1 Thessalonians 5:18 ^“give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in  Christ Jesus.” NIV

We don’t have to ask if it is the will of God for us to express thanks.  So in cooperating with the will of God, I want to take a minute to thank God for all that He is doing in our church.Every pastor should be as blessed.  From where I sit, I see God working in lives in a powerful way.  He continues to draw people to our church, some who are just investigating the claims of Christ, some who are coming back to Christ, and some who are looking for a church with a  God honoring passion for Christ.  The recurring theme I hear from new people, is how friendly the people are in our church.  I’m so excited to know that these new people see so quickly what I see every week.

One recent visitor wrote, “Lifehouse is the friendliest church we've been to. Period. We had so many smiling  people greet us warmly. It is still somewhat amazing to recall. We felt entirely welcome. Great people.

Strong message, well grounded teaching without compromise or apology for standing on the Word of God. That my son felt entirely welcome when he met his peers and the staff in the Sunday school class. He is eager to check out the Sunday school class and engage with the other children his age.  The biker on the Harley coming to church didn't appear to offend anyone.”

I’m grateful for how God is growing us in the area of prayer.  I’m thankful for each person that carved out time to participate in our recent 24 hours of prayer emphasis.  I’m grateful for each one who set aside the last three Tuesdays for prayer and fasting in order to bring the needs of our church before God.

Last Sunday night we saw a record number of 125 people attend The Well, where we gave ourselves to worshiping God.

Last Sunday morning we saw a movement of God’s spirit as 13 people made decisions for Christ.  One woman in our church commented, “I’ve been in this church for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen anything like that in this church.”  We are seeing our prayers answered!  So keep in praying, and don’t lose heart.

Our LIFEgroups are serving the community as never before, and people are responding to our expressions of love.  On Sunday, December 7^th we will be wrapping gifts for the families of prison inmates and for soldiers serving in the military.  We will also be giving gifts to needy families in our community.  I love our theme, that we would give so that people would receive their first gift this year from Jesus.

We have an army of students who have signed up to serve as short term missionaries in Mexicali.

Last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, I was so proud of our church for giving so that I could go visit members of our church who are suffering the consequences of our bad economy, and be able to hand them some funds, on your behalf, in Jesus’ name.

And I THANK God for you!

Stan