Dear Friends,
Sunday, for the first time in a very long time, we canceled worship at all locations. I have to confess, I really didn't want to. I hate to use the word hate, but I hate missing worship. I love seeing everyone. I love being together. And I love it when we worship God together as a family. But what really tip the scale for me was the recognition that it takes dozens and dozens of volunteers to fully staff our Sunday morning experiences. Plow trucks and shovelers, musicians and hospitality teams, nursery workers and children's ministry, life group leaders and worship leaders, the list goes on and on.
And to be honest, my concern was not that our volunteer servants would not show up. To the contrary, I was concerned that many would come out in spite of the dangerous conditions. We have an amazing team of people who are incredibly committed, and I just didn't want to put any of our folks in harm's way driving in the snow, sleet and freezing rain. That got me thinking about how blessed we are to have such great, sacrificial servants in our ministry. I could not be more proud of, or more grateful for, the hundreds of folks in our church who have found a place to invest their time, talents and gifts in the service of Christ and his church.
So I think this would be a great time to say thank you.
Thank you to the people who keep our parking lots cleared, our walkways shoveled and our buildings in great shape.
Thank you to our hospitality teams, to those who prepare food, and our baristas who make coffee every week.
Thank you to our nursery workers, children's and youth ministry volunteers who pour faith into the next generation.
Thank you to our small group leaders who create community and lead our discipleship efforts.
Thank you to our musicians and worship leaders who prepare every week to bring us into the presence of God through Sunday worship, CR and Thursday Dinner Church.
Thank you to our prayer teams who intercede for our ministry and who pray with those in need every week.
Thank you to those in our care ministry, our mission teams and others in outreach who show the love of Jesus to the hurting, the lost and the lonely.
And thank you to countless other servants of Christ who work in greatly unseen and unheralded supportive roles that make the ministry of Rock Church possible.
I love and appreciate every one of you.
At Rock Church we believe that every person is gifted to serve. You have gifts and abilities that are needed for the work of Christ. If you've not yet found your place of service, I would invite you to speak with a ministry leader or your Campus Pastor. They will gladly help you find a place on the team.
In Christ,
Pastor Steve
PS, this is a great time to mention the 'Tech Team Info Fair.’ Come and explore what is involved in joining this amazing team of volunteers who work behind the scenes to make all things tech awesome at Rock Church. This will take place on Saturday February 9th at 10 am at our Plaistow Campus. If you think you might be interested in serving in this area, we invite you to come and hear these opportunities