I encourage you to be part of a seven-week Café Monterey session that will begin this Wednesday evening, April 16th. In addition to coffee and desserts, we will enjoy moments of worship, study, and conversation regarding God’s forever love! We will discover again God’s passionate love for us—a love that pursues us, a love that invites us into his very presence, into his warm embrace.
God’s forever love is also a love that calls us to extend hugs to our community and world—to extend love, grace, and forgiveness to the unlovable, to bring good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed (Luke 4:15). You see, an important piece of celebrating God’s love in our lives is extending that love to others.
My goal in leading this Café session is to encourage us to bask in the warmth of God’s love for us, but also to call us to step beyond our comfort zones in extending that love—even to those we may consider unlovable. Perhaps we will see again how amazing God’s love is to us—since we likewise are so often unlovable, and certainly don’t deserve the love God has shown us.
In addition to the Café session, a multitude of other options for study and fellowship exists on Wednesday night. If Wednesday nights at Monterey are not part of your weekly schedule, or if you have just gotten out of the habit of attending on Wednesday nights, let me encourage you to join us beginning this week.
Please remember these other events during April:
Our annual Family Commitment Sunday is scheduled for next Sunday, April 20th. This Sunday provides an opportunity for us to extend special blessings to families who have experienced the birth of children during the past year!
Our Prayer and Spiritual Growth Ministry is hosting a special Prayer Conference on Saturday, April 26th, from 9 a.m.–3 p.m. called Discover A Fresh Encounter With God. The registration fee of $18 covers materials and lunch. Brochures with registration information are available at the Welcome Center.
—Barry Stephens