Happy New Year 2008 to you and your family! 2008 holds much in store for all of us here at St. Andrews Road in Columbia, South Carolina.   God is faithful.  He can and will fulfill His promises to us.  We know that all things will work together for our good when we love the Lord and live according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).  What about you and me?  Are we faithful in our love for Him?  Are we seeking to live our lives according to His purpose?  Are we asking every day so that we will receive?  Are we seeking every day in order to find?  Are we knocking every day on the door of opportunity so that we can be blessed?  This is Jesus’ plan for success:  Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Matthew 7:7-8); give, and it will be given to you:  good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom (Luke 6:38).  In Matthew 7:9-11 Jesus gives us a great example of how His plan works.  If your own son comes to you asking for food, will you give him a stone or a serpent?  Of course not!  If a father or mother provides for the needs of their children, how much more will your Father give good things to those who ask Him! Our new budget will be in effect this Sunday ($5,012).  We closed out 2007 quietly, slightly above budget (+$744.00).  Whew!  That’s was a close one!  We can meet and exceed our goals and objectives by increasing our weekly offerings by 7%.  Think about it.  If your weekly offering last year was $10.00, this year give $10.70.  If your weekly offering was $25.00, this year give $26.75.  If you gave $50.00 last year, give $53.50 this year.  If your offering was $100.00 last year, this year give $107.00.  Remember what God has promised in His word.                          Galatians 6:7:  “Do not be deceived.  God is not mocked; for                          whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”                          II Corinthians 9:6:  “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also                          reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.                          Let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of                          necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” One of our dear Christian brothers in Arkansas had a unique way of thinking when it came to his offering.  He told me that he calculated how much he would like to receive every week in the New Year and determined to give 10% of that amount.  Upon his death in 2006 at 85 years of age, his weekly offering was $500.00.  Once or twice every week we had coffee together.  He was truly a great example of faith to me.  Today I can still hear him challenging me to reach up a little bit higher and out a little bit further for the cause of Christ.  Enough about that!  God will provide all that we need in this New Year so that we may fulfill His purpose and plans.  This is God’s 2008! Our theme for January will be “Faith and Faithfulness.”  God’s word teaches us that “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).  It is by faith that we know that God created everything.  Verse 6 of Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is necessary if we are to be pleasing to God.  “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”   Note that faith is much more than an affirmation of the  existence of God.  Faith is affirmation coupled with action.  True faith is believing in God and diligently seeking, finding, and following His will.