The day started with beautiful weather, then a great worship service.  Next we had the reception honoring our High School graduates.  Then at 6:00 PM, we had a special business meeting to vote on a contractor and on securing a construction loan for the new church.  Each motion was brought to the floor, seconded, and no discussion.  We were ready to vote, and when the votes were counted, both measures passed overwhelmingly.

Let me share with you just how special that vote was.  The last time the church bought property was in the 1850′s.  Two buildings have been  built on the present site.  In 1878, we built a “meeting house” back by the back fence.  In 1920, it was torn down and the present house was built.  It has taken us seven years to come from the point of

• “thinking” about a new building,
• sharing the dream,
• letting the dream catch on,
• setting up a study committee,
• deciding whether or not to remodel,
• establishing a building committee,
• voting to build,
• establishing a building fund,
• locating land,
• buying land,
• deciding on basic plans,
• hiring an architect,
• accepting the plans,
• raising $150,000, and
• now, approving the loan and the contract0r.

God has been moving in the hearts of His people to reveal His vision and His provision that this might become a reality.  Just as He has cleared the way, and provided the resources thus far, He will continue to go with us through the building phase.  We are confident that within a year, we will be in our new church.  Yes, there are still some hurdles to jump, but God is with us.  The community will be watching us.  Many people with come to visit us while we are building, and after we are done.  Some will be curious while others will be seeking Jesus.

What an opportunity for the community to see the family of God growing, and reflecting the presence of Jesus.  What a blessed opportunity God has given me to be your pastor during this time.  Thank you Timber Ridge, and Thank you, Jesus.

Our Lord told the story of the master who had left his wealth in the hands of his servants.  Each one had a different amount and two of them invested it while the third hid his part.  When the master returned, he called for an accounting and told the two investors, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!”  I know they had to feel good.

Well, as of May 1, Pam Kenworthy will be writing checks for the 21st year.  She has been our treasurer for over two decades.  There have been long hours, late hours, hard labor trying to balance the books, tracking funds from a plethera of  sources, sending out reports on a monthly basis.  Not one dime was ever misappropriated.  On May 1, we will be employing an accounting firm to do all this as the scope of the job has increased dramatically in the past few years.  Pam will still be the treasurer and will still be writing checks and will still be needing receipts.

Pam, I want you to know that your work has not gone unnoticed.  We all thank you for the years of sweat and toil you have put into your job.  Thank you for your faithfulness to Christ and to His church.  Thank you for your intense integrity and the Christian witness that is.  Thank you for your years of leadership to our church in the area of financing. You have been a good friend to all of us.

Just one more thing…you won’t hear those words from Jesus just yet.  Your job is not finished.  You still have plenty of work to do.  But for now, hear this loud and clear from all of us, past and present family members, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant!”

There will be a “question & answer” meeting on Wed. May 2,2012 at 7PM. This will give everyone the opportunity to ask any questions or concerns regarding the vote on May 6th. There will be material available at the soonest date possible for the “question & answer” meeting.

If you have any questions contact Rob Morton, chairman or others that are on that committee.

Sharon Mann
Church Clerk

I was reading about the cross, and the thought came to me that I am human and am entitled to feeling ‘grumpy’ once in a while.  Spiritually, I am soaring like an eagle.  I am so excited about what God has been, is, and is about to do at Timber Ridge.  I am excited about the crowds that we will receive on Good Friday, Sunrise Services, Easter.  I am excited about the lives that are being changed by the touch of a loving God.  I am excited about getting started on a new building that we desperately need.  I am excited about the opportunity to enlarge our ministry in our community.  But I am tired emotionally.

Truth is that you cannot live on adrenaline.  Emotionally, you tire out.  Everybody needs to take notice, sit back, relax, and don’t beat themselves up because they are emotionally tired.  Elijah (1 Kings 19) got tired.  God ministered to him, fed him, rested him, touched him, and gave him…more work to do.  This time, the old Elijah was back.

Why do we get tired?  Because we live in a body of flesh, a body that is physical, that winds down, that feels the weight of the world, that is cursed by sin, and is constantly wearing out.  The mind is the same.  As long as we have breath, we will live in this body of death.  But one day, we will have a new body, a resurrected body.  This body will not grow tired and weak.  We will have a mind that does not get tired.  We will live with Jesus in Heaven, enjoying eternity with our saved family and friends, and most of all, with Jesus.  Praise the Lord and pass me another biscuit!

I know you think your pastor should be honest with God, and I thought I was.  I try to be honest with my feelings, telling him when I am discouraged, angry, happy, thrilled, overwhelmed by His blessings and My responsibility.  But God reminded me of my prayers a few days ago when I was trying to say the ‘right thing the right way.’  I was pausing, trying to find the exact words to say, to sound right before God.  I wanted Him to hear me say something intelligent, mature, spiritually profound. 

What?  Who am I kidding?  Doesn’t God know all things?  Doesn’t He know what I am feeling; struggling with; my lack of verbal skills?  I may have searched for the right words to express what I was feeling for my own benefit.  But that was not the case.  I was trying to impress God!  I wanted Him to think highly of me.  Instead, I showed Him, and me, just how far I have yet to travel in my Christian walk. 

Do you know how to impress God?  Don’t lie to Him about yourself!  Be honest with your weaknesses.  Tell Him about your doubts and fears.  He knows you should trust Him, and He will meet you where you are.  Honesty with God breeds trust in Him.  Do you hear that, Wayne?  Be honest, tell the truth, don’t try to impress the one who doesn’t need to be impressed.  He loves you where you are.

     We heard of trials ranging from tragedies, war, sickness and many others.  My personal trials of most significance have been a rebellious child and a cancer scare with my wife.  The trial with the cancer scare was the most intense emotional three days I have spent in my life thus far.  I would try to be strong for Melinda and the kids during the day but after they were in bed I would set on the couch crying.  I was desperate, and to be honest, a little angry with God.  What I couldn’t understand is how at peace Melinda became with this health issue.  The doctor had pretty much told her the end was near.  If the cancer had spread to her lymph node, which he thought it had, there wasn’t much hope.  But, Melinda had an insight that I didn’t; she gave it to God.  God provided and she is with me today.

     The common point to all the trials Melinda and I have faced is this; family.  Sure we had our blood family to support us, cry with us and give us good advice, but there is another element of family.  Our church family is the element we treasure.  Don’t get me wrong we treasure our blood family and always will but our church family is different.  We are a bunch of damaged, imperfect people whom come together in the common worship of Christ.  We love each other in spite of ourselves.  If we hadn’t had this church family during our trials things would have been very different.  God may have still blessed us but we wouldn’t have experienced the comfort of the fellowship with our church family.

     Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says:
9 Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor
10 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
11 Again, if two lie together, they will keep warm
But how can one be warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (NJKV)

     I take comfort in these verses.  Verses 9-11 deal with close personal relationships, such as husband/wife, parent/child or best friends.  These are very important relationships but they must be based on God and with Godly people.  I don’t know how I would go through the trials of life on a daily basis without Melinda.  She is my everything here on earth.  My kids also help me daily.  Sometimes just a smile from one of your children in spite of the situation is enough to keep you going and know that it will be O.K.

The last verse is the strong one.  ”A threefold cord is not quickly broken”, that is the church.  As we come together as a church we become stronger.  We can come together to pray for the sick, minister to the broken hearted or just try to make an impact in our community.  The church came together in our time of trial, every time, and we felt the impact of that power in our lives.  It was the power of the Holy Spirit through God’s people.  What an impact it was.  I have sympathy for those who don’t have a family of God’s people to turn to in times of trial.

     I lost my mom when I was 19.  It was a trial that has forever shaped me but I didn’t have God’s people in my life at that time.  I spent many years as an angry young man, full of hurt.  It wasn’t until I met God and His people at Timber Ridge that I was able to overcome that to become the person I am today.  I still hurt and miss my mom but my church family has filled that void enough to make it bearable.

     If you are reading this and you don’t know Christ, I urge you to seek Him.  If you don’t have a church family, find one.  Timber Ridge is a great place, come visit us, maybe you’ll stay.

During Operation Desert Storm my unit was activated and I served in a forward deployed element of a Combat Support Hospital attached with the 7th Armored Corp. I am now the emergency planner/communicable disease specialist for the Webster County Health Unit.

I like to describe myself as Sharon’s husband; Sarah’s father; Jeff’s father; Sierra, Megan, Savannah, Austin, Sidneys and last but not least Hunters grandfather. I have been a Deacon at Timber Ridge for approximately 31 years. When I first came here many years ago, when I walked through the door it felt like home. My prayer is that our visitors feel the same way. I have been forgiven much in my life, so one of my gifts I bring to our table here at Timber Ridge is the gift of mercy. To one much is given much is expected.

I base my ministry to you (the church) on the scriptures contained in Ezekiel 34. It is Gods admonition to the Shepherd’s of the people of Israel. As a very fallible man, I seek to please God in serving his beloved bride (the church) in the ways God expects his Sheppard’s to do. I know that I fail in many ways.

If you are new here WELCOME, if you have been here more than once you are one of us. If I can serve you please let me know. This is HOLY GROUND and my prayer you is that you will be able to find peace if you have not already, that only a relationship with Christ can give.

I have copied an article by Steve Furtick.  He is the lead pastor of a church in Charlotte, NC.

“As you navigate the story that is unfolding in your life, you’ll be quick to find that discouragement is everywhere. It seems that the harder you run after God, the harder the devil is going to try to prevent you from getting where you’re going. And all he really has to do to trip us up is drop one little hint of discouragement in our ears.

You’re unworthy

After we confess our sins to God, there is still one more thing to do:  Give God our guilt and shame and let Him help us deal with it.  How do you do that?  One big reason we have such a difficult time is that Satan wants to keep us down and under the burden of guilt and shame.  Guilt is the heaviness of soul that comes with doing something wrong.  Shame is thinking that you do bad things because YOU are bad.  Jesus wants to set us free from both of these things.

Keith Miller treats his defects like a poinsonous snake and puts them in a bag and places them on a mental conveyor belt back to God.  He does this as often as necessary and notes, “If you take the defect out of the sack and starty trying to deal with it in your mind, it will win almost every time.”  After days, weeks, or years, some of them are gone, and others hardly ever show up.  God has been at work.  He will take these tenacious burdens only when we are entirely ready to let Him do so.

Are you ready to be free?