On September 14th last year we rolled out our “Celebration Challenge.” It was part of a concentrated effort to mark the 25th year of Seneca Creek. And rather than pat ourselves on the back, we chose to use this year to celebrate God’s faithfulness, and create meaningful memories of this milestone.

We created monthly, unique “Unleash Prayer” events that included family prayer cards, neighborhood prayer walks, telephone prayer bridges, and a concert of prayer. Because prayer is how we “unleash God’s power into our lives and our church.”

We also worked diligently to memorize 25 verses of God’s word. It’s a way to unleash his “truth, power and wisdom,” in order to have it available to us when and where we need it the most. And each weekend we’ve done review. It’s hard to believe, but we’re finished! All 25 verses!

Some of you have opted out of the “Celebration challenge.” Others of you have jumped in and out, and you know that it’s been a partially completed challenge. And there’s a smaller group of you who have been determined to conquer this challenge. You’ve reviewed the tent cards. You’ve hit the web site. And you have memorized ALL 25 VERSES! If you’re in that last category, I have good news for you. We have an exciting reward to present to you. In order to receive that, we’re asking you to demonstrate that you’ve actually memorized all 25 verses. To do that, please use the response form in the weekly happenings, or use the comment section at the bottom of this blog post to let us know you’d like to sign up for a memory verse presentation. We’ll schedule you for a one on one session with a staff member to verify that you know all 25 verses. Then we’ll present the prizes on an upcoming Sunday gathering.

And as we roll into another year of living out God’s mission for us as a church, I’m excited that you’re part of this journey together with us. I’m looking forward to what lies ahead in the coming year. If you’d like more info about our plans for 2015-2016, be sure to pick up a copy of the annual Seneca Creek magazine at Connection Point, or request a copy by mail.

Together we’ll continue to celebrate our great and gracious God.

– Pastor Mark

P.S. If you have a story of how the Celebration Challenge verses have helped you in the past year, I’d love to hear about it. Just use the comment section below. Thanks!