From Your Pastor's Heart - 01/08/2018

With the busyness of the holidays, it has been a while since I shared my experiences of “Growing Up On Dump Ground Road.” I don’t remember the start of a New Year being a big deal when I was a kid. I do recall the difficulty of starting back to school after the Christmas break. Teachers and students alike had enjoyed the time away from the classroom. The holiday was like a mini-summer vacation. Sadly, the fun and games ended with a return to the routine of school.

Even during my college years, I dreaded the end of our winter break. It always meant the start of a new semester, a new class load, new textbooks, new professors, new syllabi (not a word you use every day), and new assignments. It amused me to listen to the professors describe their expectations during the first class, as they tried to “thin the herd” by scaring away a portion of the students. I was at a small college, but it was still awkward to walk into that first class and find a friend, or at least a friendly face, to sit beside. Somehow, I always ended up sitting by the prettiest girl in the class. That is how I finally talked her into becoming my bride!

Now that my school days are long behind me, I have come to look forward to the start of a New Year! It signals a new beginning and a fresh start for me, as your pastor, and for our Cordova Baptist Church family. This year marks our 26th “fresh start” together. We have enjoyed some great celebrations and endured some difficult challenges. Yet, we have dealt with it all as one people and come out stronger because of it. And, God has seen fit to bless us with another New Year to serve Christ and our community.

I continue to be optimistic about the future of the Bride of Christ, His Church! The Lord keeps pouring out His blessings upon His people, indicating His intention that His work should carry on in this place! I urge you to invite friends and neighbors to join us for Bible Study and Worship, so that they might experience the loving fellowship of our faith family. I am excited to see God’s plan for the coming year unfold before us!

Serving in love,

Bro. Jim