Closing thoughts about Sunday (October 4, 2009)

1. Today's message was so important and central to what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Too many Christians are casually following Jesus when He calls us to be devoted followers.
2. Being a disciple requires that we count the cost and acknowledge that we cannot succeed in following Him without His divine enablement.
3. We began preparing our hearts for this year's Missions celebration, which begins this Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. It ought to be a "Great Adventure" as we consider what God is doing around the world.
   
4. Nothing is closer to the heart of God than reaching people with the Gospel (locally and internationally), which is a truth we are trying to instill in the lives of all God's people.
5. We have a large number of our people that are fighting illness and our prayers are with them for a quick recovery.
6. We missed from services today 30 of our senior adults who were traveling home from a New England trip, but I know their hearts were with us. You were missed.
   
7. Our local outreach to the Pumpkin Festival was a huge success with more than 4000 bottles of water given away, along with 2000 balloons and Gospel literature. Thank you to all that worked the booth for three hour segments over the four day event. One couple came to church this morning because of the outreach effort. Maybe only Heaven will reveal the positive impact we made this weekend for eternity.
   
8. We need to continue praying for those who were affected by the natural disasters in Indonesia, Samoa, and American Samoa. What we started in the services this morning should go on privately in our homes.
9. Our deepest sympathies are extended to the family of the 14 year old that died from swine flu. Such a tragic outcome and one that should make us all more cautions about this dangerous illness.
10. Now to begin the final preparations for our Missions Celebration. This week should be one that we will long remember. See you there Wednesday through Friday at 6:30 p.m. each evening and on Sunday for our three worship services.