Great to be back

My family and I spent the last several days visiting relatives down in south Georgia. It was hot! One day it was 78 degrees. Usually I wouldn’t like it when it’s so hot at Christmas time but this year was different. November was so cold, I needed an opportunity to thaw out.

On Sunday morning, we went to my home church for worship. It was a good service. However, it made me miss being at Summit. Kevin Neufeld spoke in my absence and as usual he did a great job. It always seems like a Sunday off recharges my batteries. I can’t wait for this Sunday. I am going to challenge the church like I never have before. I have already challenged the staff. Get ready!

merry Christmas

It’s here! It is Christmas Day. Time to open presents, say “hey” to relatives and eat some good food. Stephanie’s mom is the best cook in the world. Marty Jr. is excited about lunch. He thinks about food a lot. It should be a great day. Merry Christmas!

family tradition

Every Christmas for the past nine years, our family has planned a trip to Logan’s Steak House. The first year we went, the kids were excited about throwing peanut hulls on the ground. Our son just started throwing peanuts and we had to make him stop. As the years have gone by, the kids still look forward to our annual trip to Logan’s. It’s just a good time of family togetherness. I asked this year if they wanted to go somewhere else and the overwhelming response was “NO!” They like the tradition.

Our oldest, Virginia, is a senior in high school. I know next year will be different. I don’t think that I have really thought everything through. It’s probably going to be a lot harder on me than I am anticipating. However, I know that when Christmas rolls around we’ll still go to Logan’s. It’s a family tradition and some traditions are just flat out good!

Great Day at Summit

I have to say that today was probably my favorite day ever at Summit. The Sunday before Christmas is always special, but today was extra special. The volunteers were all great! Phillip and the band did an outstanding job. I just flat out enjoyed being in worship today. My heart was stirred as I spoke about the birth of Jesus and what it means. Wow! Christmas is really an awesome time of year when you keep everything in the proper perspective.

I can’t help but think about the upcoming year and all that God is going to do through Summit Church. Many are talking about what a challenging year 2009 is going to be economically. I share the concern. However, God is bigger than any national economy. Whatever the next year holds, I know that God is still in control and He will continue to work through His people. To God be the glory!

Blogging Absenteeism

I have been a blogging drop out for the past two weeks. It’s time to catch up. December has been a good month thus far at Summit. Attendance has been all right and offerings have been a little below average. However, God continues to change lives. A couple of Sunday mornings ago, I was sitting in the food court doing some last minute sermon prep and I was watching people coming in to worship. I would think of how God had ministered to some of the people as they would round the corner by Build a Bear.

As a staff, we continue to emphasize changed lives as the measurement as to whether or not we are making a difference. Of course, we would like to see a huge increase in attendance. We believe that will come. However, nothing beats seeing a life turned around by God. That is what it is all about!

November 30 Recap

As expected, we had a typical Sunday after Thanksgiving attendance. Quite a few families were out of town. However, it was a good day. I spoke on the topic of servanthood. That’s a subject that we can all improve upon. Jesus says that servanthood is the pathway to greatness in His kingdom. So if we want to be great then we can begin serving others where we are. We don’t have to try to do something great. When we serve even “the least of these” then we are doing something that is great.

The band had a different sound. Phillip found out a couple of hours before the service that our drummer, Austin, could not get into the building where he stores his drums. We wound up using a cheap set of electronic drums. It wasn’t the same as the real thing but it wasn’t all that bad.

Next Sunday, we begin our series titled “This Day in History.” We are going to take events in history that happen on each particular day and bring a biblical message based upon that event. It should be interesting.