Dear Church Family,
I cannot believe that August is here. It seems like school just let out yesterday, and now children and teens are starting to head back to school. Thanks to everyone who is making the summer a huge success at Hoffman this year. With an Art Show, Garage Sale, Variety Show, Lunch Bunch, Kids Club, and Dragons game, we have stayed busy this summer. Now, we look forward to the Church Picnic on August 4th. We hope that you will join us as we gather as a community for food, fellowship, and fun.
This summer has also been a very busy time for me. In July, I spent a week at Mission u (Ohio Northern University) as the Music Director. I just want you all to know that I had a great time. It was like a church camp for adults. I had the opportunity to direct the choir and lead music for 8 worship services and 7 morning praise gatherings. I had the opportunity to spend a great deal of time on spiritual retreat between my responsibilities. I spent a significant amount of time reading, praying, and planning worship for our church. This was a very meaningful time for me. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do this.
As part of our Celebrate Summer series, we talked about direction. We talked about how it is important to have a plan, but we also talked about the importance to being open to changing the plan as a result of the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Well, I had planned for our church to be part of a two year process with the Unbinding curriculum. We had a retreat planned, conference calls scheduled, a sermon series planned, and another church wide study on the horizon. However, during my time with God in the past month, I have felt a strong sense that God is guiding us in a different direction. Therefore, we have decided to cancel all the plans that we had made and end our time with Unbinding in an effort to follow God’s leading. I hope that you all enjoyed your time with Unbinding Your Heart, and I pray that your prayer and faith sharing are strengthened as a result of our time with it.
I hope that you are enjoying this Celebrate Summer series as much as I am. It has been a lot of fun to see what God might reveal in the activities that we enjoy doing. This series will continue through the end of August. We have some great things in store for you as we look at grilling out, camping, mowing grass, and riding roller coasters. I will tell you a secret about this series. My prayer is that the spiritual insights you learn throughout this series will be experienced each time you encounter these summer activities. For example, when you see fireworks next year, I hope you recall the freedom you have in Christ. When you go to the ocean and see the waves, you might recall the glory of creation. We want to give spiritual meaning to everyday activities.
As the summer comes to a close and school starts back, we prepare for Back to Church Sunday. It’s time to reach out and invite your neighbors to church! People need to know that there is hope and a community of people like our church who will love them and do life with them. We encourage you to step out in faith and invite someone to rediscover church. According to Lifeway Resources, 82% of unchurched people would attend church if someone invited them! We are planning a special service on September 15th so that our new guests will feel welcome and comfortable. Inviting a friend is a simple gesture that could change someone’s life.
I want to thank each of you for your prayers, encouragement, and support of me and the church. It is a blessing to serve at Hoffman United Methodist Church.
Yours in Christ’s Service,
Pastor Justin
Posts
