Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught abounding in thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6
ABOUNDING IN THANKSGIVING
Of all people in the world, those who are in Christ have the most reasons to abound with thanksgiving. Humility should distinguish us because we appreciate the depth of our sin and depravity. Apart from the grace and mercy of the Lord, we would be without faith, lost, and separated from God. Were it not for the life, death, resurrection, and reign of Jesus, we would have no hope of justification on the great and final day of judgment! Had the Lord not mercifully chosen, called, and granted us pardon based on the atoning work of the Son, we would be hopeless. Yet, grace abounds! So too, may our thanksgiving abound!
A MESSAGE OF HOPE FOR OUR NEIGHBORS
Please begin praying for a gospel outreach we will be making as a church family in the upcoming weeks. Our elders and Engage Griffin mission team have designed a way for every Crestview member to spread the gospel to our friends, family, and "ones" during December. This strategy will have several synergistic prongs of involvement:
Gathered worship December 13 & 20. These two services are the focal point. They will feature the proclamation of the gospel from 1 Timothy 3:16 with two sermons, “Hope Revealed” and “Hope Received”. These are Sundays for every member to make a special effort to bring non-believing friends and family to these in-person services. These will be excellent times to invite your "one" to join us.
Live-streaming on December 13 & 20. For those unable to attend in person due to COVID, we will feature the opportunity for those outside our church to watch these services from home. If your "one" lives in another location, you can invite them to watch and then follow up with them afterwards.
Website: We will soon drop a new feature onto the Crestview website called: A Message of Hope for our Neighbors. On this page will feature several short videos explaining the gospel and highlight how to watch the Sunday services.
Social media: In December we will promote on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. We encourage everyone to share and re-post these messages to your friends on social media. The wide reach of our church family in this way is exponential.
Invitation packets: We will be preparing invitation packets for you to deliver to your friends and neighbors inviting them to attend in person or watch from home. On Saturday, December 5, at 11 AM you are invited to pray together and then go out distributing invitations around our church campus. On Sunday, December 6 invitation packets will be available for all members to take to deliver to neighbors, coworkers, and friends.
We can leverage our digital tools to make initial contact and share the gospel through screens across our community and world. While we know this is not a substitute for the assembling of the church, we hope this is a way we can reach those who would otherwise not attend one of these gatherings. Please begin praying for this outreach and look for ways to personally take advantage of this to share the gospel with others.
For His Glory,
Pastor Thomas