Highlights from Elder Meetings - April to mid-May

Elder Minutes – Blog Edition

1. Update on Church Expansion. The property we were negotisting on in March was sold to another interested party. The Elders continue to seek land on which to build our main facility.

2. Office Space Update. The office space we had intended to lease on Main Street will not be available to us due to the owner’s need for the property. We have leased other office space on 2750 South County Trail. Occupancy will be determined when the renovations are complete.

3. Christ Church at Cole. This additional Sunday service launched April 23, 2006. A dedicated group of people made the start up of this new service welcoming and exciting. The Spirit of God continues to draw people to Himself. Over 100 people have consistently attended this new opportunity to spread the Gospel.

4. RI Christian Singles. Linda Anderson joined us at 4/19 to report on the RI Christian Singles Ministry. Linda shared with us how God has blessed this ministry. We prayed with her and asked God to continue to touch single Christians throughout our region.

5. ECC Annual Meeting. Peter Frank was our delegate at the East Coast Conference Annual Meeting of the ECC in Springfield, MA on April 29.

6. April 1 Day of Prayer. The arrangements for the Day of Prayer April 1, 2006 were excellent. People came to offer prayers for many of the churches initiatives. We look forward to the next prayer event toward late summer.

7. Holy Week Services. The Elders spent time in preparation for Holy Week Services. God moved very powerfully during the Maunday Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Services. We have heard of many people receiving a touch from God during this special time.

8. Financial Administration Transition. The process of transitioning to the new financial system continues to make progress and will be part of our report during the annual meeting.

9. Student Ministries. Rob LaRocco, Student Pastor, joined us 4/26. Rob shared with us some coming events in the XL ministry. Rob continues to see God’s hand transforming lives through the various meetings offered through this ministry. We prayed for Rob and those that work in this ministry with him. May God continue to draw the youth in this area to Himself.

10. Performance Reviews. We have completed pastors Lyle and Marty’s annual review. Robert Messore’s review will be Sunday 5/21/06

11. Living Beyond Myself. This four-week campaign (April 23 to May 14) to launch the “Volunteer Connection” ministry in our church was a great success culminating in a Ministry Expo. The Expo was truly an example of the Spirit working among us.

Faithfully in Christ

The Christ Church Elders

Reflections with Robert Messore

In the Gospel of John chapter 6 verse 44 Jesus states,
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,”
(New International Version)

Another translation states it this way,

“No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me makes them want to come.”
(Contemporary English Version)

“No one can come to Jesus unless the Father creates the desire to come”
(Robert ‘s translation)

This verse, along with many others, gives us a perspective that reveals one of the distinctions of Christianity. God is the initiator and we are the responders. We become children of God not because we independently chose God but because God created, in us, a desire for Him. We may or may not recognize this in the beginning, yet along the way we realize that the grace of God was extended toward us and we have received His invitation to be in a relationship with Him.

One of the problems that occur at another point in our growth is the perception that God began a good work in us and now we must take over and make everything happen from here on in.

This is particularly true with our prayer life. There are times in our walk with God that praying is good. We have a sense of communicating with God and we feel satisfied and content. Then, the times come when we are not praying, or that prayer is not what it was before. So, we decide to try harder, pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, only to become more frustrated. Sometimes I can hear Paul saying to me as he did to the church in Galatia, “After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” What I find helpful is to go back to the place where my understanding was God is the initiator and all I have to do is respond. Rather than trying to work up my prayer time, I read some scripture and then wait for my sensitivity to the movement of God to draw me into Him. I focus on His desire for me, His expression of love toward me. Sometimes he then awakens me to a multiple of ways we can communicate, through song, nature, scripture and even at times a soft voice within me that just says, “Here I am, and I love you”.

Try listening this week; be open, to all the ways that God is inviting you to commune with Him. My prayer is that He surprises you by revealing the multiple expressions He calls prayer.

For the Elders

Robert Messore