Church Family,
This past Sunday, as we continued our series in Acts, we tackled the first half of Acts 19. While there are several matters of note in these twenty verses, I want to take a second here to reflect on the last three verses we covered. Here we encounter the response of early believers to their newfound faith. There was an outpouring of confession and repentance, such repentance that led the new believers to burn the objects of their idolatry (50,000 silver pieces worth of sorcery books in this case) so that such items would no longer hold sway over their lives. Church, it is worth considering whether or not we have burned the idols that have influence in our lives. They may not be literal idols (and may not need literal burning by extension) but we all have influences from our unbelief that must not be allowed to control our lives as believers. It may be an idol of social influence, greater income, leisure, or any number of other things. Whatever it is, if it draws us away from God rather than closer to Him, it is an idol and deserves only to be burned.
Members’ Meeting
We will have our quarterly members’ meeting at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 23. These meetings are an important part of church membership. They are an opportunity to stay informed on what is happening in the church, to pray for the church, and even to welcome new members into the church, so be sure to set aside time that afternoon to be part of that meeting. Also, consider using that window between the end of service and the start of the meeting to have lunch with a fellow church member, or even several fellow church members. Even if it is just a matter of grabbing leftovers from home and meeting at a park, the time we get to spend in each other’s lives is invaluable and we should be eager to jump on the opportunities that arise.
New Sunday Studies
This past Sunday we began a new series on the Holy Spirit in our 9:00 a.m. Sunday Studies class. If you have not joined us for Sunday Studies before, it is a class where we pick a topic and work our way through it over several weeks in a way that centers around a lot of group discussion. Topics can include somewhat abstract theological concepts, like this upcoming series on the Holy Spirit, as well as highly practical concepts like the series we just finished on evangelism. Even if you aren’t able to be there every week, these classes are easy to jump into at any time so we highly encourage you to join us at 9:00 any Sunday morning you are able.
Grace be with you,
Logan Murphy
Pastoral Intern