Good day to you all!  I'm stepping in this week for Pastor Dave.  Here's a couple of items I hope you'll take to heart.

FAMILY MINISTRIES: EXTEND THE VISION AUCTION & DINNER: MAY 13 @ 6PM: NEW GYM

Our auction and dinner this year takes on a different look and focus.  My primary appeal to you is this:  please come out and support this evening.  The cost for dinner is only $5 per person!  We are hoping for participation by a significant number in our church family.

Our primary purpose is to renew the vision we began to cast several years ago.  While the new lobby and spaces are something we've all enjoyed, we're not finished yet.  We still lack funding to re-make our old gym into a new children's ministry center.  Our HS room, gym, and kitchen also remain unfinished.  Pastor Dave and I want you to hear from our family pastors, Trevor, Greg, and Joshua.  We want you to walk the building with them and see the future through their eyes.  This is an opportunity to renew the commitment we made to our children, as well as a reminder of the incredible possibilities still before us.

The silent auction begins at 6:00 pm.  Items on display have been donated to support individual students.  The price you pay for the item will go toward the support of that student.  This helps defray the costs of future mission trips, including one we're planning to Honduras.  The auction will be available throughout the evening.

Dinner begins around 6:15 pm.  After dinner we will divide into groups led by our family pastors.  You will visit the old gym and hear from Pastor Trevor.  In the HS and Mid-Hi rooms you will hear from Pastors Greg & Joshua.  Dessert will be served upon your return.

Pastor Dave and I will bring the evening to a close by 8:00 pm.  Please come and join us.  Our future effectiveness as a church depends heavily on making full use of the facility God has given us.  Many of you have given sacrificially and, for that, I'm so grateful.  We need everyone - all of us with no exceptions - to get on board.  Our goal is to get this project finished!  We believe May 13 will move us much closer to that goal.

VIDEO BAPTISM TESTIMONIES

WOW!  What a great day - what great stories we enjoyed this past Sunday.  Thanks to Nicole Hill, Bill Mays, and Yvonne Petty for their willingness to lead the charge into a new format for baptisms.  The feedback was immediate and positive.  Thanks, again, to Pastor Trevor for all he did to make this possible.

Baptism for Bill was a poignant moment.  In an email sent on 4/25 to Pastor Dave he wrote, "Pastor Dave, my mother, Thelma, went home to our Lord today @ 11am.  I rejoice in the knowledge that she is now with Him, that she knows I am saved and now know the promise of our Lord and His Kingdom.  She also knew that I would be baptized this coming Sunday."

Baptism is the privilege of every believer.  More than that, it's a command from Jesus to everyone who believes in Him.  We want to hear your story.  We need to hear how God moved in your life.  There is nothing more encouraging to the community of faith than to hear how people’s lives are being impacted by God's Spirit.  Changed lives change lives!

Call the church office to begin the process.  You'll be contacted by staff and briefed on what to do.  Our hope is to share these stories, and celebrate someone's baptism at least once a month.  The videos will always be shared in both services.  The baptism, itself, will take place during whichever worship service the person normally attends.

SECURITY ISSUES AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Over the past two weeks we've had personal items stolen from the coatrack near the choir room.  Please remember, our worship services and classes are open to the public.  These racks are subject to theft.  Our advice is to keep your personal belongings with you at all times.

That's it for now!  I hope the balance of this week finds you encouraged, each day, by the presence of our Lord.

Blessings... Pastor Jerry