Catch-Up!
The snow came and it was beautiful. My question is: Why can it not snow on Tuesday? I am a pastor. Snow on weekends messes with my mind. I love Sundays. I love going to church. I love seeing people in Bible study and worship.
No, it is not a pastor thing. I have not always been a pastor. My commitment to being in church on Sundays was instilled by parents who feared God and served Him with total devotion. Dad had a ’51 Plymouth Coupe 2-door. Don’t ask me how, but he and Mom and 7 children would pile into that car (didn’t have safety belts) and go to church.
Can’t remember ever missing a Sunday, and we lived in the mountains of North Carolina. Such commitment printed my DNA with respect for Sundays. When Laila and I were both full-time doctoral students we went to church every Sunday. When we added to the complexity of our schedules by adopting a child, we went to church every Sunday. Many Sundays we drove hundreds of miles for me to be a guest minister.
In twenty-eight years the doors of Covenant have not failed to be open. While we cannot see the future, we have a principle of having the doors open. Yesterday, we had several guests. Total attendance was 172, while most churches in our city were closed.
Children were supposed to be part of our morning service. They have been re-scheduled on February 21.
To those who could not make it (some roads were impassable), we prayed for you. We look forward to next Sunday as a celebration.
Good News for Youth: We have 24 persons going to Winterfest this weekend. We struggled. But we got it together!
And youth met after Second Service Sunday and toured the new area being finished for youth ministry. This week will hopefully bring tremendous progress. Doors hung, mud finished, painting, and further work on HVAC. The area should be usable by end of February.
In addition, we are talking with Zenas and Lisa Choi. Our discussions are hopeful about their leading our youth in discipleship ministry.
Laila and I met in Cleveland, TN with international students at the Pentecostal Theological School last week. They are excited about coming to be with us for our mission conference March 19-21.
Dr. Lovell Carey and Jennie, both age 81, have committed to be our keynote speakers. He is the former regional Superintendent of Haiti and former Director of Church of God World Missions.
The Careys were in Haiti when the earthquake happened. They were with Lloyd Frazier, a 20-year missionary to Haiti, and the Overseer of Haiti when the earthquake loosed a wall falling onto their vehicle. The overseer was killed instantly. Dr. Carey will share powerful stories of how God worked through the earthquake to show mercy and grace. He will relate personal stories of compassion, mercy and God’s provision. And the powerful prayer meetings that are now being conducted in Haiti!
You can offer your home to serve as a host for a missionary family. In addition, we will need table hosts. Our mission conferences are a two-way street. We hear from missionaries their stories, challenges, and burdens to open our hearts to generosity and prayer. We also refresh the missionaries, loving them, and developing partners that we can walk alongside in ministry.
Friday night, March 19, will be the banquet. We wear native dress characteristic of our culture or any culture we wish. We bring the food representing our culture.
VDOT: The road construction in front of Covenant will last another 18 months or so. Albemarle County pays for land taken for the road. We have not received payment. We do not know how much we will receive.
Whatever we receive we will have to negotiate with the bank that holds our mortgage.
Planning. Excellent minds are at work developing concepts of how our buildings can be joined together and made more people-friendly. We are hopeful to improve the North entrance, including a canopy.
We are hopeful to enlarge the lobby area and provide an elevator and canopy. A congregational meeting will be planned in the next few weeks as concepts are completed and cost estimates are projected.
God is calling us to the future! Until He comes! I am asking you to season your heart with prayer and thanksgiving. Defeat the devil with songs of prayer and unity of spirit. We are called to build the walls of victory in our day (read the Book of Nehemiah).
I so look forward to seeing you Sunday.
Much love,
Pastor Bare
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.