Life @ Montrose, March 27, 2008

WORSHIP THIS SABBATH WITH NATHAN CRANSON
This Sabbath we have a special guest speaker, Nathan Cranson, who will be preaching from Matthew 6:19-34 about "Distraction." We have a lot of things that distract us, but the good news is that God calls us to seek the kingdom of God. Jesus is offering to take your burdens and come to Him. I want to invite you to come this Sabbath and be blessed by this young person from Paonia.
 
COOKING SCHOOL
Would you like to learn how to cook and live a healthier lifestyle? This coming Sunday is the last of our four week series on vegan cooking (thank you Lorena and Gordon!). Each week our church showcases delicious dishes and recipes. Please join us as we learn about how to live and eat more healthfully. Contact Lorena Gladding or Gordon Reichard for more information.
 
ShareHIM LAY EVANGELISM RALLY
Gordon Reichard is going to take a small group with him to the ShareHIM Lay Evangelism Rally in Phoenix from April 10-12. The only cost for the trip is the cost of your hotel room. Contact Gordon Reichard if you would like to go. The Rocky Mountain Conference is sponsoring a group of pastors this fall to hold evangelistic meetings (through ShareHIM) this October. I'm one of six pastors signed up to go. If you would like to participate in overseas evangelism this would be a really great opportunity to learn more about how you can get involved.
 
PASTOR'S BLOG
Did you know that our church raised enough money in our religious liberty campaign to purchase 250 subscriptions? I'm particularly pleased that our church has rallied with support to help raise the collective conscioussness of leaders in our community, state, and elsewhere with a better understanding about religious freedom. A special thank you to Kay Mason for calling our attention to this important part of our church.
 
This has been a fun week because we have had two friends of ours, Dan & Becky, come out to visit us from Wisconsin. They are close friends of ours from when we lived at Loma Linda. Last night for Pathfinders we had Dan, an avid geocacher, teach the geocaching honor to our Pathfinders. I also had the Pathfinders hold up the 1822 Teal Bible, the same Bible (the actual one she held is in the White Estate) that Ellen White held up in vision. It weighs 18 1/2 pounds and our Pathfinders had fun trying to see how long they could hold it up with outstretched arm. Joey holds the record for our church by holding it for 35 seconds.
 
Another important item is that our elders voted to invite Jonathan Gardner to be our Bible worker this summer. Jonathan is finishing up his freshman year as he studies theology at Southern Adventist University. He will be starting in mid-May and continuing to help through mid-August. Jonathan is Heidi's cousin so I asked our elders to interview him, and they voted unanimously to have him work at our church this summer. I'm excited because one of my dreams for the Montrose Church is to see our church grow. I believe this is an important step to helping us move in this direction. If you know of anyone who might be interested in Bible studies, please inform me so that we can begin preparing names of people for Jonathan to work with.
 
Have you enjoyed the warmer weather lately? Our family is excited because several of our flowers are poking their way up through the soil. We have a hydrangia that is starting to bloom. It smells wonderful. Spring is coming. I'm especially looking forward to the bountiful flowers we are going to have this Spring from all the extra snow this winter. I praise God for the beautiful things He has made.