Hope you and yours enjoyed a fun and safe Fourth of July celebration! I was blessed to get to enjoy some extra time with the Lord in the morning and then get to work mowing the lawn! My old mower sputtered its last the night before when I was about half way done, so it was off to Home Depot to find another. My son Matt and I finished the task in time to clean up, get Robin and Lauren and make it to First Church’s tailgate party and fireworks display. What a great bunch of folks came down and enjoyed the food, fellowship, food, watching the kids jump rope and of course the food! I’ve notice First Church really likes to eat--I feel right at home!

Now that I’ve been with you almost one month, I’d like to give a name to this blog, or for non-techies (like me)--column.The name is simply “Faithful Witness.” It says in a short two word phrase what I believe God calls each of us to be--a faithful witness. We don’t have to be Billy Graham or Beth Moore. We can be exactly who God created us to be! We don’t have to host large Crusades or shout at people on the street corner to be an effective witness for Jesus Christ; just be faithful to be the person He created you to be. We don’t have to change our voice, our hair or hopefully our vocabulary.

Praise God! The pressures off! He’s just looking for faithful witnesses. We all can do that. It’s all about relationships. Loving people to Christ as He has first loved us. It can begin with a simple invitation to watch someone’s house while they're gone on vacation or maybe care for their animals or cut their grass or water their flowers. Acts of kindness speak volumes to all of us, so it’s a great place to start. Pastor Bill Hybel’s of Willow Creek Community Church says to “Barbeque first” –begin with social events and later invite folks to join you for a church event-–as the Holy Spirit leads. Summer is a great time to get to know your neighbors better (or your extended family for that matter!). I am so pleased to see many of you doing just that and inviting them to First Church events as well! Thanks for being a faithful witness. You’re in good company... Jesus Christ Himself is called the Faithful Witness in Rev. 1:5!

Yours in Christ’s Love,
Mark 

P.S.  I wanted to let you know if you have been visiting First Church and would like to know about becoming a member, we’ll be hosting the Explore FC Luncheon on Sunday August 5 at 12:30 to give an overview of First Church and our membership process. We’d love to have you! Please register online or call Jennie Leininger at 239-6493. Thanks.