Matthew Henry is quoted as saying:

“Thanks-Giving is good, but Thanks-Living is better!” 

Here on this Thanksgiving weekend we are reminded of the need to give thanks to God. Gratitude is essential to our connection to God. In Luke’s Gospel, we read the Story of the 10 Lepers. It's a compelling story that gets to the root issue that lies in many of our hearts when it comes to being truly grateful. If we listen closely, we get a sense that the point is less about physical leprosy and more about spiritual lethargy. Without praise and thanksgiving, we lapse into apathetic spiritual consumers: people who take without giving; people who receive without thanks-giving.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except for this foreigner? Luke 17:17-19 

We have so much to be grateful for! Not just on this one day that we set aside in November each year, but in every moment of every day that breath fills our lungs.

It’s almost as if Jesus is saying:

“Were not all 365 days beautifully and wonderfully made? What about the other 364? Who will acknowledge and give praise to God for his protection, his blessings, and his provision for these as well?”

So yes, Thanks-Giving is good, but Thanks-Living is better! 

Lord, may you teach us an attitude of gratitude!

- Pastor Milo

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We have much to be thankful for. This will be brief, but I did want to put together an update for our congregation, so that you will know how to be in prayer for what is happening behind the scenes for our church plant in Clarence Hollow, called Fieldstone Church.

As many of you know, Fieldstone Church was birthed out of a remnant of believers from Harris Hill Baptist Church along with a few key families from our congregation, as well as additional families in the community. Many things have been in limbo over the last 6 months, but we have so much to be thankful for, and so many things to thanks God for.

Currently, we are walking through a bankruptcy procedure for the entity that was Harris Hill Baptist Church in order to absolve ourselves from any previous entanglements with other contracts, or individuals that would stand in the way of a sale of the old church building and property on Harris Hill Road. This building has been vacant for about 18 months now. Praise God, we have a current cash offer on the table for the property, and the details of the bankruptcy should be resolved in the next 30 days, resulting in closing a sale by the end of the year.

One of the prerequisites for this church plant was that we would have a church planting pastor at the helm who was fully assessed and approved for church planting through the North American Mission Board. After going through this thorough assessment process himself, the former pastor of Harris Hill resigned his position earlier this summer; and we have been looking for another candidate ever since. Praise God once again, we now have a potential candidate who has come through the assessment with a "Ready" recommendation earlier this month. We will be working diligently to complete the evaluation process from our own team locally in the coming weeks, certainly hoping to come to a conclusion on proposing next steps for Fieldstone by the end of the year as well.

Another story of praise, came to fruition this week in the most unlikely of places; a Chili's Resturant on Veterans Day. One of our leadership team members, a veteran, went to Chili's to cash in on a discounted meal for Veterans Day. In the table next to his own, he struck up a conversation with another veteran who happens to be the handyman for the Rock Oak Estates. Long story short, this man was a person of peace, and at least for the foreseeable future has provided access to the beautiful Rock Oak Community Center. 

This was an answer to prayer, because the enclosed pavilions in the Clarence Town Park which have been so wonderful for use for Fieldstone to gather together in good weather, are no longer available out of season. The Rock Oak Community Center will be a wonderful place to be an incubator for this church, and an accessible place of worship for many the residents who live there. In fact, they were so excited, that Fieldstone will even be able to begin meeting there as soon as this weekend. Praise be to God!

There is much to celebrate; there is much to be in prayer for. We don't know the future, but we know who hold the future! Please be mindful of the core families that make up the small but devoted nucleus of the work of the Gospel in Clarence Hollow called Fieldstone Church. God is doing some exciting things here. Let's be thankful!

-Pastor Milo 

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