... begins with the first day!

It is brilliant to hear of the excitement that is already happening as we develop the discipline in reading our Scriptures together. I am really excited and looking forward to what God will say to me through His word, and what He will reveal to us as His people.

Whether you are doing the 90 days reading plan or continuing with Bible Reading you have been doing for a while - God wants to reveal His purposes to us, for His glory!

How can I best encourage you? Just focus on today. Don't worry about tomorrow or day 30, 60 or 90. Simply be open to what God has to reveal today! Some days will be harder than others. Some will be more inspiring than others. This isn't about memorising every word, every verse. Sure, there will be some verses you want to, need to commit to memory, but we aren't running a competition to see who can remember the most..... Maybe we should. Hmmm... No, in all seriousness, this is about doing the most important thing. Stopping at the feet of our God, entering into His presence and having His spirit whisper into our lives.

The word of God cuts through everything and gets to the heart of our lives. Not for condemnation, but so that we might experience the conviction of our loving Father; so we might experience His forgiveness and live in the fullness of His love. It convicts us so we might confess, repent and declare Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. It's the best book in the world to read and one that never gets boring. Every time we read it, regardless of how many times we have read the stories, we can learn something new.

So, enjoy friends. Wait. Listen. Hear. Receive. Respond. Live. Feel free to send your stories in of how you are experiencing the reading. It would be great to have a collection of testimonies.

We look forward to gathering in celebration on Sunday of all God has done and will reveal to us. This week we have a focus on our Children's Ministry as well as launching our theme for 2012: 'Reap What We Sow: Establishing, Building and Strengthening Relationships.'

We believe God will do great things as we seek to be Present to God, Present to People living in Authentic, Courageous, Generous relationships so that we might experience God's Transforming power in our community.

I am excited about what we will discover as we continue to travel along the way as followers of Jesus.