Church Update 02/21/26

Good afternoon Church family,

I hope today finds you well. It’s my prayer for each one of us, that the grace and peace of the Lord will abound increasingly more in our lives each day. It is a challenge to do this when we live in a world within which it seems like the deck is stacked against us regarding these things. What I mean is that distraction abounds, and it seems like the opportunities to be drawn away from the heart of Christ are more prolific than ever. From a prevailing sense of hurry and pressure to accomplish things, to the general unsettledness of the age, it seems like there is nearly always something trying to steal our sense of peace and joy in the Lord. What can we do? I would encourage us to continue pressing into the Lord’s call to firmly rest ourselves in him.

Philippians 1:21 CSB — “For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”

If you are feeling tossed about today, I would encourage you to draw near to the Lord. I have found it to be true, that when I am most feeling like I don’t want to draw near to Christ, is when I most need to. As the old hymn The Solid Rock states, Christ alone is our “hope and stay.”

Tomorrow is the Lord’s Day. I’m looking forward to gathering together as we pursue the Lord through prayer, worship, engaging the word, and fellowship. Join us for our various Fellowship Groups at 9:30am. At 10:45am we will gather for our worship service. Jacob Williams will be bringing the word tomorrow! I’m excited to hear his heart as he opens up the Bible to encourage us to continue working to root our identity in Jesus. I would encourage us all to be praying and preparing our hearts even now to be blessed tomorrow. As the Word clearly says through James, “draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”

Scott asked me to include the following “reminder that our business meeting will be held tomorrow right after the worship service and fellowship meal. This month’s meal theme is “Comfort Food” — and a few folks are bringing chili as their favorite comfort dish. We’d love for you to join us and bring whatever food comforts you most!”

There will be a chili cook off with prizes as part of our fellowship meal tomorrow. You are welcome to bring chili to join in with that, or you can bring something else if you don’t want to enter the contest. It’s all for fun and fellowship so no pressure either way. We always have a good time together, and I am sure that tomorrow will be no different!

Lastly, our business meeting portion of the day tomorrow will be mostly focused on some reports from our finance team as well as our various ministry teams regarding what has been going on within our church family. We don’t have anything major to vote on, but we do want to make sure everyone is aware of what is going on in our church. I will also have a few words regarding the state of the church and our vision as we continue into 2026 and beyond. My prayer is that you will be encouraged, and that’s the Lord will give us fresh faith as we move forward together.

May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you all. As I said at the beginning of this post, it is my prayer that we would abound in these things. Don’t forget to pray for one another. We especially continue to pray for Pam Dihmes, that the infection will be removed, and for the Kitzrow family as Susan’s aunt recovers from surgery to remove a dangerous cancer. Pray also for unity, and that the enemy will have no foothold in our fellowship. See you tomorrow!

In His steps,

Pastor Nick