Sunday Evening Post

Great day today…

• More first time guests that will be back next week!
• Lots of excitement in the air about Easter – only 2 weeks away…we’re going to be over 300 for the first time!
• Big crowd again today.  Ushers did a great job seating people…they were all over it!
• Great month just completed…easily our best month ever.  God is truly blessing us with growth.
• Youth have over 30 going to Summer Camp in July…already!  Great to see growth in every area of the church.
• The Men kicked off a new study this past Tuesday night – Wild At Heart – and had their highest Bible study attendance.

Other Miscellaneous…

• Hoping for a good Final 4 – The Villanova over Pitt game was amazing…the rest were kind of blah blowouts.  Right now I’d have to pick UNC to win it all.
• Enjoyed the warm weather today…ready for baseball season!
• Had fun yesterday playing basketball for the church team…I actually scored 9 points and hit 2 3-pointers…and we did lose.  Our men’s team was missing our top 2 scorers.  Oh well…we play for 3rd place next Saturday morning.
• Nic is 8 months old this Wednesday…and his mobility is unbelievable.  None of our first 3 kids crawled like he is.  He is so hard to contain.  He moves across the floor with amazing speed – always right toward a lamp cord or something he shouldn’t touch.  And he thinks it’s funny when we sternly tell him ‘No’.   Ahhh…the fun of parenting.
• I’m praying for my 97-year-old grandmother.  She’s had a rough last week – Pneumonia, Infections, etc.  Had to go to the ER and now cannot go back to assisted living, but is entering a nursing home situation tomorrow most likely.  She was pretty out of it, but is doing a little better today.  My dad visited her at the hospital today and quizzed her on state capitals and math problems…she got an A+.  She’s struggling with pronouncing the new president’s name…still pretty impressive for someone born in 1911

An Excellent Prayer

my grandmother forwarded me this in an email this morning…

Heavenly Father, Help us remember that the person who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum, begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love . It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity. Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, show patience, empathy and love.

Sunday PM Post

What a great day!  Sundays are the highlight of the week…and today was no exception.

• Great crowd over 200 again…kids areas are busting out…we may have found a new space in the building for the preschoolers…follow signs next Sunday!
• People enthusiastically took the 100 EasterInWoodbridge.com yard signs. I passed 3 or 4 signs on my way home from church today!
• A first-time, brand new family today was excited about LCC and took signs for their yard!
• Mike Mullen, our men’s ministry director, did a great job with the welcome today…the men kick off the Wild At Heart men’s study this Tuesday night at 7 pm at the church office.
• The Milk drinking contest was a blast.  Congrats to William & Christian for your victory.  Thanks to Scott & Liz and Paul & Lynn for participating…and embarassing yourself publicly
• We had our weekly RELOCATION reminder. The schools computer system that times their class bells went haywire and thought today was a Monday…so the BELL went off several times during the service/sermon.  PRAY for THE NEXT STEP— we need our own place!
• The Band was great as always!
• Thanks to all the set-up and tear-down crew!  I remember  when I used to do much of the physical labor with the crew…but not anymore…I appreciate all the behind the scenes work that happens to make LCC go.
• One thing God is showing me…the more I let go of ministry miscellaneous…and let competent people run with it…the better it gets and the more focused I can be on my top priorities…we’ve got a great group of leaders at LCC!
• Sad note…had to say good-bye to the Hornsby Family today.  The military is moving them to California this week.  We will miss them dearly!  Thanks for your faithfulness to our church family!
• I cannot wait to see what is coming at LCC…Easter is only 3 weeks away!

This Week’s LCC E-NEWS

LCC E-NEWS 3.19.09 Thirsty? Our series continues this Sunday as we look at what the Bible has to say about Milk. Want to read ahead? …check out I Peter 2, I Corinthians 3 and Hebrews 5 . No, we will not be giving away cartons of Milk this week, but we are looking for 3 couples to participate in our Milk Challenge. Email me as soon as possible if you want to be contestants. Easter Sunday – April 12th…Easter is only 3 weeks away. We are planning for a HUGE day on Easter. We are having 2 service times (9:30 & 10:45) to accommodate the crowd. All the information about the service can be found at www.EasterInWoodbridge.com. What can you do to invite others to join you on Easter? Grab some EasterInWoodbridge.com invite cards at church this Sunday Use our E-VITE feature on our EasterInWoodbridge.com website Join our EasterInWoodbridge.com Facebook page and invite your Facebook friends Take a EasterInWoodbridge.com yard sign home this Sunday and place it in a strategic location Children’s Ministry Opportunities…We have immediate opportunities for volunteers in our Nursery and Preschool ministries. Sherri Markle is hosting meetings this Saturday afternoon at the church office for current workers and those interested in serving. The meetings will provide information about general policies, procedures, job descriptions as well as idea sharing. Email Sherri for more info. Meeting times: Nursery 1-2:30 PM, Preschool 3-4:30 PM. E-GIVE…It’s a great way to give to LCC. It’s very easy to set-up and helps you to be more regular and faithful in your giving. Check it out from the link on our website: www.lifecc.us Hope to see you Sunday, Steve

EasterInWoodbridge.com signs

Our yard signs are here…get yours on Sunday!  3 Signs already up…1 in my front yard, 2 along York Drive near our meeting location.

Josh in his Realtor pose…

Pastor Joke

One of our people just sent me this…not sure what to make of it

Three boys are in the school yard bragging about their fathers. The first boy says, ‘My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem, they give him $50…’

The second boy says, ‘That’s nothing. My Dad scribbles a few words on piece of paper, he calls it a song, they give him $100.’

The third boy says, ‘I got you both beat. My Dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a sermon, and it takes eight people to collect all the money!’

Weekend Recap

Tiring but great busy weekend!

• Friday evening – Zac’s first JV baseball game…in 40 degrees with snow flurries…bone chilling fun…at least we won 8-2.
• Saturday morning – Lexi’s first ever softball tryout…the Pigtail division of the Lassie League…should be a fun season!
• Saturday afternoon – DTQ Seniors Tryouts and draft…I’m managing Zac’s rec league team…and I had a great draft.
• Saturday evening – Sunday prep and Basketball watching – looking forward to March Madness!

Sunday at LCC

• Great energy in the service – great crowd!
• Band performed a great new song by Charlie Hall – You Are God
• Josh performed a great song before the message – This is our God…with a great simultaneous video…nicely done!
• The message was about WATER – love preaching on the story of Jesus and the Women at the Well from John 4.
• Enjoyed my first ever bottle of Fiji Water…good stuff…but a little pricey!
• Found out they are picking up on the auditorium renovation project and expect to be done by July…let’s pray.
• We officially announced that we are doing 2 services on Easter Sunday – 9:30 & 10:45.  Check out www.EasterInWoodbridge.com

Looking forward to the week ahead.  My seminary classes officially begin tomorrow….should be fun

Friday

A few miscellaneous tidbits today:

• Fridays are now my seminary day.  It’s my official day off and now that I’m back in school, I will be devoting a lot of my Fridays to this…especially for the next 8 weeks…I just started 2 courses: Contemporary Evangelism & Old Testament Prophecy.  So, this blog post is my break from writing my first book critique.
• Snow this morning…supposed to be at Zac’s first official JV game this afternoon at 5.  Seriously…this is not baseball weather.  Planning to wear winter coat, hat, gloves and take a thermos of hot coffee.
• Speaking of sports…I love March Madness…can’t wait to fill out my bracket next week.  Turned off the Syracuse-Connecticut game when they began OT last night…can you believe that game…6 overtimes??? WOW!
• Family Favorites on American Idol so far this year: Danny, Kris, Adam
• Also…this season of 24 has been awesome so far!
• Looking forward to preaching on WATER this Sunday at LCC.

Animal Shelter Donations

One of the young ladies in our church – Rebecca Boice – is collecting donations with her girl scout troop for local animal shelters.  There is a great need these days for assistance.  Rebecca and her mom Michelle will bring a box to church on Sunday to collect any donations that you might be willing to donate.  Email Michelle for more info at: mboice@comcast.net.  Here is a list of suggested needed items:

• Kitten and puppy milk replacer (unopened)
• Baby food: meat-flavored (unopened)
• Pig ears (unopened)
• Kong toys
• Tennis and ping-pong balls
• Plush dog toys
• Premium timothy hay for rabbits to eat
• Peanut butter and hot dogs for dog training (unopened)
• Gently-used, washable cat beds (no foam or cedar)
• Washable blankets/comforters (no sheets, pillows or electric blankets)
• Washable bath mats, throw rugs and towels
• Plastic cat carriers
• Paper towels and toilet paper
• Newspaper
• Bleach
• DAWN dishwashing liquid

Personal Update

I’ve been mostly blogging about only church stuff lately…but I thought I’d do a little personal update of sorts today…

• Having a 7 month old baby boy sure does change your life. It’s exhausting at times.  It seems like he’s changing almost daily…we are loving all the stages and still amazed that Nic is here.  Having the older kids to help is great.  Tori is like an assistant momma!
• I tried something today…no coffee this morning.  I made it until 2 pm before I gave in.  Why?  After working out this morning at home, I was feeling too hot and didn’t have enough time to enjoy a cup,  so I figured I’d see how long I can go.  The headache became too much.
• My oldest – Zac – has his first JV baseball game today for Forest Park at 4 pm.  It’s officially a scrimmage vs. Osborne Park, but I am planning to go…what a glorious day to be outside!
• My 2nd child – Tori – is playing soccer for her school this Spring and my 3rd child Lexi is playing slow pitch softball. Did I mention that Zac is also playing rec league baseball – Seniors level and I am managing the team?  We will have over 50 games on our schedules between now and mid-June.  Fun stuff!
• I know this sounds braggy…but all 3 of my kids in school currently have straight A’s…I proud of them working so hard!
• Speaking of school, I finally am back in school to finish my Master’s Program.  I am doing it through Liberty University Online.  I am 33% complete but have taken about 10 years off!  I’m excited about it, but a little overwhelmed after looking at the reading assignments…I have 2 classes that officially start next Monday and last for 8 weeks.  Zac is enjoying seeing me under the pressure…finds a lot of humor in it
• My wife Sherri is doing great.  An awesome wife, mother and part-time children’s director for the church.  I’m so thankful that we get to share our lives together…they are full, busy, etc…but lots of fun!  As I think back through the 8 years since we started the church…the best times for us and for the church have been when she has been most focused on the church and our family…as opposed to having another outside fulltime job.  Maybe that is another reason God sent us Nicholas…
• One last cool dad moment for me to share…Sherri went up to Zac’s room to check on him last night while he was working on a difficult Computer Science project.  She heard someone talking in the background on his computer.  She recognized the voice as mine.  Totally on his own, he was listening to my sermon online from yesterday because he had missed it because he served in Toddlers during the service.   Pretty cool!