Overwhelmed and Thankful

 

Overwhelmed & Thankful

Overwhelmed is not a word I use lightly or very often, but that is exactly how I feel. This past month you as a church have gone above and beyond to express your appreciation to my family and me. We have been blown away by your expressions of kindness shown to us in a variety of ways through greeting cards, gifts, tasty desserts and homemade meals. Michi and I feel treasured by you and we consider it a true privilege to serve the congregation of Full Devotion–FBC. Please allow my family and I do express our deepest gratitude for your thoughtfulness.

In this month of November, I think about what it means for us to approach life with a spirit of thanksgiving. I recognize that even during this challenging year of 2020 we can still be thankful. All of our lives have been upended by Covid-19 in some shape or form and we have had to make the necessary adjustments. Still all of us, if we pause to take inventory, can find room to be thankful.

Thanksgiving is a combination of two words, thanks and giving. Would you please join me in person or online for our November sermon series as we address how we can develop a heart of gratitude to God, which in turn leads to generous giving. Thankfulness is not an occasional act limited to a particular month or holiday. Thankfulness is a lifestyle of intentional and spontaneous appreciation that leads us into the presence of God, empowers us to be grateful in all circumstances, and generates an overflow of generosity. I truly believe this perspective will help us have a better understanding of what it means to live with an attitude of thanksgiving.

During the final months of the year, we have some necessary business to complete. I want to stress how thankful I am that you have continued to support the church with your tithes and offerings. We have been able to maintain our commitments to staff, organizations, missionaries and as well keep up with the needs of our own church facility. I ask that you please continue to support the church as we close out the year of 2020. As is required in November of each year, we must hold a congregational meeting to approve the church budget for 2021. Typically this is held on a Wednesday evening following a meal. With no Wednesday meetings being held because of Covid-19, we will hold this business meeting on Sunday, November 15 at 12:15 following the morning worship service. I ask that if all possible, you make it a priority to attend and let your vote be counted.

 

As we enter the Holiday season we have made plans to host two Christmas Eve Candlelight services.  This will enable us to bring more people in the building to experience one of our beloved holiday traditions while still following guidelines that have been established for us to operate safely. At 5:00 we will have a very “Traditional” Christmas service with pre-service music beginning at 4:30. The traditional service will conclude by 5:45 in order for the building to be cleared and sanitization to occur. At 6:45 doors will open again for a more “Contemporary” Christmas service that will end by 8:00. We ask that you help us with keeping attendance numbers appropriate for each service by reserving your spot at the church website. Fill out the form and we will hold your spot. Please get your reservations in early as once the spots have filled up for a particular service we will close the online registration. If you do not have internet access, please call the church office to make a reservation.

 

I also want to thank our church leadership for their insight and guidance during this year. Together, we have made some difficult and necessary decisions. I want to announce that as 2021 begins our Vision Board has unanimously supported a change in our Sunday morning schedule. In conjunction with our vision to “See People Growing in Full Devotion,” we absolutely believe God is leading us to improve our discipleship and education ministry. Beginning on January 3rd, we invite you to join us for classes beginning at 9:30am and ending at 10:15. As time draws near we will be laying out our plans for children, youth and adult classes. As a result of this new time, our worship service time will move to 10:30am and this worship service will be for everyone. We hope as we get on the other side of Covid that we can come together as a church to worship our loving God. Our worship service will continue to be live streamed online. I will be available to answer any questions you might have regarding our new schedule. Please, just give me a call.

With sincere and deepest gratitude—Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Pastor Kevin