The Monday after Easter is an emotionally charged day for me.  It is a day of reflection on all the weeks of hard work and planning. It is a day of comparing how we planned services and how they actually turned out.  It is a day of planning and taking notes about next year and how we can continue to serve the congregation better.  But it is also a day of thankfulness and gratitude for me.    

I am grateful for our wonderful staff.  As if Holy Week was not busy enough with all the extra services and activities, the office staff has worked with me in preparing congregational meetings and keeping communications about the new education building project flowing.  They turned the buildings around multiple times to accommodate the busy schedule. 

I am grateful for our musicians and tech team.  Kayla and our musicians put in many hours preparing for the Holy Week specials. It was wonderful to hear the diverse music we experienced during Holy Week’s services.  The choir, organ, piano, and worship bands all contributed to our worship. I hope you were as blessed as I was by the wonderful acts of worship and adoration to our Lord. Bob, John, and Matt spend an incredible amount of time learning all of the elements of our services as well as keeping things running smoothly in person and on the streams. 

I am grateful for our cooks and kitchen staff.  We had a huge crowd at Sunrise Service and a record number at our breakfast. It was wonderful to behold the fellowship in the dining room and gym.  

I am grateful for our youth leaders who helped the youth create such a powerful Sunrise Service. The momentum in our youth ministry is a beautiful thing to behold.  I encourage you to keep them in prayer as God is moving within our young people.  

I am grateful for all who took part in our 24-hour prayer vigil. Often times when an event has not been held for some time it is hard to re-launch it.  I believe that prayer is one important area that we need to continue to grow in as a church. I appreciate all who gave of their time to prioritize prayer and Rodney for standing watch all night.  

Most of all I am grateful for our entire church family.  At one point in her message, Ellie stated how the church had helped raise her.  One of our greatest goals at the church is to function as a church family. That means loving, supporting, caring for, nurturing, encouraging, correcting, spurring on, and doing life with one another. 

1 John 4:7-12   Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12  No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. ESV

Loving you all, 
Michael