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First Assembly of God Newsletter August 2008 |
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Psalm 133:1 states: "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." I have had a desire for many years to see unity among area pastors and churches here in the Shenandoah Valley. A group of pastors has been meeting on the first Tuesday of the month since January '08 and has been praying for unity and a spiritual awakening. At our last meeting, it was prophesied that people would start coming to the valley not just for jobs or a great place to raise a family, but they would come to see firsthand the wonderful things that God is doing! As pastors, our hearts long to see the Holy Spirit rekindle the flames of intimacy in believers again. |
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| Let's come together and win the lost, and disciple them by getting them plugged in to the local church. I also want to invite you to mark your calendars for two exciting events that will be taking place in September and October. The first is our 2nd annual "Community Fun Day." It will held Saturday, September 13th from 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. It's all free of charge, and includes such things as free food, moon bounce, dunking booth, clowns, face painting, live bands, car show (Hot Rod and Classic), plus much more. On Sunday, October 12th we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary as a church. We invite you and your family to join us for a day of reflection and rejoicing as we give God praise for His faithfulness. Rev. Ken Bertrum will be our guest speaker for the morning service, and we will be having a picnic following the service at Oakdale Park in Bridgewater. We will be having special music, and some former pastors and their wives will be joining us. God has truly blessed us as a church, and our desire is to be a church that impacts our community for the kingdom of God. May you continue to have a safe and blessed summer. — Pastor Jeff |
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BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATOR NOTES
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Recently I completed a mid-year financial review to share with our staff, ministry leaders, and Administrative Board members. The purpose of a mid-year review is to compare our actual income and expenses for the first six months with our beginning of the year projections. This analysis allows us to identify any mid-course corrections that might be necessary in our financial management for the remainder of the year. There is much to praise the Lord for in the first six months of 2008. Our church income has allowed us to pay all of our bills in a timely manner and still have a small surplus at the end of June. We are very pleased that we have been able to maintain a level of giving to missions equal to 21% of our tithes and offerings. This is our way of fulfilling Jesus' command in Mark 16:15 where He said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone." We have also been able to bless our guest speakers at a higher level than anticipated due to your generous giving to those who have ministered to us. At the beginning of 2008 we projected an increase in income of approximately 10% over the 2007 income. Based on our experience from previous years, a 10% increase in income was a reasonable and relatively conservative estimate. As of June 30th we had received just 37% of our projected income for the year. Obviously this is less than we had expected. Perhaps it is a reflection of the current economic slowdown our country is experiencing. It could also be that the income for the second half of the year will make up the difference since we historically see an increased level of giving later in the year. So, what adjustments have we had to make as a result of the lower than expected income level? The major change is that we have not been able to make any extra payments on our mortgage like we did in the previous two years. However, I am still hopeful that we will be able to do this before the year ends since it will result in significant savings to the church over the life of the mortgage. We have also deferred replacing some of our aging computers until the financial picture brightens a little bit. The good news is that we have not had to curtail any of our ongoing ministries or their associated activities. For that blessing we are very thankful. I hope that all of you are having a very enjoyable summer. All too quickly the vacations will be over, school will be back in session, the weather will be cooling, and we will be heading into another fall season. May God richly bless you and your families as you continue to serve Him. As always, please don't hesitate to contact your church staff if we can help you in any way. — Steve Parsons |
It takes a lot of courage to put things in God's hands, To give ourselves completely—our lives, our hopes, our plans To follow where He leads us and make His will our own But all it takes is foolishness to go the way alone! |
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