"JOIN THE JOURNEY"

As most of you know, Pastor Brian and his family will be moving at the end of July to Pastor the Church of God of Prophecy in Sheffield, AL. It saddens me greatly that he and Sister Renee, Tayler & Will will be leaving us. However, do not be discouraged by this change. We must look at this with hope of God-filled new beginnings for the Suttons, the Sheffield church and for our church. Lisa Stults' vision of "Join the Journey" has been brought back to remembrance to many of our spirit-filled ladies. That is what we are on, a journey. God is leading the way and we must follow Him.

Yes, it is sad to lose our pastoral family whom we love so very much. But, we must remember who we are to follow. We must remember to follow God through our Lord Jesus Christ and with the help of the Holy Spirit. We must follow God, not our Pastor, not our Sunday School Teachers, not our various ministry leaders. We must remember that our God, who loves us more than we can comprehend, is in control. We must lay down our will and allow God's will to be done. We must have faith and be hopeful. We must stick together during this trial to come out on the other side stronger and more full of faith.

One of our ladies told me that she felt God was saying to her that we must keep our eyes on Christ. Then, I heard a message on television this week that really brought that thought home. We hear great, uplifting and thought-provoking messages each time we attend our weekly services. We have wonderful fellowship during our small group meetings, our monthly women's and men's ministry meetings, and monthly snack times and dinners. Our congregation is growing. But, are we really getting it? Where is our focus? The message I heard challenged viewers (challenged me) to set our eyes on Jesus. God is the Almighty, the Great I Am. He more than deserves our worship and praise. God is to be first in every part of our lives. But, in John 14:6, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. We must make sure that Jesus is in every service, in every time of worship, in every time of fellowship, in every message, in every business meeting, in everything thing we do. We must remember that WE are the church and JESUS is our shepherd.

I'm not usually the person to do what I'm about to do, but this is not coming from me. God is leading me in this writing and in the challenge in the next few sentences. For over a year now, many of us chose to fast and pray for our church on Tuesday each week. I don't know how many of you are still doing this, but I challenge all of you who are to continue and those who aren't to start. Remember to pray for the Suttons and the Sheffield church as well. We're all on the same team and our goal is to live an abundant life through Christ on our journey to heaven, and our commission is to take as many souls with us as we possibly can.

Let us all set our eyes on God and "Join the Journey".

Love and prayers,

Tina Stults