Dear Flock,
Pastor Fedor Bespalov was a great blessing to us last Sunday as he testified and preached about what God is doing in the war zone of Eastern, Ukraine. His presentation during Sunday School is not available for security purposes. Caleb did a video blog about him and our trip to the Shepherds Conference. You can read the blog or watch the video at http://sukofamily.org/. Thanks for praying for us.
The Shepherds Conference has been a massive blessing to the six of us who are here for the opening session. Tuesday Caleb and I attended pre-conference conference on world missions with about 500 men. It had some very useful material for us to listen to. While there it was a suprise for Caleb to meet Dr. John MacArthur who ended up sitting right in front of us.
Wednesday the main conference began. It was a thrill to sing with 4,000 men...Wow! Pastor Fedor and Alexander from Ukraine were with us last Sunday as well as here and they were amazed! There are men here from all 50 states and over 60 countries. The service this morning was broadcast to 63 countries. You can watch some sessions at ShepherdsConference.org. You can also see a few pics on our church Facebook page.
My son Ezra and his family are hosting us in their home not far away. It has been fun for Nancy and I to spend time with them and little Noah. We also find out this week if they are now going to have boy or girl.
This Sunday we are in Revelation 3 as we visit the Philadelphia Church; it is a good place to be. Then on March 20th there is a graphic conclusion to the series on Letters to Seven Churches. As I speak Adria Hanson will also illustrate the message in chalk in a way that will help us remember Christ's overall message in this series.
Easter is the following Sunday (March 27th). I am looking forward to proclaiming the gospel as we remember why Christ's death and resurrection as the game changer in all history. Be sure to invite someone. It could change their life. Grab a handful of the our new card-sized Easter invitations to invite others to our services. All the details are on the back. There are two identical services (8:30 or 10:45) with our usual Sea of Galilee Fellowship breakfast between the services. Bring a plate of your favorite figure foods to share.
This week we received word that the gospel along with Sgt. De Roo's testimony was given on the front lines to groups of Iraqi troops along with a hot meal. They were within sight of ISIS. These troops have not been paid in 7 months so were very appreciative and personally thanked our church and families. Continue to pray for that ministry there over the next few weeks.
We also received word that Joan Franklin passed into the presence of the Lord last week. She and her husband Dan were part of a group of founding members at Discovery. Their testimony of love for Christ, prayer and support for the church was encouraging. They were visionaries in our barn years as they prayed and gave sacrificially so we could have a facility for the generations to come. They often spoke of that goal even after they had to move away due to advanced age. Last year Joan's family brought her back for a service in our new building. She was thrilled to see what God had done. It is amazing that now we are working on the next phase as we plan to expand for the next generation also. Be in prayer as we look to the future with similar vision and consider return our Commitment Cards this coming Sunday.
For the Generations to Come,
Pastor Mark