Pastor Ritter ~January
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.
~ Ephesians 1:13 ~
Happy New Year!!! New years are new beginnings. Certainly at Immanuel we are experiencing a new beginning which actually began back in August when we moved to our new campus and began worshiping in our Mission Center. Several of our ministries have begun functioning from this space as well, while others have moved from our old church building into our school. Soon, we will be moving worship from Mission Center into our new permanent home for Immanuel’s ministry with the completion of Phase 1 happening in February. 2025 will mark a new beginning in Immanuel’s history just as 2024 did.
Often as we begin a new year we make plans and goals for the year to come as well as reflecting upon the past year. As we reflect this year, we have much to thank God for. He has blessed us with an abundance of His mercy and grace. He has blessed us with the provisions to carry out the mission of our church and to build our new church home. He has blessed us with our many congregation members, several of which have used their many talents and gifts to help us carry out the mission and vision of Immanuel.
As we prepare to begin a new chapter in the story of Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, we must remember that the point of the chapter is not about a church building, but about building (growing) the church. We must also that each day is a new beginning made possible only through Jesus Christ who atoning sacrifice upon the cross won for us the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven. He chose us in him from before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. Praise be to God!
A blessed New Year to you all!
Pastor Tim