This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! -2 Corinthians 5:17
Wednesday is a day of new beginnings for students in the Millard schools. For students in Elkhorn, Gretna, and Omaha – your day of new beginnings will come soon. Some will be going to Kindergarten for the first time. Others are going to be seniors and have one year left. A new grade level, new classes, new friends, new teachers, new opportunities. Most things are new. Except the food.
This morning we are going to pray for the teachers and other school employees who will be teaching, mentoring, leading, coaching, and serving students. Your calling is one of life’s highest. If I ever think of something more important in life than investing in future generations—I’ll let you know. But don’t hold your breath.
I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. –Philippians 3:13
Students get a fresh start each August. The A’s and B’s and C’s from the previous year don’t matter. Many of us need that in life. A fresh start. Our past sins no longer hold us captive. Neither do our failures. Neither do our hurts. Starting next week, we are going to start a new sermon series called: Getting Past Your Past. We will look at breaking labels that bind us, forgiving those who hurt us, apologizing to those we have hurt, and getting past our personal failures. I invite you to join us and invite you to invite others to join us as we say goodbye to our guilt and pain and say hello to grace and hope. I have been praying these four weeks will be a major break through for many of us. I invite you to join me in praying that many of us will experience a fresh start this month at The Water’s Edge.
And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” –Revelation 21:5
On August 28th, after the 10:30 service, both campuses—Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge—will be holding a Church Conference to support the proposal that The Water’s Edge will become a separate United Methodist Church on January 1st, 2011. The congregations will move forward independently, yet cooperatively. I hope no two churches in Omaha work more closely together than Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge. Having served at Faith-Westwood for six years and The Water’s Edge for five years, I believe this is the best future direction for both the Faith-Westwood and The Water’s Edge. I wouldn’t support this proposal if I didn’t believe it was best for both locations. I believe these things will happen at both churches: a more clear and focused vision, higher levels of ownership and commitment, and a more effective and efficient use of people resources. In short, I believe God will do a new thing. And that is something that excites me.
The best is yet to come…
Craig
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