Pastoral Letter
Grace EMCommunication for Week of June 27:
I hope you all had a great weekend and the first two days of the week are
going well! I have been praying a lot for us as a church that we grow in
the grace of the gospel and that we be proactive in giving the grace of the
gospel to others in our lives!
I would appreciate your prayers. Beginning July 4, my family and I will be
away for study leave and vacation until Monday, August 1. The purpose of
part of my leave is to seek God in where best to lead the EM and what we
should be focusing on in the next two years. God has blessed us these last
9 months and looking forward to see where we can serve together in growing
in grace and giving that grace to our diverse community in Herndon and the
surrounding areas. Pray for wisdom and spiritual discernment and traveling
mercies. Pray that our Father would give me clarity and focus. I will be
praying for you as well when we are away.
Pray also for the following men who will be preaching in July:
July 10 - Pastor Paul Wang
July 17 - Pastor Steven Badorf
July 24 - Pastor Charles Garriott
July 31 - Pastor Chris Garriott
I end with some beginning thoughts that I hope will be more defined when I
return:
We are all called to be disciples - The call to discipleship
is a call to confess our allegiance to Jesus in the face of a hostile world;
to serve him and his mission, whatever the cost. So to be a disciple is to
be a disciple-maker. We are called both to encourage other believers as well
as to have a passion to reach others who do not know Jesus.
We are partners in the gospel of grace - Both pastor and
members/attendees are in gospel partnership standing together united in the
gospel determined to live as citizens of God's kingdom, longing to see the
gospel be defended and proclaimed in our local surroundings. We stand
together in praying and caring for another and our needs. We stand united
to equip one another in ministry. We find creative ways to use our
different spiritual gifts and talents to encourage and bless one another and
the community we serve.
Goals: From running programs to building people
From running events to training people
From using people to growing people
From filling gaps to training new workers
From solving problems to helping people make progress
From focusing too much on immediate pressures to aiming for
long-term expansion
From engaging in management to engaging in ministry.
From seeking church growth to desiring gospel growth.
To develop Team leadership and ministry
To forge ministry partnerships (with other churches and
organizations)
See you Sunday. Please read Luke 22:7-23. This is the sermon text for the
week. We will be celebrating the Lord's Supper as well. "Taste and see that
the LORD is good!!"
Blessings!
--
Warmly,
Jeff Rickett
Pastor of English Ministry