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Dear Friends,

It is great to be back. The warmth and kindness shown to me at all services was overwhelming. Thank you for your prayers and support.

This church is a great place to preach. Very few of you have the vantage point that I have as I begin a message. I see people who are eager to hear the Word of God preached and applied; explored and explained. Heads look up. And it is only at the 27-minute mark that people start looking at their watches.

Something that you need to know is that we will change bible translations for our church pew bibles, the pulpit reading and the Bible that I use and preach from. Fr. Jason is writing a brief explanation as to why we are going to remove and donate the current NIV Bibles and replace them with the English Standard Version (ESV). I have been using the ESV for my personal devotions for over two years. It is an amazing text. It has the cadence and depth that you would want to find in God’s Word. The Bibles are on order and next week Fr. Jason will fill in some of the details about why this is a good move for us.

I am starting a new sermon series on August 8 called More than Conquerors. It is an 8-week series on the crown jewel of the highest theological and literary achievement of the apostle Paul. Many of you may want to purchase a new copy of the ESV from The Bookstore for this series. (I think we may end up memorizing a good portion of Romans 8. The ESV will make it grand!)

In the meantime, here are a few more things you need to know:

On Point for Men
Remember that On Point for Men (a Bible study that I teach with Jason Bowman) begins  August 24. Every Tuesday at 7 a.m., join us for an in-depth lecture, application of scripture and a spirited discussion of some principles found in God’s Word. No prior experience or deep Bible knowledge is needed to attend. The coffee is free…and the lesson we learn from God’s Word is priceless.

Coast Camp
Our youth group kids (many, many, many of them) are leaving Sunday, July 25 for a week at Coast Camp. They will be joined by youth groups from other Anglican churches in the southeastern portion of the United States. Their music leadership group will be none other than our own Josh Havens and his band, The Afters. It will be a great week for them. I plan to fly down to the camp on Wednesday to hang out for a day with the kids and attend The Afters concert that night.

I can remember those church camp moments when I was a young student in high school. Nothing was more profound to me that the moments I had coming to know the Lord. Camp introduced me to Christ and to His Church, and I was never the same. Many of you have a similar background. Please pray for our kids this coming week.

New Study Guides
It is a real pleasure and joy for me to preach here at Christ Church. The whole process of study, prayer, preparation, and final touches is one of my weekly habits that I truly enjoy.

But did you know that you can find a study guide for the sermon here on my blog? I began producing a study guide for this message that will be uploaded on Mondays following the sermon. Check out last week’s study guide. The purpose for this extra effort on my part is to help many people think about the message throughout the week. Small Groups can use these as their curriculum and, our radio audience can use these when we begin broadcasting with WRR on August 1. (By the way, do I need to say that lying in bed listening to a radio message on Sunday morning is NOT going to church?)

See you Sunday,

Fr. David+

Dear Friends,

I am very happy that I will be back with you this weekend at all services.  I have had a great recovery, thanks be to God.  When I came home on May 13th after a major back surgery…and tried to stand up on the 14th…I knew it would be a long haul for recovery.  Now, after two months, I am back at Christ Church and ready to rumble!

I know you know that the staff has done incredible work these past two months. Our clergy team did a great job (so I hear) leading all of our services. The music and worship was (as usual) excellent…from what I hear.  I have been in touch on and off with members of the Vestry and a few staff people.  I owe them all my thanks…and so do you!  They serve God in with incredible devotion and thus they serve you.

So many of you have written cards or emails over the past two months. Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers. I really did feel prayed for. There were days over the past two months when I felt “carried” by the power of the Holy Spirit. It has been a time of healing, walking, reading, resting, napping and a reconnection with the healing process that God designed.

Now, here are some things you need to know:

The Afters Have a #1 Single

Top of the Charts
Our own Josh Havens is tearing up the charts at iTunes. His band, The Afters, has a new single called “Light Up the Sky” that has hit #1 in sales on the Christian chart. I downloaded it a few days ago and love it.  It is faithful, lyrical and beautifully done. You will be praising the Lord with this tune that simply won’t get out of your mind. Check it out.

Also, a radio interview with Josh will air during 94.9 KLTY’s New Music Café on Saturday, July 24, 7 – 8 p.m. The approximately five-minute interview will feature Josh and the Afters’ new song.

NEW Christ Church Radio Show
After a few years of thinking, planning and praying, a timely opportunity opened up to us and we are taking advantage of it. Beginning August 1, Christ Church will have our own weekly radio show on WRR 101.1 (classical station) from 7:30 to 8 a.m. on Sunday mornings. It will be broadcast to a radio audience of potentially 250,000 people here in the metroplex and streamed on WRR’s website for many more listeners all over the country. It will be a recorded (probably one week delay) blend of sermon and musical worship designed to extend the reach of our Sunday morning worship to a much wider audience…one whose demographics I believe are very compatible with our own church family. I am very excited about this and I hope you will tune in to hear it (and then come on in to church!)

St. Timothy’s New Home
Fran and I attended the Open House night for St. Timothy Christian Academy a few weeks ago.  This school, which got its start as a ministry of Christ Church, is now on its own with its own board and doing very well.  They have found a perfect place at First Christian Church in Plano.  I walked through the space at its open house and again just a few days ago.  It is a perfect space and I wish them the very best of God’s blessing and strength.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Fran and I were able to get down to Houston a few weeks ago. My son, Jed, and his two kids went with us. We lined up all five grandchildren on a picnic table and snapped

Our Five Grandchildren

a picture. For us, it was the gift of the summer. Here they are, from right to left and in descending order of age: Haley 5, Moses 4, Evan 3, Milan 2, Finley 1, actually six months. What a blessing!

REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey
I spent an hour with some staff members yesterday going over the results of the REVEAL Spiritual Life Survey that we conducted in April. First of all, thanks to the 558 people who completed the survey.  Our consultant with REVEAL told us that was a great sample size–much larger than most churches. The survey was clear about a number of things. Our members are happy at Christ Church. They love the worship life of the church. We (you and I) are a good match…the church is happy with its leadership. But there were some very interesting and insightful glimpses into the heart of Christ Church. In the next few weeks I will make large portions of the survey available online. (It is a huge file with lots and lots of PowerPoint slides that frankly need some interpretation.)  But one thing I can tell you right now is that this church is ready for a challenge. There are an extraordinary number of people who are new to their faith and are growing as a disciple, and they are looking for a challenge, a future, a way of taking the next step in their faith. Wait until you see what’s coming up this fall.  Stay tuned!

Churches Being Planted!
I have been blessed in the past two months by seeing the kind of life that is emerging from Anglican 1000. This ministry (centered here at Christ Church) has touched a nerve around the Anglican Church in North America and the AMiA.  Guess what?  Churches are being planted.  In the past few months we have seen over 100 churches emerge, start-up, form together.  We are trying to keep up with them and have documented over 40 of them on the website.  It is constantly changing…so bookmark it, enter into some of the discussion on the blog, and check out some of the resources.

I have great expectations for the remainder of the year.  It will be a joy to be with you in worship this weekend and to open up the riches of God’s Word together.

‘See you this weekend.

In Christ,
David+