We are not in support of Spam, if you would like to not receive these weekly witty words, please reply unsubscribe.
Doug's Weekly Words

Sept. 9th, 2009

In This E-mail
Doug's Weekly Reflection
Blest2Bless Thoughts
Weekly Update
Preparing for Sunday
Shout Out
Prayers

So Thankful-
We talk a lot in our church about our Purpose Statement being being Blest2Bless.  From the great text in Genesis 12 we affirm that each of us has been blessed, and because of that deep blessing, we are live the blessed life and we are to be a blessing.  That is one of the deepest truths in our lives, it is true in every level of our life and needs to be lived out in every level of our life…
As true as it is for each of our individual lives, it is also true of our whole church.  As a community of believers, we are truly blessed, and called to be a blessing.  I want to re-affirm just a few of the incredible blessings that are a part of our daily church life.  In the spirit of David Letterman I have chosen 10 ways that FPC is blessed, from our home office in the Pastor’s Study.

10- A delightful diversity of people that proclaim God’s word to us.  Other than my home cooking, that you are all subject to most every Sunday, we heard this year from Mary Ellen Ashcroft (an ordained English Professor from Michigan who grew up in our church), Tony Campolo (an ordained Sociology Professor), Chris Hoque (a Tierra Neuva Missionary), Zach Joy (a reformed convict turned minister), not to mention Nancy Taylor, Linda Kolody, Kyle Anderson, Alan Shore from our church.

9- A church building that is partially renovated and all paid for.  Our building turns 100 this year, that is a big deal.

8- A host of people that are blessing our community in so many ways, some of which we have heard about in our Blest2Bless Moments.

7- An embarrassment of riches in our music ministry.  We are regularly blessed by a host of talented and generous musicians.

6- A committed and representative Session.  We have been well-led all year and this new group is starting strong.  For the first time in my life I am older than the average elder age- wow.

5- A great staff.  We are blessed to have passionate and gifted people on our staff.

  We expecially Welcome Robby Olsen to this next chapter of ministry.

4- A strong INN ministry.  Under the love and nurture of the INN Staff the INN continues to be a place where Bellingham Students hear the Gospel every Tuesday night and throughout the week.

3- Other Presbyterian Churches in the Area that we can partner with.  I have the privilege of praying every other week with the other Presbyterian Pastors at each church.  This year we are committed to partner with each of these churches in building a house on the Lummi Reservation.

2- A Presbytery that we can trust and is Evangelistic.  You heard that right, we are on very good terms with our Presbytery, we have 4 people serving on Presbytery committees, and there is a Presbytery-wide focus on evangelism.

1- A Triune God who loves us, is faithful, and will stay with us whatever the next part of this adventure may hold.

And 10 is not nearly enough to list the many blessings that we experience.  I could go on for a few more pages.  Since we have been so blessed, it is an encouragement to commit to live the blessed life each minute of each day, and a renewed excitement to bless our neighbors.

In His Thanks,

Doug B.

Blest2Bless-BlestLife Practice for this next season is simplicity.  Begin to think where you need to live life more simply.

Blest2Bless-One up Your Giving- Where can you give more.