Tomorrow's Offering and a Nice Wedding

Tomorrow is the first Sunday in a new year and the beginning of a new series called "Beyond." The series is meant to connect us with the theme for the 2010 North American Christian Convention. The arrangement is the brain child of the staff of Mountain Christian Church. We've altered it some ... but then ... you would expect nothing less (at least, I hope you would expect nothing less!).

Tomorrow's sermon is "Beyond the Stuck Life" and I mean for it to be a chance to for us to think of ways God can use our current and past experience in the Kingdom of God. I don't want us to settle, though for thinking about that question on an individual basis. I want us to think through that question as a church as well.

I'm planning to include a blog a day (M-F) this coming week for those who are interested in thinking about some of the issues involved in moving forward into the Kingdom with the strengths and weaknesses that arise from our past as a church.

Tomorrow's prayer in the 11am sanctuary service will be led by Bob Hall. He is kind enough to post them in advance for those of you who are interested (and there plenty who are). Here's the link.

Meanwhile, I leave you with some pics from Jennifer and Russ' wedding this afternoon (I said "this morning" throughout the wedding ... apparently I'm not too old for rookie mistakes). The wedding itself, though, seemed quite nice. The couple was wonderful and their families were very gracious on a day that had some bitter-sweet themes at work.

Congratulations to the handsome new couple! Blessings, blessings, blessings!

The first dance.

Still ... the first dance.

Drew and Jared are now brothers ... and handsome ones at that.

Photo time after the wedding.

The whole clan.

The amateur and the professional shutter bugs. The photographer seemed familiar to me but I couldn't place him. At the reception, though, he and his wife told me they were students of mine when I taught at Milligan. Thankfully, they both did well in the class.