Pastor's Penpoint - January 2010

2010 ... sounds like a science fiction movie title. Wonder what this year will find, what will we discover, who will we meet and how will God use us? No doubt this year will mark some of the old tried and true ways of doing things - but change will be obvious as well. Not just in our personal lives, but as the body of Christ as Mt. Olivet Church as well.

Here are a few changes we are aware of:
- The first Sunday in January, Mt. Olivet is beginning to offer an English as a Second Language (ESL) program as part of our Outreach Commission. This will enable sisters and brothers from other cultures and parts of this community to gather and merge with Mt. Olivet's community in fellowship and worship. It will be a blessing to see more faces and have more names to learn in the coming year.
- There is a new format to our worship service. The order of worship has changed a bit, the way we lead music has changed, we have added the Apostle's Creed, weekly, to our worship service and even the bulletin has been changed to make worship easier to follow and for church related information to be accessible to future visitors.
- Other changes are less visible but still important. Mt. Olivet is blessed that members have agreed to serve in new ways of leadership and take on new responsibilities in the coming year. Certainly the intent will not be to change things for change sake, but new and differing perspectives will no doubt bring changes that are subtle and some that are bigger.

Here are a few things that will not change:
- We will continue to seek discernment of God and acknowledge Jesus Christ as the head of this and all Christian churches.
- We will boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ as truth and hope in an embattled and embittered world - always placing scripture as inerrant and authoritative in all ages (past, present and future).
- We will denounce Satan and sin in this world and unapologetically stress the need for all God's children to repent, receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and acknowledge him as Lord of all.
- We will continue to remember and practice what the book of Acts teaches about the responsibilities of the church - worship, fellowship, training/discipleship, outreach/evangelism, and service/missions.

I hope you will join me in prayer for the direction and discernment to follow God's will as we embark on a new year and we continue together as ministers in Jesus Christ.

New Year Blessings ~ Pastor Todd