Beginning on June 17, we will move to one service on Sundays and it will be at 10:00 am. In that, I want to thank our worship team, who do a great job leading us into God’s presence, and for all they continue to do. And I do not want to forget those who serve us by making coffee, greeting, passing out the bulletins, running the sound board, operating the “Easy Worship” program on the computer, and many more who take part in making our worship experience on Sundays more enjoyable. Thank you all!

The following Sunday, June 24, we will launch a new Capital Fund Campaign to update and make needed repairs to our campus. The Board of Trustees has been working at compiling a list of needs and will be presenting a four phase campaign to the congregation at a Barbeque following our worship service on that Sunday. Over the last several years, our board has been able to affect many repairs without a campaign of this sort, but now they feel is the time to move ahead with many more projects that will necessitate the need for a Capital Campaign.

The phases they have set are in order of priority. And the first priority of the first phase will be the much needed repair to our sidewalks. In fact, we have already moved ahead with obtaining the appropriate drawings to begin this project. There will be more information coming soon on the entire campaign, but some of the projects of the first phase include – the sidewalk repair, added exterior lighting, roof repairs, a video surveillance system and resurfacing our parking lot. I would ask you to begin to pray and ask God to provide the needed funds for this campaign.

Peace and Blessing,

Pastor Mike

And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NLT)

²³ “What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.”

 ²⁴ The father instantly cried out, “I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:22b-24 NLT)

What I really like about this guy is his honesty before Jesus. He had heard and seen what Jesus could do; healing people with all sorts of illnesses and delivering them from the evil spirits that tormented them, and he held onto a hope that Jesus could help him as well.

I can identify with this guy. I do believe in Jesus. I believe that He is who He says He is, and He is able to do anything. But to be totally honest, I have to admit that there are times when doubts creep in and my faith is not what I would like it to be. That’s when I pray this prayer, “Jesus, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief.”

I think all of us can relate to that. We have faith, but we want to have more faith. In this story, Jesus tells us that “Anything is possible if a person believes.” And elsewhere He says, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” (Matthew 17:20 NLT)

I want that kind of faith. I want all of us to have that kind of faith. And that kind of faith grows in us as we spend time with God. That is why having a daily prayer time is so important. So this month, Starting on May 20, we are going to take the time to go through the model prayer Jesus gave us in Matthew 6, and seek to learn what He wants us to know about the power of prayer and the effect it can have on our faith.

I want to invite you to join with me in this adventure of prayer and faith and let God grow us and stretch us and deepen our faith. I believe that God has some great things in store for us and I don’t want to miss out on anything God wants to do in and through us.

Peace and Blessing,

Pastor Mike

Each of our small groups took on a Micah 6:8 project to live the Word. We were challenged to move beyond our comfort zone and show God’s love in a practical way to those in our community. (There are pictures of many of those projects in the pages that follow in this newsletter.) For those of us who reached out served, it was a great time and God has blessed us for serving.

On Saturday, April 28^th, we have the opportunity to join with others in our community in showing God’s love in practical ways through Love Madera. We will be joining with nearly 40 other cities in the valley as community members come together to LOVE their city. As a volunteer, you will join thousands of other volunteers across the Valley through your participation in one of the following community service projects

• Cleaning up our Parks, Trails and Parking lots
• Clean up the Fresno River
• Give life by donating blood
• Canned food drive to benefit our local Food Bank
• Visiting Residents at a local Convalescent Home
• Make and deliver bag lunches to our city’s homeless
• Serving a hot meal at the Madera Rescue Mission
• Bake and Deliver cookies to our Public Servants
• Knit or crochet baby blankets for Doors of Hope Pregnancy Resource Center

To sign up for a project visit www.lovemadera.com

Let’s get involved and show others God’s love in a practical way!

Another way I want to challenge you to show God’s love to those you love is to invite them to join you this Easter at one of our services. Introduce your friends to the best friend they can ever have. Remember, the same power that raised Christ Jesus from the dead is working in you.

Peace and Blessing

Pastor Mike

Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount by telling a story about two men who built their houses on different types of foundations. One built on solid rock and the other on sand. A fierce storm came and beat against both houses. The house that was built on the sand foundation collapsed. But the house built on solid rock was able to withstand the storm.

After telling this story, Jesus said — “Anyone who listens to my teaching [that is God’s Word, the Bible] and follows it [puts it into practice] is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.” Matthew 7:24 (NLT) When our lives are built on God’s Word and the storms of life hit, we will be able to withstand them, we will be like the person who built his house on solid rock.

God did not give us His Word just to inform, but to transform our lives. Studying the Bible is useless if we fail to put God’s Word into practice. That is why James tells us that if we want to be blessed by God we must become “doers of the word.” (James 1:22)

That’s why our goal isn’t just to complete this campaign and move on to something else. Rather it is to develop the habit of studying and acting on God’s Word ever day of our lives. And that is because you cannot know exactly what is going happen in the weeks, months or the year ahead, but one thing you can count on is that you will experience storms in your life.

If your life is not built on the solid un-shifting foundation of God’s Word, when the storms of life hit, you’re going to collapse with a mighty crash. Don’t let that happen. Join with us and make it a habit to study and act upon God’s Word. And there is no other habit that can have that will transform your life and make you more like Jesus than to study and act upon God’s Word.

Peace and Blessing,

Pastor Mike

As we move ahead in this New Year, please join with me in praying this prayer from Habakkuk; “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known …” Habakkuk 3:2 (NIV) I believe that God has great things for us in 2012!

During his time with us, Jim has blessed us with his talent and knowledge of music. He has brought a level of excellence to our worship team that will be remembered. And he has introduced us to new music that will remain part of worship times.

Even though I will miss seeing and talking with Jim on a regular basis, I do look forward to see what God has planned for us as a church family. Jim has had a great worship team around him that will continue to lead us in our worship on Sunday mornings. And for the immediate future, Theresa will step into the role of leading this valued ministry.

Concerning our youth pastor position, I am excited to tell everyone that the Youth, the Youth Leaders and myself, have recently had the opportunity to interview two possible candidates for the position. Both interviews were done over the internet using Skype, so that we could actually see each other as we talked back and forth. And both interviews went very well.

The next step is to set up interviews with the potential candidates and the Board of Trustee’s. We hope to have those in the first part of this month. After that, the plan is to invite the one we all agree on to come to Fourth Street so that we can meet face to face. Please continue praying for this process that we would clearly hear what it is that God has planned for us do.

Peace and Blessing,

Pastor Mike

O LORD my God, you have done many miracles for us. Your plans for us are too numerous to list. If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds, I would never come to the end of them. Psalm 40:5 (NLT)

Following the 10am service in the Family Life Center on January 29th.

Honor Begins at Home

Four men, one calling: To serve and protect. As law enforcement officers they are confident and focused. Yet at the end of the day, they face a challenge that none of them are truly prepared to tackle: fatherhood.

While they consistently give their best on the job, good enough seems to be all they can muster as dads. But they quickly discovering that their standard is missing the mark. When tragedy hits home, these men are left wrestling with their hopes, their fears, their faith, and their fathering. Can a newfound urgency help these dads draw closer to God … and to their children?

Filled with action-packed police drama, riveted moviegoers will find  themselves laughing, crying, and cheering for the everyday heroes who long to be the kinds of dads that make a lifelong impact on their children.

Protecting the streets is second nature to these men. Raising their children in a God-honoring way? That’s courageous!

Bring Family, Friends, Co-workers, Neighbors!

MAIN DISH (last name begins with A-H)

SIDE DISH or SALAD (last name begins with I-P)

DESSERT (last name begins with Q-Z)

For the movie bring your camping chair for more comfortable seating.

Sunday Service Schedule

• 8:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. – Fourth Street provides two identical services for morning worship. Join us at a time that is convenient for you. Nursery for children up to 23 months is available for both services and Children will be excused for Children’s Church during the regular 10:00 a.m. service.

Wednesday

• 6:00 to 6:30 p.m. – Dinner
• 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. – Study classes (Pre-K – 12th grade)

God has provided us with another opportunity to show His love in a practical way to one of the residents of our community. The City of Madera has asked us to team up with them and help a member of our community by cleaning up his yard. We will be cutting weeds, removing leaves, cleaning out rain gutters, and some low level tree pruning. The date for this event is January 7^th. We will meet at the church at 9:30 and proceed over to 521 Rotan at 10:00. Bring your gloves, rakes and let’s show God’s love to this individual and his neighbors.

On Sunday mornings, beginning on January 29^th, we will launch into a church wide campaign called 40 Days in the Word. I am asking our small groups and Sunday School class to join with us as we dive into God’s Word with the intent to love, learn, and live the Word of God. The weekly studies will go along the Sunday messages and there is a personal work book that goes along with the campaign so everyone can be involved.

Also, we have purchased the public viewing rights for the movie “Courageous” and will be showing it in the Family Life Center on January 29^th. This movie, from the creators of “fireproof,” was shown in theaters all over the world and is described by Franklin Graham as “One of the most moving films I have ever seen!” So mark your calendar now and plan to join us for an exciting and entertaining day.

As we move ahead in this New Year, please join with me in praying this prayer from Habakkuk; “LORD, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our day, in our time make them known …” Habakkuk 3:2 (NIV) I believe that God has great things for us in 2012!

Peace and Blessing,

Pastor Mike