"We will not be excluders" .....

This week in the service we heard from 3 amazing people. Mandy Climer, Emily Watson, and Ryan Haack, each giving us opportunities to love and care for people. Mandy filled us in on her great recent trip to Haiti.....and can I just say that the photos of those amazing kids made ME personally want to hop a flight there tonight. Although the shot of the goat's insides were a little much for me...Anyway, wanna go and get to know those kids? Mandy has a lot of different things planned for them, so talk to her. Emily let us know that right on our own block, Mifflin Street, we can make a difference. She is really pumped to be helping out our own community JUST by loving the people around us and praying for them. And we can be a part of that.

And then Ryan's sermon from Eph. 2:11-22 was really insightful and interesting, as well as challenging. We learned about the actual "wall of hostility" keeping the Gentiles away from the Jews, and how Jesus came to literally and figuratively destroy that wall. And the challenge we face is to love others and be inclusive as Jesus wants us to.

Or at least....that was my impression. What was yours? Please feel free to let us know what you got out of yesterday's service. Maybe one of the songs really blessed you. Maybe even the communion just blew your mind yesterday. We want to know that. Share with us....

He is Risen - He is risen, indeed!!

This past week, our church celebrated the special day on which the tomb was empty and Jesus was ALIVE! It was such a nice morning with breakfast and fellowship, cute kids jumping around for Jesus, songs of worship, and a sermon that reminded us that we are NEW CREATIONS in Christ Jesus. If you weren't there, we'll hopefully be getting the sermon up soon enough. But if you WERE there, were you touched? Did something special strike you?

We want to know what this risen Lord means to you. Feel free to share your relationship with Him....with us. :)

Men and Women of God

What does it mean to be a follower of Christ?

It means, to follow in the footsteps of Christ, not to go our own way. - Omar
It means, to be a Christian every day of the week, not just on Sundays. - Marc
It means, to live radically different than those who don't follow Christ. - Carolyn/Andrew
It means, to be in challenging situations to guage how closely we are following Christ. - Diego

The Cost of Following Jesus - Luke 9:57-62

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good bye to my family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Every single day we make decisions about whether we're going to follow Jesus or not. Usually those decisions aren't big.