Community News – 11/20/2024
Community –
What a weekend! It was such a joy to gather together – to be encouraged, refreshed, and equipped to re-enter God’s work for us this week. We continued our study through James (God is sovereign, so stay humble, stay wise, and stay in the game!). Willie Nolte will bring James to a close for us this coming weekend. We also prayed over our short-term mission team headed to Kenya. We announced Doug Lee’s new role at Community (Pastor of Care Ministries). What a blessing his experience, wisdom, and heart will be to our church family. If you missed my short interview with Doug, you can catch it HERE.
After our Sunday service, we held a Town Hall meeting to hear some updates from our transitional leadership team, pastoral search team, and transitional pastor. If you missed the Town Hall, check it out HERE to keep in the loop.
I won’t recap the whole meeting here, but let me offer a few ways that you can continue to join the work through prayer:
- Pray for our Pastoral Search Team, our next lead pastor, and the process itself. No process is perfect, but there are several discerning bodies (search team, transitional team, and partners) who need to come to alignment. Pray that God would guide our discernment together! And remember, as the church seeks to discern, so will any lead pastor candidates. Pray for God’s Spirit to take the lead and provide clarity and energy for our next lead pastor. Try using Proverb 3:5-6 as a pray prompt as we discern God’s will together.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways submit him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5–6
- Pray over the spiritual health of Community. May God increase our passion, our hunger, and our obedience to Him. Pray that we would engage in worship, discipleship, and mission in extraordinary ways (taking one step of engagement beyond our “ordinary”). Pray for Pastor Doug as he builds up a Care Team. May we learn to love one another well. Use Romans 12:11-13 as a prayer prompt as we pray for the spiritual vitality of our church.
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.
Practice hospitality.
Romans 12:9-13
- God is on a mission to redeem people from all nations, so they may enjoy and exalt Him forever. Pray for our church as we join in this mission right here in our valley. May we share God’s heart of compassion and love for those who are far from Him. Would God give us the boldness to pursue “lost sheep” (a la Luke 15), even at great cost and sacrifice. May God allow us to saturate this valley with Good News! Pray 2 Corinthians 5:19-21 over one another.
And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors;
God is making his appeal through us.
We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin,
so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:19-21
With Joy –
Pastor Brett
P.S. With the holidays in full swing starting next week, we all need a place to process loss and loneliness. Janet Logan is facilitating “Grief at Holiday Time,” a process group designed to provide space to process in a supportive, Christ-centered environment. The group meets every Wednesday between now and Dec 18. Join the Zoom group for any or all of the meet-ups: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86804183358?pwd=9iYywbabfvmWDcPGCN3De3l8uC92rL.1
