For Such a Time as This

I have five major things to share with you in this message from the Pastor’s Heart this week. First, the announcement of our new Associate Pastor, Rev. Nathan Phillips, and his family. Second, a thank you to all those who helped with VBS last week. Third, an announcement about the Tabernacle Camp Meeting, which I am preaching, July 15th-19th. Fourth, the announcement of our first-ever Drive-Thru Prayer on July 19th. Fifth, a reminder about our one service at 10 AM this Sunday, June 29th.

Welcoming our New Associate Pastor

and His Family

We have been considering potential associate pastors for well over a year now, and we are delighted to share that after much prayer and careful conversation, Rev. Nathan Phillips and his family will be joining our church family in early August. Their first Sunday in worship with us is August 3rd, and we couldn’t be more pleased to welcome them. Pastor Nathan has served Eupora Global Methodist Church as Senior Pastor for the past five years. Before that, he served as Associate Pastor at Methodist Churches in Starkville and Hattiesburg, MS. Nathan and his wife Caroline are both graduates of Asbury Theological Seminary, where he received his Master of Divinity and she received her Master of Mental Health Counseling degree. They are also both graduates of Mississippi State University, and Pastor Nathan also worked with Rev. Hugh Griffith at the Wesley Foundation. They have four precious children, ranging in age from 20 months to 12 years. Pastor Nathan is an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church, and Caroline is a Licensed Professional Counselor. We will be sharing more details about how we will welcome them in the coming weeks.

VBS: Our Best Year Yet!

VBS Week is one of the greatest weeks of the year! We had approximately 180 children participate (a 25% increase over 2024) and over 50 youth and adults who made this wonderful week possible. Many children asked Jesus to become their Savior and Lord, and our children raised over $3,500 for our mission partners Gospel Trumpets in India. Please join us in expressing our gratitude to the youth and adults who gave their time, attention, and energy to loving on these precious boys and girls.

Tabernacle Campmeeting

I am excited to invite our Columbus First family to join me as I preach for the 197th Tabernacle Campmeeting, July 12th -19th. There will be daily services at 10:30, 1:30, and 7:30 from July 12th-19th (July 12th and 19th will have services at 7:30 PM only). I will be preaching on the following dates and times…July 15th at 7:30 PM, July 16th at 10:30 AM and 1:30 PM, July 17th at 7:30 PM (homemade ice cream night), July 18th at 10:30 AM and 1:30 PM, and July 19th at 7:30 PM. The theme I have chosen to preach on is “Interruptible Jesus.” All the sermons I preach will be coming from the gospel of Mark. I hope to see you there!

Drive Thru Prayer

Another exciting announcement we want to highlight is our first-ever Drive-Thru prayer event. On Saturday morning, July 19th, our prayer team has committed to offering Drive-Thru prayers under the covered drive of the Fletcher-Jones building, located off College Street, from 9:30 to 10:30 AM. We are definitely a house of prayer, but we feel led to take our prayers to the world. We will have banners on Main Street and College Street the week leading up to our Drive Thru prayer event.

We hope you will invite your family, friends, and neighbors to come and bring their prayer requests for us to lift to the Lord together.

Fifth Sunday

Patriotic Service

Lastly, this Sunday is our 5th Sunday celebration. On 5th Sundays, we enjoy worshiping as one church in one location (as opposed to the other 48 Sundays of the year, where we worship as one church in two locations). We will gather in the traditional Sanctuary at 10 AM for a wonderful Patriotic Service and a message I’ve entitled “God Used It for Good.”

Immediately following worship, the church will head across the street to enjoy a fried chicken lunch. We invite everyone to bring their favorite side dish or dessert to share with the church community. During our lunch, we have a special speaker coming to share an opportunity to give money and local gift cards to the families of our troops while their loved ones are deployed. We hope to see you here.