God continues to bless us with grace and growth as the old year is quickly coming to a close. Wow! Can you believe that we have less than six weeks left in 2009?
We have finally graduated from demolition to construction in the renovation of our educational/administration wing. As you know Kay and I have not been able to be at the office for the past couple of weeks due to the removal of debris and some hazardous material from the old section of our building. Our elders felt that it much better to be “safe than sorry” when it comes to these matters. I appreciate their wisdom and their thoughtfulness on our behalf. I am sorry that we have not been able to produce our weekly SAR newsletter. If you are like me, I always look forward to receiving the bulletin and reading it from front to back. As you can see, we are now back on track.
Just think. In just a few short weeks the sacrifices that we are making will result in larger updated offices, classrooms that meet the needs of every age group, larger up-to-date restrooms, nice new kitchen facilities, meeting rooms, storage rooms, and halls. Just this week one of the men from the company overseeing our renovations apologized for displacing the office staff. My response to him was this; “I keep my eye on the prize.” I focus not on the disarray of the renovation but on a vision of how beautiful our building will be when the construction is completed. May we all read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 in the light of our current situation!
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working in us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Wonderful news! As was announced last Sunday, Jeremy (J.P.) Pyle was baptized into Christ on Friday evening, November 13th. What a joy it is to have another new brother in Christ! God is so good to us. May we all be more thankful for our wonderful Christian family at St. Andrews Road!
Our Sunday morning sermon theme for the remainder of the year will be “About Our Father’s Business.” In Luke 2:41-52 we find that Jesus and His family had gone to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. Jesus’ parents started home and had traveled a day’s journey when they discovered that Jesus was not with them. They returned to Jerusalem and found Him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. Jesus’ mother asked Him about why He chose to stay behind and His answered, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
The Bible tells us that Jesus went back home with them and grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Just as Jesus knew that He must be about His Father’s business, so must we be about our Father’s business. We will focus on God’s purpose, His business for us as we close out this old year and look into the new year. What is our Father’s business? We will look at the following:
1. Living our lives every day in thought, word, and action to honor God
2. Studying, preaching, teaching, practicing, and abiding in the truth
3. Focusing on doing good in our everyday lives
4. Believing in…trusting God
5. Actively waiting for Jesus’ return
