Good afternoon, church family!
Let’s take some time in the middle of this first full week of 2025 to check in.
Have you dug out of the snow??? It certainly was a good weekend to hunker down and stay inside! Officially, the National Weather Service reported 4 inches of snow in Wichita. But the layer of ice underneath was treacherous!
During these times, I have a role model I look up to: the bear. Bears don’t mess around with winter. They just sleep through it. Hibernation is a gift from God. And I don’t use such a blessing as often as I’d like.
A bear’s hibernation starts with eating up to 20,000 calories a day in the fall. Then it finds some place warm and just… sleeps… for months… peacefully. #lifegoals
What I find interesting is that bears don’t wake up from hibernation just starving. It seems like they would. But here’s the problem – bears don’t wake up ready to conquer the world. When emerging from hibernation, bears… need a minute. According to Backpacker, “They’re groggy and in a state of walking hibernation for two to three weeks.”
You know when you take a nap on Sunday afternoon and it goes a bit longer than you planned and when you wake up you question what month it is? That’s a bear coming out of hibernation.
So, after a weekend huddled indoors in warmth and inactivity – take a minute. Shake off the grogginess. Then – let’s dive into 2025! Guess what waits for us each morning…
The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT)
May the daily mercy of the Lord greet you today! Keep reading to see the latest announcements, and remember: God loves you, and so does your pastor!
--Pastor Billy
MEN’S BREAKFAST: All men are welcome to join us on Saturday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 a.m. at the church for a morning of good food and friendship. Invite a friend and come hungry!
MEN’S BIBLE STUDY: In addition to our other Wednesday evening ministries, a new men’s Bible study will begin Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m. and will meet every other Wednesday. The men will work through stories of men from the Bible with the help of the book: How God Makes Men by Patrick Morley.
WAYS TO GIVE: Our church operates from the faithfulness of God and generous donations of God’s people. Thank you to the many of you who regularly give through tithes and offerings to support the ministries of our church. In addition to our online giving options, we have two convenient, secure donation boxes – one in the back of the sanctuary and one in the church office.
SWAG STORE: We’ve got t-shirts, polos and a few other items in our online swag store. This isn’t a money-maker for the church, but we’d love to see our church name and logo spread throughout the area! Grab some swag and show your love for your church by visiting thechurch.shop/shop/woodland-lakes-community-church
JUST FOR FUN
Hey, you read Pastor Billy's midweek check-in all the way to the end! As a reward, check out these crazy stories I came across recently:
· Police in Missouri recently apprehended a monkey wearing a tutu on the side of a highway.
· A decades-long mystery about how spiders can smell things despite not having a nose or antennae has been solved!
· Would you eat this? There will be a new concessions food at Kansas City Chiefs playoff games: The Touchdown Toast is an upright block of bread soaked in eggs, custard, milk and heavy cream before its baked and topped with strawberries, butter and powdered sugar. $25.
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