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.

I hope that you are gearing up for what God wants to do in your life. Sunday we are going to look at the next part of Deuteronomy and see how God desires for us to take care of this earth that He has entrusted to our care. We bear a responsibility for one another and for the way that we encounter each other in our daily lives. I am looking forward to sharing with you Sunday. I also want to send out a congratulations to the young men and women in band. Go M(cubed) band! Show them who is boss at State. Also congrats to the EHS football team as they get ready for the area round of the playoffs. We have a great group of teenagers trying to live life right. Encourage them every chance that you get. I will see you Sunday, Lord willing, as we continue to lift up the Risen Christ.

We have had a great month and as we get ready to wind down the rest of 2011 there are several exciting things ahead for us. Sometime, hopefully before the end of this year, we will be bringing in the man that God has to join our staff and help us continue to improve the way that we reach teenage students at EMS and EHS. We are also going to continue our ministry in Peru with trips planned after the first of the year. We will be engaging in Operation Christmas Child again this year and reaching out to children we might never meet this side of Heaven. We are going to continue to pray that God continue the revival that He has begun in our midst and that the message of Christ will be presented in a way that touches the men and women and families that God has placed around us. Sunday, we are going to continue in Deuteronomy. God has a purpose for our homes and we are going to look at that biblical pattern. I am excited about sharing with you this coming Lord’s Day. Be in your place as we worship the Risen Christ.