I thought that I would start sharing a few closing thoughts about all that God has been up to and all that He is doing in my life and the life of our church as we get ready to end our Sunday and begin our work week!  I will try to do this each Sunday evening as a review for those of us that got to take part and as a reminder for those that might have missed out!

Bible Fellowship/Sunday School was down in attendance, but good in spirit!  I estimate we had at least a hundred people that were taking advantage of the long weekend and getting in one more vacation.  (We missed you guys and hope that you thought about us!)  I want to encourage everyone to make sure that you are working to make small group Bible study and fellowship a priority.  You need to make sure that you are here and doing all that you can to invite and bring others back with you!  Those of you that did get to enjoy a vacation this Sunday – work extra hard to bring someone with you next Sunday!  You know you can do it, so don’t just think about it – be intentional and make that call or ask that person you’ve been thinking about asking!  See ya next Sunday at 8:45 A.M.

Worship attendance was down, but the crowd that was here looked good and really seemed excited to be here.  We had a great time of praise that really helped and encouraged us to take our eyes off of ourselves and the frustrations of life.  I know that as the service began, I was just a little bummed for a variety of different reasons, but as my focus shifted off of myself and onto Jesus – I found my hope strengthened, my faith be enlarged and my excitement growing.

We started a new series this morning called “Be-Attitudes!”  I am really excited about this series of messages and the possibilities that it presents to us “Wooders!”  Today – we took a look at Matthew 5:1-12 and discovered eight attitudes that come with a promise of blessings from God.  Our goal over the next several weeks will be to incorporate and adopt these attitudes of Jesus as attitudes of our own.  Try to begin each day and end each day with a reading of and thinking through this Scripture.  It would be great if the whole congregation memorized these twelve verses over the next few weeks.  Even more important than memorizing these verses is living them out moment by moment and day by day.

See you back here tomorrow as we take some time to start working the Be-Attitudes into our lives!  Don’t just know the Beatitudes – Be Them!

I know that a lot of folks are out of town for the long weekend, but I hope that all of you will make every effort to be at one of our two campuses this coming Sunday morning for the beginning of our new series:  “BE-ATTITUDES!” We will be spending the next several weeks working our way through Matthew 5:1-12.  In this passage we find some of the most important teaching that ever flowed out of the life and lips of our Savior Jesus!

Take some time before Sunday to read through the passage and consider trying to memorize it as we work our way through it during the next few weeks. These attitudes are very different from what most of us live with and in every day.  In fact, these attitudes are almost the opposite of the attitudes that most of the world lives with on a daily basis.  As we seek to live with these attitudes of Jesus – it will change our lives and allow our lives to bring change to others!

Looking forward to our learning and growing together!

I have heard from a lot of people this week that seem to be facing frustration big time! For most of us, not experiencing frustration is not an option, so what are we going to do about it?  If we are going to have to deal with frustration, then we must make sure that we get the most out of it.

Our goal is to learn from our frustration and move on! So here are some very important steps to take:

PRAY!  PRAY!  PRAY! We need to talk to God about it.  I know that this sounds simple and most people try it and it does not make the difference that you are looking for.  We don’t need to just go through the motions of prayer.  We need to make sure that we are praying – actually talking and listening to God.  Seek to really make a connection with God in your praying!  Pour your heart out and then make sure that you take some time to open your heart for what God has to give you!

Think Through! If you have actually taken the time to really pray about your frustration, then you will through the process of talking and listening to God already have taken the time to think through the frustration.  Here are some questions to help you think through the frustration:  Where is it coming from? Are you the source or is someone else the source?  What can you do about it? Figure out what you can and can’t do and do what you can and let go of the can’t do!  How can you move on? Whatever you need to do to move forward according to God’s plan – do it!

Get Ready! Another frustration is just around the corner.  We will never totally get away from frustration, but we can always get the most out of it!  One more thing that you can do to help yourself with frustration is ask others to pray for you.  If I can pray for you just facebook, twitter, text or call me!  God Bless and Keep It Real!