I hope you’ve had a wonderful time of rest, worship, and family during these past two weeks.

Martha and I have had a great time with our own family and our church family.

I hope you are ready to get off to a good start for 2015.

Here are some of the things we will be doing this year.

We are beginning a new sermon series this weekend entitled “Starting Over.” We will be encouraged to begin again in all the areas of our lives.

This weekend also begins the ministry of Chris Kroll at First Baptist Church. We are excited about getting to know Chris and Crystal and their family and seeing what God will do as they minister through our congregation.

This year will demand a great deal of wisdom and discernment by our congregation. As we move forward with our building plans, we will need to discern the leading of God as we plan buildings to add Bible Study space, a larger commons area, and a new worship center.

All of this will demand our very best as we pray, give, and plan. I hope you will be ready to attend the congregational meetings and will be prayerful as we seek God’s will.

Finally, I want to ask you to make this a time of prayer for God’s blessings on America. We all know we have turned our hearts from God. Would you devote yourself to pray for revival in our community and our country?

We are asking that you set apart January 4-25, 2015, for twenty-one days of prayer and devotion to God. When Jesus healed a demon-possessed child, his disciples wanted to know why He could do so and they couldn’t. His answer is very instructive. He said: “this kind can come out only by prayer” (Mark 9:29). I feel we are at that place in our nation. Revival and change can only come by a great discipline of prayer.

Will you do what you need to get the year off to a right start?