we're talking about prayer in worship right now in the hopes that we at St. Matt would deepen our prayer lives.

So I think that as I get back into the swing of blogging, I'm gonna share little tidbits about what God is doing in my prayer life. Maybe it will help you as you grow in your own prayer life too.

Disclaimer: I'm not claiming to be some prayer guru... I need to grow in this as much as anyone.

Have you ever heard the saying: "The tension was so thick you could feel it in the air"?

One of St. Matthew's core values is this: God has called St. Matthew to partner with Him in passing on the passion for Jesus to the next generation. That core value is lived out in a variety of ways including Nursery, Children's Messages, Children's Church, Kids Praise, Family Room, Connex Zone, Hearts and Hands Child Development Center, School ministry, Middle School Ministry, Senior High Ministry, and Family Ministry.

Wow! I can't put into words the thrill of sharing Jesus with an enormous tent full of people. Once again God provided a "window" of no rain so that people could gather under the big top for worship and family fun. It makes me grateful just to be part of a people so anxious to partner with God in touching human lives with Christ!

Thanks to all the volunteers who worked on our Power Lab Bible Adventure Camp (VBS), Wii tournaments, movie night, car show, outdoor worship and church picnic!

After an intense season of wrestling with God's plans for me, St. Matthew, and this series of calling churches, I'm pleased to announce that this season is coming to an end.

God has led Pastor Rob Nelson to accept the Divine Call to join our team as Associate Pastor at our Wixom campus. At this point we are working out the details of his installation/start date. His wife is Nicki. They have two boys, Gus and Felix. Here is what he writes:

Dear Members of St. Matthew Lutheran Church,

Do you do "dumb" things? I do. Not because I want to. I don't. I'm not talking about your average "mistake because you were in a hurry" thing. I'm talking about a major "what was I thinking" thing, a foolish thing, like putting the reds in the washer with the whites. I'm talking about the kind of thing that you are embarrassed to even think about, let alone tell someone.

Several of us are reading a book entitled, "Half Time," by Bob Buford. It points out that in the first half of our lives we are consumed by career, marriage, and family. It is a matter of survival and seeking to achieve success. But somewhere around that infamous 40th birthday (give or take a few years), we realize that much of what we've poured our lives into isn't as satisfying or meaningful as we thought it would be. There begins the search not for success, but significance...for doing something that matters...for doing what God created us to do and being what God created us to be.

In my devotions this morning, I was reading from Mark 1 about the essence of the message of John the Baptism and Jesus. John's message was: Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus' message was: Repent and believe the Good News of the Kingdom. How simple!

Sometimes we make Christianity too complicated. At its core, Christianity is about humbling oneself before God, being sorry for offending him, cling to and being transformed by the Good News of God's lavish love that made a way in Jesus for us to be citizens of God's Kingdom.

How simple!

God used a good friend to give me a new insight into an old Bible verse. Do you know this one? "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it."

My ah-ha came in the second last word. We are called to rejoice and be glad IN it, not after it. In other words, when we have a tough, tiring day, we can and should rejoice in the midst of it because our all-powerful and loving God is still on the throne looking out for us.

I don't know about you, but I needed that.