Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we see our nation and our culture increasingly devalue Christian faith, we have several ways to respond. We could become angry as if Christians have the birthright to have favored status in our country or we could see the Lord’s hand in humbling us as His people and commit ourselves to engage our community and culture trusting his hand to bless us.

In 586 B.C. God’s people, the Jews, were sent by God into exile in Babylon . Jeremiah wrote them a letter encouraging them to seek the Lord, content in Him. Their circumstances were not good but God intended it for good for them Jer. 29:11). They were to engage their new community to “…seek the peace of the city...” This is the theme of our Missions Conference this March 2010, our 35th Annual Missions Celebration.

The church is the best way to bless our community. Who else can enable reconciliation to take place other than Christ’s Church? Who else can care for the poor and the needy but those who minister in Christ’s name? God has blessed us so that we can bless our community. We see church planting as a primary way to bless our community. We will celebrate Hope of Christ’s 2nd Anniversary. A son of the church, Bob Sawyer and his wife, Kelly will whare their vision for church planting in the Boston area.

God blesses us to bless the world as well. There’s a special blessing for praying for the peace of Jerusalem (Psalm 122:6). The Jerusalem Gateway Partnership will share vision and the purpose of the ministry in Israel/West Bank.

May the lord richly bless us as we “seek the peace of our city.”

In Christ,

Pastor Doug

March 2010