Give me a “High-5!” I have heard that expression my whole life. We hear it anytime something good or exciting happens. If it is not said, so often, people are giving others a “high-5.” Well I believe something exciting is happening in our Children’s Sunday School. Starting on Easter Sunday, we are launching “High-5,” for our children. This is a new Sunday School program that will be built around the five objectives of our Church: knowing, growing, sowing, glowing, and going.

With this new program, we will be moving our Children’s Sunday School to the Attic. There, the children will participate in praise & worship, large group Bible teaching, and small group application discussions. I believe that all our children will have the opportunity to meet our Savior, grow in their walk with him, lead in worship, and introduce their friends to their Savior. For these reasons I am pumped.

In order for this to happen, we need your help. Because of the move, we are adding some new classes in which we need teachers. We need people who are willing to teach the small group times. Along with the teachers, we need shepherds. Shepherds will be similar to a teacher’s assistant, but will not necessarily have to teach. The focus will be on building relationships with the children. We need volunteers to be on the crew, which will make sure everything is set up and ready to begin Sunday School. Crew members will not have to stay around during the whole hour. We also need greeters who will meet the children as they come in and make sure they feel welcome. The final volunteer we need will be someone who can run media/sound. We need a lot of people, because will will be going through “High-5″ in both hours of Sunday School. If you are interested, please go to the “High-5″ table on Sunday morning, or come to a meeting on February 5 at 6:30 in the Attic. HIGH-5!

Bro. Grant

The pain people feel going through separation and divorce can be both overwhelming and devastating. People who understand those feelings lead Divorce Care (”DC”), a 13-week support group in an interactive seminar format. You’ll learn how to deal with the pain of your past and look forward to rebuilding your life. DC meets every Wednesday evening from 6:00-7:30 p.m.

Likewise, children hurting because their parents are separated or divorced can also find help at DivorceCare for Kids (”DC4K”). DC4K is aimed at children, ages 5 – 12, and meets at the same time as DC on Wednesday evenings.

DC and DC4K will begin a new 13-week cycle on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 from 6:00-7:30 pm.

As has been announced, DeSoto Hills is hosting our first ever Valentine Fellowship. As with any “new thing”, it has raised some questions that I hope to answer in this week’s edition of the “Nook”.

WHEN? Sunday, February 10 @ 5:30 pm (The fellowship will be in lieu of our Sunday evening service.)
WHO? This is a church-wide event for the whole family.
WHAT? It promises to be a night of …great food …great fun.
Our entertainment for the evening will be the “Boomers”…great fellowship

The church is not immune to the breakneck pace of our world. Often, even on Sundays, we race in here to do our thing without taking the time to enjoy each other’s company. This night we are going to change things up a bit. We are going to take the time just to kick back and “break bread” together.

HOW? How much does it cost? It is $5 per person or a maximum of $20 per family (payable at the door) to help cover the cost of the meal.

WHERE? Where do I sign up? You can sign up right here on the web site or a new sign up station has been placed just inside the north entrance doors to the grand hall. You can sign up there or call the church office 662-890-2452 and we will be glad to put you on the list. Don’t wait! Space is limited.

Bro. James

Years ago I committed to memory the first six verses of John 14

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

While I know there is certainly the danger of “being so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good”, it is somehow reassuring knowing where you are headed. Take for instance our land that I mentioned last Sunday morning. You will remember from my message that Kathy, along with her three brothers, all stand to inherit forty acres each of their parents farm in Leake County near Carthage, Mississippi. (Actually it is near Edinburg. Come to think of it, it is more precisely near a place called Four Corners. When you come right down to it, it is really not near anything - which is exactly how we all like it.) Through all our minister moves “the farm” has been a constant. So it comes as no great surprise that many years ago we decided that one day, Lord willing, we would retire there. For this preacher it is comforting to know that when I am put out to pasture, I know what pasture I will be going to. In fact it is our dream to begin the process in the next few years by building a barn on our place with a one room cottage attached for a country get a way on our very own land. What about your today? Do you know where you are headed? Having a earthly pasture to go to is one thing, but what you need most today is to be certain that you have a heavenly pasture that you can call home.

City raised, but farm bound,
Bro. James

DeSoto Hills is excited to welcome Micheal and Lindsay Bucy to Southaven. Micheal and Lindsay were married on December 29, 2007 and Micheal will be joining our staff as the new Youth Pastor. Be sure to welcome them to DeSoto Hills.

As I write my first “nook” for the New Year I am sitting in the Atlanta Airport trying to get to Roanoke, VA. The operative word here is “trying”. We are experiencing delay after delay because one delay tends to breed another until there are little delays running around everywhere. I just got off the phone with April in Roanoke who works for a car rental company. She is praying for me to get there soon because she can’t leave until we pick up our rental car. I hope she gets time and a half or something for staying late because right now we are looking at getting there way after midnight. Everyone is tired, everyone is frustrated, and everyone (with the exception of your pastor and his wife) is a little cranky. The reason I am not cranky is that I know April has to stay put until I get that car. It changes everything. People are running, gates are changing, and hopes are dashing (dashing as in crashing, not dashing as in cruising through the snow in a one horse open sleigh. Come to think of it, a sleigh might get me there faster.) In the midst of all of this, I witness one woman whose flight dilemma was heightened by the fact that she did not speak English. All that information, all those changes, all those directions and she is clueless. To make matters worse, the airport employee assigned to help her seems pretty clueless herself. Finally a good Samaritan steps up to translate and the lady’s fears are calmed. She has not missed her flight. I wonder how many folks walk through church doors every week needing directions, only to find that they do not speak the language. May we ever be seeking a way to bridge the gap from where they are to where they need to be in Christ. May we find a way to translate “the greatest story ever told” so it can be understood by the folks who need it the most. Oops. Got to go. They are boarding our flight. Hang on April, we are headed your way.
A Little Flighty,
Bro. James