E-Note From Pastor Andy 1-9-15

January 9, 2014

Dear Eastridge Family,

This has been another busy week for me and I know it has been for several others as well.  Pastor Josh and Jill have tried flying out for a honeymoon but the weather and flight delays/cancellations have been a challenge.  Blanca gave birth to a daughter Diana this week.  Keven had another lung surgery this week.  Ben and Elaine bought a new house and have been trying to move in with the cold weather.  Several have been dealing with the flu and other sicknesses.

Every year as pastor I like prayerfully consider the spiritual condition of the church and what areas we might need to make changes or improvements.  When I call myself a pastor, I recognize it is not my church but God’s church and Jesus’ Bride and I am the under-Shepherd as Peter says.  This certainly takes some pressure off of me but I still carry a large amount of responsibility.  I want to lead the church in a way that honors God.  I want to faithfully represent Jesus here to you all at Eastridge. 

This Sunday I plan to share a message entitled “What This Church Needs Is…”  I want to encourage you to make every effort to be here for worship on Sunday.  On Sunday evening I will give you all some opportunities to give me any feedback you may have from the morning message.

Let me close my thoughts with this account from a German Christian who lived in Germany during WWII.

I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust.  I consider myself a Christian.  We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because what could anyone do to stop it?

A railroad track ran behind our small church and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks.  We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by.  We realize that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars!

Week after week the whistle would blow.  We dreaded to hear the sound of  those wheels because we knew that we could hear the cries of the Jews in route to death camp.  Their screams tormented us.

     

We knew the time the train was coming and when we heard the whistle blow we     began singing hymns.  By the time to train came past our church we were singing at the top of our voices.  If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.

Years have passed and no one talks about it anymore.  But I still hear the train whistle in my sleep.  God forgive me; forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians it did nothing to intervene.

Can you hear the whistle blowing here in Wichita?  I can hear it and I don’t want to just sing louder.  I want to make a difference in the lives of those who are going off into eternity separated from God.  I want to proclaim and take the message of the Gospel to a world that desperately needs the good news.  Will you join me?

Board Meeting

Sunday afternoon we have our monthly church board meeting at 4:30 in the Fellowship Hall.

Snow Shoveling Volunteers Needed

If you would like to come out on a Sunday morning or Saturday to help shovel snow we have a sign-up list on the information table.  It seems to like to snow on Saturday evening quite often, but when it does we would like to have some volunteers help us shovel the walkways.

Furnace Update

We installed a new wall furnace in the church office at a cost of a little over $2000.  I know some of you have already given and plan to help us cover that expense.  We appreciate it very much.

Contribution statements for 2014

On Sunday we will distribute the contribution statements for 2014.  If you have any questions about your record of giving please contact Todd Hunter our church treasurer.

Favorite Quotes of the Week

“Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.” - Oswald Chambers

“You can preach beyond your character but never disciple beyond your character.” - Lance Ford

See you Sunday!

Pastor Andy