Now that our stomachs (and waistlines) have settled from the Holidays, it’s time to dig out of the snow and ice and dig into some new spiritual growth.  That’s what these next few months of winter are all about.  While plants and bears are hibernating and resting this winter, we have a chance to turn these sometimes dreary winter months into significant growth in our experience with Jesus. 

Salvation is certainly a free gift of God.  But growth in Jesus always comes at a price. Sometimes God brings us trials we have no control over…and we choose to either grow or shrink spiritually through those trials.  But often God waits to see how much we hunger for growth before he grants us the renewal our souls constantly need. 

That’s why I would like to invite EVERYONE to take just one more step to pursue growth this winter.  Here are three growth opportunities I’d love to see us all pray about and then choose to respond to at least one of them. 

1. Adult Ed Groups on Sunday Morning: Since most of us have already reserved Sunday mornings for worshiping of our Lord and God, why not take full advantage of the morning and extend it by 60 or 75 minutes?  We’ll have 2 groups that will meet at 2 different hours.  Here’s the skinny on them:

• This week, January 7^th, we’ll be launching the NEW 10:30-11:45 a.m. class entitled “The Person and Work of Christ.” Our esteemed John Moody will be tackling questions like…
  • How can Jesus be both fully God and fully human at the same time?
  • Why was it necessary for Jesus to become human?
  • What did Jesus achieve by dying on the cross?
  • Does it really matter whether Jesus was physically raised from the dead? Why?
  • What is the Gospel?  How is the Gospel “the power of God unto salvation”?
  • How can a sinful person be forgiven and put into a right relationship with God?

So come to the 1^st hour worship at 9:00 a.m. and hang around for some great fellowship and theological fun in the basement game room. 

• Next week, January 14^th, we’ll be launching the 2^nd NEW group from 9:00-10:00 a.m. Entitled “Spiritual Practices that Work,” this class will be taught by four esteemed guys from four different generations (you guess the generations):  Andrew Repsold, Jarrod Carter, Don Moore and P.J. (that would be me).  Together we will cover some twenty different spiritual disciplines, any one of which could revolutionize your life with Jesus.  From fellowship to fasting, silence to serving, we will not only learn what the Bible says about each practice but join centuries of God’s people who have found spiritual disciplines THE most powerful and consistent way to connect with God.  That will take place in the downstairs youth room at 9:00 a.m. starting next Sunday. 

2. Wednesday YFC Meal Teams: starting this month, we would like to show our downtown kids what real love looks like.  Food is one great way to do that with teens!  So, we’re going to put together four teams of about 5-6 people each who will take just one Wednesday a month to prepare and serve a meal to the 30-40 YFC kids who come to the major mid-week Wednesday night outreach.  I can’t think of an easier way to love on kids, live like Jesus and watch what God is doing in our downtown. 

If this sounds like something you, your spouse, a friend at college or a co-worker at work would like to do together, just email me at and let me know which Wednesday a month works best for you.  We’ll connect you up with the team for that afternoon (3:00 or 4:00-5:00 p.m. approximately) and let you have the fun of serving youth, some of whom may be your neighbors, work associates and care givers (depending on how old you are) in coming years. 

3. Residential Building Community Teams: If you’ve been around the last few weeks, you’ve heard about the amazing doors that are opening to us as a church in the adjacent residential buildings downtown.  Building “gate-keepers”/managers have been coming to us to ask us to begin Bible & Community Groups in their buildings.  Seriously, “the harvest is plentiful.”  But unfortunately, “the workers are few,” just as Jesus said (Mt. 9:37, 38; Lk. 10:2).  So we are definitely praying for more workers in this “field” and believing that this is one growth opportunity God wants some of you to jump at.  We’ll provide all the training and coaching so no need to worry that you’re being thrown in the deep end of the pool. But it might be the deep end of God’s blessings.  Again, contact me or Pastor Bob at or if you are interested or have questions. 

Looking to grow…even in winter,

Pastor John