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Dear Brethren,
At the beginning of this new year, we at Sheffield Drive are happy to inform you that we had a conversion in the closing days of 2009! On Wednesday, December 30th, we had a man in his forties buried with Christ.
His name is Randy Joyner. He visited the congregation on the Sunday night after Christmas because none of the other religious groups near him were having services that night except us! Before he left the building that night I asked him if he would like to have a Bible study and he replied, “Sure! How about tomorrow?” As a result, we ended up studying a total of 5 hours in 3 days. By Wednesday night, he said, “I want to be baptized to be saved and to have my sins forgiven.” Since that night, him and myself have continued to study an average of 2-3 times each week outside of the congregations normal assemblies. I pray that the congregation continues to rally around and support such brave and honest souls as this.
The congregation as a whole has also accepted a challenge. That challenge is for each individual to memorize Matthew 5 this year. From the kids to the older folks, they are striving to memorize 1 verse each week so that by the end of 2010 they will be able to quote the whole chapter.
In addition to those things, we also had two restorations on Sunday morning (January 10th). Two members, both recognizing they had sinned, but also that they weren’t doing everything they could (and desired) to do for the Lord’s cause repented of those things.
In other news, the congregation is seeking to find a way to lower the cost of sending out House to House-Heart to Heart publication so that we can explore other possibilities for evangelism. The method we have decided upon for lowering that cost is to distribute House to House through the local newspaper (as an insert in the Sunday paper). This will not only lower our cost (per flyer), but will also allow us to simultaneously increase our output of House to House from approximately 2,000 flyers to 3,000 flyers. We are aware of other congregations that have had more successful contacts through this method of distribution than from direct mail.
The leadership of the congregation has also been requested by some members to establish a class on marriage. The planning for that class is now in the works.
There have been some other challenges placed before the congregation for the coming year. Some of those include: (1) for each member to play an active role in converting 1 soul to Christ during 2010; (2) for the members to expand their own personal study habits; (3) for our congregation to be more conscious of their speech and specifically not to use euphemisms (like gosh, gee, gee wiz, My Lord, etc); (4) for the men of the congregation to increase their ability to present the Gospel publically; and (5) for the women to become more conscious of godly modesty in their choices of apparel.
The congregation has had two new families place membership with us, both of which have young children. One of the families lives in Norlina, NC (near the Virginia/North Carolina border) and is driving approximately 50 miles one-way to attend services. The other family is a mom and two small children who live in Wilson (about 15 miles away)—her husband is in the military but is not a member of the Church. We are excited about both of these families being a part of our congregation.
Needless to say, at the beginning of 2010, we at Sheffield Drive are excited about the Lord’s work being done in our community! We are also extremely thankful and blessed to have your support in this endeavor. Thank you so very much!!! We ask that God bless you bountifully for your liberality toward His Cause!
In the Lord’s Service,
Aaron J. Cozort, Evangelist
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