We have a saying back home when something is good, and we call it, "flat out awesome!" Well, our Fall Festival was just that... "flat out AWESOME." Thank you Karen Mercer for you and your team of people who made this afternoon a wonderful success. It was great to see people hanging out and having a good time. One comment was, "it was good to see people smiling and sitting and talking." Heritage is a place that we are "Living a Legacy of Faith". As we grow, it is important that we continue to value and strengthen our earthly relationships that God is developing--our walk with Christ is exercised as we walk together.

As I looked around tonight, I was so pleased of the efforts of so many that demonstrated a servant's attitude. Too many of you to mention by name, but I must give a shout out to Mark Jordan. You da Man! I got so tickled watching Mark make up those cotton candy treats. He had cotton candy caked on him every time I walked by, and he was smiling! Mark, you get the award for the stickiest servant.

We value each of you and are excited that God has allowed us to walk together at this point and time in the journey of Faith. One day, we will look back and see the importance of what is going on right now as we "Leave a Heritage of Faith."

-Pastor Sidney

While the world says, "love with limits", God's design was "'til death do us part." This will be the last blog for a while on marriage, but I can't get away from the realization that we (the Church, followers of Christ) need to encourage one another and provide a safe and healthy environment for marriages to thrive and last. We must not keep our heads in the sand while friends and family suffer behind closed doors. Yes, marriage is awesome, but disagreement and conflict will come.

Then what? Where will we turn? I had a good friend tell me this past week that she did not understand "'til death do us part" because she was taught to "love with limits" and to have that plan of departure ready because it was not if divorce would happen but when!

We will have many more conversations in the days ahead about the marriage relationship, but today I lay it to rest to plan for our next series on "Risky Business-how are we using time, talents and resources to impact our world for Christ?". While I am busy preparing for this next series, may we remember the words of Jesus as he gave us the Father's design for marriage, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh, so they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." Mark 10:7-9

-Sidney Brock

Our next series will begin on Sunday November 2nd, and it will be called Risky Business. When the market is uncertain and going crazy, is there a place that I can make an investment with a certain return? How am I using my time, talents and resources to impact my world? This Sunday, there will be a Wanted sign in your seat which will explain our investment challenge. We would like have individuals or families that are willing to step out and be willing to take $100 we will give them and make a decision of how they will invest that money in a local, state or foreign mission project. We will choose 3-6 teams on Sunday Oct. 19th and on November 2nd, those chosen will give us their plan of what mission they will be investing in and the potential plans of how they will grow the initial investment of $100. Additionally, we will be having a churchwide food drive during those 6 weeks, supporting the benevolence center at FBC Leesburg.

I hope that you will help me encourage families and individuals to sign up to take the challenge. This is going to be a great time for us as we look at sacrifice and giving of ourselves and resources.

Even though they may not be chosen, we will still encourage people to take the challenge during this time.

We will celebrate the return on our investments on Sunday December 14th as we report on our mission endeavors.

-Pastor Sidney

I am looking forward to this weekend and concluding our series, "'Til Death Do Us Part".  It has been fun looking at some of the real issues in marriage and at God's Word for instruction.  We will finish this week with "Love Worth Fighting For" and talk about the rules of engagement for times of disagreement.  It is said that one of the predictors of a healthy marriage is not if a couple has disagreements, but how they handle those disagreements.

Reminds me of the story about the husband and wife that bragged to their pastor that they never fough. The pastor was so amazed at this awesome marriage that he brought them up one Sunday to interview them about their success in marriage. When asked how they handle conflict, the man replied, we don’t, “I just do what I am told to do!"

It takes two people to say "I do", but three to make the marriage work!

-Pastor Sidney

Merideth and I had the opportunity to go see the movie "Fireproof" during the opening weekend. I had been able to catch the preview showing back in July, and I was excited for Merideth to be able to see it. As I thought, she loved it as I did. We both highly recommend that you take the time to go and see the movie. "Fireproof" is a must see!

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
-Proverbs 18:21

Over the past several weeks we have been looking at the Biblical concept of marriage in a series called "...'til Death Do Us Part". This past week we looked at the important role that our speech plays in our relationships. Scripture teaches us that our speech can bring healing and health or destruction and death. If questioned, how would your speech rate? If you really want to know, ask those closest to you. Have a productive week by making wise choices in your conversation. You are an influence.

-Sidney Brock