Another “Independence” day

Summer is here! Our cherry trees and heavy laden with cherries. The flowers are in full bloom. It’s not dark outside until 10:30. We can’t seem to mow the grass fast enough. As soon as we finish mowing the yard, the grass seems to have grown enough to warrant another go round. The fields behind our house are full of waist high wheat and shoulder high corn. The temperatures here is in the high 80’s – low 90’s while the humidity is just enough to make you sticky and wish for air conditioning.

Every fourth of July is like a taste of home. We usually have someone over but this fourth we were invited to a friend’s house. We ate, we laughed and we talked about the Lord. It doesn’t get much better than that. Then as night fall comes, fireworks at the Army post. It’s an All American Fourth of July. As an added bonus every July eighth we celebrate Tina’s birthday. God has blessed me with a wonderful wife and three great kids.

Yet for the believer, everyday should be a celebration of independence. We have been set free from the power of sin. “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,” Romans 6:5-8. Jesus said, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36

It’s amazing to realize that sin has lost it’s grip on me, on you, on us, and by the power of the Holy Spirit we can say no to sin and live our lives for God. “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:13-14

If that’s not good news, I don’t know what is. That’s the message we are bringing to the German people and the American military here in the Ansbach area.

Church News

Calvary Chapel Ansbach is growing. It’s so good to see the Lord bring people out to worship with us and study through His word. We’re still a small fellowship but we’re growing numbers and in depth with the Lord.

We continue to study through the life and ministry of Jesus Christ in chronological order. We’re 2 1/2 years into it and we’re loving every minute of it. It’s been such a blessing because the study is taking us through each Gospel to discover everything our Lord said and everything He did.

We’re going to be starting our “Radical” study soon. We will be reading and discussing the book RADICAL by David Platt. It has been one of the most challenging books I have read, and I think every Christian would benefit from  reading it.

I invite you to pray for us. Please pray for us as a church. Pray that God would bless the teaching of His word and that He would establish the church. Pray that He would add to the church and that we would grow in our relationships with Him.

We are also looking for a place to meet in the city of Ansbach. We would like to move the study from our house into a building that would allow us to grow and meet our needs, both for Sunday mornings and the mId weed study, along would meeting the needs of our growing children’s ministry. Currently we have such a small space for the kids to meet and all the ages are together, from toddlers to 12 years old. It’s very challenging. We need your prayers.

We also need your prayers for our financial support. Since we have moved from under the umbrella of Calvary Chapel Corvallis and came under Saving Grace World Missions, we have experienced a sharp drop in our financial support. I am trying to find the balance of sharing our financial needs so that those that have the gift or giving can exercise their gift. I’m told that if I don’t share our need, then people will not know and therefore can not give. Yet, at the same time I want to take our need to the Lord and trust Him for His provision. It’s one of the most challenging things I have to do. So I ask you to please pray that God would meet our financial need, and bring people who will partner with us in the work of planting a church here in Ansbach.

As always, we are thankful for you, for your prayers and friendship. Our prayer is that you to would be drawing closer to Jesus everyday, walking closer then you ever thought possible and growing in His word. That’s where true satisfaction is found.

God bless,

Gary and Tina


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