Our team heading to Hungary will leave this Friday, Febraury 25th. Please keep them in your prayers for safety and that God will use them in incredible ways. They will be giving periodic updates on their travels and ministry through our Clinton Evangelical Free Church Facebook page. To receive the updates in your news feed click here and become a fan of our church. This is also a great way to receive updates on other church related news and events.

This past Saturday about 30 men met for breakfast at Riverside Resturante. It was a great time for the men of the church to come together and eat, fellowship and be challenged to live out the message of the cross. In January, our men’s conference theme was the cross. Guest Speaker Jake Each looked at three areas of the cross of Christ: the message, the mission and the man. On Saturday, I had the priviledge of revisiting the conference theme and challenging us to live out the message of the Gospel.

We looked at Romans 8:1 which says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ.” We looked at three ways to live out or apply that message of the cross:
1) We no longer have to live in shame or guilt
2) We no longer to have to pay for or “make-up” for our sins
3) Because God forgive us, we should freely forgive others.

I was highly challenged in preparing the message and I hope the men were challenged and encouraged in hearing it. Men of Honor gatherings are always great opportunities to get to know other men in the church.  Join us March 6 for our next breakfast gathering.

-Jeff Horch

On Sunday, my wife and I participated in E-free & Me which is our church’s membership class. While I may be on staff at the church, we are also a “new family” and wanted to experience and participate in the class for ourselves.  Held after the second service, it was a great opportunity to have lunch in a smalll group setting with other new people and learn more about the history, vision, doctrine and ministries of Clinton Evangelical Free Church. How many opportunities are there to sit with the elders and simply ask questions in a small, intimate setting. It was really a wonderful time. Even though my family and I learned a lot about this church through our own interview process we gained a lot by attending E-Free & Me.

Have you taken the opportunity to go through this class? Whether you have been here one-month or 5-years or even longer, I highly encourage you to sign-up for the next E-Free & Me.

-Jeff Horch

The class will immediate follow the second service and lunch and child care are provided. Please sign up on a pew card or call the office (243-4164) and indicate how many will be attending and if you will need child care.

On Monday evening, February 14th, our youth and youth leaders hosted the 4th Annual Valentines Banquet. Twenty-four couples attended the dinner. Pastor John was the emcee and four couples participated in the (Not So) Newlywed Game. Pastor Jeff gave the devotion from the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). He reminded us that our spouses are gifts from God and we should encourage each other to be good stewards of what God has gifted us with and to live that out in our marriages. Aurilla Stormes and Shirley & Dick Carpenter prepared a delectable three course meal. The students did a fantastic job of serving the couples throughout the evening. We heard plenty of good feedback from the evening. The Eslicks even asked if they could go ahead and place their reservations now for the next Valentines Banquet. This service project for our youth started in February 2008 and we look forward to the next one. If you have never attended the Annual Valentines Banquet, be sure to plan to come next year.

Our youth have attended 2 retreats in the past three weeks. Storm High School Students attended the “Get Real” Senior High Winter Retreat the weekend of January 28-30. The 628 Middle School Students just attended “Arctic Awakening” Middle School Winter Retreat this past weekend (February 11-13). Both retreat speakers were excellent and challenged our students in their personal walk with Christ. It was also a profitable time of team-building, fellowship, and encouragement. Please pray often for our young people. Not only are they the church of tomorrow, but they are the church of today. Our students have a very unique opportunity at this time in their lives–to reach many other students who may be alone and without a relationship with Christ. Pray that they live out their faith in a way that attracts their peers and glorifies Christ.

On February 25, ten members from E-Free will head to Sopron, Hungary to be involved in a short-term missions trip. So where is Sopron? Here are some quick links around the web giving a glimpse of this European city:

Sopron page at Wikipedia. A map from Google. The current weather conditions. And an easy-listening video from YouTube.

Another great way to follow the on-going activities and upcoming events at E-Free is to follow us on Facebook. You can simply go to the church page and click “like.” When we send out new status updates it will automatically appear in your news feed. This is also a great way to hear about events that are canceled due to weather.

On Monday night I had the priviledge of sitting in on the Men of Honor’s annual strategic planning meeting. The six-man leadeship team held a four-hour session that reviewed the past year of 2010 and looked ahead to where the ministry was going in 2011. As a new member to the EFC staff, it was fun to see everything that MOH has been involved in over the past 12 months. It was also exciting to brainstorm to see where God is leading this ministry area. The core leadership team is a humble and sincere group that has a genuine desire to see men become fully devoted followers of Christ. There was some great and challenging conversation on how to equip the men of this church. I look forward to seeing how God is going to work through Men of Honor. I appreciate these six guys for taking time away from family and rest to seek God and engage one another for how to most effectively help the men of this church become followers of Jesus who impact their world.

-Jeff Horch