Hello Folks,
School is back in session around here and we are getting ready to move into fall and winter. It seems to me that time has gone quickly and that there are numerous things that we will be doing here in the church. One item that is very important is the vision planning that is in place. When we have our Stewards meeting on Sept 12 we will be considering the items that were presented during our vision meeting in August. We thought it best to be praying about those things before we committed the effort and resources to attempting to bring them about. I ask you to pray with us to make sure that we have heard the voice of God and that we merely attempt to accomplish what He desires. There are some really challenging pieces to what we are considering that will demand not just our efforts but our faith.
One thing that is very pleasing to me is that the leadership of this congregation made a decision to leave a position empty because we did not have an appropriate person for it. We will be presenting that person for ratification come Sept. 12 to the congregation in a short business meeting. It seems to me that this reveals the desire of leadership to only do what God would have us to do in this congregation. It would have been easy to get a name for the position but we were seeking the person that God desired for us. The person's name will be made public come Sept. 12 which is the same manner that we do for our annual business meeting. I am thankful for our leaders here.
My wife and I are considering putting our house up for sale. I am hoping that we can move into a house that is smaller and demands less effort for upkeep. It was our plan to do this when we built the house but the housing market has been a big factor in not doing something sooner. Please pray that we will know if this is the right thing for us to do or not.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Hello Folks,
This past week-end was one of great joy in the life of our congregation. It was Faith Promise Sunday and our speaker was Bill Konstontoupolous (?) or as I have known him for years Bill K. God used him to lead our congregation to a great victory. Over the past year and especially since June Kim Trantham, our Steward of Worship and her team, have done everything possible to inform the congregation about the projects that we are going to invest in throughout the world. From Haiti to Equador to Turkey this congregation will send offerings to help in the ministries that take place in those countries and many other countries as well. The goal was $30,000 and the total promised was $44,000. Praise be to God that, along with out tithe will mean that lives will changed, congregations started, children fed and educated, homes built and numerous others will be introduced to Christ. As the pastor of this congregation I give thanks to God for your faith!
I have been reading a book by Dennis Kinlaw and John N. Oswalt called Lectures In Old Testament Theology that has been extremely rich even though I have only read about 20 pages so far. It is not the normal dry book written by theologians who have little experience out side of academia but it is written by someone who appears to have a sense of the need of people! So in its pages one of the matters that is presented is that of what the term knowing in the bible means. They clearly state that the meaning of the biblical term knowing is not "knowing about" but "knowing of." It is the idea of having relationship with someone and even, as they say, communion. I would encourage anyone to read this book. the first chapter is worth the cost of it and I look forward to the rest of it as well.
May He bless you all.
H. G. Rudd
This past week-end was one of great joy in the life of our congregation. It was Faith Promise Sunday and our speaker was Bill Konstontoupolous (?) or as I have known him for years Bill K. God used him to lead our congregation to a great victory. Over the past year and especially since June Kim Trantham, our Steward of Worship and her team, have done everything possible to inform the congregation about the projects that we are going to invest in throughout the world. From Haiti to Equador to Turkey this congregation will send offerings to help in the ministries that take place in those countries and many other countries as well. The goal was $30,000 and the total promised was $44,000. Praise be to God that, along with out tithe will mean that lives will changed, congregations started, children fed and educated, homes built and numerous others will be introduced to Christ. As the pastor of this congregation I give thanks to God for your faith!
I have been reading a book by Dennis Kinlaw and John N. Oswalt called Lectures In Old Testament Theology that has been extremely rich even though I have only read about 20 pages so far. It is not the normal dry book written by theologians who have little experience out side of academia but it is written by someone who appears to have a sense of the need of people! So in its pages one of the matters that is presented is that of what the term knowing in the bible means. They clearly state that the meaning of the biblical term knowing is not "knowing about" but "knowing of." It is the idea of having relationship with someone and even, as they say, communion. I would encourage anyone to read this book. the first chapter is worth the cost of it and I look forward to the rest of it as well.
May He bless you all.
H. G. Rudd
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Hello Folks,
This past Sunday was a time of God's presence in our worship. In both of our worship services, a.m. and p.m., it seemed to me that our congregation was very open to God speaking to them. I must admit that the preaching seemed to be very easy and that the attentiveness was extremely high. It was as if all of us were waiting on God to speak to us and He did exactly that. I pray that all who were there felt that same sense of His presence.
Tonight is the annual business meeting of our congregation. It is a time when the overall budget is presented and names will be presented for ratification for our Board of Stewards. The current board has been very insistent that we make sure that we have the right people in place and while there are 4 positions open we will only be presenting 3 names until we come up with the right person to fill the fourth position. We all believe that we are far better off waiting on God to give us the right person than just presenting a name so we can fill a position. I believe God will honor that!
This coming Sunday we will have our Faith Promise Campaign. We will see what our congregation will believe God to do among us. This group of people have invested themselves into missions over the years and the impact of their commitment will only be known in eternity. I look forward to what He will do here.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
This past Sunday was a time of God's presence in our worship. In both of our worship services, a.m. and p.m., it seemed to me that our congregation was very open to God speaking to them. I must admit that the preaching seemed to be very easy and that the attentiveness was extremely high. It was as if all of us were waiting on God to speak to us and He did exactly that. I pray that all who were there felt that same sense of His presence.
Tonight is the annual business meeting of our congregation. It is a time when the overall budget is presented and names will be presented for ratification for our Board of Stewards. The current board has been very insistent that we make sure that we have the right people in place and while there are 4 positions open we will only be presenting 3 names until we come up with the right person to fill the fourth position. We all believe that we are far better off waiting on God to give us the right person than just presenting a name so we can fill a position. I believe God will honor that!
This coming Sunday we will have our Faith Promise Campaign. We will see what our congregation will believe God to do among us. This group of people have invested themselves into missions over the years and the impact of their commitment will only be known in eternity. I look forward to what He will do here.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Hello Folks,
I got back Monday night from Pennsylvania where I spent last week preaching a United Methodist Camp Meeting outside of a town called Rhimersberg. The name of the place was called Cherry Run. While I was there I shared the responsibilities of preaching and teaching with a retired Wesleyan Pastor by the name of Jim Hosey. Let me simply say that I was blessed by his ministry and the people that were part of that camp meeting. Brother Hosey preached holiness sermons and had one of the sweetest and most gentle spirit that I have ever been in contact with in my life. The people were attentive and responsive to the sermons and I found myself blessed by being there.
Our VBS took place a couple of weeks ago and I must say that it was a time of real excitement among the children and the workers. Not only was it a time of excitement but there appeared to be some wonderful spiritual movement for God. Erin Shores, who led the worship, told us at least two chidlren came to Christ during that time. On Sunday, July 29, there were a number of parents and grandparents here to see what their children had learned and it was a real plesure seeing them worship with us. I want to thank all those who made it possible for VBS to take place. Paul Collins, the childrens steward, and his workers; Sharon Collins, Kim Trantham, Chad Inscore, and all the others worked hard to make it all come together. They did great work and I am thankful for them.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
I got back Monday night from Pennsylvania where I spent last week preaching a United Methodist Camp Meeting outside of a town called Rhimersberg. The name of the place was called Cherry Run. While I was there I shared the responsibilities of preaching and teaching with a retired Wesleyan Pastor by the name of Jim Hosey. Let me simply say that I was blessed by his ministry and the people that were part of that camp meeting. Brother Hosey preached holiness sermons and had one of the sweetest and most gentle spirit that I have ever been in contact with in my life. The people were attentive and responsive to the sermons and I found myself blessed by being there.
Our VBS took place a couple of weeks ago and I must say that it was a time of real excitement among the children and the workers. Not only was it a time of excitement but there appeared to be some wonderful spiritual movement for God. Erin Shores, who led the worship, told us at least two chidlren came to Christ during that time. On Sunday, July 29, there were a number of parents and grandparents here to see what their children had learned and it was a real plesure seeing them worship with us. I want to thank all those who made it possible for VBS to take place. Paul Collins, the childrens steward, and his workers; Sharon Collins, Kim Trantham, Chad Inscore, and all the others worked hard to make it all come together. They did great work and I am thankful for them.
Have a great day,
HGRudd
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)