February 26th, 2010

Hello! How are things going for you this week?  I hope that all has gone well and I want you to know that I have been praying for you, my church family this week.  We have a number of people who are in need of jobs or additional work and I want you to join with me in praying for them.  We have continued on in our 40 Day Spiritual Journey to a more Generous Life Campaign and it is still my prayer that our church family and those who attend our church come to an understanding of generosity and grace.  I want all to understand why and how God blesses, I want all to understand God’s grace and favor, I want all to understand why some with so little get by in life while some with so much, struggle.  I want us all to understand that God teaches us spiritual lessons through the topics of money, possessions, and generosity.  I want as many as possible to invest in God’s investment program of storing up treasures in heaven.  Come this Sunday and hear biblical teaching on God’s investment strategies.

While in our 40 Day Spiritual Journey to a more Generous Life Campaign there have been questions from many of you that I have sought to answer.  We have looked at what the tithe is ( a tenth of all increase) and it’s biblical roots (Abram in Genesis 14), we have addressed the purpose of the tithe (to progress the Lord’s work, to maintain the church facilities and to provide for the pastors), who should tithe (all believers), when should we tithe (when we have increase), where should we take our tithe (into the storehouse, the church), and what happens if we get behind in our tithing (we should make it up as soon as possible).  I want you to ask questions but more importantly I want you to use the 40 Day Devotional Guide and seek the answers to these questions.  This devotional guide is a great tool to use in checking our personal generosity levels.  With all this being said this Sunday is All Tithe Sunday. I am asking all those who do not tithe to begin this coming Sunday and continue for a 90 day trial period.  The Lord commands us to test Him in the tithe and see if He will not bless us with His grace and favor.  All Tithe Sunday is a good starting point and if at the end of the trial period God has not blessed you and shown His favor on you, then stop tithing.  I know that fear can keep many from testing the Lord but I encourage you to look beyond fear and see His favor.

This Sunday evening at 5:30pm we will have this months Ministry Vision Fellowship.  Our MVF is a time where we come together and I share the inside scoop on what is going on in our church.  I will also cast a vision on what is ahead of us and our church.  I want to strongly encourage all our partners and regular attendees to be in attendance this coming Sunday evening as I share some very encouraging news.  Please bring some finger foods for our time of fellowship afterwards in the Education building.

Easter is just around the corner and we need plastic eggs and candy to go into them.  If you can help with this we would greatly appreciate it.  We will have an egg hunt on Easter morning for all our children and their parents.  Easter is one of those times of year when people look to be invited to church.  I want all of you to pray about who you should invite to church for Easter and then began inviting them.  Easter is probably the greatest outreach Sunday of the year and I want us to use it to help bring people into God’s Kingdom and into our church.  We will need additional help in all areas of our church on this Sunday.

When we have guests attend our church it is important that we have places for them to park and seats for them to sit in.  As we continue to grow I would like to ask our regular church partners to consider parking on the grass areas surrounding our church or at the park.  I would also ask you to make sure that our guests have the best seats in our church.  This will help tremendously in making our guest feel welcome and a part of our church.

I look forward to seeing you this coming Sunday morning as we worship our Lord together.

Anchored in Christ,
Hal Helton
Lead Pastor