Every day God gives us the time. It is ours to determine. There are things that need immediate attention like watering the plants. There are things that matter more for a life time like making memories, staying in touch with friends or keeping connected to God. Or picking apples. Time to wake up my grandson.

Will this decision have unintended consequences? Every decision does. And if we need to make another adjustment, we will. In the meantime, I appreciate all your graciousness as we strive to help everyone have a wonderful opportunity to experience God this coming year. I always wondered if the older brother went in to the party? I hope so.

As I said before, most of the changes are to adjust what we do and make our ministry more effective. You will notice change, but our goal is that everything our church should be will remain and thrive. Pruning leads to growth and to fruit. So long as we stay connected to the vine, which is Christ, God will give us the growth.

We are at a point like that for our church right now. For many years we were a dynamic, growing congregation. We are still a good church, but we have lost a lot of the passion and dynamic we had. We are a good church, but God needs us to be a great church. 

John preached repentance. We don’t use the word repent in common speech much anymore; it has been relegated to religious settings. Instead we use the word change. As in, that person needs a change of heart. I like the word repent, but the word is not as important as what it means.

Clearly the most watched television event in our nation is the Super Bowl. The event with the most participation and spending, is unquestionably Christmas. For some people it is very individual in a particular year such as graduation from school, retirement, the birth of a child, or a wedding.

People used to study for baptism. It was a huge decision and a great risk to the person and to the Christian community. Beginning of Lent was studying for Baptism at Easter. 40 hours, 40 days???  Now, barely want to give it any sacrifice or effort.