IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com

Praise God on High!

What an awesome Sunday...

Today was Missions Sunday at FXCC. Even though God sent a much-needed day of showers our way, no one's spirit was dampened. Everyone sang out with energy and zeal, in mulitple languages no less! Talk about speaking/singing in tongues! You guys were incredible.

Then to see Keith Jones sitting in the auditorium with his sweet wife by his side...Keith, I didn't know you were coming today, but God did...He had me select "How Great Is Our God" which is your favorite...isn't God awesome. It was so great to see you.

Then to see all the children file down front with their coin cannisters...their offerings to God for MISSION Sunday...

Then to see the Bynums officially be commissioned & prayed for as our new missionary family. How incredible...

And then the GENEROUS outpouring from our church for our special MISSIONS offering of over $60,000!!! (after you gave generously for our regular offering of almost $34,000, which is only $800 shy of our weekly goal.)

Did you get that? Our church gave almost $100,000 in one day for the mission of God in this world. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE with GOD.

And thanks to Mark & Cassey Gibson for a wonderful day of Prayer & Fasting yesterday...they coordinated Fairfax's special devotionals during the day, and did all the promo work. For more info, www.dayofprayerandfasting.org or go to our website for more info on FXCC's mission work www.fxcc.org

Keep on praying everyone....

Then to a delicious lunch served by FSM and Paul Wert & crew...a fiesta meal to beat all fiesta meals...

WOW, I'm still reeling from the day.

now, back to my song, (feel free to sing along...any key will do) "Praise God on High...every wounded soul will be made whole, so let's worship Him with a mighty voice, like we're already with Him in paradise, Praise God on High, Praise God! "

Even More Undignified Than This

Today's Bible reading on www.oneyearbibleblog.com is the great story about David bringing the ark back to Jerusalem...He was leading the multitudes in celebrative worship without all of his clothing. (Don't worry, I'm not going to try that on Sunday...)

His wife wasn't so enthralled with the king of Israel, or the true King of Israel (Jehovah), and she scorned her husband-king for dancing and celebrating in such an undignified manner.

His reply was simple...I will celebrate unto the Lord. This is about God, not me, not my honor, not my dignity. God has been good to us, and we will celebrate appropriately. You think that was undignified? I will go to even greater lengths to show my zeal and my joy and my gratitude for the Lord Almighty.

Wow, I just love it! It makes me think of the song "and I will be even more undignified than this...some may say its foolishness..." I think the band is Delirious.

Have a great day in the Lord, and celebrate Him with all your might. He has been good to you.
He has certainly been good to me.

We got a contract on our house on Tuesday! Thank you, God! We're set to close on June 22, and then rent back until Friday, July 6. We pull out of town for Indy that day. And somewhere in there, Baby #2 is set to arrive! June 18th is our induction date. Very exciting...It's hard to imagine loving a little baby as much as we love Faith, but I think God has a way of enlarging our hearts to increase our love capacity. I know when I fell in love with Jaime, I couldn't believe all the love I felt (and still feel) and then when Faithy came along, it just doubled, so I'm sure God will provide.

Pray for Keith Jones

Check your email, or go to www.fxcc.org to see a list of prayer concerns for Keith Jones.

URGENT PRAYERS NEEDED!

We'll be having a prayer session tomorrow night at 7 pm here in the auditorium specifically for Keith. If you are able to go by and say hello to his family, contact the office and we'll let you know how to find them at Fairfax Hospital.

A note to the Fairfax Church of Christ from the Sanderson family…

We've recently embarked on an excited study of the book of Romans on Sunday mornings...this scripture on worship & God's will seems appropriate for the occasion.

Romans 12:1-2

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Over the last few months, Jaime & I have been earnestly trying to test and approve what God’s will is for our lives.

After much prayer and consideration, we feel that God is calling us to a new church home where we can be closer to family. In July, I will begin my work with the North Central Church of Christ in Indianapolis as their Worship & Administration Minister.

From the time we left Dallas and transitioned to northern Virginia back in the fall of 2003, you have been our family. Even though we were brand new here, 3 elders along with Bruce & Jeannette attended our wedding in Nashville on Valentines Day 2004. (Bill & Nancy McKevley actually drove down to Nashville with our wedding cake in the back of their truck!! They got stuck in a snowstorm on the way back...ask them for details.) When God brought our baby girl to us in the fall of 2005, you were there to celebrate with us as well. There have been countless times over the past three and a half years that we have experienced God’s goodness to us by His placing us in this body of Christ.

When God made us aware of this opportunity, we felt the time could be right to make a transition, especially as our family grows from 3 to 4. Jaime and I have made it a top priority to have her stay at home with our kids, and the cost of living in this area is not cooperating with that priority, even though the elders are generous with me in every way. Additionally, Jaime’s family lives in the Indianapolis area, and will be a great source of support for us.

Worshipping God with all of you has been such a blessing to me and my family; we will always cherish our time at Fairfax. Spiritually, we have grown immensely under Bruce’s preaching, the elders’ leadership and through our small group studies. And for Faith, I don’t know if she’ll ever find a Bible teacher that can hold a candle to Mrs. Belknap.

Our hope and prayer is that you’ll continue showing Jesus to each other and to lost people, and continue worshipping God joyfully, in spirit and in truth.

Praying for VA Tech Community

Like everyone else, I've had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach since Monday morning. I can hardly stop thinking about it.

My goal is to redirect my thoughts, my fears, my sadness into prayers to God...prayers for hope, healing, peace, comfort...but I also am more motivated to keep an eye out for hurting, isolated people.

Let's move forward together, both as a community of Christ-followers, but as a subset of our global village, more determined to relate well to each other...to listen to each other...to take time to say hello and connect.

At times like these, what a blessing to be a part of the body of Christ.

I'll post specific VMV Prayer Team concerns after tomorrow's "day of mourning/prayer" for the VA Tech community.

Peace everyone.

VMV Prayer Team Forming!

VMV PRAYER TEAM

WANTED CHRISTIAN PRAYER WARRIORS

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers. I Peter 3:12
The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. James 5:16b

What? We are forming a Prayer Team to pray in a focused way for the Vision, Mission, Values Process!

Why? We will soon be receiving the results of our church-wide survey as well as other quantitative data and in late April, we will begin formulating our Vision, Mission and Value statements. The process is scheduled to wrap up in June, but of course, this process has long-term implications for our church.

Who? Members of our congregation, and anyone else who wants to pray for God's will to be done at the Fairfax congregation.

Scriptural Emphasis?
In Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples (us) how to pray. Verse 10 of this chapter contains a phrase which is critical to our VMV process:

“…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

We’ve chosen this scripture as our key verse, in keeping with our motto:

Seeking God’s Vision Beyond Our Own.

Length of Commitment? The next 3 months, from April 10 to July 10. (I realize many people have been praying from the very inception of the process back in August 2006 up until now, and that we as a church will continue praying after these 90 days. It’s just important to hit our knees hard for the next 90 days of this vital process.)

When? Pray anytime! Pray without ceasing! Designated prayer times are as follows:
Sundays, 9:00 am to 10:05 am, in Room 201 (not a class, just quiet time)
Sundays, 10:20 am to 11:35 am, in Room 204 (not a class, just quiet time)

*We may call for an additional “prayer meeting” at other times as the VMV process continues, so stay tuned for an announcement.

**Consider fasting as a spiritual discipline along with your prayer times. See Acts 13 & 14, and a one-page brief about fasting at www.fxcc.org/worship.

What else is there to do? Recruit others to participate! Such as former members, a family member who has visited here with you, a friend who attends another church, etc.

Sign up!
Email Murray Sanderson at murray@fxcc.org.
Call the office at 703-631-2100 to be placed on the VMV Prayer Team.

You’ll receive detailed prayer requests every 10 to 14 days during the VMV process.

We're back!

We had a great trip to Indiana for Jaime's 13th (yes, 13th) high school reunion at Pendleton Heights High School in Pendleton, IN. (30 miles west of Indy) It's a long story why it was the 13th, so maybe she'll explain it on her blog.

It was also nice to reconnect with her family/extended family while in Indiana...Faith got to demonstrate her walking skills many, many times. She can now turn around while in motion, and she no longer sits down to applaud herself every few steps anymore.

Oh, and she now waves goodbye! According to the experts, that was supposed to happen at 12 months, but she waved for the 1st time to a sweet little girl at Bob Evans (our going away breakfast with Grandma Kinder) yesterday morning. Too precious. By the way, Bob Evans is always a great way to start a 580 mile day. Traveling with a 15 month old, and a wife who is 26 weeks pregnant is no quick trip. Jaime was/is an awesome wife, and the conversations you can have on a long road trip like that are so fun.

If you've ever driven west on interstate 70 through West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio...wow, aren't those views amazing? The mountains are absolutely breathtaking anytime of year. Keep in mind I've spent most of my life in Memphis/Dallas, so those are MOUNTAINS! :) But the vistas from the interstate are truly amazing, and help to make the long trip do-able. Some of the best views are on 15 once you've crossed the Potomac as you're coming south through Lucketts and Leesburg...those Virginia horse farms are beautiful! And we drove in around 7:30 pm, just as the sun was setting!

We are thankful to be home safe, and to start gearing up for an awesome Easter.

BIG Faith Announcement

Ok, friends, we have big news to share about Faithy. Check Jaime's blog
www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com

it'll be posted sometime today


and WOW, the GOOD NEWS singers from Harding University were totally awesome last night...
great blend, great volume, great song set, great facial expressions....down to the last one of them, they were great worship leaders. And one of them is MAJORING in Worship Ministry at Harding University.

To know that Harding University, one of the most conservative Christian colleges out there, now has a formal worship ministry major just encourages me to no end. There is such a great future for our movement worship-wise!

A Talking Donkey

I've just finished reading the incredible story of Balaam & his talking donkey from Numbers 20ff.

It just makes me smile every time I read it...our God is so awesome, so creative, so interested in interacting with us and guiding us and leading us the right way. But He's also curious (not in a "i don't know what will happen" sort of way, but in a "let's see how he/she will take this..." sort of way) about how much we will trust Him or listen to Him.

I think my favorite part in the story is when Balaam and the donkey are talking...yes, talking, as in having a conversation. It's not enough to simply be in awe that the donkey spoke, Balaam has to talk back to her. Let's listen in...

26 Then the angel of the LORD moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, she lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat her with his staff. 28 Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"
29 Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."
30 The donkey said to Balaam, "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," he said.

It's such an amusing story. Go to www.biblegateway.com and look up Numbers 22 to see how it ends. You'll have to go into chapters 23 & 24 as well.

After reading that, I have a new sense of openness to the Lord's voice, as I just really don't know where it might originate! :)

Names for Baby Sanderson

To see what names we've picked out for our second baby, who is quite the kicker, click here
www.murraysanderson.blogspot.com


Random thoughts...we went to Occuquan yesterday and had the best time strolling the sidewalks and window shopping. Loving the spring weather...

And then we went to IKEA! Words cannot express how cool that store is...we made a long list of "when we hit the lottery, we'll get..." I've always heard about IKEA and everyone was right, much to my surprise ( I thought people were just exaggerating.)

We had game night at small group tonight, very fun.

IMMEDIATE URGENT CHURCH-WIDE SERVICE OPPORTUNITY

Would you be willing to prepare a meal for one of our families?

Church family, the Schwambs need our help. They would never ask for this, so I am happy to stand in the gap for them.

Baby Lauren has hit some very rough spots on her road to recovery recently. To sum it up, she was born on January 14, 2006, 2 months premature, and immediately had major health complications. She has been in the hospital for much of her little life. Last night, she had to be transferred urgently from Walter Reed to Children's Hospital in D.C. The doctors believe she is stable now, but she still faces a long hospital stay, perhaps two weeks.

Tim & Cristi have kept everything going for their family of 5 with smiles on their faces, rarely missing church even amidst major health challenges and crises. Big sister Addison, age 8, and big brother Brennan, age 6, have been incredibly supportive and helpful during all of Lauren's trials. And hats off to their wonderful small group that has been encouraging them and holding up their arms every step of the way. But this family needs our prayers, love and support now more than ever.

Now, 14 months into this trying time for the Schwambs, we want to broaden the "helping hands" base beyond their small group, and beyond the church staff.

Would you be willing to prepare a meal for the Schwambs?

Regarding food allergies, Cristi doesn’t tolerate dairy products well. Brennan is severely allergic to milk, eggs, and peanuts. But don’t let these restrictions intimidate you. Cristi assured me that Brennan is fine with eating a different meal from the rest of the family, custom prepared by mom.

It would be helpful for them to have meals or snacks they can easily transport to the hospital and throw in a microwave up there.

Grocery store gift cards are great, too, if you’re high on cash and low on time.

You may deliver your meal to the hospital, to the Schwambs’ home directly, or to the church office.

Contact Murray at murray@fxcc.org or 703-631-2100 for more specifics, and to register your desired “date of delivery”. We can accommodate more than one meal per day, but my goal is to even it out reasonably.

Thanks, everyone.

Vision Coming Soon

I am so looking forward to our new vision, which will be forthcoming by June 2007...a bold statement of faith and belief and action which we will all sign up to and support...obviously it will be some expression of Matthew 28:19-20, but it will be tailored for our unique time, place, resource pool, etc.

There's such great talent and resource at FXCC...with God, there are no limits to what He can accomplish through us, once we all get on the same page behind a common vision.

And thanks for the incredible response to the survey...over 500 were completed.

Keep praying! Work is going on behind the scenes...although perhaps the most important work is your continued prayer.

Various

My mom is here for a week's visit, we're having a great time. Headed to the spy museum tomorrow...

Faith is getting cuter every day, she's started blowing kisses now...

We're singing an "oldie but a goodie" on Sunday, "Salvation Has Been Brought Down" at Melissa B's request...be ready, it demands your best. (which you should always bring to God in worship)

SUNSHINE...what a concept! Today's a great day, and I'm proud to report we need no shovellers to come early on Sunday AM...

Chris Tomlin's new CD "See the Morning"...incredible...at least spend 99 cents & download the 6th track, 'How can I keep from singing' ...

Father Daugher Diner is tomorrow evening, my first event with Faithy! How fun.

Happy weekend everyone. See you Sunday!

Rich Man who went away sad...or eventually glad?

I read today the story in Mark 10 about the rich man who kept all the commandments and still wanted to know if there was anything else he should/could to to inherit eternal life...it always makes an impact on me.

Did he only go away sad, or did he go away sad at first, then to proceed to do what Jesus said? Most scholars say no, because he was sad, and that surely meant he had no intention of doing it. Or what about Jesus' statement as he walked off...how hard it is for the rich to capture the meaning of KINGDOM. Did that mean the rich man was never going to "get it"?

I just want to throw out the option that the man DID INDEED turn his life more toward God at this point. Yes, he was sad as he parted with things, property, etc. to share with others. But his earthly sadness could have yielded to a much more mature, deeper joy as he released the tight grip he had on his own obedience, his own wealth, his own ACTIONS to earn God's favor...maybe he realized the joy and grace of living in a totally surrendered, simple lifestyle.

I'm not a rich man by Fairfax County standards, but globally, I am rich. Extremely rich. Can I turn away from Christ's pervasive call on my life, my finances? Can I share in Christ's vision of the Kingdom of God? Will I experience a Godly sorrow that leads to repentance? Or will I just get sad?

Turn our mourning into dancing, Lord, as we discover each day how to give ourselves away.

Snow and Waffles

Yesterday's snowfall, while quick and high stacking, was the most beautiful snow I've seen in a long, long time. What a way to begin our Sunday!

I was a nervous wreck from 6 am to 7 am, but I finally felt we had made the right decision to carry on with a normal schedule...well, that's when God likes to remind us that He is God. The sleet turned to snow by 8 am, and dumped 4 to 5 inches on our parking lot in about 2 hours!

Thanks to everyone who was a good sport...At least 8 people came for our 10:20 am service, only to discover that we canceled it to encourage people to return home safely.

Since the roads were getting progressively worse, our small group decided to meet for lunch instead of our normal Sun PM gathering time, and we met at Eggspectations in Chantilly. I really really love that place! That's the place I chose when it came my turn for a b'day lunch last month with our staff. The coffee is good, the service is good, and oh yeah, the food is delicious!

We had a great lunch/fellowship time, and oh yeah, we got a waffle for free because BOTH of their waffle irons broke, and they had to bust out a new one for us, so it took a long time...but it was worth the wait!

I love our small group, and I'm so thankful to have people to walk this road of life with. People who are real, funny, authentic, and deeply in pursuit of God.

So that's it, my Sunday was wrapped up in snow & waffles. (Not to mention the great time of praise & proclamation at our 9 am service...great job by our guest speaker)

Psalm 37:4

If you're reading through the "Bible in One Year" Daily readings at www.oneyearbibleblog.com , then you know it's getting tough...we're in the thick of Leviticus! Thankfully, the organizers planned some New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs for each day as well.

One of today's verses is one of Jaime's favorites, and mine as well:

Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

What an awesome verse! We've seen this verse come true over & over in our lives.

Like Friday night, we were treated to two tickets to the Chris Tomlin / Louie Giglio event at the Patriot Center. Incredible, awesome, powerful, refreshing, inspiring, rejuvenating...these words don't even come close. Chris Tomlin led worship along with his buddy Matt Redman (author of "the Heart of Worship"), and Louie brought powerful messages from God's Word in between sets. It was such an amazing time of delighting in the Lord under the leadership of very humble yet internationally reknown worship leaders ! They are SO NOT concerned about themselves, but they are totally concerned with God's fame, His renown, His glory....

Jaime and I both left there walking about 2 feet above the ground.

Thank you Paul, Susie, Mike & Wanda for this generous gift of the concert, and many thanks to James & Ramona & kids for watching Faith at our place while we went to the event.

Delight in the Lord today!

www.christomlin.com

3rd Anniversary

Wow, what a week!

We started the week with Jaime's kidney stone, and it's gotten drastically better ever since!

Thanks John & Jena for the abundance of yummy gourmet food from Whole Foods, our favorite "we would so shop there if we had money" grocery store. Don't worry, Bottom Dollar, we still love you. Thanks also for the "feast for 2" from Famous Dave's which we turned in to 3 meals .

Thanks Jeff & Jesse for coming over Monday night and sharing your lives with us.

Thanks to God for a few snow days which make life so fun!

Thanks to Jaime for the delicious Valentine's Day dinner...you + Whole Foods = DElish!

Thanks to Faithy for the Pez dispenser and the sweet card...

Thanks to Morgan & Mallory (and Stan & Sheila) for babysitting Faithy tonight so we could enjoy an anniversary dinner at the Cheesecake Factory...have they got the dining experience nailed or what?

Thanks to Darla for the gift card to above mentioned establishment so we didn't have to use our HELOC for dinner :)

Thanks to Jaime for 3 awesome years of marriage, and to God for your incredible faithfulness. I was 36 when I walked down the aisle, and there was a time I wasn't sure when I would be married! Now look and see what God has done and how He has answered my prayers. 'My cup runneth over' has never been more true...

What's "old" to you?

"I wish we sang more of the older hymns"...we can do that. But FXCC is made up of people from across the country who are transferring here for a short duration, and what is 'old, familiar and encouraging' to you may be perfectly unknown to many others.

For example, I grew up singing the OLD communion hymn "In Memory of the Savior's Love", a beautifully, musically-sound hymn to set our minds on the Lord's Supper. The first Sunday I led that at FXCC, you would have thought I was speaking in tongues. What was old to me was obviously not old to many at FXCC.

So let me know what you mean by older hymns, and we can work it out! Thanks to Jerry, Alice, Kathy and Melissa who have been very good about requesting hymns that mean a lot to them.

By the way, the response to the congregational survey was outstanding...we ran out of Scantron forms! A great problem to have...Thanks to the VMV team for crafting and conducting such a thorough survey. May God receive the glory as we fine tune our activities and leadership strategies to more gloriously accomplish Matthew 28:19-20.

We had a great attendance yesterday as well, praise God. The singing was incredible, and I'm not paying myself a compliment b/c as you could tell if you were there, I've got a horrible cold...but you all sang out so strongly! What a joy.

On a minor chord, we were $10,000 under budget yesterday...let's keep on digging deep for God's work at FXCC.

Thanks for your concern & prayers for Jaime...we're hoping that kidney stone has passed, but the after-pain still continues. We're hoping to see the doc today. When I first called to make the appt, the secretary said, "our 1st available is Feb 20th", I should have said, "It's obvious you've never had a kidney stone!" She quickly got a nurse on the phone when I further explained the situation....

Have a great day in the Lord, and bring on the snow!

Heart of Worship - a new idea?

Exodus 25:1 says… 1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to bring me an offering. You are to receive the offering for me from each man whose heart prompts him to give."

I love this little phrase from Ex. 25…”whose heart prompts him to give”. Sometimes I think we envision the OT being about law, and the NT being about heart. We got it wrong there; that’s a gross oversimplification. God always wanted our hearts…He always wanted a relationship with his children. He expressed it beautifully and plainly in both testaments.

The new-ish worship song “The Heart of Worship” seems to be expressing what so many in our congregation feel right now. I say that based on the response to the song the two times we’ve sung it in the past 3 months. (overwhelming, enthusiastic participation followed by positive comments post-Sunday)

It's cool to know that God has always wanted a heart of worship from his children…even back to the very beginning…that’s not an idea from a modern day songwriter, it’s a desire of God from the beginning of creation.

So worship on, and tune in to your heart! It’s ok to do that!

(and let me just say I'm learning lessons every day about obedience and discipline as we work with Faith on obeying us around the house...like not touching the electric outlets (even though they're safely plugged with a plastic insert)...she'll do that sometimes even in spite of me breathing down her neck saying, "no touch, no touch". It breaks my heart when she deliberately disobeys, but only in a minuscle amount compared to what God's gone through with me, no doubt.)