Dear Friends,

    Well here we are at the beginning of a brand new year. Praise God! I really look forward to seeing all of the wonderful things that are going to take place as we follow Jesus this year.

    I just wanted to send out some of the biblical truths that I shared during yesterdays worship service. The message was basically "How To Use Your Time Wisely in 2012". The main text was Ephesians 5.

    I want to encourage you to take some time this week and look up the word new in your concordance. You will be blessed. The Bible says, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Cor. 5:17) You are a new creation!  Thinking about the new things that the Lord is going to do in our fellowship is really exciting. Starting this month we will be taking steps that in time will produce new things for our facilities. There will be a new sanctuary, new classrooms, new fellowship area, new bathrooms, new cushioned seats, etc. There will also be exciting new ministries that will be taking place this year.

     One of the exciting new things that will take place for some is the transition from being a fan to becoming a completely committed follower. I was so excited to be able to share one of my Christmas presents with you last Wednesday night - the dvd "Not a Fan". Wow what a blessing! I really look forward to others in the fellowship being able to see it in the future. It will be a very fruitful activity for us together. Which is something that we want to do more of this coming year.

   Anyway back to Ephesians 5. Verse 15 says, "Be very careful, then, how you live-  not as unwise but as wise". The opposite of careful is careless. Just think of the things that happened to us last year because we were careless or we didn't pay attention. I used the illustration of how we can be careless driving - cell phone, eating, reading, etc. Those careless actions can have tragic consequences.  We can also see bad consequences when we are careless with our speech and our thoughts. Being careless with our Bible Study, prayer time and discipleship also can cause a lot of wrecks. We need to be very careful how we live. The way we can do this is by living the Word. Here are some great steps to do that in 2012:

I. Be Careful Who You Imitate  - "Be Imitators of God" (5:1) - "Live a life of Love"(5:2) - its good to periodically go back and read I Cor 13 and see what God says about what love is.

II.Be Careful Who/What You Associate With - "Walk in The Light' - verse 10 says, "Find out what pleases the Lord."

III. Be Careful What You Do - "Walk in Wisdom"

   Hey guys lets remember that our time on earth is limited. Because our time on earth is limited we need to go all out and not hold back this year.

If you knew how many days you had left would you live any differently than you have been? Would you make some changes? Would you do some re-prioritizing? Would you be more willing to forgive, let go of grudges, keep the main thing the main thing, would we share the gospel and stop the gossip, would we sing a little louder, hold the hug a little longer, take more risks, and walk by faith and not by sight.

We have right now and right now is the right time to make things right with the Lord Jesus and with others.

I pray that we will "make the most of every opportunity" (v.16)  in 2012. I believe that we will do this when we remember every day that Jesus is the most important relationship in our life. I'm very thankful to have the relationship as a pastor, friend and brother-in-Christ with you. Happy New Year!

Remember that "all things are possible with God" (Luke 1:37).

Because He Lives,

Pastor Greg