Christ Communicator

On the way to a very enjoyable time of sledding this morning with two families in our church, I got a phone call from a gentlemen who was extremely stressed. He’s a member of a little church in Liberty, Missouri, and his church is currently without a pastor. He told me that they had called every single person on their list, and no one could come and preach for them, so he was wondering if I could come out tomorrow morning and fill in.  Since our church meets on Sundays at 4:30 pm (our actual “service” goes from 5 to about 7, followed by the Lord’s Supper and then a meal together), I am usually free to fill in at churches on Sunday mornings if called upon.  I must say, it is quite humbling for somebody to tell you, essentially, “We’ve called everybody, and you are our last call.  What do you say?  We tried to get somebody else, but you’ll do if you’re available!”  God is good to humble me like that, and so was Patty when, instead of nursing my wounded ego, she just laughed at what happened!  Anyhow, pray for me as I will be preaching at this church tomorrow morning at about 10:45 central time.

On our church’s website (www.christfellowshipkc.org), we have a section for articles and poetry by Christ Fellowship’s members. Recently, Stacie Woodward wrote an excellent little article titled “The Greatest Race.” It has some great truth to take with you into the new year. Here it is: http://www.christfellowshipkc.org/we_member_article_view.asp?article_id=14. By the way, Stacie is married to Luke, and they have two boys–Isaac and Caleb.  They are part of our home congregation, and we really, really love them! 

http://www.ccwonline.org/powerpoint/eaglet.pdf

My kids would listen to this story (and look at the pictures!) nearly every day, I think.

Have you ever wondered how the entire Bible fits together? CCW’s site has a great little ministry tool (written by Buz McNutt) that can be used with people of all ages in order to learn the Bible’s “story.” It’s called “A Pictorial Survey of the Bible,” and it can be downloaded various ways at the following: http://www.ccwonline.org/survey.html.  Learn it as a family, learn it in your Sunday School class, or just learn it personally.

The following is not a plan for reading the Bible in a year, but a way to keep track of what you have read in your Bible: http://www.bulletininserts.org/txtfiles/biblere.pdf. You might like this approach to Bible reading in 2008.

If you prefer a reading plan that gets you through the Bible in a year, I recommend Don Carson’s two volume devotionals titled For the Love of God (based on the M’Cheyne Bible Reading Schedule). You can start receiving these daily (I’d recommend you start getting them now, and start with the plan January 1) by going to the following site – http://freegroups.net/groups/christwaymedia/ - and then clicking the e-mail address to the right of where it says “Join” (a bit confusing, so let me know if you have any problems). If you are going to purchase the volumes, start with volume 1 for 2008, and then volume 2 for 2009. I am not typically a fan of devotionals, but these are excellent because Carson does a tremendous job of teaching the storyline of Scripture. Here’s where you can purchase the actual books: http://www.wtsbooks.com/

Here’s a bulletin insert I wrote for December: http://www.bulletininserts.org/txtfiles/ocome.pdf.  I would also encourage you to read Daryl Wingerd’s titled “A Tale of two Cindys”: http://www.bulletininserts.org/txtfiles/2cindys.pdf.

On Friday evening, I had the privilege of preaching at a youth retreat for Cornerstone Baptist Church in Lawson, Missouri. I sensed the Lord at work Friday night, and I hope that encourages you as much as your prayers encourage me.