“Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, my soul. I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.” –            Psalm 146:1-4

This Psalm is a part of the final section of Psalms known as Psalms of praise. Praise is an important part of the life of the body of Christ. Praise is a demonstration of our deep love and adoration of God in any circumstance. Praise honors Him, His ways, and His plans for us. Praise puts God in His proper place…Exalted Over All.

As we continue to prepare our hearts for the vote on Sunday, I want to encourage a spirit of praise to our God. In the verses above, the psalmist praises God because he can place his trust in Him. The psalmist also warns us to not place our trust in man or the things of man. Churches can easily get caught up in placing trust in man’s plans, man’s methods, or man’s vision for the body of Christ. This is a temptation we must constantly battle as we live as the church. Man is temporary, God is eternal.

God has given Eaton Community Church a clear vision to become all that He created us to be in this season. The vote to leave the denomination is vitally important to following His vision for us to stand firm in a solid understanding and interpretation of Scripture. In saying that, we must remind one another that the vote is not the vision. In other words, when the vote is complete on Sunday afternoon, our responsibility to live into God’s vision for us is not complete. We have spent much time, prayer, and energy in preparing for this vote. It was necessary. When it is complete, we can move forward without it being a distraction to us, but we still have the shared mission to “Share Life, and Share Christ”. We still have to make choices each day to collectively follow Jesus Christ as His church. God’s vision must be alive and well in us and through us beyond the vote. His vision for us is greater than we can imagine because it will make an impact for eternity if we live it out well. That is a reason for praising God!

Join me in a prayer of praise to God:

We praise you Lord! We praise you because you have saved us. We praise you because your have established your plans, purposes, and a vision for your people. We praise you because our identity is in your Son, Jesus Christ and not in man. God, we call upon you to help us to set our minds and hearts on you and your ways as we place our votes. Help us to see your greater work in us and through us as we follow you. Lead us in the days ahead as your people. We will praise you God, no matter what. In Jesus’ name. AMEN

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.”
Psalm 115:1

This song of praise begins with words of humility. These words acknowledge God as the object and source of their worship. As this song was sang by the worshipers in the temple they were reminded of God’s love and faithfulness for His people. All of the achievements of the Israelite’s were not their own, but God’s. The words “Not to us” pointed people to God with a resolve for all others to know God and His love. Their words of worship have a simple, yet powerful truth about humbling ourselves before the Lord.

The Psalms have a supernatural way of opening our eyes to our selfishness and pride. When we step back from our human perspective and seek God’s perspective we can see the immense amount of effort, money, and time we spend in our culture to win. I do believe competition and winning can be a good thing to sharpen our skill and abilities and create a fun, interactive environment.  I love a good competition. Sadly enough, winning has become more about placing our worth in defeating others, trying to get more attention from more people, and lifting ourselves higher and higher on the pedestal of pride. Winning has become the definition of value and importance in our culture. What breaks my heart is how easy it is to turn everything in our lives into winning, thus to bring the focus onto ourselves, our accomplishments, for our glory.

As we prepare our hearts for the time of worship, including the vote, on Sunday afternoon, I believe we must approach it more than simply as an exercise to win. At first glance this may sound counter intuitive to all we’ve been discussing and praying. It’s not. Yes, we do believe it is time to step away from the denomination and discontinue our affiliation because of a lack of alignment in Biblical understanding and interpretation. And, yes, that will require from us more “Yes” votes, than “No” votes. Yes, God has laid the conviction to take this necessary step onto the hearts and minds of the leaders and congregation of this church family. However, a win can be a loss if we don’t give God the glory and continue to seek Him in the days ahead. If this vote is about US winning, pride will take hold of our hearts. If this vote is about US pridefully declaring victory over others, then disrespecting and devaluing others will be the norm. If this vote is about US getting praise and attention, then God will not get the glory.

Our prayers and mindset must be that God gets the glory, no matter the result of the vote. Our prayers must gratefully declare that God’s love and faithfulness has and is being poured out on this body of believers known as Eaton Community Church. Our prayers must be that we will walk with God in our convictions and seek to be obedient to Him and His Word. Our prayers must be that others would praise Him!

Join me in today’s prayer:
“God, we come together in prayer this day to declare that you ARE God! We are grateful that you have demonstrated your love and faithfulness in every situation. To You, God, be the glory! We ask that in this time of discernment and preparation you would speak clearly to us about this important decision of leaving the denomination. To You, God, be the glory! We confess that we are prone to being prideful. Forgive us God, for any hurt or disrespect of you or others that we have shown. Thank you for your forgiveness. To You, God, be the glory!Lead us in obedience to your Holy Spirit and may all of our actions and words point people to you and your Son, Jesus. Not to us, O LORD, but to your name be the glory. 
In the name of Jesus, we pray.  AMEN

“I love you, O LORD my  strength.
The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”
Psalm 18:1-3

This song of David is a declaration of God’s presence and place in his life. He didn’t just speak these words to the Lord, but sang them with emotion and heart as an offering of praise!

Look at the descriptors David has for God:

1. “my strength”
2. “my rock” (2)
3. “my fortress”
4. “my deliverer”
5. “whom I take refuge”
6. “my shield”
7. “the horn of my salvation”
8. “my stronghold”
9. “worthy of praise”

Can you sense David’s deep dependence on God? Can you imagine David’s confidence in God to lead, guide, protect, and strengthen him? This kind of relationship with God is what we should long for as we walk through our days. It is more than just knowing about Him, it’s a relationship built on commitment, love, and surrender to our Creator!

On this upcoming Sunday, August 25th, our church family will gather together at 2:00 p.m. for a time of worship that will include an important vote. This vote is the biggest decision we’ve ever made in the life of this body. We are deciding whether or not to step out of the Church of the Brethren Denomination. This is a decision that has been discussed and prayed over for many years. As a result, the leadership of Eaton Community Church believes it is no longer possible for this church family to be aligned with the COB denomination. The bottom line is that our understanding and interpretation of scripture is no longer aligned with that of the COB denomination. While this is has been a painful process, we believe it is necessary to take this stand for the glory of God.

In preparation for the vote this coming Sunday I’d like to invite you to join the elders and I in prayer throughout this week. I will be sharing a series of posts that point us to God through the book of Psalms. I will also share prayers of dependence upon Him in this time. As we collectively immerse ourselves in God’s Word and pray we will together declare it is He that we place our dependence and it is He that we praise!

Let’s be like David, who declared a deep dependence on God! Let’s be a church family that seeks the Lord’s will together in beautiful relationship with the “God of our salvation” and thus, one another. Join me in prayer:

God, our Rock,
We praise you this day for who you are as Creator, Provider, and Defender! We collectively call upon you, seeking to be dependent upon you. We need you, God. We need you to draw us close to hear the voice of your Spirit as we face a very important decision. God, this is your church, with your Son Jesus as the head and we look to you for wisdom and strength. Unite us together as we commit this decision to you. Holy Spirit, we invite you to speak and we commit to listen well. We seek to honor your Word through our obedience to you. May our lives collectively be an offering of praise to you that will bring you glory and build your Kingdom!  In the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we pray…Amen

It’s that time of year again! Etch is just around the corner! As always, we continue to strive to make changes to this ministry to help benefit the church and God’s Kingdom.

Unsure as to what Etch is?

Watch this video…

Some Changes

The first major change is in time. Currently, dinner is served from 5:45-6:15PM. This allows us to share a meal together, typically do something interactive, and then go on to our electives. We are now changing the meal serving time from 5:30-6:00PM. This allows us to maintain the opportunity we have to eat together, while also extending the time-frame of our electives.

The second change coming this fall will happen in the second session of our electives. We’re introducing what’s called Interactive Electives. The idea behind these electives is to learn how to see Jesus in the “typical” of this world, while also learning new skills and picking up new hobbies. Interactive electives will come in the form of Automotive Care, Photography, Painting, Cooking, and the list goes on. We’re excited to see how God makes himself known in every area of our lives… and have a little hands-on fun while we do it!

What Stays the Same

Something that isn’t changing is our desire for intergenerational ministry. We love seeing different age groups interact and learn together. We hope we continue to learn from each other, and gain different perspectives of the world around us as we have all been called to minister to and with each other.

In/Out electives will still be available for those who know they just can’t commit to 4 or 6 weeks of a full elective. There will always be a place for you to be involved, learn and share what God is teaching you.

Lastly, we are continuing to be devoted to teaching your children about Christ and who he is and what he’s done. That’s why we offer Etch Knights Club. It’s a place for your children to experience Christ and learn what it means to follow him.

Fall Electives Session 1

Learn more about what electives are offered in session 1 of the fall.

Register for Fall Session 1 Electives

Register for Etch Knights Club