Hello church family!
On Saturday night, my family and I will get on an airplane to Alaska so that we can go visit friends and family. I’m really looking forward to this trip as it’s been a few years since we’ve been to Alaska, and some of my favorite people are there. But if I’m being honest, it's a bit bittersweet for me as this will be the longest stretch that I’ve been away from my Sound City church family since we launched in 2015. For the previous two summers, we’ve invited three guest preachers to come in the summer to serve our church family, but this is the first time that I won’t be present in person to hear these friends preach. I’ve never been away for three Sundays in a row! This is new territory for me.
As I’ve communicated with these men who are coming to serve us, I have a deep sense of excitement and anticipation, as I know that God is going to richly use these weeks to grow and shape us as a church. These men are all looking forward to sharing with us, and they have prepared some messages that I think will be deeply impacting for us as a church. I can’t wait to listen online from Alaska!
Also, this Sunday night, I am really excited to tune into the Avoiding the Awkward When Sharing Your Faith event via the livestream. When the Church Health Team shared the results of our survey earlier this year, we saw that our church was really needed to grow in the area of the members personally sharing their faith with those who don’t know Jesus.
While this event doesn’t change things overnight, it certainly is a helpful step in the right direction.
I’m asking you for this favor as one of your pastors: please prioritize this event and let’s pack out the church offices on Sunday evening.
I love you, Sound City, and I’ll be praying for you while I’m away. And if you think of me, you can pray for three things: 1) pray for safety on our travels, 2) pray that our time with family will be life-giving, and 3) pray that our church would grow and learn from these ministry partners. I can’t wait to launch into a new sermon series on spiritual gifts on August 13! But until then, grace and peace.
With love, Pastor Aaron