Next week we celebrate Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for. One of the things I am especially thankful is the ministry of Good Shepherd. I have now been here for 6 months and God has been so good. God is breathing new life into our church.
We are making an impact on eternity. Eternal destinations are being transformed. What we are doing is the difference between heaven and hell. The ministry of Good Shepherd is more than a life and death matter is an eternal life and death matter.
When we get to the end of our lives, there will be many things we will look back upon and realize that they were not all that important. We will likely regret not having done more of the stuff that matters. But when it comes to the kingdom work we did there will be no regrets.
My prayer is that we at Good Shepherd will always keep our eyes on the prize and that we will throw off the stuff that so easily entangles and hinders our kingdom work. My prayer is that we would run with perseverance the race marked out before us and that we would stay true to the vision God has established for our church. My prayer we would strive with every ounce of our being to:
KNOW Jesus.
GROW as His followers
and GO out as missionaries into the world.
I am thankful for you and your partnership in the gospel! God is doing some exciting things through us. Just a couple of things we have to celebrate and be thankful for include:
- 3 baptisms in 3 weeks. Two of these families have recently started attending Good Shepherd over the last few months.
- New families and new faces. Every Sunday we see new faces at Good Shepherd.
- Friends inviting friends. More and more of you are sharing with me that you are inviting others to come. There is no better indicator that we are on the right track than this.
- A full nursery. Two weeks ago there were 10 kids in our nursery. Six months ago, we did not even have a nursery.
- Last Sunday our worship attendance between two worship services was 184 people. God is continuing to help us grow.
- Our giving last Sunday exceeded $7000. This was the first time in the last 6 months our giving exceeded our expenses.
- The Comfort Dog ministry is making progress. Two churches in the New Jersey District have given us gifts totally $1200 to begin the Comfort Dog ministry in New Jersey. We have also been awarded a grant by the New Jersey District for $6000 to begin this ministry. This Sunday, our Comfort Dog Ministry Leadership team will be meeting to prepare to send an application in to secure one of the Comfort Dogs. We are making strong progress towards our fundraising goal for this ministry.
- This winter we will be launching new discipleship groups that will meet in homes. This is an exciting next step towards fulfilling our vision. If you would like to be a part of this push, please let me know.
This list does not include all the individual stories of life change. Many of you have experienced personal victories which God has won. Prayers have been answered. Hearts are being softened and drawn to Jesus Christ. How wonderful it is to be a part of all that.
God’s blessings,
Pastor Phil
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