Let the Son Shine!

Dear Kirk Family and Friends,

Let the sun shine! This week we have begun a project at my home of cleaning out some dead and overhanging branches from the giant tree in our front yard. My son is doing most of the work and the tree is really beginning to look healthy. My nearly grassless yard is getting the sunshine it needs and the squirrels are running around and complaining like nobodies business. The sun has been shining in at the church too. Well I should say “son shine”. We have had a tremendous week at The Kirk getting ready for this Sunday. The light of God’s Word has brightened lives this week. His word is such a gift to us. This Sunday we’ll begin looking at passages that address the topic of “healing prayers” one of my favorite topics. This week we added four new members to the church family. God is stirring people to get serious about Jesus and church. Yesterday I visited in a home of Christian couple who have been attending this past month. We discussed the basics of life like family, career, hobbies and then I asked about their faith stories. Oh it was so wonderful to hear them eager to share how much Jesus means to them. Yes, let the light shine! On another topic: I want to tell you about THE HEARING LOOP SYSTEM that has been installed in our sanctuary this week. Florence Lownie, one of our members has underwritten this important project. Members with a T switch on their hearing aids will be able to hear the audio of worship services through their hearing aids like a radio signal. Others who are hard of hearing but do not have the T switch may use one of the two receivers that came with the system. The Hearing Loop System will be turned on for this Sunday’s services. We’d like your feedback if you are using this service. It may take a couple weeks to get all the adjustments tweaked, so be patient. Thanks Florence and thanks to the Lord! Some prayer requests: We have a long prayer list but here are a few who need a little extra. Please keep Bob Morris in prayer, and his wife Kay who injured her hand helping Bob. Pray for Richard Pond. He and his wife are with us part of the year, and live in New Mexico the rest of the time. This week he was working around in his back yard and was bitten by a snake. He is in ICU. Pray for Ada Haus who had her little finger amputated due to cancer last week. She is home doing fine. Pray for Fred Garrett and rejoice. Fred’s arthritic pain the past month has been unbearable. The doctors tried a new patch medicine and he has found some good relief. Praise the Lord for Frank and Elaine Polaski who have been a bit homebound with health problems – this week their happy faces were back in worship and at Bible Study. Alma Cowing and Charlie Holmberg have both had eye surgeries. Keep them in your prayers. Check the prayer list this Sunday for a complete list. Prayer is powerful. Two weeks from today is the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA silent film with organist Clark Wilson. I’ve never seen a silent movie with a theater organ playing the background music. Should be a blast! Call the ticket office today 733-5475.

See you Sunday!

Pastor Jerry

Back to Church Countdown – 4 days to go!

Back to Church Countdown – 5 days to go!

Dear Kirk Family,

We’ve been busy promoting this coming Sunday’s Back to Church Event – Sept. 20. Last night I finished my tour of the AA meetings that we host at church. There are three different AA groups using our fellowship hall – one on Thursday, Sunday and Monday. All combined more than 150 attend these gatherings each week. They were gracious and allowed me to speak before each of their meetings. I was also able to invite those in attendance at the Al-Anon (spouses and children of alcoholics), to our big day.

Everyone is doing what they can. Signs are up, posters have found their way to clubhouse bulletin boards, and every day members are telling me of someone they have personally invited. One mom in our church impressed me by telling how she put a care package together for her adult child, and enclosed a Back to Church invitation card with the box. Very creative!

Today we will send an email message to 400 of our concert patrons inviting them to church this Sunday. Add to this 5,000 invite cards in area mailboxes during this week. This Thursday at 6:00 pm our Family Worship team will offer an hour of “worship in the park” down in Edgewater Park off of Main street in Dunedin. Helium balloons and hotdogs, and impact cards will be handed out to those who might gather to hear the music.

It’s hard to know what to expect, but if our visitor count is around 20, and we have a strong turn out of regular members, I will be pleased. The key thing isn’t numbers, it’s bringing people into a strong relationship with Jesus.

Keep praying, keep saying “come to church with me”,

Pastor Jerry