Hello Friends! No electricity at KingsWay, so the Sunday morning meeting and the 6 pm ladies events are cancelled. Feels like a snow storm in August!
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Update 7:30am
Roads around the church are slushy but very drivable. We’ll continue to have a shortened service for those of you who can make it.
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Snow! Yes, it’s a white Christmas! We’re planning to meet tomorrow at 10 AM for a special one hour meeting unless the road conditions deteriorate overnight. We’ll check road conditions in the morning and post a final decision by 8 AM so you can confirm before you leave home.
Last Sunday we celebrated God’s work in the lives of three young men: Tim Donohue, Josh Bishop and Josh Dingwell. Their testimonies were followed by water baptism. What a blessed day! If you missed their testimonies or would like to hear them again, you can listen to them below.
King’s Kids will be graduating children to new classes on Sunday, September 12. Please check the rosters posted outside your child’s classroom on September 12 to be certain that you are dropping them off at the right place.
If your children are 6-10 years old or a 5 year old who will be promoted, they should line up with their new class (one level higher) upon dismissal from the main meeting. Their teachers will then automatically escort them to the appropriate classroom.
Today we had the joy of welcoming new members. Before praying for our members, we watched a short video:
Of course retreats and conferences are no replacement for our regular Sunday and community group meetings, but there is something unique about setting aside time to go away that changes the dynamic from what we often consider routine in our weekly schedules.
A primary reason I love going to (and planning) events and conferences is the elevated sense of expectation. We have a lot invested by the time that first session begins. We invest our finances for registration, meals, and lodging. We invest our time putting aside other things to be there. We secure a sitter for the kids and pets and drive a couple hours all to be at this event.
I certainly trust that you will consider the messages you take in at the Couples Conference, the discussions you have with your spouse, and the time you are able to share with one another worth the investment as you drive back home. But allow me to make just a suggestion or two to help make the investment last beyond the weekend.
1. Let’s bring that sense of expectation out of the subconscious and into the forefront of our prayers and conversations. Let’s expect that God is going to use this time as a tangible blessing in our marriages and churches. Talk with your spouse about what you are looking forward to seeing God do and pray for one another and your marriage. Redeem the car ride to Williamsburg with meaningful relating.
2. Recognize that the time is going to fly by. It would be possible to be back in your front door in less than 24 hours from when you left. Let me encourage you if at all possible to linger a while. This is time to build and enjoy our relationships with the one God has joined us to and we have pledged our commitment to. Coming the day before or staying an extra night is highly recommended, but even if that isn’t feasible at least plan to add on a few hours before our after the conference to just be together.
As we prepare to go away, let us expect God to work. And let’s ask Him to work. But most of all let’s remember that we’re asking Him “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think.” (Eph. 3:20)
-Aaron
Just to be clear—since Gene thanked me below for my role in the new site—I thought it only right to set the record straight a bit. My role was solely in the big idea/look and feel/final decision arenas—the kind of role that requires others to do a lot of actual work.
So in the interest of full disclosure, here is a bit more info on those who did the heavy lifting on the site so you can appropriately thank them when you see them.
Tim Emerson has done a great job collecting and coordinating the team to get us to this point. Besides keeping everyone else on track he has put in innumerable hours himself with the myriad of issues and fixes that needed to be worked through.
James and Shelly Bowman are new to KingsWay but have jumped right in serving! They have done the bulk of the redesign for the main site and have improved a number of key features. They have literally put in hundreds of hours to help everything look good and work well.
The photography throughout the site has been provided by Bruno and Sarah Tarabocchia, also new to KingsWay. They have given us the opportunity to provide a more personal and welcoming look to the first public impression many people ever get of us.
Lee Ingram and Josiah Robertson have also spent dozens of hours getting our audio and blog pages reformatted, and up and running smoothly week by week.
We’ve (I include myself only to help this sound more personal) got a number of other areas of the site that these folks and the other members of the team are working on. I look forward to you benefiting from them in the coming weeks and months!
- Aaron
I hope you’re enjoying the new website. Huge thanks go to Aaron Campbell for his leadership & vision in the re-design and to Tim Emerson & his web team for literally hundreds of hours of hard work to design, build and implement the new site. What a gift this website is to KingsWay and to all who are impacted by it!
And thanks to Steve Patterson for his inspiration & leadership for this blog. He assures me that people will want to read our thoughts—which I find surprising. So I’m holding Steve personally responsible if this blog accumulates cyber-dust!
There’s nothing I’m more eager to communicate than gratitude to each of you for the way you respond to God’s love by extending it so effectively to others! As I intentionally seek out guests each Sunday to express appreciation for their visit, they inevitably communicate gratitude for the ways you have welcomed them.
For example, yesterday we received an e-mail from a former pastor who visited this Sunday: “We enjoyed the authenticity of worship as well as the warm welcome we received from everyone at the parking, through the parking lot, into the doors, through the foyer and even into the worship center. I would like to commend your leadership for leading in such grace and hospitality….we really enjoyed KingsWay and will visit again next Sunday to see how God leads.”
A similar observation came from C.J. Mahaney, commenting on “world class greeting from the parking lot to the auditorium.” He was also affected by the joyful fellowship that filled the foyer following the meeting. He told us, “You have a happy church!”
I’m both humbled and amazed by God’s kindness in the gift of community we enjoy each time we gather, corporately on Sundays or in community groups throughout the week. Thanks for the unselfish choices you make to reflect God’s love by welcoming guests and sharing your life with one another. This is indisputably the fruit of Christ’s finished work and God’s kindness in giving us new life.
Thanks for being the church! I’m so glad we’re in this together!
- Gene
This afternoon at the office, we had some fun with darts. Gene apparently thought he was a skilled dart thrower so we put him to the test.
But this was the result. Please don’t try this at home. This didn’t turn out to be a great idea.
In case you are wondering, I’m (Steve) OK now. Really.
We eventually figured out how to prop the dart board up and had our dart throwing contest to determine the winner of the $100 Gift Certificate for dinner at the “When Sinners Say I Do” Marriage Conference. A winner was selected with a couple throws of the darts. And the winner is……….. Watt and Lara Russell. Congrats Watt and Lara!!
- Steve
