Dec

Merry Christmas to all our friends and family.  This past year has been an incredible start to this new adventure that God has for our family.  We are so thankful for all of you who are walking with us.  Your love, prayers, friendship and partnership has encouraged and strengthened us more than you will ever know.

May God bless each of you and keep you growing closer to Him and closer to one another in 2010!

Much love from our house to yours,

Wes, Keli, Will and Hannah

Dec

Spend a little time around Cedar Creek Church and you will hear somebody say, “The bigger we get, the smaller we  have to get.”  It is a core value and the heart of all that we do.  To maintain that intimacy and authentic sense of community, we must multiply our HOME groups and our campuses as we grow.  This has never been more true than this past year.  After seventeen years, Cedar Creek went from one church in one location to one church in three locations.  Over this past year we’ve learned many new things and have been reminded of many things that we knew but had gotten away from.

One thing that came back to us was the need to appreciate our volunteers in smaller gatherings and throughout the year in simple, yet effective, ways.

Keli and I had the privilege of serving dinner, along side of our HOME group coaches, to our HOME group leaders at Jay and Anita Judy’s house.  We gathered together to show our appreciation to our leaders for shepherding God’s people day in and day out.  What a great time together!  The evening was reminiscent of the days when the entire church staff could meet in one living room.  Now, there will be many small group gatherings of this kind as God continues to bless the work He began at Cedar Creek in 1992.

As we constantly look for new and creative ways to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ, some things must not change.  Life…happens in small groups, not in the large group gatherings.  We continue to gather in the big settings to worship and celebrate all that He is doing in us and through us.  We also must never give up meeting “from house to house.”  Thank you Lord for the reminder to “go back the way we came.”

Dec

 

So, I am woefully deficient when it comes to correspondence and communications. And everyone said, “Amen!”

Especially when it comes to this blog.

So…I am employing or deploying some systems, people and tools to help me do a better job.

This is just one step…my I phone. Yes, I know I am way behind on this technology but I am here. Better late than never!

We shall see if it works…