2022 State of the Communion Address

Introduction
It is our tradition at Pleasant Grove at the beginning of each new year, to have a State of the Communion Address where we look back at the accomplishments of the previous year and look forward to some goals and initiatives for the coming year.  My hope is this will give us a chance to pause and remember and celebrate what Christ has accomplished through us (for it is too easy to forget).  A further hope is to give some direction for our ministry in the coming year.

 But before we get into those details, I want us to hear God’s Word, for all that we believe and do is founded upon God’s Word and I believe God’s Word will give us much needed perspective in our task today.  

1 Corinthians 5:17-21
¹⁷ …anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

¹⁸ And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. ¹⁹ For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. ²⁰ So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ²¹ For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

Ambassadors of Christ
Paul’s words in this Scripture remind us who we are.  When a person becomes a Christian, they become a totally new person.  In fact, the transformation is so significant, it can be described as the old person dying and a new person coming to life.  Jesus described it in John 3:3 as being born again. 

This dramatic distinction between the old self and the new self may be easier to realize when a person becomes a Christian as a teenager or adult, because they are more self-aware.  Many people in the church, thankfully, grow up always knowing and following Christ.  For them, they cannot ever remember a time before they were Christian.  This is nothing to worry about.  In fact, it is my hope for all children raised in our church that they will never walk down the wrong road in life and have need for a dramatic conversion experience where they get back on the right road (as the Apostle Paul needed to do).  I pray that my kids, your kids, the kids of my church will always walk the right road.  Of course, we all need little corrections along the way, but it is not necessary for us to start out as scoundrels and convert to become Christians.

The point is, anyone who is a Christian has a drastically different purpose in life than a non-Christian.  A non-Christian believes they are free to choose their own path and do whatever they want in life.  Ironically, they are actually slaves and not free.  Their sinful nature, selfish pursuits, and the corrupt world work together to trap them in a downward spiral to death and eternal damnation.  Though they seek pleasure and fulfillment, it is always fleeting and elusive, because all people were created for a relationship with God and we cannot be at peace without it. 

Christians realize the great gift God gave the world through Jesus. Humanity was lost in sin, completely separated from God, utterly hopeless.  But Jesus died on the cross to atone for our sin and make it possible for people to reconcile with God.  And the Christian has chosen to “die to self”—to abandon selfishness and instead live for God by following Christ’s way of life to take up a cross every day and follow Jesus.  Ironically, by giving up our selfish ambitions, we discover True Life, by fulfilling our divine purpose to live in harmony with God.  And so a Christian’s purpose is the same as Christ’s purpose.  We are here in this world to serve as ambassadors for Christ.  He continues to reconcile the world to God through us.  God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”

 And so, at the beginning of this New Year, I ask all of you–if you are truly a Christian–to remember your purpose.  You are not living to please yourself.  You are here as Christ’s ambassadors, reconciling people to God.

This is our purpose at Pleasant Grove.  It’s not about our traditions or our events or how many people we can get to come to Trunk or Treat.  It’s about reconciling a world of lost people to God through Jesus Christ.  We are Christ’s voice pleading with the world:  “Come back to God!”  That was the purpose that guided our work in 2021 and I hope will guide us in 2022 as well.

Looking Back at 2021
2021 has been a whirlwind.  It has gone by so fast.  I’m truly dumbfounded.  It still feels to me as if it is January 2021!  I know it is now 2022, but it truly seems like I was just sitting down to make plans for 2021 and now we’re making plans for 2022.  Where did the year go?  And yet, so much has happened over the last 12 months, I have to look back to remember it all.  And if I’m being completely honest, ministry has been really hard this year.  

The first year of the Pandemic was an adrenaline rush.  2021 began with such great hopes that a vaccine would finally rid us of COVID.  And we made good progress, but I think we’ve all been disabused of the notion that COVID is just going to go away.  We are going to be living with it for a while.  

And so in the midst of it, we’ve been laboring to resume important ministries like in person Sunday school, Bible study, children’s ministry, choir rehearsal, and others while dealing with quarantines, new variants, fewer volunteers, and inconsistent attendance.

I realize this has been hard for everyone.  It has been especially hard for the leaders of our church.  Leaders put forth a brave face, but those closest to them know how they struggle.  I myself have talked with my wife many times about my frustrations with ministry this year.  And I’ve shed tears in the church office as in front of Angela as I’ve lamented.    Leading in 2021 was frustrating.  We see where Pleasant Grove needs to go and we’re focused on leading the church there, but there are so many obstacles to navigate along the way, and people are scared, anxious, frustrated, and uncertain.  Many people have drifted away from their commitment to Christian habits and have lost their focus on Christ’s call to be His ambassador with Pleasant Grove.

And in truth, I sometimes felt as if many people either didn’t care or they were disappointed with me for not doing enough when in fact I was doing all I could.  I’ve been expending exorbitant amounts of extra spiritual energy to reboot ministries that were shut down for over a year, even as some were expressing their own frustrations and concerns, comparing our efforts to what other churches were doing and what people thought we should do or what their pastor should do.

Despite these frustrations, we have made great strides in 2021 to resume essential ministries.  And I want to point these out so they aren’t overlooked.  Starting back was far more important and much harder than shutting down, but not necessarily as exciting for people who tend to note more sensational events.

Do you remember that at this time last year, many of our ministries were still not meeting in person?  All of our IN PERSON Sunday school classes were on pause or were only meeting on Zoom.  There was no Thursday morning Bible study, no children’s church.  Only the youth were gathering, carefully with masks and social distanced, for Pizza with Amy.  We were still not allowed to do pastoral visits to people in the hospitals or nursing homes.  Funerals were still limited to 50 or fewer people.  We were not meeting for dinner on Wednesday nights.  Almost all our activities, besides Sunday morning worship, were still shut down.  And our in-person Sunday morning worship attendance on this Sunday, last year, was 33 people.  That’s combined—including both the early service and the regular service.  33 people.  Our average in-person attendance in now regularly back up close to 100 people.  

One year ago, we still didn’t even have hymnals available in the sanctuary, because we were still cautious about transferring the virus through touched surfaces like hymnals. 

So throughout the entire 2021 year, we’ve been rebuilding, rebooting, regathering volunteers and attendees, figuring out how to do it all again with ongoing restrictions.  And it’s been a lot of hard work, but so rewarding to see everyone gathering together again. 

We’ve resumed regular, weekly children’s church and Wednesday night children’s ministry under the leadership of our new children’s minister-Tiffany Tankersley.  Tiffany has been working diligently, despite falling down some steps and breaking her face in the first few weeks after she started the job!  Tiffany has working to ramp up our in-person kids programs, almost building them from scratch, while she’s also endure like 3 reconstructive surgeries on her face! It’s been a blessing to have Tiffany on board—to see her genuine passion to teach our children about Jesus’ love.

Our Sunday school classes have resumed meeting every Sunday, in person.  We resumed our Thursday morning Bible study with 10-15 people and have completed studies of the books of James, Jonah, and will soon finish the Book of Psalms.  This year, I was able to do some hospital and nursing home visits for the first time since COVID, though these are still sometimes restricted when new COVID variants emerge.  And I am sending cards to shut-ins ever week. 

The choir was blessed to resume weekly rehearsals for fully vaccinated members in May.  We began by sitting out in the sanctuary, socially distanced, and have eventually worked our way back up into the choir loft, where it feels so much better to sing in a sea of beautiful choral voices.  What a blessing it was to the choir to be able to sing together in person again.  And it was quite a blessing to everyone in worship as well.  Consider, that in December 2020, the Christmas cantata was done virtually.  Everything was pre-recorded and we watched it on the screens.  A few weeks ago, we were blessed to have the choir back, sitting in the choir loft, blessing us with a beautiful live Christmas cantata.  

I want to thank David for his leadership of our music ministries in all this.  I know it was stressful and took a lot of thought, prayer, and extra work on top of the normal workload of leading music ministries of our church. 

In September, we resumed our Wednesday night fellowship meals after a 17-month break forced by the pandemic.  Angela Stack and Angel Kirk worked together to gather volunteers to setup, serve, and clean. And you don't just flip a switch and restart a ministry like that.  Some people might think: "Well, you just get all your old volunteers and start back."  No, after 17 months, you don't have any volunteers any more.  You have to contact every one and build the volunteer list from scratch. 

The resumption of all these ministries took place in the midst of concerns about new COVID variants, like Delta and Omicron, that made us second guess ourselves and sometimes forced us to pause or backtrack.  Throughout 2021, it seems like it was 2 steps forward and 1 step back.  Progress like that is slow and frustrating, but it is progress to be proud of.  Remember, 2 steps forward and 1 step back  is still forward progress and if you do it consistently for a year, you make a lot of progress.  Looking back, we see have moved so far forward!  Don’t you ever forget it!  And be proud because 2 steps forward and 1 step back is 3 steps. So we have work 3 times as hard this past year than we normally do.

We also saw new people joining our fellowship!  Praise God! Hallelujah!  Our first new member since the beginning of the pandemic was Connie Reed, who transferred her membership to Pleasant Grove on May 9^th, 2021.

We also received:
· Robert and Melissa Starling and their boys, Garrett and Ellis
· Chris and Ashley Ewton and their infant son Ben
· And we baptized Kelsey and Chad Ikerd’s baby, Julianne

2021 saw 5 new church members, 2 people gave their life to Jesus, 1 rededicated their life to Christ, and we had 6 baptisms!  Praise God! Hallelujah! 

And I can’t let it pass without saying that through out all of this terrible pandemic, the people of PGMC have been faithful to give generously to our church.  Your faithful giving allowed us to keep doing ministry in a crazy time and surge ahead.  

In July, we launched Operation Mercy Drops to award three kinds of grants to help and honor people in our community: 
1. Merit grants to honor people who are serving,
2. Service grants to help community organizations making a difference, and
3. Hardship grants to help people in need.

So far we have awarded five $1000 grants and one $500 grant.  A total of $5,500! This program has been recognized nationally by the United Methodist denomination as an innovative model for how to be the hands and feet of Christ.  And we did it in the midst of a pandemic.  I want to thank this church for stepping out in faith to do it.  I want to thank Salena Weed, Kelly Scruggs, Rita Wagers, and Mike Wilson for directing the program.

I also want encourage you to sponsor someone. (Details are available at www.pleasantgrove.cc/omd.)  We specifically want you to nominate people or organizations you want to reward.  This is not just to help people who have a hardship.  We want you to think of people or organizations that deserve to be recognized.  The program only works if you nominate people to receive an Operation Mercy Drops grant. 

So, 2021 was a challenging year, but it was year of great ministry by PGMC.  Don’t be discouraged.  Don’t lose heart because it’s hard.  We are doing great things in the name of Jesus and we will continue to do great things in 2022.  So let’s look ahead to this New Year.

Looking Ahead to 2022
I want you to know I am committed to be your pastor for the foreseeable future.  I know we are United Methodists and UM pastors are only officially appointed for one year at a time.  However, we are still in the midst of a pandemic and the UM denomination will be navigating a denomination split some time in the next couple years (possibly even this year).  These are extraordinary circumstances unlike anything we or the UMC have ever experienced.  So far, the North Georgia conference leaders have been generous to allow pastors and church more leeway to remain together with their congregations until things settle down.  I have requested not to be moved.  Our HR Committee has also made this request to the District Superintendent.

I want you to know, I have no plans to move to another church until at least 2025.  I have talked with our HR Committee about this and also my District Superintendent and he was supportive.  He even recommended I discuss this with our church to make a plan.  I understand that no one can predict what the future holds.  It is all in God’s hand.  However, we make plans and we work to implement them until God changes them and shows us a different way.  

The point is, I want you to know, I am committed to pastor this church as long as you will have me.  I’m saying this now because I know I’ve been at Pleasant Grove a lot longer than is customary for a UM pastor.  Some may be thinking, “Well, Chris isn’t going to be here much longer.”  Well, I am planning to be here, as long as you will allow me.

I also want you to know, I don’t plan on just coasting by either.  I’m as excited and energized by the opportunity to lead this church as I've ever been.  I hope you will be excited to let me and work with me for several more years.  We have a lot to do and I believe God wants us to do it together.  So let’s get to it.

One of the things I believe we need to focus on this year is more outreach to shut-ins.  There are many people in our church family who are not able to come to church regularly because of age or health restrictions.  They often feel lonely and disconnected from the church and the life in general.  Ministering to them has been especially challenging through this pandemic, but we have got to do better to reach out to them, encourage them, and include them.  I am committed as the pastor of this church to do better.  Last year, I was able to resume some visiting, and I also began writing notes to shut-ins every week.  I will do more this year.  I want to start taking communion to shut-ins.  As a pastor and United Methodist Elder, I am the only one at our church authorized to consecrate the sacrament and share it with shut-ins.  I plan to.

However, our shut-ins deserve more than just the pastor’s attention.  This church is their family.  You are their family and they have known many of you much longer than they've known me.  They need you to call them, visit them, send them notes, and show them your love.  If we all help with this, there are more than enough people at our church to serve these members of our church family.  I want you to pray about this.  How could you help share Jesus’ love to our shut-ins?

I asked all our ministry leaders to share one thing they want to focus on in 2022.  David Crawford shared that he wants to focus on bringing in more college students who have a passion and talent for music, but (like many college students) are not as involved in church.  David wants to bring them in to sing with our choir to be a blessing to the church, but also to bless these students with a church family that will love them like Jesus.  I hope you will pray for this effort and support it wholeheartedly.

Our tech minister, Jeremy Barfield, said his main goal for 2022 is to expand the tech volunteer base and train more folks to serve in various ways in tech. We need more volunteers.  Can you help with this?  Or, can you invite someone to our church who would like to learn about this kind of ministry?

Tiffany’s goals with our children’s ministry are to participate in more outreach events.  She wants to plan more outings for kids and get kids involved in active outreach and serving.  She wants to plan ahead for church events like Valentine’s Day, Easter, Trunk or Treat, and Lunch with Santa, and plan some summer outings and VBS. 

Amy's goals with our youth are to establish more adult volunteers and chaperones to make more youth trips and supervision possible.

My goal is to take communion to shut-ins to share this special sacrament with them so they can draw strength from Jesus presence in the bread and wine.  I also want to use YouTube, social media, and other online tools to teach and preach the Word. 

And I want to help lead this church through the challenges of this ongoing pandemic and the coming split of the United Methodist Church into two separate new denominations:
· one that allows same-sex marriage & the ordination of self-professing homosexuals pastors
· and a traditional denomination that teaches a biblical view of sexuality in line with orthodox Christians around the world and throughout history.

The UMC is scheduled to hold a global general conference at the end of August this year.  If they are able to meet, they will vote to split the denomination and there will be many important decisions for our congregation to make.  However, no one knows right now if the General Conference will be able to meet.  It is a complex gathering with a few thousand delegates from all over the world into one building and 40% of the delegates will be coming from including places like Africa and the Phillipines who are still facing travel restrictions due to the pandemic.  If they are not able to meet like planned, a messy denominational split may proceed anyway or it may be postponed.  Either way, these will be tricky waters for our church to navigate.  I hope I have your trust to lead you through it all.  Please pray for me and our church and our global denomination in the midst of it all this year.

Now, I can think of no better way to begin our new year together than by celebrating the sacrament of Holy Communion.  In this sacrament, we remember the sacrifice Christ has made for us to wash away our sins and reconcile us to God and each other. And we remember our purpose to be His ambassadors pleading with the world:  “Come back to God!”  And we also receive His nourishing grace to help us in the task.

2021 State of the Communion Address

Introduction

Today, as we gather for worship on this first Sunday of 2021, I want to pause for a moment to look back at the previous year and then look forward to the new one.  2020 proved the ancient truth written in Proverbs 19:21, “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”

As we leave 2020 behind, there is hope the new year will be better (even though COVID cases in our area are at their highest level so far).  No one really knows what 2021 has in store.  We hope the new vaccines are effective, cases will decline, and soon the dreadful word COVID will become a relic of the past.  The reality is, we don’t know how long the current crisis will continue or if a new one will arise.  Prudence calls us to be hopeful, but also cautious.  It also calls for faith because we know Jesus holds the future in his hands.  He walked with us through a very difficult year and we must trust He will continue through the remainder of this crisis and in whatever the future holds.

New Members: Jon, Andrea,
& Andrew Adams

Looking Back at 2020
We began 2020 like most years.  We were full of hope, doing God’s work, and enjoying life together in a brand new decade.  We welcomed our 98th, 99th, and 100th new members of the last decade--Jon, Andrea, and Andrew Adams.  People were posting pictures on social media for the #10YearChallenge, showing how they’d changed over the previous decade.  Our youth members led youth Sunday in January.  Coach Lamb was our guest speaker at a very successful Super Bowl Sunday worship service.  We enjoyed our annual sweethearts banquet with music by Heather Petero.

We had a 24 hour prayer vigil on Feb. 27, 2020

But some sensed trouble in our world--in politics, in our United Methodist denomination, and even in nature as natural disasters wracked our world.  We called for a day of prayer and fasting.  For 24 hours on February 27th, members of our church prayed and fasted.  Looking back at the troubles of 2020, some may question why so many disasters befell our world if we were praying so hard?  My faith leads me in a different direction.  I see that our prayer vigil prepared and fortified us for what was to be a very difficult year.  It was only 2 weeks later that the COVID-19 pandemic reached Georgia with its full force, causing the shut down of our schools, businesses, and even churches.

Fire in Australia in early 2020

Our 2020 experience was unprecedented.  The world has experienced plagues before--some far deadlier than COVID-19.  But never before had a plague spanned the whole globe all at once while reported on the news for everyone to see.  The economy suffered.  People were out of work.  Millions died and the random way the virus affected different people--mild symptoms for some and death for others--left everyone in doubt and fear.  Added to the virus were other serious troubles in our world--deep divisions, mistrust, racial injustice, and violence were plagues that spread as fast as COVID.

Building a Wheel Chair Ramp

And as sad as I am to think of the hurt and suffering and death that visited so many this past year, I am just as proud of the people of this church for finding so many ways to share the light of Christ in the darkness.  Let’s review.

We helped build a porch for the Teasley/Head family while Terry was recovering from kidney surgery. We also built a wheelchair ramp for Debby Castillo in preparation for her knee surgery.

We donated face masks and shields to the DEO Clinic

In lieu of a community Easter Egg Hunt, we gave candy filled Easter eggs to families in our community. People picked up Easter packets and had their own private, family Easter Egg Hunt.

New Flooring in the Sunday School Wing

With school canceled, we shifted our snack pack program from feeding school children to feeding refugees recovering from the Easter tornadoes that damaged Chattanooga and Murray County.

During the shortage, we donated masks and face shields to help volunteers at the DEO medical clinic, which provides free medical care to the neediest people in our community. These helped protect these brave volunteers so they could continue providing essential medical services to people in our community who might die without it.

We placed church yard signs around our community and displayed red ribbons to show support.

Donations from the Sara Brooker estate and others enabled us to renovate the floors in our SS wing and install a new digital LED sign.

Drive-Thru Trunk or Treaters

After months of isolation, we needed fellowship. So we had our summer Family Fun Days.

To help our burgeoning tech ministries, we hired Jeremy Barfield to take our online ministry to the next level.

We delivered dinners to feed the NW Bruins football team and also the CCHS marching band.

When everyone else canceled theirs, we offered a drive-thru trunk or treat.
We collected 91 boxes for Operation Christmas child.

We had a glorious Virtual Christmas Cantata and a beautiful Christmas Eve Candlelight service.

Click here to watch a short video highlighting some of the amazing ministry in which Pleasant Grove Methodist Church engaged in 2020.

During the pandemic, we went from having only one Sunday morning worship service to three: 9:00 AM, 10:55 AM and a full online worship service (at 10:55 AM). We have just added a call-in service where you can use a telephone to call in and listen to the service; so technically that makes four services. Despite shutting down on-site services for over two months in the spring (including Easter), and despite severe disruption for the rest of the year, our combined average worship attendance from online and onsite services was 145 (that’s an increase from 114 in 2019 to 145 in 2020). And despite all the disruption, our church finances were better in 2020 than any other time in the last ten years I’ve served as pastor of Pleasant Grove Methodist Church.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that these are only stats for church-sponsored events.  I can’t even begin to list all the ways individual members of our church have made a distinct difference in a hundred thousand ways just by living out your lives as followers of Christ in your everyday lives--at home, at work, in school, wherever you are.  For among our number are teachers, government leaders, law enforcement officers, healthcare workers, retail workers, and many essential workers who kept our community going through the most difficult year I can ever remember.

That was 2020. And though I am saddened by the hurt and loss so many have experienced, I couldn’t be prouder of my church.  The church is not the building.  The church is people.

Looking Ahead
One thing I want you to know as we look to the future God wants for us is this:  You are capable of far more than you think you are.  You have adapted and thrived in a very difficult year.  You can do anything you put your mind to if you have faith and work hard.  I hope you will take hold of this new confidence.  As an individual, you can do amazing things and I hope you will work hard to do whatever God calls you to do.  Do not fear.  For the Lord almighty empowers you when you have faith in Christ. 

Whatever 2021 holds, I am confident Pleasant Grove will tenaciously find ways to do the things God calls us to do.  We will have many activities and accomplish a lot this year.  I won’t try to list them all (for I can’t even imagine them all).  Right now, I just want to share three essential things we need to do in 2021.

A Day of Prayer and Fasting - February 17
We need to have another day of prayer and fasting.  I don’t know what 2021 holds, but I know who holds 2021 in His hands.  Therefore, I want our church to have another day of prayer and fasting to make sure our spirits are in tune with God’s Holy Spirit.  This will give us courage and strength and wisdom for whatever 2021 brings.  I want to set aside February 17, which is Ash Wednesday, for 24 hours of prayer and fasting.  I invite each of you to participate by fasting from food (or some other item) and to also sign up to pray for at least 30 minutes sometime during that day.  We will have 30 minute time slots for the whole day and I want to see someone praying during every time slot.

A Service of Celebration/Thanksgiving 
At some point, we will have a service of celebration and Thanksgiving.  No one knows what will happen, but we anticipate life will eventually go back to normal (whatever that means). At some point, we hope the new vaccines will be widely distributed, COVID cases will drastically decrease, lockdowns and quarantines will be a thing of the past.  That will take time.  Unfortunately, I don’t think we will be able to announce it’s all over in one day.  It will happen gradually and even then it will take time for people to overcome their fear and accept it. Eventually, we will be able to look back and recognize things have gone back to normal.

Whenever that happens, I would like to have a special service of Thanksgiving to celebrate.  Like I said, I don’t know when that will be.  Right now, in my own mind, I’m thinking sometime in November--around Thanksgiving.  That seems to be the fitting time to do it.  Though I believe (and hope) we will move beyond COVID much sooner than November, I sense it may take until November before we actually all realize and agree that we have.  Whenever we can, we will give thanks and celebrate.

A New Vision for a New Normal
Speaking of going back to normal, I think we need to understand that it will be a new normal.  In some ways, life will go back to being just the way it was before COVID.  In other ways, it won’t.  Will people ever feel comfortable shaking hands, hugging, gathering in large crowds? I don't know; we will see.  

In some ways, I hope we don’t go back to the normal way we were before COVID.  Prior o COVID, most people took gathering in a crowd to worship at church for granted. I hope we never again take worshipping together for granted.  I hope we all continue to wash our hands and avoid being in public when we are sick, and maybe even wearing a mask when we are sick so we don't spread our germs; these are good, healthy habits I hope we keep.

Furthermore, I believe God has given the church a unique opportunity to reset.  I don’t want to waste this opportunity.  I invite you to personally consider what your “new” normal will be.  How do you want to live life when life goes back to normal?  Make your goals now and make a plan to accomplish your new way of living.

As for our church, I want to gather a group of visionary leaders from our church to discuss what our new normal will be.  What ministries and activities do we feel God wants us to pursue in the future?  Will we just go back to doing everything the way we were doing it prior to COVID?  Or are there some things we want to change or stop doing? And is there anything new we need to do instead?  Where can we improve our efforts?  We need leaders with vision to consider these things and chart a new path for Pleasant Grove going forward.  I plan to gather some key leaders for a vision summit sometime this year so we will be ready for to hit the ground running when things return to normal.  We will probably have multiple meetings to help us chart the best course into a new future.

Other Things You Can Do to Help
I’m almost done, but I want to finish by offering a few things you can do in 2021 to help Pleasant Grove. First of all "Like" and "Follow" our Facebook page. Follow us on Instagram. Subscribe to our YouTube channel.  I would like to set some goals to get 1,000 likes on our church Facebook page; 500 followers on Instagram, and 100 subscribers to our YouTube channel.  So please, go over and like, follow, and subscribe.  This may seem insignificant, but it really helps our church increase our ability to share God’s Word as far as possible.

Join a small group.  I want you to be part of a small group at our church.  Attend an onsite Sunday school class or join Sherry’s online Zoom class or attend my morning devotions on Facebook Live at 8 AM.  I want everyone to engage in one of these small group offerings (however you feel most comfortable).  The Christian life is not passive but active. It requires more than just to sit passively in a pew in a worship service. It requires more than merely watching a service online. YOu need to engage with a small group of believers to encourage and learn from one another.

Lastly, make a commitment.  Have you been baptized?  Have you decided to follow Jesus?  Do you want to join our church?  Let’s not put these off any longer.  Let’s find ways to do these in 2021. For much of 2020, we mput this important commitments off, hoping the pandemic would go away and we would then be free to safely make our commitments. Let's not put these off any longer. There are safe ways for people to be baptized, profess their faith in Jesus, join as members of the church, or make other commitments. Let's not put these important things off; we can find safe ways to do these. Let's make our commitments in 2021. What commitment do you need to make? How can we help you mark that commitment and encourage you to live it out? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Send me a message.

If we put our faith in Christ and follow the Holy Spirit's guidance, I believe 2021 will be a great year, whatever it may bring.  Join with me as I renew my commitment to serve the Lord in everything I do.