"A
Word"
From Your Shepherd
Dr.
Leland (Gus) O. Flaherty
Past
"Words"
E-mail
Pastor Gus
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October
2008
"Did
you know that you're writing a story? You write a few pages every day…by
the choices you make…and the characters you meet. God is writing
an even bigger story…a never-ending story. And your story is a
part of it. You only get one shot at this thing called life. You can
live it for yourself…or you can serve others. You have no idea
how long you'll have to write your story. All that you have - your loves,
your talents, your resources, your opportunities - is from God, and
He's concerned with how you'll use these to extend His grace to others."
These are the words on the dust jacket
of the book, Living a Life on Loan. And this is the book we will
be using as our point of focus for this year's Spiritual Adventure.
Rick Rusau and Eric Swanson, the authors of this book, ask a very provocative
question. "If your church was to suddenly disappear overnight,
would anyone even know? Would anyone even care?"
Over the course of the past couple of
years, the vision Fair Haven has adopted is the desire to be a strong
V.O.I.C.E. for Jesus Christ in Central Wayne County. The implication
of that is that, what we give ourselves to, needs to have an impact
on the lives of those who attend the church, but it must also have an
impact on the community we reside in. First, I want to make sure Fair
Haven doesn't suddenly disappear over night. We have been a V.O.I.C.E.
for Jesus Christ in Dearborn Heights for a generation (40 years). God
intends for us to continue to speak out for Him for many generations
to come. And it is definitely my desire to lead this Congregation in
such a way that people will notice that we are here - (The implication
being that, if we were to suddenly disappear, it would have a profound
negative effect on the community at large)
In this six week Adventure (beginning
October 19) we will take a look at our individual lives, as well as
the life of the church. We'll discover that our life isn't really our
own. We are living a life on loan from God. Since we belong to someone
else, what we do with our lives has important implications. We'll examine
what LIFE really is. We'll see that LIFE consists of our Loves,
Our Intersections (our interactions with people), our Fortunes
(our resources), and Eternity.
I trust you'll plan to join us, not only
for the 6 sermons dealing with Living your Life on Loan, but you'll
take advantage of the small group and Wednesday night class options
available for you to really understand how you can live a Life on Loan
from God.
Blessings to you!
Pastor Gus Flaherty
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