The Cross Of The King (Matthew 16:21-28)

For those who braved the weather this past Sunday night, wasn't that a wonderful celebration of all that God has done in this church? Thank you so much to Rick Behrens for all your work coordinating the event, to Shane Morris for editing the fantastic testimony video, to Jed Faroe's for the slide show, to Katie Murphy for publicity, to Kathy Dorst for decorations, and for Matt & Sheryl Blunt for the kid's program. Check our Facebook page if you want to watch the testimony video again, and the "Year in Review" slide show should be up on the website soon.

In my Church History Sunday School class last week we talked about some of the martyrs of the early church- Polycarp, Justin Martyr, Ignatius and Origen. Perhaps some of you have read Foxe's Book of Martyrs, and have known the stories of so many believers through the ages who have given up their lives for the sake of Jesus Christ. In this Sunday's passage (Matthew 16:21-28) we are asked to take up our cross and be ready to lose our lives as well. Deitrich Bonhoeffer has a famous quote: "when Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." Self-denial and losing our lives for Christ's sake may be some of the hardest challenges of the Christian life. I'll try to make it light and palatable... or maybe not.

See you then! -Dave Dorst