Christ Fellowship of Wise County

As I write this, the world seems profoundly calm. As long as I don’t get on social media or turn on the TV or radio, the world seems to be at great peace. Snow continues to fall and fall and fall. The insulation of it muffles what few sounds there are. Traffic is sparse. The world looks beautiful and peaceful outside. And inside, I have two peaceful dogs (for the moment) and we all have full bellies. We have heat and water and right now all is well.

Which brings up two things: I know not everybody has this right now. And I know it won’t last. For the first thing, if you don’t have heat, water or food, please let me know. I or someone in Christ Fellowship will be glad to help you. No, I won’t go to Starbucks for you and get your daily Frenchie frappe vanilla vente squishie but I’ll make sure you have heat, water and food.

For the second thing, peace is way more than just external. Looking outside my window, everything is peaceful, but I know when some people look inside their hearts, peace seems a long way off. I know. I’ve been there. Scripture has a lot to say about finding peace and keeping it. Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” Read that verse again slowly and really let it sink in. “Perfect peace”, “trust”, “thoughts are fixed” all speak volumes. Meditate on that today and have the inner peace that matches the outer peace.

I love you all! — Todd

I usually appreciate Facebook motivational posters like I appreciate a cold bowl of baked broccoli but I saw one today I could agree with. It said,

Marry a guy who says things like:

·        I’m proud of you.

·        I can’t believe you’re mine.

·        You can do it baby!

·        I don’t know where this extra dog came from, but it fits in great with our other dogs.

I agree with it because my neighbor is still in jail and his two dogs need foster homes this weekend. He has two really, really sweet mixed breed dogs. He said one is about 16 years old. I don’t know the age of the other but it is mature. Both are females. That’s about all I know. But the weather is supposed to get really cold next week and they have no heat. They can go in and out of the house but there’s no electricity. If you or somebody you know could foster these dogs for a few weeks until he gets out of jail and gets on his feet, there will be treasures in Heaven for you! And I’ll throw in a bag of dog food.

Also, our food pantry is still helping people every week and is running low on milk, bread and meat. If you can help, you can bring them to church or to my house or I’ll be glad to come get it.

Thank you, Christ Fellowship! I love you all and I can’t wait to see you Sunday! — Todd

So, Christ Fellowship, if you had 2024 to do over again, what would you do differently? Maybe you have some New Year’s resolutions or maybe you don’t do that stuff but hopefully we can all look back and see what we might do a little differently in the coming year. Will you speak a little gentler to people? Will you recognize that everybody is going through something right now and maybe cut them a little slack? Will you cut yourself some slack and forgive yourself of what you did in the past? Maybe you need to work harder to not use God’s name or any of His titles unless you are talking to Him or about Him. (Ex. 20:7)

In praying about what God wants for our church, I feel led that we need more Jesus and more of each other in 2025. So, we will start in January looking in depth at the parables of Jesus and we will have more opportunities to get together and just eat and fellowship and share with each other what is going on in our lives. I look forward to ’25 (even though it looks weird to write that number) and I wouldn’t want to do it with any other church. I love y’all!

Lastly, I have some sad news. Many of you remember our dear friends from Bowie, Jim and Bunnie McAfee. I got word that Jim had a heart attack Christmas day and passed away at the hospital. Please pray for Bunnie and the whole family including his sister Pati who lives in Bridgeport. I have no other info yet but when I do, I will pass it on. Thank you. — Todd

There’s no tree. There are no special lights. There’s no Santa Claus or inflatable reindeer. But this is a special time of year at Christ Fellowship and this will be a special Sunday coming up this weekend. Sunday morning will be filled with worship and testimonies, special scripture readings and fellowship. Then Sunday evening we will do something completely different. We will get our popcorn and munchies and wear our holiday jammies and watch a special Christmas movie called The Star. It will last about an hour and a half so we will start right at 6. It’s always fun when we get together like this so I sure hope you can make it! I love you all! — Todd

In this holiday season “so merry and bright”, it’s easy to be overwhelmed with the desire for stuff. I want this from Santa and that in my stocking and I want that in the driveway and that in my online cart. And what happens when you get it? “Yay! Now…what’s next? I want more!” Right?

For those of you that have worshipped with Christ Fellowship in our temporary building at the R2BA gun auction in Chico, you may be feeling the same way. God, in teaching our church that being His church has nothing to do with the building, has shown up in a powerful way since we have moved this last time. And it has left me with a desire for more.

I want His presence. I need it. I have felt it and His presence has satisfied like presents never could. But I still want more. The good news is God wants to give us more! He is generous with presents but He wants to lavish us with His presence. Psalm 16:11 says, “in Your presence there is fullness of joy.” Acts 2:28 says, “You will make me full of joy in Your presence.”

I can’t wait to see you this Sunday morning but I really can’t wait to be in the presence of the Great I Am, the Creator and Redeemer, the Sustainer and Deliverer, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and my Friend. I’m praying right now that God will bring you to church this weekend prayed up and ready to worship! I can’t wait! I love you all! — Todd

Hello, my dear Christ Fellowship family! I know it’s a busy time of the year but I hope you don’t overdo it this year like so many of us have in the past. Please know when to say “no” and when to just spend some time with your family. That being said, your church family is going to need a little bit of help Saturday night and Sunday morning as we move everything of ours back into the auction building. The gun auction is going to be Saturday starting at 10, but as soon as the auction is over, we will start moving our stuff back and making it into a place where we can worship again. If you would like to help, please text me and let me know. Then when the auction is about to be over, I will send out a text to let you know when to show up to help. Or you can just come a little early Sunday morning. Your help will be greatly appreciated! I love this church and I can’t wait to see you Sunday morning! — Todd

Oh my, we have a lot for which to be thankful, don’t we? I don’t know about you, but I had a great day yesterday with my family eating and laughing and taking pictures. I’m very grateful for the family God has given me. And I am just as thankful for the church family God has given me as well. I can’t imagine having to go through life without y’all. And I can’t wait to see you all this Sunday at Christ Fellowship! It will be a special day as we will have a celebration meal after the service to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and our church’s twelfth anniversary all rolled into one. So, bring your favorite potluck dish with enough to share and we will enjoy the fellowship like always. Or don’t bring anything. It’ll be okay. There’s always plenty. Just stay and eat with us even if you can’t bring something. No problem. There will be no evening service so spend that extra time with your family if possible. I love you all! — Todd

Last Sunday I heard a couple different people say they wish that we could meet for worship every day. I sure know what they mean. It has been so much fun and with such powerful times of worship. I sure hope you can be at Christ Fellowship this Sunday as well.

And this Sunday night at 6, we are going to meet at First Baptist Chico at 404 S. Weatherford, just south of the square. First Baptist Crafton will also be there to join in a time of fellowship, worship and food. The meal will be sandwiches and we have been asked to provide a veggie tray. I know, I know, that’s not how we have meals but that’s how they do it. So, if you want to bring some finger foods or something light, that would be good.

Also, Sandra Ford has a full-size turkey in her freezer that she would generously like to donate to somebody that needs it. Give her a call.

Lastly, I have a real problem. My neighbor went to jail and left behind four dogs in his house. They have no food, water or electricity. I called animal control but they can’t / won’t do anything. Then I got them some food and water but he may be in there for a while and I don’t know what to do with them. Anybody help?

Sunday after next, the 24th, Christ Fellowship will meet with First Baptist Crafton at First Baptist Chico for a community fellowship and meal. We will start at 6 pm at FB Chico at 404 S. Weatherford St a few blocks south of the square. The meal will be sandwiches and finger foods and we have been asked to bring things like a veggie tray or cheese tray, lettuce, tomatoes, stuff like that. I’m really looking forward to this and I think it will be a great time of worship and fellowship. I hope you can make it. I wonder how they feel about dogs in their service. I better not push it, huh?

We continue to have wonderful, powerful times of worship in our new, temporary building at the R2BA Gun Auction. If you haven’t joined us yet, you are missing out. You need the church and the church needs you! I love you all! — Todd

I don’t know about you but I need some more of what we had last Sunday! We had great music and worship. We had fun and fellowship and food. We had a good crowd and even two new members. But it was just the presence of God in our midst that made the day – morning and evening – so powerful. Please be praying right now that God would continue to make His presence known in our services and I can’t urge you strong enough to consider how you can be part of the Sunday night and Wednesday night Bible studies if you aren’t already. You are really missing out by not being there.

Also, I know it’s last minute but there is a men’s rally at FBC Sunset at noon today. There will be brisket for lunch, knife and axe throwing and community worship. I plan to go. Let me know if you are interested.

I can’t wait to see you tomorrow in the new building! I love you all! — Todd