I just want to drop you a quick note and reminder that Night Church will be celebrating its one year anniversary this coming Sunday (the 10th) at 6pm. We would love to have you join us.
This year has gone by fast! The Night Church family has seen over 100 different people walk through the doors. Some planned to come and worship with us. Others have stumbled in drunk, sobered up enough to wonder how they got to church, and then left. As a body of believers we have seen marriages healed, people set free from bondage, and the good news of Jesus celebrated.
Since the planning stages of Night Church (Fall 08) we have had six babies born to Night Church families. And there are two more on the the way (one could be here by the time this email arrives). Its like we're planning to take over Shelton or something...
There have been 5 different bands and many different musicians who have blessed us by leading musical worship. We have heard everything from classic hymns to songs written specifically for Night Church. We've heard acoustic music, we've heard rockin' versions of Christmas songs. God has really blessed us with amazing talent.
Since we started last January we have journeyed through two books of the Bible together: Colossians and Malachi. We are currently working our way through the book of Luke. Did you know that Luke is a really long book? We started Luke in July, and we expect to be finished sometime late 2010. But what a book. We have seen real life issues like infertility, unplanned pregnancies, religious bigotry, and of course Jesus.
There have been other exciting events. We hosted our first Superbowl Party last year (watch for info on the 2010 Superbowl Party). We had Christmas in July, complete with lights and Christmas trees. Night Church had four back alley bbqs. There is nothing better than hot dogs and hamburgers cooked by James in the alley behind C3. We took over the first and second service at First Baptist (across the alleyway) to share how we do things at our night service. Recently, through the generosity of our church attendees, we were able to give 14 turkeys to needy families in Shelton. And just a few weeks ago we provided a family with all of the things they needed for a Christmas celebration: lights, a tree, new warm clothes, food and electric bill for December, gifts and holiday meals.
I am not sharing and revisiting these things to brag (though all of you Night Churchers do rock). I simply want to use this milestone to remind us of the journey God took us on in 2009, and to celebrate His faithfulness. We know that all good gifts come from Him.
2010 will no doubt have its share of success and failure. As a body of believers, I want to invite you to join us (or continue with us) on this journey God has laid before us. We will follow after Jesus. We will love each other. We will bring the hope of Jesus into our community.
Thanks for being with us in 2009. We hope to see you this week as we celebrate being a year old.
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