SO…. What’s with this new sermon series? Pastor Scott takes a sabbatical and the other pastors put something together with OTHER churches in Charlotte? Wha?? Well, that’s actually somewhat factual. Pastor Scott is on sabbatical, but before he left, he helped get us all very excited about this series - one that we are sharing with around 75 other congregations in the Charlotte area totaling around 50,000 people! WOW! Right?! ForCLT or “For Charlotte” is an organization of congregations in the city that have said, let’s unite around what we are all FOR, rather than what makes us different. Together, we are stronger, have a louder voice and can advocate for those in need as we work together rather than trying to always reinvent the wheel or duplicate efforts. ​ From the social media blurb: “A lot of people define Christians by what we’re against, but what are we FOR? We’ll be answering that question in four big ways next month. We are FOR the good news of the Gospel. We are FOR the church. We are FOR our neighbor. We are FOR the city. Pastors throughout the area have agreed to preach on the same four themes, and small groups will be discussing those topics in a custom-made Bible study. Make plans now to get involved. This is perfect for you!” Yeah, okay, pastor, but we’re in competition with these folks! Why would we ever want to do the exact same series? Well, truth be told, we’re NOT in competition with ANY other congregations. As a matter of fact, WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM. There are lots of ways to hear the gospel! Currently, there aren’t nearly enough churches to hold everyone in Charlotte if they decided to go to church one Sunday morning at the same time! What a blessing it is to have a great diversity of brothers and sisters in Christ. Additionally, Jesus for us to be one (John 17: 20-21) and Paul reminds us that in Christ WE ARE MADE ONE BODY (1 Cor. 12: 27)! So, this series is designed to come together FOR the GOSPEL, FOR the CHURCH, FOR the NEIGHBOR, and FOR the CITY. Together we’ll be working from the exact same sermon materials! It will so cool to experience WORSHIP together around the city in this way. This is a great time to invite a friend, neighbor, family or acquaintance to worship with you as we seek to understand how we are ForCLT!! ​ Pastor Matt