Heroes were part of my life growing up. Many of you know the names. Superman. Roy Rogers. Tarzan. John F. Kennedy (think P.T. 109). Gale Sayers. My dad, the firefighter.

You have your own list of men and women whose lives touched others, and made a difference in our world. Some may have been superheroes, others politicians or police officers, some military figures or firefighters, still others simply people who made a difference in the lives of those around them.

But, I suspect that whichever ones were on our list, we wanted to be like them because something in us wanted to make the world a better place. We wanted to matter.

I want to invite you to matter in 2009. As we prepare our plans for ministry and mission for the next year, you have the opportunity to be part of what we believe God wants to do in our little corner of the world.

The theme of our worship through November will be “Touch a Life.” We will look at ways in which God invites all of us to partner with Him in changing the world around us. We will celebrate some of the ways in which the ministry we have shared has touched lives and made a difference. We will have the chance to say “Yes” to God’s amazing offer for us to be ‘co-creators’ with Him in the calling of offering God’s life-changing grace to the world around us.

In the simplest of ways, I want to suggest that how you live your life this coming year could be life-saving to someone. How you spend your time, the words you speak to another person, the decisions you make, the life you live could be the difference in whether someone lives or dies, knows Christ or suffers in pain, changes how they live or chooses a path of destruction. God calls you to Touch a Life. I want to invite you to pray about doing just that from this day forward. Will you, with me and many of your brothers and sisters who choose to follow Jesus, investigate just how you might make all the difference in the life of someone who needs a touch from someone who cares? Will you Touch a Life in 2009?

Yours in the Cause of Christ,
Mike

Angelfood Ministries

Our Father’s House is the host site for Angelfood Ministries. This is a program where anyone can order food at a discounted rate. The menus are different each month and consist of both fresh and frozen items with a cost of about half that of retail. The food is all the same high quality one could purchase at a grocery store. There are no second-hand items, no damaged or out-dated goods, no day-old bread and no produce that is almost too ripe. Everyone qualifies. No applications. It’s a bargain and a blessing! The November menu and instructions are on the tables at each sanctuary entrance, in the lobby, or in the office. Take an extra menu to your neighbor, or better yet order a box of food and take it to them!