It will be great to be part of BBT in 2012.  I have missed services over the last 2 weeks but I hope you had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year’s Day.  As we start a new year at BBT we have a lot of great memories to look back on in 2011.  We have also shared some tragic moments together as well.  That is the way life is. There will be times of Joy and times of sadness; there will be moments of hill top experiences and moments of valley dwelling.  It is the time we spend in the valley that will tell us how strong is our faith.  We will learn more from our trials then we will from our victories.  We need our victories and we realize they are not really our victories but God’s, but we need them. We need to see our prayers answered and we need to see God working in our lives but the truth of the matter is God is ALWAYS working in our lives. As we have talked about so much in 2011 God is closer to us in out troubles then any other time.  We need God always and we especially need him in our most darkest time.  My desire for 2012 is to be closer to God then in 2011.  That means I will need to be prepared to see God working in my life when people around me may see the absence of God. I pray that I will learn from what God has for me and we as a church will be closer to each other and closer to God then we have ever been in our lives.

I am excited about getting back in the pulpit this next week and I want to share some more of what I believe God has for us in 2012.  I want to talk about the “defining moments” in our lives.  The scripture this week comes from Luke the 2ND chapter starting with vs. 25 through vs. 32.  This is the story of a man named Simon that sees baby Jesus for the first time. He has spent his life looking for the Messiah and God had promised him he would see him before he died. What has God promised us?

There are many new resolutions we can make for this new year but only the ones we keep will benefit us.  Lets not make empty promises that we can’t keep but lets also commit ourselves to the things that mean something to us.  I want you to share this Sunday some resolutions that mean something to you.  Remember when you say it out loud in front of others you are making your intentions known.  Be brave,  be bold,  be accountable.

This week we will also start a chance to share how we feel about somebody in the church.  If you would like to share this week call me and let me know.  Keep praying for each other, think good thoughts about your fellow Christians and do good things for the people you meet.  You can make a difference and never know it.  We love you and can’t wait to see you on Sunday.

Pastor David & Pris