My heart is filled with A HARVEST OF THANKSGIVING as I write you today! We just finished a few nights ago our Annual Harvest Festival. Our biggest neighborhood outreach of the year turned out to be no disappointment, that's for sure!

Kids and families from throughout our neighborhood, let alone our own church and the rest of the city, filled the property and Sanctuary to overflowing. There were games galore, candy beyond measure, bright eyes and incredible costumes.

The volunteers did an amazing job transforming the Sanctuary into a play place where kids and families would not only have a ton of fun, prizes and candy, but they had a chance to hear the redeeming reason for this season ... that Jesus died to bring us life!

The pictures I include here give only a minute snapshot of the families and some volunteers that made the Harvest Festival an awesome event. I just have to say too that I love the generations represented at these events!

With the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, isn't now a good time to pause and reflect on God's goodness throughout this year? I want to encourage you to do just that in these next weeks.

On our weekends together, we'll be wrapping up our "Welcome Home!" series with messages focused on touching people with God's Love and telling the world about God's Son. We have some great opportunities for you to do just that this month with Angel Tree and Feeding the Hungry available. See the details in the column to the right.

Opportunities to give and serve are perfect ways to express our gratitude to the Lord. Please do pause, reflect and serve others as you give thanks!

As we enter the Christmas season, you'll notice our theme of "NewHeart ... Your Home for the Holidays." As we celebrate the glorious season of Jesus' birth, let me nudge you to look around at the people God has placed in your life ... especially those who don't yet have a living, loving, everyday, real relationship with Jesus yet. Invite them to join us in the grand celebrations each weekend of December!