Christmas came and went by like a blur. I hope your time with family went well and you were able to actually live in the moment as you celebrated the birth of Jesus with the people closest to you. As The Grove Church, we celebrated Christmas in a big way, and we’re giving God all the glory for it!

Our Eve Eve Services were great times of celebration and challenge. God’s presence was definitely with us as we sang, listened, interacted, and even cried a few tears as we heard powerful stories of how God redeemed some people’s ugliness in 2018. We were blessed to have over 300 people attend, and we’re asking God to continue to work in every person’s heart who attended to believe there might be more to life than what they can see! I’m already looking forward to next year!

Also, thank you church for your amazing sacrificial generosity! You gave nearly $8,000 toward our Christmas offering, which means we greatly exceeded our mark of $6,000 from the previous year. 50% of that offering is going to bless our ministry and community partners in their efforts to make a positive impact.

As we turn the page and enter 2019, I want to challenge you to let God lead you into all that He has in store for you this year… The challenge is that you let Him lead you… For all of us, this is easier said than done. We are all tempted to start this new year with our dreams and desires. We can easily lock in on our wants and goals all the while leaving God out of our plans. Don’t rush into 2019 without letting God set your focus.

We didn’t have a service this past Sunday, so I used a Facebook Live video post to challenge everyone to begin praying three different prayers as this year begins. I firmly believe that if we’ll each begin praying our own variations of these prayers, then we’ll be amazed at what God will do in and through us over the next 365 days. I’ve listed those prayers below, but I’d encourage you to take a few minutes and check out the video below to get the full context behind the prayers.

  • WHAT? What in me needs to change in 2019 so I can better reflect who Jesus wants me to be?
  • HOW? How can my family serve Jesus more intentionally in 2019 to expand His glory?
  • WHO? Who are the people that I need to spend more time with this year?