A Few Updates.
MISSIONARY JASON STEVENS PREACHING. I am thankful to have the Stevens family back with us tonight. Bro. Jason will be preaching our services and reporting on his move from the foreign field of Honduras to a future church planting ministry in Philadelphia.
BRO. ZACK TRAVELING. Also pray for Bro. Zack when he heads to Omaha for a friend’s wedding, and then to Alabama to be with a wonderful girl named Shae and her family. He didn’t say a thing about it last Sunday, so I had to share the news here!
THANK YOU. I was so grateful to receive your gift from the deacons for Christmas. The love offerings that you gave to the staff were so incredibly generous, and it’s our HONOR to serve you. I told someone last week that serving at the church is rewarding in itself, and you are such a wonderful and huge part of our lives.
It is always awkward to be recognized and thanked and applauded and all that goes along with a gift-giving portion of a service. We do it for the Lord, and NOTHING in us wants to give the impression that we’re in it for the paycheck. Nothing.
However, when you give someone a gift, you like to see them open it, don’t you? You look forward to their reaction, and you enjoy the giving of it. That was something I had not truly considered, that when you give us a Christmas love offering, it’s as much about the congregation showing love as it is about us receiving it.
So, I’m sorry we did not present the gifts publicly this year. To be honest, we were a bit relieved! Haha! But for the sake of you who gave to it, I believe we will make it a point for you to have the opportunity to see your gift received.
Thank you so much. I love you so much, church, and appreciate not only your kind gifts, but your faithfulness to the Lord. That’s what matters the most. Truly.
God bless you in 2024.
-Pastor Ryan