“All the News that’s fit to print.”
“All the News that’s fit to print.”
Alright, so I borrowed that from the masthead of the New York Times. It’s worked for that publication since 1897. I think it’s fitting for us at LTCC this week, because there’s much to praise God for right now.
Sunday, we had the Family Forum where we had an update on where we “are” as a church right now. We gave an update on former and perspective members. We looked at 2 Corinthians chapter 2, regarding forgiving each other and not being taken unawares by Satan’s tricks. We did an exercise to see how well we could predict where the Ministry Insight Tool (that online survey you did in August) would picture us at this point in time. Three, actually four (yea!), takeaways:
We mostly nailed where the survey saw us;
People seemed genuinely encouraged;
We have much good work to do to get us ready for renewed vision and the new pastor.
We learned “Where do we go from here” from the handout.
Out of that came the invitation for the church to meet with the transition team Oct 16th at 6:30 pm to create a “Journey Wall”. The plan is to work as teams and place green sticky notes on a piece of butcher paper on the wall that spans the entire life of the church. Those sticky notes will represent all the things to celebrate. We will spend time praying and thanking the Lord for what He has done. We will also place red sticky notes representing all the challenges that the church has faced throughout the years. Again, we will pray together for God to help us through the challenges. Finally, we will place notes representing dreams for the next couple of years.
This “Journey Wall” activity is for all who want to participate and see progress. It is a piece in the puzzle to go along with all the information that the Transition Team already has, so that they can start making recommendations on things to celebrate and things to change. One strong encouragement here… as a congregation this will not be a time to divide and fight over different things. It will be a time to speak the truth in love. This will be our theme:
Rom 12:10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.
Speaking of the Transition Team, we have met twice (Mondays at 6:30) so far. We, as a church, a transition team, and the leadership, have been asking God for wisdom about going forward. Part of the wisdom He has given us is to follow IPM’s 5 stage process, which we are doing now in stage 2. With stage 3 in view, we are getting to the place of working on recommendations, celebrations and ministering more effectively. So, we are following the process as we do the most important thing, following our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This week we looked at our purpose, objectives, and some preparation for leading the church in the Journey Wall activity. Part of our homework this week is to prepare for that churchwide activity: especially by preparing our own list of things to celebrate and things to improve, having vision and leadership foremost in our thoughts.
And don’t forget to thank God for 20 prayer triplets praying every 10 days until Christmas! 60 people are praying for the church, each other, and the new pastor to come!
Speaking of celebration…The flags are up! The flags are up! And that tells us that our annual Lake Tapps Missionary Emphasis Weekend is coming soon! Be sure and register to attend all the events! The catered dinner is Friday Oct 27th at 6:30 pm. There’s a men’s breakfast Oct 28th at 8 am and a women’s brunch Oct 28th at 11 am. With our very own Micah and Laura Meyers as keynote speakers, these are events you do not want to miss! AND, AND, AND - there’s the Village Missions 75th Anniversary Celebration Saturday, October 28, 6:30–8pm. Come and hear about God's faithfulness from the Meyers in Papua New Guinea and with Village Missions at the 75th Anniversary Celebration.
Also, please pray for the men’s retreat which starts tonight (Friday).
We want to close with a “Happy Birthday” shout out to Ginny Valkenaar whose 101st birthday was Thursday Oct 5th! May God bless you as you have blessed us!
For the elders and deacons… Love ya!
Bob
Here is a link to a recording of the 10/1 Family Forum meeting for those who missed it: https://youtu.be/lrykNZRpVds
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Who is this week's Missionary Spotlight? Doug & Margaret Nichols
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