From the Pastor’s Desk

Dear Friends,

When you live in the South it is not easy to make the call on whether or not to conduct worship when snow and ice are on the roads. You hate to cancel worship opportunities, but you also don’t want to put people in danger. As I was contemplating whether or not we should offer worship I was also reflecting on a meeting we had of the Technology Task Group earlier in the week. That group began to explore how we could make a bigger impact through the use of technology. I began to wonder if this particular weather impacted Sunday was an opportunity to try an experiment with worship and technology. And so we did. Through Facebook and email we put out an opportunity for people to worship from home. And many people did. New visitors came to the Facebook page and people shared what we posted. This interactive worship service seemed to connect and it provides us a model that we may be able to build upon. Be in prayer for how God may be using us to create something new and exciting.

Even though most folks were snowed or iced in on January 24th, about 30 people were able to arrive at the church for worship. I am so proud of the way folks adapted and shared resources. Dena Wade came and shared her musical talents, we had muffins and hot chocolate, we fellowshipped and we worshipped. What a wonderful example of how ACPC pulls together and shares and assists one another.

The season of Lent is going to come a little early this year. Lent is the season when we are invited to reflect on ways we can deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ. Ash Wednesday is February 10th and begins the season of Lent. Rather than a mid-week service of ashes, we are going to offer ashes on Sunday, February 7th. The ashes we use are from the palms we used during Palm Sunday last year. Ashes are a symbol of repentance and a reminder to be humble before God. Lent concludes with Holy Week and Easter on March 27th. Join us on this journey this year.

Peace, Sam

Devotional: John 3:20-21

“For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

• What kinds of deeds can we do that will attract people to the light of Jesus Christ?
• What kinds of deeds can we do that repel people from moving toward Jesus Christ?
• What are ways that we can examine our deeds to determine if they attract or repel?
• How can we encourage others to live lives of attraction?