Pastor's Note - April 8 
Sometimes it’s important to stop and celebrate what the Lord is doing. We’ll see that when we get to the Song of Moses after the Israelites depart Egypt. The cycles of life bring constant challenges, trials, and decisions, so stopping to reflect and celebrate is hugely important to break the rhythm, and cultivate thankfulness to the Lord. With that in mind, we should be celebrating some good things happening around CBC. We just had a great Easter weekend, with visitors attending, new people checking out CBC, and some being able to return to worship after difficult and long absences. We had two good and healthy services. More than that, I believe we praised the Lord well and gave our hearts to Him. Beyond that, we have a Christianity Explored class coming up, wherein some will have the opportunity to learn more about Jesus and Christianity. Also, we are preparing to send another team to Utah this summer to minister to and strengthen our partnership with Lakeview Church in Utah, as they minister in a largely Mormon context. Beyond that, our ministry to the Lakeview Heights neighborhood, with our site team, is growing in its involvement and investment in that community. We are also seeing more people get connected in discipleship relationships, and a few other ministries we are dreaming of and just getting off the ground, that aren’t ready to talk about yet but have me excited. We also have more leaders in the pipeline being called and trained. And throughout this year, our giving has been stable if not downright good, which isn’t necessarily something we place our joy in, but is certainly a reason to give thanks to the Lord. And we should always be thankful when the church excels in generosity. Let’s give praise to the Lord for all of this! Of course we have challenges ahead, and disagreements to work through – we always will. But we dare not neglect celebrating the goodness of the Lord. And while the Lord is always good – and we always, in all circumstances, have cause to praise Him – our God has been exceedingly kind to us in these past weeks, and we should praise His name. One last thought: How helpful would it be for our souls, especially in this season, if we grew in thankfulness, joyfulness, and gratitude to the Lord?