NEWS FROM OUR SENIOR PASTOR

We are almost there! Months ago, I invited you to make plans to be a part of a 40 days small group. Beginning October 7, we will take 40 days to ask together “What in the World Are We Here For?”

There are 3 important ways to participate in the 40 days:

On Sunday mornings beginning October 7th, we will begin the 40 days sermon series.

On Sunday, October 7th, we will together begin reading Rick Warren’s book: What In the World Am I Here For: 40 days of Purpose. The book is divided into 40 days of readings. These will act as our “devotionals” for this series.

Beginning the week of October 7th, small groups on Sundays and Mondays will meet on the Locust Street campus. And existing groups and student groups will also join in the study. All groups will utilize the small group study guide and a short dvd.

So, have you signed up? Hundreds of you already have. Don’t miss out. Help us meet the goal of 500 engaging in a 40 days group. I believe this will be a vital step forward as we dream together about the future of our church and the future of our own individual lives.

You can sign up by clicking here. Or by filling out a paper form on Sunday morning. You can also purchase the books on Sunday morning or at the Locust Street campus office during the week.

On Sunday, I am excited to welcome Vic Pentz as our guest preacher. Dr. Vic Pentz is the recently retired Senior Pastor of Peachtree Presbyterian Church and is a sought-after speaker around the country. His call into the ministry came amidst the campus tumult of the 1960’s as he led his Intervarsity Christian Fellowship chapter at Pomona College. His passion for Scripture comes out in the way he applies God’s timeless truth to current events and everyday life.

Sprinkled through his sermons are allusions to his many interests: sports, hiking, cycling, food, travel, history, and popular culture. Vic grew up in Southern California, is an alumnus of Princeton Theological Seminary and received his doctorate from Fuller Seminary.

Among his many pastoral experiences are preaching to the President of the United States, serving as chaplain to the crew of three space shuttle launches at Cape Canaveral, serving as chaplain to the world’s largest rodeo and running an evangelistic beach ministry to Southern California surfers.

Alongside his impressive ministry resume, Vic is a dear friend and mentor. I had the privilege of working with Vic for 17 years in two different churches. The ways I preach and lead are shaped greatly by Vic. Over the last few years, Vic has been watching God’s amazing work unfold at GRACE Church and has been one of our greatest cheerleaders.

I am thrilled to welcome him to be our preacher this weekend as he continues in our series with “The Grace of Mentoring.” Mark and I will be away at Parents Weekend down at Wake Forest, happy to see the kids and check on John’s progress after his ankle surgery last week. Thank you for your prayers for him.

As we drive down to North Carolina for the weekend, I am prayerful for those impacted by Hurricane Florence. 47 people lost their lives. Over 50,000 houses were flooded out and damages are predicted to be 30 billion dollars.   We want to take a special offering to help with the clean up work. We will be sending our gifts to our fellow ECO churches in the area who are on the front lines with assistance efforts, including an ECO church plant in Wilmington, NC. If you would like to donate, you can do it online here or you can bring a check on Sunday and place it in the offering plate. Please mark your check FLORENCE.

Finally, I want to express my deep thanks to Tom Goeman and the choir for their leadership in our Service of Celebration and Dedication this past Sunday afternoon. Their singing made the service glorious as we gave God thanks for his unending faithfulness to us as a congregation.

I’ll be watching online with you this week as we drive home. See you next week.