Here are your top three for this weekend…
1. Throwback: A Night of Worship. I am looking forward to worshiping with our community this Sunday night at 6:00 p.m. in the Worship Center. This is a community event with worship pastors and musicians from various churches around our area joining in to lead. As Tom has said, it’s going to be a little nostalgic and a great night of gathering with our community to celebrate and worship our Great God! He has been our hope throughout the generations, especially for those of us who “acquired the fire” for God back in the 90’s and early 2000’s. (There’s a little Easter egg for you.) I can still remember as a student at Oral Roberts University attending church one Sunday night as Darlene Zschech of Hillsong Worship led us in singing “Shout to the Lord!” Maybe we will get to sing that classic again this Sunday.
2. Discipleship Group Update. The Discipleship Committee is introducing a brand new curriculum for Sunday School groups starting this month. We have ended our standing order with Cokesbury and are beta testing the Wesley Bible Study series that is published by the Wesleyan Publishing House. There are a couple of reasons we are trying out a new curriculum. First, it is one-third cheaper than the Cokesbury materials saving our church nearly $2,000 per year. This will allow us to purchase all teacher and student books for groups through our church’s annual budget. Another major reason is several groups have asked us to explore new curriculum options that are more in line with our church’s historic, Wesleyan doctrine. We will beta test this curriculum through Lent and the spring months. The beta test will be followed by a group leader meeting to evaluate the material before the summer quarter begins. Let me know what you think.
3. Reliving the Passion of Christ. Our Lenten season will include several ways for you to deepen your faith. First, I will preach through the passion narrative of Mark’s Gospel (chapters 14-15) leading up to Easter weekend. We will walk with Jesus through his betrayal, trial, and crucifixion as though we are experiencing each moment in time as it unfolds. Next, I am recommending a daily devotional reader by Walter Wangerin, Jr., titled “Reliving the Passion of Christ.” You can purchase it here through Amazon for around $16.00. I can tell you that it is one of the best I’ve read. I am about halfway through it. Finally, Ash Wednesday services will be next week. The staff and I will be conducting a service at Brookdale Senior Living at Noon on Wednesday with the residents. Come join us in the chapel if you can! There will also be a service in our Sanctuary at 6:00 p.m. for you and our community. Dinner will be served in the Family Life Building prior to worship. I look forward to this journey with you.
See you Sunday for our final message in the mini-series, “Bad Things, Good People,” featuring the life of Joseph.
Jimmy
