In the name of Jesus… ...the One who is, the One who was & the One who is to come! Amen. Dear friends and followers @ New Life, In past years, my report to the congregation has been as short as three pages and as long as nine. This report may be somewhere in between or maybe even less! It is my goal to report both highlights from 2017 as well as point to ministry opportunities in 2018! Here are some highlights for New Life’s ministry in 2017… in no order of significance... Throughout the year a focus was leading up to the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation! All our ministries were held together like a woven fabric… worship… education for children and adults… care of neighbors— near and far…. Welcoming strangers and celebrating the lives of those who have been here since the beginning… by the grace of God, the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit… The efforts by the LEAD team are having an impact on the life and breath of New Life’s efforts! New Life “dedicated "Annie Bates to be YAGM— a Young Adult Global Missioner for the ELCA! The October annual BBQ and Craft Fair was one of the best ever in the last 5-6 years! Faith Milestones were celebrated with over 10 baptisms, 3 & 4 year olds were blessed as they began Sunday’s Cool, many received their First Communion, 5th and 6th grade students were given a Study Bible to use for Confirmation, 3 of our HS students celebrated their Affirmation of Baptism and SR Hi students were blessed along with their parents before heading off to college! The Hurricane called Harvey brought stress and change to not just our congregation but to 10s of 1000s in the Houston Metro area. New Life exhibited one of its core values—-‘care of other’ once again! I’m deeply grateful to be part of a congregation that responds with love and concern in the midst of crisis. It is one of the things New Life does really well!. The Christmas Eve offering took us to a level where we have fully funded a 4th water well partnering with Water to Thrive. This well is in Ethiopia and directly affects brothers and sisters of ours in the Ethiopian Lutheran Church of Mekane’ Jesu. Because we have provided access to water in closer proximity to their village, mothers are free to no longer walk 3-4 miles a day collecting water and tend to matters closer to home and their family. Children no longer are used to carry water and are now in school. These may seem like small things to us but these changes forever alter the life-style and economic future of people whose lives are so different than ours. As Church and as we read in The Message… Ephesians 3:20... “God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. “ It is no secret that life is filled with highs and lows, ups and downs connected to rhythms that are within our reach and still some that we cannot control. Long ago, I was taught these two truths… 1) “I believe that God created me and all that exists!” along with… 2) “My quality of life is not determined by the things that happen to me but rather by my response to those things and my faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!” p. 2 (Pastor's Report 2017) It is no secret that life is filled with highs and lows, ups and downs connected to rhythms that are within our reach and still some that we cannot control. Long ago, I was taught these two truths… 1) “I believe that God created me and all that exists!” along with… 2) “My quality of life is not determined by the things that happen to me but rather by my response to those things and my faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!” Are these two truths present in your life? I think they are because they describe how we live together as God’s people. Without God’s love, mercy and peace connected to the grace and forgiveness only God can offer, our life together would mean very little and the impact we have as “church” would mean less… Consider what St. Paul wrote to the Colossians… “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” It is one thing to be created in God’s own image … it is another to understand that we are the crown of God’s creation… God’s own ‘handiwork’ as St. Paul reported… so that we do good things… the things that God prepared for all people from the very beginning. What might those “good works’ be? Well, they are the faith behaviors Christians claim … the details of life God’s people hold on to in their response to Deuteronomy 6:4ff… that we… “Love God with all our heart, mind and strength” along with what Jesus added (from Leviticus!) “love your neighbor as yourself!” And we do this seven unique ways with seven very powerful verbs... +++ WORSHIP + PRAY + STUDY + INVITE + ENCOURAGE + GIVE + SERVE +++ And in case you have never asked me about “how does one get a good quality of life?”… for those who have entered this disciplined life...will tell you… “focus on these seven verbs… they will give your life all it needs!” Really. And this is what we have been doing for 20 years. It’s my hope that as New Life gets a little older, wider and deeper more and more folks will come to walk alongside us to be the hands and feet of Jesus in the world. 2018 is here and now it is time to look forward… and this is a model for us to develop… to a be a church that… 1) Offers a place for anyone and everyone access to ‘spiritual direction’! There are people in our world who say they are ‘spiritual but not religious’ OR when asked about their religious preference they reply, “NONE.” This is what Jesus meant when he sent his disciples to “Go, baptize, teach and preach!” It is the way for each person in each generation to take ownership of their own life and offer God one’s very best. What if everyone at New Life and everyone we know took advantage of ‘spiritual direction?’ It would mean that we need more ‘spiritual directors!’ 2) Provides a community of faith where each person has the opportunity to receive CARE when needed and provides a place where from time to time people are called upon to CARE for others. Think of being part of a church where Christian CARE is authentic and no one is forgotten. 3) Connects with other congregations in our conference and synod who provide spiritual direction to teach and practice congregational care so those “strong in the Lord” congregations become a network of grace, mercy and love for those in need near and far! In a world such as ours… who would not want to be part of a community of faith like this? So, let us look ahead… p. 3 (Pastor's Report 2017) At our Church Council/Staff/Leaders Retreat this year we considered a path forward for being and doing church at New Life in the coming year and the years to come. The theme being considered is: “Responsible Living—-Joyful Giving” It is a theme we can all find a way to be part of… as responsible living includes all kinds of things like… eating well, getting good rest, kindness to self and family, care of neighbor rather than thinking this to be a “moral code” of no smoking, no drinking or no dancing, etc. Responsible living is about how we treat our work and those we work with, living within our means, tending to the environment, finding the right middle path between living a “Spartan” life vs. one that is extravagant and worldly. EX: I qualify for a loan on a new high end Lexus. I drive a used Honda. Lexus and Honda owners don’t take that personally. I don’t drive a 1957 Chevy either as I would be tempted to waste tires and gas on Saturday night drag races. Just talking about responsible living will help all of us make adjustments as responsible living will also lead to joyful giving and part of our walking together this Spring will include an inventory on how we treat our bodies and minds as well as discovering ways to be generous… not just to tend to New Life nuts and bolts day to day ministry but to also seek ways to bless the world around us via our abundance. We also need to address the congregational membership directory. After being the pastor of this congregation for now 21 Christmases (in case you didn’t know… Pastors mark time by the number of Rally Days, Christmases and Easters in each congregation served!) and if I’m paying attention...God’s Holy Spirit has led many people to New Life… and of those people some are more dependable than others and some are doing wondrous things that sometimes we don’t even know. St. Paul reminds us… “we all have gifts and abilities to share as each member/part of the body serves the whole body!” And as I’ve learned over the decades, “God will provide all the people, ideas, money, time, etc to accomplish all God wants us to do!” But, earlier in my days of serving here we were better at providing a congregational directory each and every year but recently, we have had only two (2) pictorial directories in the last 5 years and despite the face we live in a fast-paced electronic world and even though you rarely look at your phone book or a yellow pages directory dropped at our front door, there is still something good about having the annual (even with no faces) directory with names, addresses and phone numbers available to all in this congregation.