Happy Anniversary ZPV!

Here's a classic tune to celebrate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knp9-GY6fHE

Pastor Joe

Let us eat cake

On March 22, 2008, Zion of Petroleum Valley opened its doors. We started on a Saturday night and continued through the summer and most of the fall, and then we moved to Sunday morning in November. While there is no end to the list of people to thank, please just pause a bit and thank God. He is always responsible for the victories and growth. And then, let's continue to pray for each other. Yes, pray all of Zion to be unified and focused and for the needs that creep into our lives. But, let's also model the Apostle Paul when he prayed for churches. He writes in Phil. 1:9-11, "And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God." He prays that their love may increase (assuming first towards God and then to one another) with the result that our insight is increased and we grow.

Growth? Yes. We need to be changed continually by God. And, we need to get the word out better to those who need to hear. Anyone is welcome, but what about those with no connection with Christ at all?

And what about Connection? The church is not our building. We just meet there regularly. We can continually become more connected the way God intends and designs us to be.

And, we should be committed. I can hardly bear the amazement when I think that God has called us to accomplish tasks with forever results. On board?

So, I do say thanks to all those who were there at the start and those who have recently arrived, and I say thanks to both campuses with all the support. Join us on 3/22 after church for a brief time to celebrate what God has done AND will do. We are just getting started. Oh yea, we will have cake!

Love you all,
Pastor Joe

Paul's heart

I am tweezering (is that a word?) my way through the book of Philippians. I am noticing the intense feelings the apostle had to those he wrote. He uses words like trust, confidence, heart, and participant to describe his feelings and interactions with them. God left us his word, the Holy Spirit, and each other. No matter how small or supposedly great, all of us are critical to spreading the message. Thanks, folks. I have a long way to go to stand with a man like the Apostle Paul, but I'm glad that none of us are hanging out all by ourselves!

Here are a few news items:

• Our second message of Green is this Sunday, March 8. See you at 10:00AM.
• We have sign ups for the Easter Egg Celebration on April 4, but could always use more help. Let me know. We could also used donations for prizes (Walmart cards or cash works). Thanks! This outreach attracted tons of families last year.
• DRIVE is coming March 29 at the Clarion Campus. It's a great time to gather, hear what God is doing at both our campuses, and gain some new insights. Let's reserve the time at 6:00PM!

See you soon.

Pastor Joe