It has been a couple of weeks since I have updated this part of our site. I hope that you find yourself living for the Lord as we have been called to do. I want to encourage you to get involved in the two upcoming outreaches that are a part of our church family’s ministry to our community. We are going to have D-Now coming up March 16-18. God is going to bless with a great week. Matt is doing a great job of planning and putting together a team to pull off a challenging weekend for our youth and to encourage them to become second. Easter Sunday, we are going to have the “Thorn” presentation at the Majestic. I am excited about the opportunity to reach out to our community and involve some who might not come to our church building but would come to the theater to hear about Jesus Christ and what Easter is all about. Find a way to get involved and help us reach our community. Pray for our youth. I am glad to be serving here with you. Bro. Shawn

I have had trouble all day getting into this account to enter a new article. I have tried the old ways, the new ways and just about any way that I could think of or figure out to access this account and then, one more try and all of a sudden, I am in. It doesn’t make any sense. One thing I am thankful for is that when I come and talk to my Heavenly Father, I don’t have to worry about my access. The word of God tells us that we are able to enter the presence of God, behind the veil so to speak, by the shed blood of Jesus Christ. God’s word tells us that our prayers are so important to God that they are kept as bowls of incense in heaven. Wow! God wants to hear from me and I can get in. Allow that truth stated by your Father in Heaven to wash over you as you live your life of faith this week. I want to tell you about “The Thorn” Easter experience that is coming up on Easter Sunday. We are going to be reaching out to our community to involve as many as we can in hearing the message about Christ. There is a part you can play. You can invite someone. You can be in the drama. You can help with set up. You can help serving breakfast for whoever might come. The point is, God wants to use us to reach our community for Christ. Pray about how you can take part and help us reach out with the message of Easter. I am glad I am your pastor.

We are closing in on our super bowl celebration this coming Sunday. We are going to have a wonderful time of fellowship and worship. I want to encourage each and every member of our body to come share in a great time together, meeting and getting to know each other a little better. Your time will be well spent as we fellowship over a great meal together. Sunday we are going to continue looking at Matthew’s Gospel. God has so much for us and I am looking forward to sharing with you. If you haven’t reserved a spot for the Colossians 2:7 study you still have a little time. We will begin on Sunday, February 12, with the Thursday night group getting started on February 10th. God wants us to go deeper with Him in our daily walk. Grab that vision and let’s go together. I am glad to be serving here with you.

As I write this, I am praying that the weather forecasters know what they are talking about and that we will receive some blessings of rain from God. But even as I write that, I know that the blessings of God are always on time and that we often miss them because we are looking in other places and miss what God is doing. One of the things that God is doing is working in the area of our youth. Matt is doing a great job of leading and helping us in this area. Pray for him and for what God will do through his ministry in the church and at the camp. Another area of our youth is the World Changers project coming this Summer. We are already at 200 kids who will be here to help us minister to our community and work on homes. It will be our opportunity to step up and join with our God in making a difference. Find a way to help and get involved. Finally, DNow is coming. We are going to be blessed with Ray McElroy, former NFL defensive back and current chaplain for the Chicago Bears. God is going to use this time as an opportunity to reach our kids, if we will do our part in getting them here. The theme this year is I am Second. Pray now for what God will do as we partner with Him to reach teenagers for Christ. I am glad I am your pastor.

It has been a great week here at the church. Matt has stepped in and is doing a great job with the youth. Keep praying for how God wants to answer the need we have for a full time staff member. Sunday, we will continue in the book of Matthew and look at three approaches to Christ. Hopefully we can see in our own lives how important it is to know where we stand in our relationship to Christ. I am looking forward to sharing with you. Pray for DNow. We are scheduling it for the last weekend of Spring Break. With so much else going on, this seems like one of the best times to try and involve the youth. Pray for the mission trip going to Peru the first part of March. God is blessing in Santa Rosa. Finally, I want to encourage you to enlist in 2:7. You will grow in your faith walk and will be challenged to step up your opportunity for service for our Lord. It is going to be great. Keep moving forward in your faith. I am glad to be serving here with you.

I am so looking forward to this coming Sunday as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper together in our morning services. I have been leading the Lord’ Supper in this manner on one of the first Sunday’s of each New Year for about 20 years now and each year becomes more special. God has used His word this week to speak to my heart about what we are going to bring before Him in 2012. I am looking forward to sharing with you and challenging you. Last year, I shared with you my heart about where I believe God would have us head in the next several years as we deepen our discipleship. The goal is to have at least 25-30 home bible study groups ministering to families of all shapes and sizes throughout Eastland and Eastland county. Well, phase one of the training is done. We have five couples who have gone through the three book series surrounding Colossians 2:7 “having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” has been completed. We are getting ready to begin now five or six new home study groups and hopefully will eventually reach the goal of having 200 people go through this organized, self-paced, discipleship endeavor. Pray about how you can be involved in 2012 as we move forward together. In the coming week, Lauri and I will celebrate 24 years of marriage. We have been married now for half of our lives and half of our married life has been spent in ministry right here with you. What a blessing. May God continue to guide us together. I am glad to be serving here with you.

We have arrived at the final Sunday of the year of 2011. I am looking forward to sharing with you from Luke’s gospel this coming Sunday as we close out the year. God has blessed in 2011. We have gone through some challenging times as a church but God is still leading and directing our steps each and every way. As I looked through the last church directory that we did back in the fall of 2007, it amazes me how many people we have had move off or some have received their eternal reward. Over the last four years, we have had 113 people move away or pass away. That 113 doesn’t count college kids who grew up in our church and are away at college and it doesn’t include those who have simply dropped out of church attendance and aren’t going anywhere. When I see that number, I realize even more how God has blessed with new families and with new faces each and every week. Not many churches in rural Texas could lose 25% of their membership in four years and yet stay the same as God just keeps bring in new people to replace those who move away because of their jobs. Now we just need to reclaim those who are struggling to get back into the habit of coming to church. After the New Year, we will begin to work on reaching those in our fellowship and reconciling them as God leads. I am looking forward to Christmas Eve and Christmas with you. May God bless this season in your home. I am glad I am your pastor.

What a great week we are looking forward to as we move toward Christmas. Wednesday evening we are going to celebrate with our kids in TEAM KID and their families and enjoy their leading us in the Christmas program. Sunday, we will take a brief look at God’s promise in Isaiah 7 and what it means for us to have a sign for today and to be able to give others hope for their lives. Sunday evening, we are going to take some time to go and carol at the homes of our shut-ins and nursing homes. Ministering in this way is always such a blessing. I want to ask you to come and be a part of the evening. Don’t forget to pray about and pray for our missionaries. During the Christmas Season, we are receiving the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Our church goal is $22,000.00. As you give, know that your money goes to help Southern Baptist Missionaries around the world. Christmas eve is going to be a great time of worship. Invite a friend to come and share with you the beginning of the Christmas season and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. And then on Christmas day, we are going to have our 11:00 worship service. What a great way to cap off a great Christmas day. I am looking forward to sharing this season with you. Hope to see you through the next few Sundays as we celebrate Christ’s birth. Bro. Shawn

It has probably never happened in history that a county our size has had two teams, separated by ten miles and just a few students be able to both make it this far in the playoffs. It is a testimony to the quality of young people who are in the wings waiting for their turn at running this world. Because they are in the wings, it is important for you and I to be living as the best possible examples in our faith in Jesus Christ. Each and every week, we do our best as a staff to offer the most opportunities for you to be encouraged and challenged to grow in your faith and life with Christ. Through worship, bible study, and discipleship classes, God’s word is taught and held up as the model for our lives. Seek each week to take full advantage of each and every opportunity. When you only participate in one part, you miss out on being a well rounded believer. I look forward to seeing you this coming Lord’s Day in both Sunday School and worship.