Matthew 28:19-20 As we begin this new chapter in the history of Eastwood, we focus on the vision... how we are going to address the mission Jesus gave us 2000 years ago... through the ministries that we pursue. Now is the time to be disciples and have compassion for the lost!

What if someone asked you "what is the best thing about Jesus?" There are more than is possible to list, and we could find a new one each day just by reading God's Word. Jesus loves to ask questions, and He shows us one of the best things about himself by His question to the invalid in John 5.

Isaiah 9:1-6 As Isaiah concludes a prophecy to King Ahaz in the midst of a dark and fearful time for God's people, he gives Ahaz the promise of the savior that will come 700 years in the future. He then tells of four important names this child will have... names that are still important to who Jesus is for us today.

Matthew 9:35-38 The mission of every church is the same, given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20, and our vision (how we go about the mission) should adjust as necessary to keep us on track. We are further focusing our vision from September for 2023 on Being Disciples and Making Disciples. Once we are disciples, we should take a timeout like Jesus did in Matthew 9 to look at people... people around us, people in other areas, people in other states, countries, etc. to feel compassion for those who don't know Jesus and then as we have discussed the past few weeks... DO SOMETHING about it.

Matthew 26-27 We all know the phrase "familiarity breeds contempt" and it can apply to our feelings toward the Bible at Easter. We know the story so well that we get more excited about bunnies and candy, ham and deviled eggs. As we see the disciples were lacking excitement as well... Jesus had been trying to tell them what was coming and they continued to miss it. As we read the familiar story we must substitute ourselves in their place and see what Jesus is going through for us... instead of us.

Ephesians 4:11-16 If you look at statistics, it looks like the church is dying as fewer people attend services and eventually fall away completely. Many of those that do attend church neglect the need for God's Word and lose their map to get them through this life. Coming together as a body of believers is imperative!

Matthew 28:18-20 When we are learning a skill we get to the point where we know what to do, but if we start thinking too much, we will "get in our own head" and mess up from over-thinking. Even in our Christian walk, it can be easy to get in our head and begin thinking of all the reasons we "can't" do something, which is when we need to get back to basics... get in God's Word, and share it with someone... the simple definition of a disciple.

Throughout the Bible we are encouraged to pray, and Jesus even models a strong prayer life, yet we have a nearly prayerless society. As we live out our lives we have no idea what will happen to us next, yet prayer can prepare us to face any hardship... we already know the ultimate outcome.

We take a look back at Eastwood's mission from Matthew 28:16-20 and our vision for the year: Being and Making.

Acts 1:12-26 Over the course of one day each person makes 35,000 decisions. Some are easy or inconsequential, and some can change the course of our lives or the lives of our loved ones and those around us. We use different methods to make these decisions, but for Christians we have the added complication of trying to follow God's Will in each decision. How can we make our best attempt at making successful decisions?

Luke 2:25-35 As soon as Mary gave birth to Jesus, the victory over sin and death was won, making this Victory Sunday. Simeon was one of the first to recognize this. As a righteous man who had received a promise from God, Simeon knew the story ends. We can all live in this victory today!