October!  This month holds some very busy but fun memories for Tracey and me.  We used to lead a big event at our church in Virginia called Trunk or Treat.  It was a lot of fun and had a lot going on in a 2 hour window of time that ended with a professional fireworks display.  What a fun thing to do for trick or treaters and church families.  We had as many as 7000 in attendance one year but that crowd was a little overwhelming.  

Though we are not doing something that grandiose in Burlington, we are hosting a series of Sunday sermons called, Beyond the Grave.  A man who just started coming to our church and reconnecting after years away from the Lord did some great artwork for us.  Very happy to have him around.  

For this series, we are going to explore messages from people beyond the grave.  Hollywood has given its spin on these concepts through character popular to teenagers.  In the last few years, there has been a fascination with vampires, werewolves, zombies and other beyond the grave creatures.  Why not show what the Bible has to say about this and what really happens Beyond the Grave.  It is a scary reality unless you have faith in Christ.  

One Year!

Burlington Community Church is one year old!  We have had some tremendous things happen and have to praise God for all the He has done.  We could not have come this far if He were not our guide.  The Bible says it is foolish to build on any other foundation than Christ so that is what we have tried to do.  

On August 28, 2011, we had 64 in attendance!  To have that many is incredible and it is the highest attendance we have enjoyed so far.  There were a lot of guests both from Burlington and other places.  It is always a blessing to have family around and my parents were there to celebrate with us.  Tracey's mom also made the trip up from Windsor with an old friend from years ago.  I really appreciated them being there!

Allan Gallant and his group from Church By The Canal came to worship with us for the day.  This church planted last fall and will soon celebrate their one year anniversary.  There are a number of us who are partners in ministry and watching God work in our churches.  We are blessed to have other pastors starting churches and reaching out to help each other.  Allan and others are becoming great friends in ministry up here.   

Tom and Tammy Haines from FEB Central were also there.  Tom helped us get the paperwork and process done to become a legal entity in Canada.  Not only that, but he brought a check to pay off our sound system.  What a blessing to have that bill behind us so we can use our funds in greater outreach ways.  

Finally, some sweet friends from Fair Oaks Church showed up to encourage us.  The King family and Jackie Jones and some of her family arrived that morning.  We did not know they were coming but so thankful they made the trip.  To complete the day of Fair Oaks Church visitors, we were blessed to have so many great wishes from the staff and friends via video.  Pastor Stokes completed the video with his greeting.  The video was such a hit for our church family that 2 couples will probably take a trip to visit VA this fall.  I am looking forward to them getting some ideas and support from our home church!

All in all, it was a day of celebration for the things God has done.  We are working hard talking to the Burlington guests and asking them to be a part of what we are doing.  Some of these guests still need to make a faith commitment to Christ so we are busy in our witness too.  We pray we are double our size in a month then moving forward to greater things in year 2!