Jason Working from Home

Just a quick note...our daughter, Gracie, has been battling a case of strep throat for weeks. Just as soon as we think we've got it beat, it comes back with a vengeance. She ran a fever last weekend, we took her to the doctor on Monday, and the tests came back last night positive.

I had told a couple of people I'd be in the office today. Unfortunately, because of her strep, I am having to work from home today. If you need me, please email me or call me on my cell.

Thanks!

Jason

Tuesday Discussions

Hello again, everyone. Many people have enjoyed our break from our in-depth Hebrews study the last two Tuesday nights as we have watched the video Three Degrees of Separation and held discussions about it.

We've decided to take at least one more week to discuss the topics covered in this video, specifically the topic of abortion and the Christian response. If you are interested in this topic and would like to come, I highly recommend watching the video and coming this Tuesday.

By the way, we're still needing items for the nursery. Please contact me if you can provide any of these:

1. pack n play sheets
2. Plug covers
3. 2 Small shelves
4. Spray bottles
5. Laundry bags

Thanks!

Jason

A Few More Needs

Greetings, church. We have a few more needs for our children's ministry. Can anyone help us with these?

1. pack n play sheets
2. Plug covers
3. 2 Small shelves
4. Wipes
5. Spray bottles
6. Laundry bags
   

If you can take care of some of this, let me know. Thanks!

Jason

Tuesday Night Discussion

I want to remind everyone who is interested in our discussion of Christianity and politics to be at our meeting Tuesday night for the rest of our video ("Three Degrees of Separation") and discussion. If you'd like to watch the video and catch the part that you missed last Tuesday, click here.

Jason

Sunday Service Pics

We took some candid pics for our website this Sunday, and those have been placed on our gallery at http://www.castlechristian.com. If you'd like copies of them, here they are:

Meeting Synopsis

Hey everyone,

Just a reminder that we had a meeting yesterday (Oct 26) to update everyone on our planned move. For those of you who could not be there yesterday, here is the information we shared.

A few months ago our church voted unanimously to change our budget and to move to this new location across the street. Our budget is working for us and that has proven to be a good change. As far at the move goes, we had made an arrangement with the owner's contractor to pull the permits for us and we would do the necessary labor to make the building workable for us. At first this seemed extremely reasonable, as our doing the work would make the price for the units very nice for us.

Over the following weeks we took the steps necessary. We had drawings made and presented them to the owner's contractor. This is when the contractor told us that he could NOT pull the permits for us to do the work, even though that had been our agreement. At that point there was little we could do other than find a contractor who would help us.

We talked to several people, and finally found the necessary licensed commercial contractor. He gave us a price of around $12,000 to do the necessary labor. He explained that the tasks we thought would be fairly simple were actually going to be pretty difficult.

Unfortunately, right now that kind of cost is beyond our church's means. Beside this, the economical struggles we are seeing on the news are hitting many of our members very hard. This has also affected our weekly offering. We are not worried about this, but it does mean that moving to a new location is not possible at this time.

The plan of our leadership is to continue where we are for 3-6 months, and reevaluate our options. Until then, we are going to do everything we can to make our church successful at our current location. As Nathan told me the other day, it won't be long until we need to move to two services, as we have grown so much! And we have some events planned over the holidays that I think will draw a lot of attention to our church.

I see this as a positive thing, and many made positive statements at our meeting. Our leadership is going to be following up with everyone to get those lists of personal contacts to invite. Be thinking that direction, if you would!

Thanks!

Jason

Retreat

The retreat is FULL, as of right now. If you would like to be placed on a "waiting list" in case someone who has already signed up can't go after all, just let me know. I'll be working on an official sign up sheet and collecting deposits, so I can forward to Mountain Vista to hold our weekend. I also need a consensus of which of the last two weekends of April work better for those who have signed up. Here is the web addres of the facility where we will be going http://www.mountainvistalogcabins.com/brick_chalet.html .
Looking forward to a great weekend of renewal and refreshment.
Patti

Kidnextion Shopping List

Hey Everyone,

Just wanted to remind everyone that signed-up to purchase supplies for Kidnextion, to get the items you selected in by this Sunday if possible. If you have any questions, or are unclear on what was needed, OR if you want to help and didn't sign-up for anything, feel free to email me at nathan@kidnextion.com .

Thanks to everyone who helped out by purchasing items for the children.

Nathan H.
Kidnextion Childrens Ministry

A Note from Marge:

I just got this thank-you note from Marge Bieler. Let's remember to keep her in our prayers!

I want to share with you how much of a family Castle Christian Church is to me. This week I had surgery and so many of you have come forward to help me. What a humbling experience to rely on others to meet your needs. I'm not too good at taking help, but this week I had no other choice but to rely on God and the people he placed at my feet:-) You all ROCK!!!

Please let everyone know how much I enjoy their love and support. I will miss this Sunday's service. I know you will all be in my prayers and vice a versa. I will feel God's healing power at home, sing a song for me:-)

Lord, we have some really EXCELLENT cooks in our congregation! I don't think I've eaten this good in years.

Jason, I really enjoy your message each week and how pure your heart is for the Lord. And to think God put a comedian in the pulpit, what ever works, right!

Thank you all again for your love and support. God has surely blessed me abundantly in my time of need.

God Bless,

Marge Bieler

Church Meeting / Building Update

Hello everyone,

Just a friendly reminder that we will need to sit down with you all after church on Sunday to inform you of recent developments regarding our move. Don't forget!

Also, don't forget about our short video series on Tuesday nights. This Tuesday we'll be finishing our video called "Three Degrees of Separation." We'll also have discussion on it. You can watch the video on our blog by scrolling down to the post with the video or clicking the link on the right to go directly to that post.

Thanks!

Jason

Tuesday Video

Hello everyone,

I mentioned on Monday we were going to have a video and discussion the next two Tuesdays (this past Tuesday and next). Many had said they wanted to come but obviously couldn't make it last night. We watched half of the video and had some fantastic discussion. We're watching the rest next week and I assume there will be even more powerful insight and broad discussion.

The video is an interview with three evangelical ministers who have very different takes on how Christianity engages with culture, specifically politics. Two of these ministers have been very influential for your minister. Greg Boyd and Shane Claiborne have written powerful books on this topic. The other interviewee is Chuck Colson, whose accomplishments are also impressive.

I'm posting the video below in this post so that if you wanted to come but couldn't, now you have the ability to catch up on what we saw. The video is well over an hour, so find a time to catch the whole thing. I'd encourage everyone to come next week and be a part of the larger discussion we'll be able to have.


Three Degrees of Separation from Speaking of Faith on Vimeo.

Thanks!

Jason

Tuesday Night Video

Hey Castlers,

I think our blog has seen more action today than it had in a few weeks.

I had told our regular Tuesday Night Bible Study crowd that I would have something special and different for them tomorrow (the 21st). I had planned on announcing it on Sunday, but didn't know if I was going to be able to pull it off. It turns out I am, so I wanted to let everyone know what I'm thinking.

It is no secret that one of your preacher's pet side-topics is the relationship between politics and Christianity. And most everyone knows my view on the concept.

I listened to a wonderful interview a few weeks ago which took place at a minister's conference earlier this year. It is by Krista Tippet (who has a public radio show) who interviews Chuck Colson, Gregory Boyd, and Shane Claiborne. It is about three interesting and (in some ways) very different evangelical perspectives on Christians and politics.

I find the interview (as well as the topic) to be very fascinating and I think it could open up some great discussion for us. The interview is over 90 minutes long, so I thought we could watch half this week and then open it up for discussion, and then watch the other half next week and do the same.

Of course, this means we'll be taking a short break from our Hebrews study, which is OK! This is a topic very relevant to Christians in our world and I hope to see you there!

Jason

Nevermind on Pool Float

I sent out a message earlier about a pool float. I've found an alternative that will work for us. Thanks!

Jason

Baptistry Help AND Building Update Meeting

Good morning everyone. As you all know from this Sunday (I'm still pumped up from yesterday), we have a new working steel baptistry.

In order to keep the water in our baptistry fresh, I need to treat it with small pool tablets. I went to Wal-Mart to look for a pool-chemical float, but they do not have any. Does anyone have a float they can let us use?

ALSO, we will need to have a meeting with everyone this Sunday after church to let you know what's going on with our potential move. Please be prepared to meet for a few minutes after church on Sunday.

Thanks!

Jason

10-19-08 Baptisms--Valerie and Gracie

Hey everyone,

Today was a GREAT SUNDAY! We were blessed to witness two people committing themselves to the Lord in Baptism. You can come to this post on the blog to see video of Grace and Valerie being baptized. It is such a blessing to be a part of what God is doing in people's hearts.



I believe that God is only just beginning to work in our church and that many more people will be blessed by what is going on in our body. Let's commit as a body to continue praying for Valerie and Grace and for anyone who may still be thinking about making this public commitment to Jesus Christ.

Enjoy the video!

BAPTISM!

Hello Castlers,

It's been a while since I blogged, but the news on the move has been slow. We're waiting right now for quotes from contractors (we have to have one on board to get the proper permit).

About this week's BAPTISM emphasis...if you are ready to be baptized, please bring a change of clothes that you can get wet in. We'll try to have some extra clothes there if people realize they need to get baptized but weren't ready before.

If you would like to talk to me about being baptized, just reply to this email or call me this week!

Jason

It's Still Not Too Late to Get Involved

Hey guys, in case you missed out on the effort to recruit new volunteers for our children's ministry, Kidnextion, we just wanted to remind you one more time that it is not too late to get plugged in to this awesome ministry. Check out the video below, then contact Nathan Holmes to get more info. Thanks in advance for your willing to connect the next generation to God's love.



In HIS Service & Yours,
Nathan Holmes
Lead Minister to Kidnextion & 212°