Greetings from Lockland!

I have been preaching through the letters to the churches in Revelation in October and November, and I have been blessed by the exhortation given to the Ephesian church to make sure that we return to our first love. Church planting is certainly arduous work, filled with frustrations and dead ends, but in the end, we are not doing this for the sake of numerical success or the renown of men. We serve His Church because we are seized by the love of our Savior and God. To labor in love means that the work is sweet, no matter the difficulty, since it is given to our Beloved.

This year, the Lord has closed certain doors of ministry and opened others in their place. While some relationships have grown cold, others, such as our ministry with the Metanoia Club and the Bible study at the University of Cincinnati, seem to offer new and unexpected promise for the coming year. The Metanoia Club has been a way-in to the rougher side of our community, and has helped us to be aware of the types of issues that folks struggling with poverty and family disintegration are dealing with. The college ministry is really still too young to say whether it will prove fruitful, but many of the conversations we have during the study have been encouraging. I am praying that the Lord gives you all a fruitful and restful Christmas season, and that He gives us all new vigor for the coming year.