Ezekiel 17 ( The Connection)

We will meet this Sunday, April 30, at 1:00 p.m. in our basement. I am really looking forward to it. This Sunday I will be teaching from Matthew 5:17-20. In this text Jesus says that our righteousness needs to surpass that of the Pharisees. Think about that. The Pharisees had dedicated their whole lives to being righteous. What do you think Jesus means by his statement...

For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. -- Mt 5:20

I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this on Sunday as we share our thoughts together.

Last night Tom, Steve, Devon and I met with a few guys from the Southlake Blvd Church. They are interested in what we are doing and want to be supportive. It was a good conversation and I thought it was helpful for us. It was good to hear what everyone had to say about our new church and philosophy of ministry. The guys from Southlake shared some of their thoughts with us and were very encouraging.

A few people have given me their ideas of who would make up a good leadership team. I hope to hear from more of you about this.

I had an idea about a name for our new church. It is based on the Beatitudes...Blessed are the peacemakers for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The name is MAKEPEACE CHURCH (or Makepeace Christian Community or something like that). God has called us to be peace makers...making peace with God and making peace with people. This seems to me to fit well with our thoughts about Ezekiel 17 (the tree of God's peace where all birds come for refuge) and Isaiah 11 (the mountain of God's peace). I have been hearing some other good names. Why don't you bring your ideas this Sunday and we will write them all on a poster for us all the pray about and consider.

Don't forget to pray for our new church fellowship.

God Bless!
John