of this will take the place of the peace of Christ. 

Nothing that happens in this world is a surprise to God.  He knows its coming, and He has a plan moving forward.  Many years ago, Matthew West wrote a song called Do Something.  Here are some of the lyrics:

I woke up this morning

Saw a world full of trouble now

Thought, how'd we ever get so far down

How's it ever gonna turn around

So I turned my eyes to Heaven

I thought, "God, why don't You do something?"

Well, I just couldn't bear the thought of

People living in poverty

Children sold into slavery

The thought disgusted me

So, I shook my fist at Heaven

Said, "God, why don't You do something?"

He said, "I did, I created you"

God created us.  He created us to do something - and that “something” could be to pray.  Or to serve with one of our Community Partners.  Or to encourage someone.  Or to visit someone in the hospital or nursing home.  Or to bake cookies for someone.  The list goes on…

Instead of letting the noise of the world, the struggles of our own lives, the pain we feel - instead of letting all that overtake us - lets do something! Amen?