From the Pastor's Desk (Mike Richards):
Hello all,
Today is Dani and my 14 year anniversary. I know that for some of you that doesn’t seem like much and for others that means we got married while you were still in diapers (or close to it). For us it means that God has richly blessed us with the ability to serve Him as a couple in ministry as a profession for 14 years. We made it through the early on years of newlywed struggles of learning to adapt to living with another fallible human. We made it through the years of crying babies and we are not far from having our first teenager! (Something every youth pastor/former youth pastor faces with much fear and trepidation.) Thanks for joining us in this last year of our marriage on wonderful journey into a new adventure. We look forward to what God had in store for us.
I would like to make you aware of some announcements that I overlooked on Sunday.
1. This coming Sunday night I will be going to Trinity EFC’s Missions conference and sharing about our ministry in Shakopee. In preparation for that, I would like to borrow any pictures you may have of events, services, and people from the Bridge. I will need these as soon as possible this week so that I can utilize Diana Barto’s expertise at putting together a sharp display. Please send them to: The Bridge, 226 1st Ave. E. Shakopee, MN 55379 – or drop them off personally at the office or our home. They will be returned to you.
2. On Tuesday, April 23 from 6-8 p.m. I will be at the Shakopee Showcase – at Canterbury Park. This is a large event to display Shakopee businesses, etc. We are the only Church scheduled to be there. We will have our display set up and I would love to have any of your stop by that evening. Please pray that God will use this event to help get our name into the hands of some people who need Jesus Christ.
3. The Children’s team (Connie Burt and Annette Poole) are in the process of revising our children’s area. They met with me last week and we worked through a purpose statement and guiding principles. Connie Burt will be leading an informational and training time on Saturday, April 27. This will last no more than 2 hours. The time is yet to be determined. The meeting will take place at the church office and childcare will be provided at the Richards’ home. If you have been serving in the nursery or children’s church, or would like to serve in one of these areas, please plan on attending. Issues that will be covered include safety and legal issues as well as policies and procedures and scheduling.
I look forward to seeing you all again throughout this week and especially on Sunday!
Would you join with me in praying that God would bring in 2 new families this Sunday through the regular attendees of the Bridge?
Would you pray with me that these would be unbelievers who need to know Jesus in personal way.
Pray for the following people that individuals at the Bridge are trying to build intentional relationships with in order to share Christ:
Doug, Muriel, Linda, Michelle, Krista, Lisa, Katherine, Danielle, Bernadette, Christina, Amy, Barb, Dori, Cory, Kelly, Scott, Donna, Debbie, Nancy, Steve, Peggy, Kathy, Paul, Maxine, Julie, Martin, Jim, Pat, Ron, Terry, Greg, Gary, Jeanne, Rob, Ken, Sammy, Steve, Renae, Justin, Jeremy, Laura, Nathan, Chad, Debbie, Kari, John, Bev, Kristen.
(If you would like to add people to our most wanted list – email their names to me.)
God bless!
Pastor Mike
