Yea God!

One of the richest blessings in life is to have those moments when you pause in full awareness of God’s goodness and grace to you. It involves the sublime feeling that all is well in Christ and that regardless of challenges or changes, there is a deep presence and peace because God is within. In those moments we see in hindsight that He has been faithfully at work in our lives and that He is indeed sovereign. As a result, a deep gratitude wells up inside along with an amazement of how rich it is to be fully secure in Jesus. These are times to rest from the pace of life and ministry and simply reflect. A moment to say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”

Almost every year around this time I have that sense within me in relationship to you, The Brook Church. That's because August begins a new church year. With each passing year there are victories to celebrate, perspectives gained to ponder, and growth that occurred that the Father brought our way in many different forms.

Beyond all the exciting things going on at The Brook with new members, new people, new buildings, new staff and new programs, what matters most and what makes those things pale in comparison is the power of the Holy Spirit building within us a real church of heartfelt love for God and sincere love for all people.

I think that the Apostle Paul had one of these similar “Yea God!” moments when he penned this prayer to his beloved Ephesian brothers and sisters:

Ephesians 3:14-21
"For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

What an amazing and beautiful passage! Over the next several weeks and months God has led me to pray this prayer for you in our church family.

So with a heart full of thanks to God I start this New Year with you. There’s no doubt we will have challenges as we venture in faith together. There’s no doubt we will also overcome these challenges together provided we walk humbly before God and walk dedicated to one another.

I received this morning an email note from Terry Cokenour, a missionary in Budapest, Hungary that we support. The Wilson Bible Fellowship Group prays for him and his family, contacts them, sends them cards and gifts, and just loves on them. Our church financially supports the Cokenours through our missions budget. Terry and Christina are doing some wonderful work in sharing the gospel and building a missional church in the heart of this very secular city.

Because of the faithful and generous giving of our church family, we were able to make significant increases in support to missionaries around the world this new budget year. His note below verifies how the Lord has led us to the use of our resources and how our giving together makes an eternal difference.

I pray you have a great weekend and I look forward to seeing you Sunday… and of course--

Happy New Church Year!

My heart's full.

Mike

Hey Mike, just a quick note of thanks for the increased support from The Brook! We actually had a few people who needed to stop giving, which is not unexpected. Right around the time I was thinking that I would need to do some long-distance support raising I received notification of the increase in giving from The Brook. We are back at 99% funding!

We love you guys and wish we could all celebrate in person. The greatest celebration is coming though, and that's the one we look forward to the most!

Please pass on our gratitude to the church.

In Christ,

Terry, Christina, Grace, Emma, and Amelia "Joy"