​Sunday was a great Mother’s Day. We had a good crowd with lots of guests and a lot of enthusiasm. The photo booth was open again and every lady present received the gift of a succulent plant. We had great special music, the Men’s Trio sang, “I’m Going There” and Amy Thomas closed out the service with a great song, “The Mind of Christ”. Thanks to everyone who made Sunday happen. 
​
 I am excited to tell you that I will be teaching a class in the Life Group semester that is coming up. You have heard me talk about New Life having roots in what is called The Restoration Movement, a movement that has as its goal, restoring the church that we find in the Bible, especially in the book of Acts. 

There will be seven lessons beginning on Wednesday, June 4, at 10:00am. With all of the construction taking place I can’t tell you for sure where we will meet but as soon as I know I will make sure you will know. 

I’m calling the class, “The Restoration Movement; Bringing the New Testament Church to America.” We will look at the beginning of this unity movement that began in England and especially Scotland. The principles of the movement began to be found in various churches on the American frontier around 1800. Churches began coming together and finding unity with one another based on two propositions: The Lordship of Jesus Christ and the authority of the Bible. 

​I hope that you will give some thought about joining us. You will learn some pretty cool stuff about churches on the American frontier and the unique and interesting founders of this movement. You can sign up on Sunday. 

What a day of worship! For me any time Lynn Bowman sings the “Goodness of God” it is a great service. But, we had more. The orchestra played an arrangement they did at Easter called, “Easter Celebration”. It was great at Easter, and it was a great Sunday. The choir did a song they did at Easter called “Dirt and Blood” It is a thought-provoking song that points to Jesus as creator and savior. Bob Kapp brought the message, “Living With Confidence In A Chaotic World.” It was a really good sermon reminding us that while things appear as chaotic, God is always in charge. Thanks to Bob and everyone who made Sunday special. 

Connie and I will occasionally get interested in putting together a jigsaw puzzle. A year or so ago someone gave us a 1,000-piece puzzle. It wasn’t long before I realized that it was a work of Satan. We about never got that thing completed. Our 2-year-old niece has a puzzle with about 16-20 pieces that she can put together in a snap. After the 1,000-piece fiasco I suggested we could do it and see how well we would do. 

Last weekend we finished our latest puzzle. (We stepped down to 500 pieces.) We had about 6 pieces left, and I told Connie, “I don’t think we have enough pieces to fill the empty spaces.” But we did! It turned out just right. Not too many pieces, not too few. I thought this is how God works. He doesn’t leave us not having what we need to complete the job. Two scriptures came to mind. 

In Ephesians 6:11 the Apostle Paul writes, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” The words “full armor” is one word in the original language, the word, “Panoplian”. It comes from two words, “Pan” which means all and “Oplon” which is a a word for tools. Paul said that we have been given all the tools we will need to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 

The other scriptures come from II Peter 1:3, “…His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness…” We live in a sinful, corrupt world that is governed by Satan. There is no way we can successfully live a life of godliness on our own. But we are not required to do so. God has given us everything we need to overcome the world and achieve a life of godliness. 
​
With our puzzle, we had everything we needed to successfully complete the picture. We are in a battle where the stakes are higher than just completing a puzzle. We are fighting the prince of this world, and the stakes are eternal destiny. But take heart. We are not doing this alone; God has given us everything we need to win this battle. 

​If one was hungry for spiritual things, the past 10 days here at New Life has been a feast. There have been so many opportunities to recharge. Each opportunity was different from the others but all were uplifting and gave us some wonderful corporate and personal worship experiences.
 
It started with Good Friday services. Mike always puts together a great program and this year was no exception. It was a great way to start our Easter weekend. We had a good crowd and two or three        people said it was one of the best Good Friday services they had ever attended. Mike and Amy led us in congregational singing, Dave King played a flute solo accompanied by Lynn Bowman, Tonya Krueger, Jerry White, Jill Johnson and Lynn Boweman all sang solos reminding us of the suffering and death of Jesus. We closed the service by sharing the Lord’s Supper together. The elements, the bread and grape juice serve as reminders. The bread reminds us of His body that was broken on the cross and the grape juice reminds us of His blood shed in payment for our sin debt. You can watch the service from our web site.
 
Easter Sunday was over the top. We added a third service in anticipation of a great crowd and God provided one. 948 folks joined us to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. The choir and orchestra were never better. Adding an extra service requires a lot more people and a lot more preparation.  We had so many of our folks who put in a lot of extra time to make our Easter Service what it was, way too many to begin to name them one by one so I would suggest you go to the website and click on the “Watch Live Streams” tab and then on the tab that says, “Of First Importance” and you can watch the entire service.
 
But it wasn’t over yet! Last Saturday our ladies held New Life’s 6th “Mug and Muffins” event. 160+ women signed up for this time of fellowship and drinking tea or coffee from our favorite mugs. Our special guest speaker was Catherine Daugherty who was on our staff until she had to resign to battle cancer. She was a tireless worker and I can truly say that in my 50 plus years of ministry I have never had a better co-worker. She is creator of the Mug and Muffin event and we were thrilled when she agreed to tell us of her journey through this season in her life. Debbie Ragsdale and Tammi Wilson headed up the event and were joined with a host of volunteers as helpers. The event is also available to watch on the web sight.
 
Then Sunday after the second service I had the honor of baptizing Ellianna MacLeod, the granddaughter of Pam and Nick DiGiore who was here visitring fro her home in Winham, New Hampshire. Here is what made this so special. Ellianna asked for a Bible for Christmas in 2023. As she read it, she would call Nick when she needed a question answered. Nick suggested they read the Gospel of John together and use FaceTime for their studies together. They are currently watching “The Chosen” as the basis of their ongoing study. Nick said, “She asks great questions. She is quiet but a deep thinker.” How fortunate that young lady is to have grandparents like Nick and Pam who are involved in this long distance Bible study in order to be a part of her spiritual life. Great job you two.
 
What a great 10 days, huh?