Merry Christmas

Luke 2:1-7

The Birth of Jesus
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register.
4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Epic

Louis and Jacob making cookies.

Jacob, Erica, Louis, and Billy with their cookies.

Robbie singing American Idol.

Robbie and Matt singing Y.M.C.A.

Last night Leslie and I hosted our youth for the Dinners 4 Two. We are pairing up some of our youth with different couples in the church to allow the different generations to connect. The first pictures are from the Barretts with the youth that they had over. Stephanie and Mike had them make cookies and then they had tacos for dinner.

Leslie and I had Matt and Robbie come over. We had a great time with them....or as Matt put it when I dropped him off, "that was epic." Leslie and I realized that we need to start saving now on groceries for when Zach gets older. I made 10 cheeseburgers and there wasn't a single one left. :) Afterwards we got the mics out and played American Idol. And rumor has it, that there is video of Leslie and Matt trying to sing Sweet Home Alabama.

For those of you who haven't hosted your youth yet, make sure to take pictures and get those to me, and if you already have and took pictures let me know.

Also, if you would still like to have some youth over for dinner just let me or Dan know, and we will hook you up.

Favor

Earlier this month, our men's group started the book of Acts.

As we looked at the formation of the first church, we noticed something. It starts with the disciples receiving a command from Jesus to go out into all the world and make disciples. They received that command as Jesus ascended into Heaven and were left staring into space. I am guessing there minds were racing much like ours probably would be with thoughts like, "where do we even start?" They were told to wait for the Holy Spirit, and when the Holy Spirit came then they went out and preached. They started with those in the closest proximity to them. Those within their city.

And then we see all the new believers loving each other. We see them sharing their possessions so no one was in need. We see them praying together. We see them worshiping together. We see them devoting themselves to the apostles teachings. (they kept learning). And they enjoyed the favor of all the people. (Acts 2:47).

For me, it was that last line "they enjoyed the favor of all the people" that tied this all together. It wasn't just these new Christians getting together, having a good time, and feeling good about how close they were. It was all the people, even the Jews who didn't believe that saw them living out Christ's to command to love God and love one another who showed favor to them. And I believe it was because they earned the favor of all the people that we get the next part of the verse: "And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved." (Acts 2:27)

While it is God who always draws people to Himself, He uses us as His tools to accomplish that act. And that is why as a church we will provide more opportunities to go public. More opportunities to love God and love each other. More opportunties to pursue holiness, be generous, honor one another, and shine! That Sunday mornings be a time when you come and get refreshed and rejuvinated for what God is doing in your life. That small groups become a ministry where we can actively show love to one another and express God's love to others in practical and tangible needs. That we become a church where your gifts and talents are used not just on Sunday mornings, but through each person or situation you encounter during the week.

And that we become so unified that one person's testimony becomes the testimony of everyone else. That every person who questions God would see us and have to at least come try out this "God-thing" because they have never experienced anything like it. I think that would be favor. Stay tuned for more!

The Snake Video

Here is our snake video we showed yesterday to introduce our new series on Philippians 4:8. This video is based on true events that happened in our house. Only the size of the snake was changed to add dramatic effect. :)

Sunday Recap

We wrapped up our Elijah series yesterday. I thought it was a nice change of pace to do a series on the life of one man. Josh Ritter preached yesterday for me and did a great job wrapping up the series.

He definitely didn't let me down with his use of big words! :) He did a great job breaking each one down so everyone could understand.

Also, a big thanks to Ken for stepping in and leading worship for us yesterday.

Green Bay won 31-3! Now onto the real matchup. Brett's return to Lambeau next Sunday!

The heater war has been easy so far this year. But just like every year, we hit the last week of October and the true test begins.

We begin our new series "Think on it" this week. We will spend four weeks breaking down Philippians 4:8 and how God's peace is available and possible for everyone to experience.

The creative arts team came up with some great ideas, and you won't want to miss the snake video this Sunday!

Leslie and I have our Hulu system figured out so we are keeping up on all of our shows.

We are still looking for microwaves to collect for the Lorenz Hotel. They specialize in housing for low income seniors. None of the rooms have kitchens so they all have to cook in microwaves. They need 10 microwaves to replace the ones that are broken and asked if we could help. Right now we are currently looking for five more.

Love Dares

Leslie and I started reading the book Love Dares earlier this week. It is from the movie Fireproof. We have tried to do couples devotion books before and I have hated everyone of them. We have tried at least 8 or 9 different ones and I always gave up after the first week. Mostly because I couldn't take the discussion questions seriously at the end of each chapter. They drove me nuts.

But this book has me excited to read with Leslie. Each chapter is 2 pages. And at the end, instead of discussion questions, you get a dare to do that day to express your love. It has been a great way to end our day reading a chapter and going to bed planning on how we will accomplish the next days dare. I would encourage any couple to pick up a copy and give it a shot.

The Conference

Dan and I went to the First Steps Conference down in San Jose earlier this week. It was awesome! It was one of those conferences I wish we would have gone to right before we started the church, but we came back with a very clear vision of things we need to be doing and some new ideas.

It was the most refreshing conference I have been too, as it dealt with exactly where we are as a church and what it will take to reach the next step.

We met one church planter who is going to plant in the San Jose area because he was kicked out and banned from Nepal for planting too many churches there.

The speaker Mark Albrecht, is a planter from Antioch, Illinois which is where I grew up. As we talked, I found out that he did the wedding for my old babysitter a few months ago.

He shared about his church and how they did a building campaign last year. They had met in a school gym for 7 years. They raised the money for their building, and had 22 acres of land. They began talking to the city leaders about what needs the city had. The leaders told them that there was no place for kids to go. So the church decided to put their building on hold and build a rec center on their land for kids and continue meeting in the school!

I heard Bill did a great job preaching Sunday! I had no doubt about that.

Dan and I got to go to Dave and Busters while we were there. I had never heard of that place, but it was the coolest resteraunt. It doesn't get better than food, tv's with football games on, and video games.

I can't wait to see you all Sunday!