A Million Thanks
I tried to say it all Sunday, but let me repeat myself. Thank you to everyone who made the 67th Anniversary Celebration a wonderful day. I start with the Kitchen Krew and all their volunteers. They took the storming weather problems and handled it like professionals. At the last minute, moving the event from outside to the inside and doing it seamlessly. You guys did an amazing job. The staff made the right call and worked in high gear to “get ‘er done” before anyone showed up for Sunday Connection Groups. Marty and the Worship team led an excellent worship service. Remember, he had quite a change in the worship lineup when the Chinese Fellowship could not join us. (They had a tragedy in their church family and did not feel it was appropriate to celebrate in their time of loss. Our prayers continue to be with them all.) The fellowship hall was packed for our inside picnic with very few spaces to spare. Great job everyone…glory to God.
The property purchase did not work out
There is an old saying: “The devil is in the details”. We have tried to say that the purchase of the adjacent property was not a “done deal”. We needed the church’s approval, as we have on all projects that would put the church in debt, to be able to proceed. For those who did not understand how JIBC works, it may have seemed like it was just a formality to have the church vote to proceed. Really, there would be no reason to move forward without the agreement of the church family. And originally, we were working with just over a three week deadline.
As it stands, as of today, Monday, July14, the deal is off and at this time we are no longer pursuing the purchase of the property. We hit a snag in the process that gave us cause to pause. Marvin and Julie Sineath were very gracious in even giving us the opportunity to purchase the property. The timing of the sale and working out the details made it difficult for both sides to reach an agreement. The decision was agreeable by both parties. Our thanks to Marvin and Julie for thinking about us.
When teaching about prayer we say God always answers prayer: sometimes He says “yes”; sometimes He says “no”; and sometimes He says “not now”. We have faith and confidence in those who are leading us and claim Romans 8:28 as a guiding principle. Job 1:21 says “He gives and takes away, blessed be the Name of the LORD.” Our prayer is that this is the absolute best decision for the Sineaths as well as for JIBC. Perhaps this is the Lord saying “Not now”.
Children’s Camp Next Week
I don’t know how many years I have been going to Children’s Camps. It is measured by decades, not years. On Monday, July 21, I will log in another wonderful week with 20 of our church kids. We have 20 kids and 5 chaperones going. This year’s camp is at Anderson University. I will drive the bus and be able to spend some quality time with our kids. They get to see me in another role besides the one in “big church”. Join us in prayer for decisions that will be made and discipleship that will be deepened. Ok, and pray that we will have lots of fun and the old guy won’t get hurt.
See you Sunday, Lord willing,
Pastor Tom
