Dear Friends,

I just wanted to start by saying how grateful I am for each and every one of you. I appreciate you for who you are, for your friendship and for all that you bring to our church family and community.

Events in these past few months have caused all of us to sit up and take notice. But we don't put our trust in Washington or Wall Street, our trust is in the Lord who made heaven and earth! Now more than ever our God desires to use us as His lights in the world, shining as beacons with His love and light in the ever increasing uncertainties and darkness all around us.  We know that true change is only possible when it comes from the spirit of God transforming hearts and minds. This is why I am so excited about all the new ways God has been leading us here at CBR to share the Good News with our family, friends and neighbors.

First of all, Easter Sunday is April 12. We will have our Easter Service at the normal 10:30am time. Our theme will be: He Still Moves Stones. The Thursday before Easter, Maundy Thursday, we will have a special time of Reflection and Communion at 7:30pm. Remember to use the cards we have given you to list 10 people that you will prayerfully invite to our Resurrection Celebration that day. We also plan to mail out postcards to the surrounding area inviting people to our Easter Week Services, but your personal invitations are so important. Remember research has shown that people are more likely to accept an invitation to attend Church on Easter Sunday than on any other holiday.

The Community Easter Sunrise Service will be at Hebron again this year beginning at 6:30am.

The Elders and I are very pleased to announce that Rev. Jim Hardwick and his wife Leta have agreed to join us here at CBR. He will be installed as an Elder/Teaching Pastor on April 26. Leta, an experienced educator has taken on teaching our 7^th grade class at Afton Christian School. We are so blessed to have her! Jim will share in the teaching/preaching on Sunday mornings and will be responsible for the new Bible Institute: ACTS 29 (Afton Christian Training School), which will begin classes on March 17. Jim has written a letter explaining his vision for the Bible Institute which we are enclosing with this one. We hope everyone ages 12 and up will take advantage of this incredible opportunity to grow as a disciple, both in our church family and in the greater community. A children's program will run concurrently with the Bible Class and childcare will also be available.

Lewis DeLaura has taken on the responsibility of teaching our Adult Sunday School Class and Susan Barnett is running the class for the kids. Sunday school begins at 9:30am and we'd love for you to come! Our Children's Church program is shaping up nicely and we'll have more to tell you about that in the very near future.  

There are a few things coming up that I want you to be sure to mark on your calendar.

1. March 15^th- Family Day at CBR. We will have a family-friendly service in which the kids will stay with their families. This will be followed by a Fellowship Dinner, provided by the men. We hope we can make this a once a month event!

2. Kite Day is Saturday, March 21 at 2pm. This is a fun family event held across the street from the church by the pond.

3. March 22 and 29^th Jim will be doing the preaching and we will have Communion together on March 29.

4. This summer we will be offering Dave Ramsey's: Financial Freedom Seminar to the community. Danny McAllister has agreed to run this 13 week life-changing course. It will begin on June 2^nd and will be held here at the church. This is a wonderful opportunity for each one of us to learn how we can be free financially.to learn practical, dare we say even common sense ways of getting and staying out of debt. Something which will help us all tremendously, especially in this struggling economy. But perhaps even more importantly this course is for our community. Everyone needs to know this information... Dave Ramsey is a Christian and while he is not trying to evangelize in this seminar, his world-view definitely comes through. It's not too early to start letting your friends and co-workers know so they can plan to be a part.

As we face the challenging days ahead I'm so glad our hope is in Jesus.He is our Risen Savior who conquered sin and death and who cares for us with love and compassion beyond our comprehension.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ⁽according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to ⁽a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3 (N A S)

I hope you and yours have a Blessed Easter and Spring Season as you continue to shine your light!