Dear Church Family,
Ever see an episode of Mythbusters? It was a TV show on the Discovery channel where they tested out urban legends or myths to see if there was any truth to them or not like “Can you fold a piece of paper in half more than 7 times?” The answer? Yes… if you have a gigantic piece of paper, a huge crew of people, and use a steamroller and a forklift! Then you might be able to actually fold it 11 times. So…myth busted.
Fortunately, learning that this particular myth is busted isn’t likely to hurt anyone’s feelings. However, what happens when something similar happens to our faith? What happens if we believe something only to find out the hard way in life that it’s not actually true?
After all, people don’t set out to build their faith on myths. Yet somehow falsehoods keep showing up in the way many Christians think about life and God. Their beliefs are assumed by many to be rock-solid truth—until life proves they’re not. Sadly, the tragic result is often a spiritual disaster—confusion, feelings of betrayal, distrust of Scripture, and a loss of faith or anger toward both God and church.
The answer, as always, is the power of the truth—the truth of God’s Word. That’s why starting this Sunday we’re going to begin a new series called Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe where we will look at widely held beliefs that are both dumb (because they’re not based on God’s Word) and dangerous.
Join me this Sunday as we begin our new series that will take us through the rest of the summer heading into September. Worship in English is at 9:30 AM. Spanish is at 11:30 AM. All are invited! This Sunday we’ll explore the notion that “Faith Can Fix Anything” to discover whether it’s true, false, or somewhere in between.
Ministry Planning – This week Pastor Steve, Staff Minister Becky, and I spent a couple days discussing, prioritizing, and planning many different aspects of our church’s ministry. There were literally about 50 things to discuss—everything from DSkids to our discipleship path to social media strategy, future staffing ideas, our partnership with Divine Savior Academy, and much more! We will be continuing to meet together regularly to pray, plan ministry, prioritize, and put together strategic plans for the future with goals to strive for over the next couple years.
Office Manager Update – Over the last two weeks we’ve been hosting interviews for the 7 individuals who applied for our church’s new office manager position. God has really blessed us in this process. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed meeting and getting to know new people. Likewise every single person who applied has various strong gifts that God could use to help us in our ministry here at Divine Savior. We are in the process of following up with those who applied and will be able to announce who our new office manager is soon.
Upcoming – Next week our church staff from all our five Divine Savior Campuses will be getting together here in Florida for a couple days to get to know each other better, plan sermon series details for the next year, discuss how we can potentially collaborate on connect group and devotional materials, and encourage each other in the Lord as we work together to share Jesus with more people. As the coordinating pastor I’m very excited to see how God will use our partnership in the gospel to allow us to reach more people and begin to do some things together that we wouldn’t always be able to do on our own flying solo.
School Council Nominations – The new school council will convene in August. Three lay members are needed to help comprise the council. If you would like to make a nomination, please send those recommendations to Mr. Eduardo Oyarce via email. Nominations will be accepted through July 29.
Old Auditorium Chairs – Aren’t the new auditorium chairs nice!? We think so, and we hope you do too! But…the old chairs are still sitting in the closet and need to be removed. Would you be willing to help us do that?
o When? Saturday, July 21st from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
o Where? Divine Savior auditorium
o What? We will take the backs and cushions off and throw them away. We will then take the metal frames to a metal recycler close to church.
o Items needed? Screwdrivers, drills with screwdriver bits, pickup trucks, box truck vans to transport chair frames to recycler.
o Please email steve.mueller@divinesaviorchurch.com if you are able to help. Thanks and God bless!
Sunday Playlist – Check out the YouTube videos, sing along ahead of time, and help fill God’s house with praise on Sunday. Gathering Song: Nothing Ever Could Separate Us. Forgiveness Song: God Loved The World So That He Gave. Hymn of the Day: By Faith. Offering Song (sung as solo): I Am Not Alone. Sending Song: Abide With Me.
Changing Lives with Jesus,
Pastor Ben
