Dear Church Family,

    In the late 1700s, “Sunday School Societies” were started here and there throughout the young United States of America. But at first, many members of the clergy were opposed to them, maintaining that it was a desecration of the Lord’s Day to hold school on Sunday. A pastor in Connecticut said of a class held in his church on Sunday, “You imps of Satan, doing the devil’s work. I’ll have you set in the street.”

    Can you imagine someone being against Sunday School? It’s hard to believe that something what we take for granted was once the subject of heated controversy. The reality is that there are some things in the Church that remain the same and there are other things that change. The message of the gospel and the truthfulness of God’s Word remain the same and never change. Until Christ returns, the Church will continue to preach the Word, baptize believers, pray, participate in the Lord’s Supper, sing, gather for worship, and seek to make disciples of all nations. 

    However, there other things that change such as starting Sunday School. One of the changes that we experienced over the past year was the birthing of a new early morning worship service. This service was birthed to provide us with another opportunity to reach people for Christ and help them worship the Lord. Over the course of 9 months we saw attendance fluctuate between 20 to 60 people with a core group of about 30 regular attenders. I am greatly encouraged by your willingness to try something new and I’m pleased to say that we have seen new people join our church family as a result of this step of faith. 

    Another change that we’ve experienced is the loss of our minister of music. Knowing this was coming, Bob and I decided to bring the two morning services together during the Christmas season. This allowed us to experience more diversity in our worship and helped build momentum as we entered into the new year. I believe this was a good move for our church. We knew with Bob leaving and the current state of our attendance that keeping the services together into the new year would be the best scenario for growth.

    If you’ve been able to attend more than one worship service in December and January then you’ve seen the evolution of bringing the two services into one. We are continuing to use the piano, organ, and hymnals and we have introduced some new worship songs with the guitar and other instruments. The use of the instruments and music has varied but what has remained the same is the order of worship. The order of worship mirrors the gospel. We begin by focusing on the character of God. Then we move into a time of confession and assurance of our forgiveness through Jesus Christ. This prepares us to give our offering and hear God’s Word. After the sermon, we respond to the Lord as we sing the song of response. At the end of the service, I give the benediction which usually is a combination of a blessing and a challenge to represent Christ well to our city. This is the order of worship which will remain constant.

    I want to challenge you to see this as an opportunity for our Church. There will elements in the service that will be very familiar to you and there will be others than are not as familiar. I challenge you to look for the good and seek to worship the Lord both in the known and the unknown. One thing you can count on is that whatever we do in the worship service will be guided by the Scripture. While we continue our search for a new minister of music, we are blessed to have musicians and volunteers such as Fred, Brant, Bill, Leah, Jan, RJ and the choir to help lead us in worship through music. 

    As we continue to experience both the unchangeableness of God and the changes that occur in ourselves, in our church, and in our city, I would like to ask for your prayers, your patience, and your participation as we seek to worship the Lord together each and every Sunday morning. I believe if we can be united in the desire to reach people for Christ, build them up in their faith, and send them out to reach others then God will do a great work in our church!

In Christ,

Pastor Ron Jones

Dear Church Family,

    As we move into 2016, I want to challenge us to be people of the Word, people in community, and people on mission. One of the ways we can be people of the Word this year is by participating in The Story 2016. The Story is a one year Bible reading plan. Included in this newsletter is the daily reading plan for the year. There will also be a monthly reading plan that will be distributed in the bulletin on Sunday morning. I want to challenge you to be more familiar with God’s story this year. 

    There are two main ways that we can be people in community. The first way is by joining a Sunday School class and attending as often as possible. Sunday School is the primary way our church makes disciples. It is a wonderful time of prayer, Bible study, and fellowship. The second way is to join a community group. A community group is a group of people that meets together at least once a month with the purpose of getting to know one another. All through the month of January you will have the opportunity to sign up to be in a community group. 

    There are three main ways we can be a people on mission. We must devote ourselves to prayer, asking God to help us reach our community for Christ. Second, we must give cheerfully and sacrificially to the mission of the church both locally and globally. Third, we must be willing to go across the street, across the state, across the country, and across the world. There will be several opportunities for you to participate in missions this year. One opportunity that is coming up in a few weeks is our mission trip to Atlanta. We will be serving a church plant in downtown called Tapestry Church. We will also be going back to New York City this summer to serve The Gallery Church by doing backyard Bible studies. In addition to these trips, we will have several opportunities here in Augusta to reach out to our community. I strongly encourage each of you to participate in missions by praying, giving, and going. 

    The new year will contain both challenges and opportunities. In order to make the most of this year, we must move forward with faith in Christ, love for one another, and unity of mission. 

In Christ,

Pastor Ron Jones