Merry Christmas from our family

She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”

I want to take this opportunity to wish you a very merry Christmas from our family. We are so very blessed. This Christmas we are celebrating with Julie’s family in Georgia and enjoying sweet family time. Further, we have chosen to take a little extra time to focus on the meaning and person of this holiday, that would be Jesus.

2015 is about to come to a close in a little more than 7 days. This year has brought challenges, laughter and heart ache from many different angles. Much of these times, even the difficult ones, I have been able to celebrate that God is alive and well, working and moving in us, around us and in those around us. That means that the coming year will bring even more challenges.

We are ready for them. Just over a week from now I will be asking people to join me and our church leaders in a push to make our church’s new campus a reality. Honestly I believe that the church is not about bricks or mortar, buildings and budgets, but the church is about the people. God died for and gives abundant life to people, not things.

Hearts should be bursting with passion to do what God calls to do, to love what God loves and to give and share what God has blessed us with. That is much more than money. In fact every area of our lives ought to breathe and breed generosity.

Psalm 112:4 NLT

Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous.

That verse and so many others we read at Christmas time tell us the character of our God and our Savior, the son of God. Generous. That describes our God. His grace flows generously. His love is given in generous portions. His people should be known for being generous.

Several times as of late I have been proud of my kids and family for their generosity, and that is something I pray for a lot. I pray that each of my family learn from what my heart cry is, to serve others and call out their great, God-given potential.

This will be my 22nd Christmas with Julie. Rebecca is 18 years old. Ruth is 17. Ryan is 12. We have 2 dogs, Bella and Brodie. We are blessed with incredible families, the Howells and the Harrisons, that live a long way from us. Our church family is the coolest, the greatest and often the sweetest. We have so many friends that are a blessing.

All of that to simply say, God is good all the time, and we turn that in to the glory from God praying that it becomes a spot light to shine on and point others to God. He is our reason. He is the only hope.

We want to wish you a very, merry Christmas, and let you know that we love each of you. Thank you for allowing us to be part of your life in person or online.

Have a blessed Jesus celebration this Christmas day…

Have you heard of EDITH BURNS?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas . She was the patient of a doctor by the name of Will Phillips. Dr. Phillips was a gentle doctor who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns. One morning he went to his office with a heavy heart and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into that waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her. Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved. Dr. Phillips walked into that office and there he saw the head nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure. Edith began by saying,"My name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?" Beverly said, "Why yes I do." Edith said, "Well, what do you

why is it Good Friday?

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Day 8 in Cuba

We have just come off and incredible weekend, and it is day 8 of the mission trip in Cuba. Thank you to all who have been praying for this trip, the mission team and the impact it will have on those we serve. Please don’t stop praying. Last week Alex and I served with a mission team in the mountains of southern Cuba. There were several challenges, but God gave us safety, provision and opportunity to serve some of the sweetest people I have ever met. No running water… sporadic electricity generated by a small, logo dammed up river, no transportation other than animals, limited food sources and more. These people love the Lord and sharing their faith with others. Over the weekend we made our way back to Havana. On Friday our vehicle broke down leaving us on the side of the road for several hours. We then boarded a bus and rode 14 hours. We arrived safely and even got some rest. Sunday was so, so good. We visited two partner churches. In the morning we were with one church that

Michael Harrison's e-devotion

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