Good News at Christmas for Ordinary People

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) is perhaps my favorite of all Christmas specials, both for its amazing Vince Guaraldi Soundtrack
and for the way that it connects the Christmas message with normal, anxiety and depression-riddled people like Charlie Brown, and us.

Here's a short clip. Enjoy. And if you haven't seen the whole thing, do yourself a favor!

Sunday Brunches

One of the most exciting and encouraging things we did this Fall was to host Sunday afternoon brunches at our home as a way to gather a few friends who had expressed interest in our church plant.

When we started in October, we thought we'd get 10-12 people per week for a small prayer and vision time, since we're just in the very beginning stages of our plant.

Well, we had 6 brunches in all, and I am thrilled to report (a little stunned, actually) that we had over 50 different people attend, 32 of them twice or more, and by December we were averaging more than 30 people per week.

These brunches have been just one of the many different activities we are involved in as we lay the relational foundation for our church and begin to form a vision for the kind of church we want to begin, but they have been particularly wonderful times.

We'll be starting back up on January 4th and if you're in NYC or know someone who is, we'd love to have you and/or your friend(s).

The brunches meet at our apartment (for now), 242 East 71st St. Apt 2E, but we may soon outgrow our living room.

Have a very Merry Christmas and see you in the New Year!

PS Sorry the photos are a bit blurry. We didn't want to use a flash - too distracting:)

encouragement from my 6 year-old

Last night was a little rough. Jack was up a bunch, moaning, turns out he has strep.

There was one redeeming moment, however.

At about 4am, Jaime poured a little cup of purple kids' Tylenol for Jack, which I promptly spilled all over the sheets.

After a calling myself stupid a couple times, I felt a little hand patting me on the back. It was Jack.

"It's ok dad," he said, "you're not too stupid."

Welcome!

Well, here goes nothing!

This is the first official post to my new blog (besides the lame test below), the purpose of which is to update all of you on the progress of our church plant here in NYC. Over the course of the coming months, I'll be posting prayer requests (and answers), telling you what we've been doing (and our plans for the future), and sharing some thoughts about ministry along the way.

Today, we'll be having our final Sunday brunch of the year from 1-3pm. Please pray that it is well-attended, fun, and that the message connects with those present. Also, if you're in NYC, feel free to stop by! Our address is 242 East 71st St. (between 2nd & 3rd), Apt. 2E.

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