Baby, It's Cold Outside

Okay, it's getting a little crazy these days. With the Christmas Season upon us and our Church launch scheduled for January 15th, there's little time for mundane activities like grocery shopping, laundry, showering or shaving. Strangely enough, I have prioritized these things and they get done or I would be a hungry, grubby, smelly bearded man trying to encourage people to come to my church. That wouldn't work well.

This week we had a double blast of winter weather. That's right boys and girls... SNOW! The first round hit overnight on Saturday opening the Lord's Day to a winter wonderland. Monday evening brought the second wave around 8:00. By Tuesday morning the scene outside of my apartment building resembled a Currier & Yves painting (with the exception of the busses, traffic lights and gypsy cabs). There's more snow in tonight's forecast helping me to readjust to living in New York after three years in Mississippi.

My readers in the Deep South deserve some kind of explanation here. Snow is frozen, crystallized water vapor that falls from the sky, dramatically (though temporarily) modifying an otherwise dull and lifeless winter landscape. There, now that's out of the way.

With that context established, I was called upon to preach again this past Sunday. Michael has a herniated disk and couldn't stand without tremendous pain. I had to step in.. it's my job.

Each of our Home Fellowship Groups is hosting a Christmas-themed activity to which they can invite their neighbors. We want to instill an inviting atmosphere amongst the people in the launch community for the sake of our efforts to share our faith with neighbors and the Forest Hills area in general. Once we broaden, these efforts will intentionally increase.

Prayer Concerns: Please pray for Michael and his back. This is a critical time in the life of our church plant and there is much for him to do (and only so much help I can provide). This is a major concern as we are on the verge of broadening (we are calling it "broadening" because we are opening our doors to individuals outside our launch community. Following this broadening, we will be seeking a more public launch nearer to Easter) our ministry on January 15 (ALERT! Last week I told you that we were doing this on December 18, but because Christmas and New Year's fall on Sunday, the school from whom we are renting space may not have any staff available to let us in the building. We can hardly welcome a broader representation of the community to our church and tell them that we'll meet again in three weeks. January 15 will not pose this problem). Pray for our Home Fellowship Groups and the other Christmas activities we have planned. As you might imagine, my dance card is quite full at this point as well. Pray that I will be disciplined and effective in the various responsibilities given to me. Until next week, may God continue to bless you all.