Notes from Pastor Steve!
Merry Christmas everyone! It is always such a joy when we gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus as a church family. This year is going to be a milestone Christmas for us as a church family because 2019 is the 10
th
year that we will gather on Christmas Eve to give thanks to God for the birth of His Son, our Savior Jesus of Nazareth. We will once again be giving out ornaments to mark the year and this year they are going to be the most special we have ever had. They are months in the making and have been designed and drawn by our own Trevor Arndt. Be sure to check times and calendar in this newsletter to make your plans to attend worship with us on Christmas Eve!
There is so much exciting news in this Newsletter from a new Life Group to updates on Recovery Church and information on our mission efforts around the world. I would also like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Marin Jorschumb who put this newsletter together and has joined our office staff as the smiling face at the front desk of our admin office. Please join me in welcoming Marin!
I would like to give you a preview glimpse of the Sunday teaching series that will be coming up after Christmas. We will be offering a series we are going to call “Voices”. We live in a world of constant noise and competition for what will capture our attention and control our thinking. We know that we act and make decisions based on the thoughts that control us. Not everyone and certainly not everything wants us to have Godly and helpful thoughts. The Bible says that we should take our thoughts captive and that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our minds, and those thoughts that we allow to control them determine our words, our actions and the direction of our lives. Please make plans to join us for this VERY important series!
As we enter into the season of Advent and prepare for Christmas and you begin to think about the New Year and whatever you might do to ready yourself to greet 2020, it would be my hope and prayer that you give thoughtful and prayer-filled consideration into how you might invest yourself in the life and ministry of The Open Door Christian Church. Where will you make the time to make your church and church family a priority in your life? How will you mature in your faith in 2020 and grow as a disciple of Jesus as your Savior and your Lord? What will be your ministry? Happy Advent, Merry Christmas and may God bless you with a happy New Year! In the year that is ahead, may you love Jesus, love people, and teach people to love Jesus!
-Passionately pursuing Jesus!
Pastor Steve