Life in the Grove

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As we grow, the time between good bouts of fun and laughter grows, too…But their value remains immeasurable…because there are few things in life as important as joy, friends, and the sound of laughter
(Author unknown)

Has it been a while since you laughed? How about that deep down belly laugh, where you can’t breathe? You know the one, well…at retreat, we laugh, we cry and we laugh some more. Won’t you join us for our annual retreat where friends and laughter are abundant.

This year we will hear from Patti Pierce as she encourages women to “light or reignite a fire in women so they will choose to be more intentional in cooperating with God in the process of transformation”.

If you are interested please sign up by contacting Pam Brown.

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I don’t know about you but sometimes I need a little bit of prompting to be reminded of what to pray for.

Haiti Earthquake Aftermath Montage from Khalid Mohtaseb on Vimeo.

This worked well for me. There are no words, just pictures of people that need the love of Jesus. I dare you to watch and not be prompted to pray.

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The first load of food has already arrived in Nicaragua and as a church we can’t wait to send a whole bunch more.

Thus far Cedar Grove has filled 261 containers for the people of Leon, Nicaragua. Start praying now that God will use these containers to reach the people Leon with the gospel and come join us as we pack a large shipping container with these smaller containers on Feb 27th from 9 am - Noon.

Each container represents a family that will receive the food and supplies that we have packed to help meet their physical needs and we pray that more than anything it will encourage them to seek Jesus who is the only one who can meet their spiritual needs. With each container comes an invitation to attend a two night festival where the gospel will be clearly presented and they will have an opportunity to get plugged in with a local church.

Here is a quick update of the work that has already begun.

Updates - February 4, 2010

• The work on the festival is taking form each day. We have been working with the local pastors and they are very excited about the festival. On February 6th, we will have our first counselor training session and we will do training every Saturday until the week of the Festival.

• We now have the full support of the Mayor of Leon. His support is really helping open doors!

• We have organized a team of [youth] leaders to be in charge of the “youth project.” We are equipping them so they can motivate a larger group of youth to help with the promotion of the festival.

• We distributed much needed food to the Mayor, the police, the minister of education, the minister of health, two orphanages, and two radio stations that are highly influential to Leon. All of these institutions are grateful and supportive of the festival.

• We have begun the first stage of publicity in the city!

• We have begun preparations for another large pastor’s meeting that will take place February 22… this will be our 2nd of many more.

• We are making a plan to be able to invite the university students and each faculty member to the festival.

Pray for us as we continue to press forward in preparations for “Fiesta Pinolera” We are confidently expecting God to do unprecedented works in Leon, Nicaragua, and beyond!

Read more about what is happening in Leon, Nicaragua and follow Mike’s ministry on his blog.

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One of my favorite parts of being a pastor is the privilege of officiating weddings.

It’s so much fun to watch all of the nervous energy before the ceremony begins. The groom and groomsmen impatiently waiting for the ceremony to begin… the bride and bridesmaids making last minute adjustments to hair and makeup… the murmur of conversations as the crowd settles in… the family is seated… the processional begins… the bridesmaids take their places…

Then… it’s time.

The music begins to play… everyone stands up… the doors open…

And there she is.

When the bride makes her entrance, it really is a sight to see. Every eye is drawn to her (especially the groom!) as she makes her slow approach towards the altar.

It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old, married or single, man or woman: the gravity of the moment when that bride appears is incredible. As everyone watches her come closer to the groom, the meaning of what’s happening becomes more and more apparent. Two lives are being joined together in a supernatural way.

Out of all of the images that Scripture uses to refer to the Church, the one that means the most to me is found in our text this week, Ephesians 5:22-33: the Church is the Bride of Christ. Paul uses the analogy of a marriage to describe the relationship that Jesus has with His Church, with all of its complexity. Why would Paul do that? What does being the bride of Christ mean? What can we learn from thinking about our relationship with Jesus in those terms?

I invite you to join us this Sunday for an in-depth look at these questions as we begin our new preaching series, The Church in Action.

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