Lift Him Up

Thankful

One of our family's traditions at Thanksgiving is to work around the table letting each person offer something that they are thankful for in the year past.  God has been so gracious to us that the difficulty becomes choosing which thing for which we are most thankful.  As we approach tomorrow's festivities I wanted to tell you how thankful I am to God for you—our church family.

Hallie and I frequently comment to one another what a great church family we have in you.  It is hard to believe that we were still living in Mississippi a little over 4 months ago!  And now here we are, engaged as missionaries to Culpeper with you.  What a privilege and a blessing!  What a gracious God we have!

I look forward to the coming year when we will together tell Culpeper of the God that sent his son to be tortured on a cross for the salvation of sinners.  What amazing love and sacrifice!  If the Lord is willing we will with our own eyes see our God bring people to our fellowship who have never believed the gospel before.  How much more will we have to be thankful for by next November!

A Normal Sunday

This Sunday will be a normal Sunday for us.  A time of music practice and hymn singing will begin at 3:30 as usual.  Everyone is welcome.  We start setup at 4:30.  Our service begin at 5:00 PM.  I hope to see you all Sunday night.  And if you have any family visiting from out of town make sure and bring them along.

New Members Seminars - December 5th

For those of you who have let me know you're coming, we will have our New Members Class on Saturday morning December 5th.  We'll begin at 9:30 AM and end a little before noon.  There will be two 45 minute seminars with a break in between.  I'll record the sessions in case you can't make it.  This is the next step in our membership process but is always a great way for visitors to get to know more about CCPC.  Andrew and Aimee Cutright have agreed to host our gathering.  Hallie has agreed to watch the children.  We do have a few more spots open if you're interested in attending.  Just let me know.

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!"

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I just wanted to clarify that our new members class is scheduled for 9:30 to 11:30 AM on Saturday, December 5.  Somewhere in that last email I mistyped December 6 as well. 

Please let me know if you are coming as soon as you can so we can make appropriate plans.

See you all this Sunday.  We'll plow into Luke 1:5-25.  Remember my challenge to read all the way through the book of Luke. 

Lift him up!

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I have two quick updates for everyone. 

First, our tentative plan is to have the final session of the New Members Class on Saturday December 5 from 9:30 to 11:30 AM.  I need you to let me know if you are planning on attending this class.  The format is going to be two 45 minute seminars designed to cover all the material that I was not able to cover in our Vision Sermon Series.  There will be an opportunity for children to play together while the adults are on this class.  So, I need you to respond to this email with how many people—adults and children—plan to attend on December 6.  It will help us plan how best to host this event. 

Secondly, men we'll meet at Forrest Coyle's home—464 Kearn Drive.  We'll meet at 7:00 PM.  Let me know if you have any questions.

I hope you are still thinking about how God has called you to be a missionary to Culpeper.  The harvest fields are still white and unfortunately the workers are still few. 

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On Sunday night we sang Martin Luther's paraphrase of Psalm 130.  The third verse was,

My sin, oh the bliss
of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross,
and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

If you think that is true about you, does it make you want to sing?  That is the question when it comes to worship.  It isn't, "Will you sing?"  It is, "Do you have something to sing about?"  How you answer that question will mold your experience in worship.

Worship Music Practice

Beginning this Sunday we'll have a time of practice for anyone interested in learning how to better sing the songs we sing in worship.  Ben Bailey, a musician from Charlottesville, will be coming up to Culpeper to lead our practice.  If you're interested in growing in your ability to worship God in song, then feel free to join us.  We'll meet in the CCS gym from 3:30 to 4:30.  Ben will stick around after and help lead our music during our worship as well. 

T2M

Our men will meet at Andy Surchek's home this Thursday night at 7:00 PM.  He lives at 3897 Jacks Shop Rd, Rochelle.  You can call him at (540) 672-1408. 

Luke

We'll begin into our series on the gospel of Luke this Sunday.  Read the first chapter of Luke if you get a chance between now and Sunday.  Ask yourself the question, "Why is Luke writing this book?"  The answer may surprise you. 

Grace Anne

Thank you to all of you who have prayed for Grace Anne McMichael.  She is recovering well and is out of the hospital.  Bob and Carol will be returning this Friday.  They're thankful for your prayers.

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Great Commissionaries

This week we'll wrap up our last sermon in our vision series entitled, "The Way Forward."  We'll be looking specifically at what Christians call the great commission.  It's found in Matthew 28:18-20,

“And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'”

As we end our vision series and particularly this section on mission I wanted to draw our attention to what Jesus wants his church to be about.  He has given us a commission—to make disciples. 

As you think about that imperative of disciple making I want you to ask yourself the question, "What is a disciple?"  More specifically I want you to consider whether or not someone could be a Christian and not a disciple.  Are those two words—Christian and disciple—synonymous?  Should they be? 

As we answer that question this Sunday we'll begin to think together what it means to be missionaries, commissionaries, to Culpeper. 

And remember that you can find recording of all our sermons at our website.

T2M Group

Our T2M group will meet this Thursday, November 5 at 7:00 PM at Forrest Coyle's home.  The question I've been getting about this group is, "Why do you call it a Titus 2 Men's group?  Isn't Titus 2 about women getting together?"  Well, yes and no.  Titus 2 is a particular passage in the pastoral epistles where Paul gives instruction for gender specific accountability, training, and encouragement for Christians.  The passage actually covers men first saying,

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.”

These are the characteristics of a mature Christian man.  This is what we're trying to cultivate in one another as we help one another apply the gospel.  And that's why the group is called a Titus 2 group. 

Praying for our Session Meeting

The temporary session of our church—the elders appointed by Presbytery to oversee the church plant—are meeting this Thursday, November 5.  Please pray for wisdom as we plan for the future of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church. 

A Big Thank You

Thank you to everyone who came out this past Saturday to help us move.  Quite honestly, I was overwhelmed with the response.  You moved all of our remaining stuff in under an hour.  Amazing!  Our children were cared for while we unpacked and you provided a supper for us.  We are humbled by the love expressed to us by our church family.

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