Pastor's Note

Earlier this week Karla sent out a substantive email with information on three important pieces - a Personal Ministry Survey, a draft for a revised CBC Constitution and Bylaws, and a prototype/draft of our new CBC Discipleship Pathway. We'll be talking more about each of those over the next weeks and months. For now, I just wanted to touch on the Personal Ministry Survey.

This Sunday, we will be on question 20 in our catechism time on Sunday mornings. Thus far, the catechism questions have been establishing God's holiness, our sin, and the need for a Savior. The upcoming questions will revolve around the nature of redemption and our Redeemer. I've enjoyed these catechism times so far (especially this last Sunday), and I hope they've been fruitful.

I thoroughly enjoyed our Heritage Night last Friday evening, and am very grateful for those who worked hard to make it happen. That team is now asking the question - should we do it again? I would love to know what the rest of the church thinks. Should we host another "Heritage Night" next year, or sometime in the future? Should we make it an annual thing?

Now that we're into the second month of the year, it may be a good time for me to ask how your practice of spiritual disciplines is going. I think we all know the value and necessity of spiritual disciplines — the regular engagement in prayer, Scripture reading, singing, and corporate worship, to name a few — if we are to follow the Lord.

Greetings CBC! Due to the uncertain forecast of cold and potential snow for Friday evening, and especially the need for our speaker and those preparing the meal to be able to prep in advance, we have determined it would be best to postpone our Heritage Night event, and instead host it on the evening of Friday, February 6th.

This week Scott Adams, the writer of the comic "Dilbert," sadly passed from prostate cancer. I'm not overly familiar with the comic but have definitely gotten a chuckle from some of his work. What interested me regarding his death was his apparent late conversion to Christianity. I remark on this not to assess or make a judgment as to whether or not he is truly with the Lord now. That's the Lord's to determine.

I'm getting back into the office this week after a Christmas break, and I have been quickly confronted with a multitude of unfinished projects and tasks. The long "to-do" list is a blessing in it represents the many opportunities to serve and do worthwhile things. A true gift of God. But as we all know, the to-do list never really ends, and that can bring a sense of burden. It can be discouraging.

I'm very excited to start properly in 1 Samuel this Sunday. I've wanted to do a deep dive into the life of David for a while, and eventually we'll get there! I Samuel essentially focuses on three major figures - Samuel, Saul, and David. So we'll tackle it in three chunks, covering the portions of Samuel and Saul this year, and finally getting to David in 2027, Lord willing!

For me and my house, the week after Christmas is normally a week of rest and recovery and time together. In that spirit, I hope many of you are able to find rest in these days before turning to a new calendar year. And I give to you several words and promises in Scripture of rest in Christ, who is our great rest.

This Wednesday is our Christmas Eve service! We'll meet at 6pm, and here are a few things you can anticipate and notes to help you prepare to gather in worship.