Growing Together Blog

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 28 May 2010 13:27

When opportunities arise, you have to take advantage of them.  When times are tough, you have to make wise investments.

While those statements are sometimes used in the world of finance, they also apply in family life.  Outside of our relationship with and worship of God, our highest priority should be our families.  Each of us should be eager to take advantage of every opportunity to strengthen our families … and be ready to make wise investments in the spiritual, moral, and personal welfare of those God has entrusted to our care.

Those two ideas converge in June at Immanuel.  You have an opportunity to make a wise investment as a parent that will reap both present and eternal dividends.

Over the years, Jim and Betsy Bennett have poured their hearts and souls into the families of this church – first in serving our youth, then as Family Ministries Pastor, and then adding the Joint Heirs Class which has been uniquely blessed of God.  Jim and Betsy have made it possible for us to host the Growing Families International Eastern Regional Conference at Immanuel on June 4 and 5.  Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo, who have given their lives to the ministry of parenting, will lead this two-day event.  This conference is designed to equip you in guiding your family through the maze of our ever-changing culture by following the never-changing principles of God’s Truth.

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 21 May 2010 15:19

Our Director of Children’s Ministries, Becky Henry, and the VBS staff have planned something very special for our kids this summer!  Just four weeks from now we take them on an adventure to help us decode the greatest mystery of all.  Your children are invited to be part of The Egypt File: Decoding the Mystery of Life.

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Written by Administrator Friday, 14 May 2010 12:53

As promised earlier this year, it was the intention of the Executive Committee and our Board to periodically update our church body on the various changes that have been made or are in the proposed mode.  Not only did we want to keep everyone abreast of “what’s happening,” we also want to consistently remind all of us that we are a “family,” a body of believers that are here to encourage and challenge each other to be the best that we can be.

Our theme this year is “God’s Business-Serving People.”  Various things that have been done around this theme involve having communion every other month in the morning service so that more of our people can participate.  The pastoral staff will soon be implementing blogging on the internet, we are changing the phone system to be more “user friendly,” encouraging every elder to contact their people at least once a quarter, expanding the Nursery to meet our future needs, implementing an on-line giving process, and weekly updates on our giving status.  These are but a few with more to come.

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Written by Sparky Pritchard Friday, 07 May 2010 20:45

On this Mother’s Day, here’s a great story (and great truth) about Moms!

A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk’s office, was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.  She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job or are you just a ...? ”

“Of course I have a job,” snapped the woman.  “I’m a Mom.”

“We don’t list ‘Mom’ as an occupation, ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder emphatically.

I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.