Here’s to a happy 2008! We had a wonderful fellowship last night at the parsonage. We saw tons of people and we ate tons of food. It was really encouraging to see the church simply enjoying the church. People sat and talked for hours, kids ran around the house, and the toddlers talked to the fish in the aquarium for a while. If this is indicative of how the church is going to work together in 2008, I think we are going to have a great year. Thank you to all those who helped make 2007 a great year at Mt. Tirzah. I have seen the church do what it is supposed to do; serve each other, look out for the needs of others, seek to forgive each other, and rely upon the gospel. Please join me in trying to advance these goals for this year. Let’s remember that the way to do these things is to “have the mind of Christ,” as Paul urged the church at Philippi in chapter 2.

Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God as something to be grasped, but He made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.