I received this email and wanted to share this with you. Cherie Sandrof sent an email expressing gratitude for the outpouring of support they have received. It is amazing to see the Lord work through you when His people step out in faith to bless others.

From Cherie:

I’ve had multiple brain surgeries over the past year and each and every time kind people from our church family step up to help us out. I have not been able to track names and/or contact information, etc. of who has brought a meal. However, I’d really like to sincerely thank every single one of them. Do you have a list serve of some sort that you could send this email out to?
As you know, in addition to my complicated health issues, we also have 5 year old triplet boys, one of whom has special needs. We also have no family in the area. Needless to say, when I end up having emergency surgery, life gets tough.
I cannot explain in words just how much it has meant to me that the church body so willingly and lovingly takes care of us when we are in need. I simply cannot imagine what our family life would be like if they hadn’t. From childcare help, to washing our laundry, and most importantly: bringing a hot meal. To some, bringing a meal might seem like a simple task. But for us, it is so much more than that. It is so obvious that these meals are lovingly prepared and delivered with such a giving spirit. It’s comforting and makes us feel so loved.
In the past we have not always felt welcomed at other churches, partly because of our son with special needs. The ministries at McLean Bible Church have helped to keep our family together. Through all of the trials we’ve had, the response we’ve received from McLean Bible Church has restored our faith in the body of Christ.
I really just wanted to thank each and every one of you personally and let you know how much this has meant to our family.
Best,
Cherie

Unfortunately, between the time I received this email to the time this appears on the blog page, Cherie has had to go back in for more brain surgery. Please keep Cherie and Matt in your prayers.

I just love our MBC Loudoun family! It seems the Lord has really blessed us with a great community. Here are a few highlights from the last couple weeks:

• An attendee e-mailed me recently, “I would never feel so well connected if the Lord hadn’t opened the Loudoun Campus.”
• A couple of weeks ago, we had a sort of focus group with our Saturday night attendees asking them what makes the Saturday night service so special. Their overwhelming response? The community!
• A volunteer feels well-connected: “Thank you for helping me be a part of the MBC family!”
• One family was with their relatives on Christmas Eve so attended another campus. They were excited MBC Loudoun had a Christmas Day service… because they wanted to be sure to celebrate Christ’s birth with their church family!
• A couple hundred people attended our Christmas Day service and stayed almost an hour fellowshipping afterwards as we enjoyed birthday cakes for Jesus!

It is God’s people – His body – that makes MBC Loudoun such a special place. Thank you for being such a great community!

Thank you, MBC Loudoun!

We are so grateful for the Lord’s provision for our Weekend Host Teams.

Weekend Host Teams help prepare people to encounter Christ from the street to their seat. While we encompass a variety of teams, we’ve been recruiting most recently for Ushers and Welcome Center Hosts. And the Lord was gracious! He provided for almost every need we had. Thank you to each of you who signed up – you are an answer to prayer! We look forward to serving the Lord with you.

We are praying for just two more people to join the Welcome Center team and four Saturday night ushers.

God is good, and it is a joy and a privilege to serve Him!

]]> http://impactloudoun.com/2011/11/youd-look-good-here/feed/ 0 http://impactloudoun.com/2011/09/how-do-i-get-answers-about-jesus/ http://impactloudoun.com/2011/09/how-do-i-get-answers-about-jesus/#comments Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:23:56 +0000 bwalters http://impactloudoun.com/?p=1906

By Brian Walters, Director of Adult Ministries @ MBC Loudoun

It’s not too late to sign-up for Mclean University at: www.mbcloudoun.org/mu! Get answers to your questions about Jesus, the Bible and more in this series of classes that will introduce you to some of the basic building blocks for the Christian faith. Each lesson examines biblical truths and helps you apply them to your life.

If you are beginning a relationship with Jesus or are just exploring who Jesus is and what the Bible says, we recommend you begin with Christianity 101. Remember, McLean University is not just for new believers.  There are several classes offered to help believers in Jesus to grow in their faith.

Check out this video to get inspired and then take a class!!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m sure we all can relate to our mom and dad yelling at some point in our lives, “Dinner is ready, come and get it!”  Or perhaps these days this may be communicated via a text message!  But in the 1800’s they rang what was called a dinner bell so everyone that is out and about would know it is time to come in from work or play to eat dinner.  Well, we are ringing the dinner bell for you all to come and sign-up for the fall session of MBC Loudoun Dinner Groups.

We will kick-off Dinner Groups with the First Annual Dinner Group Chili Cook-Off to be held on Saturday, September 17, from 4:30 – 6:00 pm to initiate our Dinner Groups.

Why is MBC Loudoun interested in Dinner Groups?

At MBC, we believe passionately that every Fully Devoted Follower of Jesus Christ needs to have strong and vital relationships with fellow believers.  Dinner groups are a valuable way at MBC Loudoun to connect with others in biblical community. It is very encouraging to see the body of believers stepping into community with one another.  The unity of the Christian community derives from and is guided by the gift of the Spirit that lies at the heart of its life together (Acts 2:42-46; Hebrews 10:24-25).

What is my commitment level to Dinner Groups?

Each Dinner Group member will participate one time a month (October/November) to meet in a host home or point of gathering as decided by the host.  The dinner can consist of a potluck, out to eat at a restaurant, a picnic in the park or any other creative dinner outing that you can come up with.

If you want serve as a host of one of our Dinner Groups, we need people to host either in October or November, or if you have the gift of hospitality you are more than welcome to host both months!  Host duties are primarily logistical, and include scheduling the details of the dinner (time, date, location, whose bringing what, etc.).

We will then come back together as a large group on December 3 at 10:00 am (please mark your calendars) for a Cookie Exchange to end dinner groups until Spring, when we will do it all over again meeting new people for fellowship.

How do I sign up for a Dinner Group?

We will have sign-up forms in the bulletins on August 27/28, fill that out and drop it off in the lobby at the Chili Cook Off sign-up table.  There we will have sign-up sheets for bringing chili, corn bread, desserts, and accessories.  Sign-ups can still continue after that online at the dinner group site:   http://mbcloudoun.org/dinnergroups until September 7.

There will be games, prizes and, chili, of course, at the cook-off and you will also have a chance to meet the other people in your dinner group and start to plan for your October dinner.

Children are welcome, but there will be no childcare at this event.

Who is welcome to join a Dinner Group?

EVERYONE

Wait…..I have more questions:

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Rhonda Etter at home: 571-223-0498 or by email at loudoundinnergroups@gmail.com .

We want to thank you for this opportunity to serve our Lord in this manner and anticipate a wonderful turnout for Dinner Groups.  We are blessed that God has called us to minister to you in this way.

Kickstands up! The Second Annual Motorcycle Charity Ride benefitting our 2011 Loudoun Nicaragua teams rolled out of Leesburg this past Saturday. The sun was shining and the bikes were glistening and team members and fellow riders gathered in their support of MBC Loudoun’s partnership with ORPHANetwork.

The riders got to enjoy a beautiful ride through the Shenandoah before heading back to Leesburg for some good food, raffles and prizes. Raffle tickets were given away by the arm’s length, so it was best to find a tall person to do the measuringJ.

A special thanks to Jack Sanders for organizing the ride for the second year in a row! He is no doubt a blessing to his fellow riders but also to the work our mission teams have been doing down in Bluefields, Nicaragua.

Our Loudoun 2011 teams are gearing up for heading down to Bluefields, Nicaragua on July 1st. The teams will be commissioned at the Loudoun campus during the services the weekend of June 25/26 and would feel so blessed knowing the body of Christ is praying for them as we as a campus are sending them out. To find out more about Loudoun’s partnership with ORPHANetwork and ways to be involved with the partnership, check out mbcloudoun.org/missions.

Thank you!

“I just wanted to thank you again for all of the wonderful things you and the church group put together for me. I would love to meet the rest of the group and everyone involved in helping me. It honestly makes me so happy to feel like people are here for me. Thank you so much, I honestly feel blessed to have been put in touch with you.”

This is a shout out to one of Loudoun’s married small group who served with us at the May 20th Break Out. Thank you for stepping out to serve our Lord Jesus Christ by pouring out your love on these children. You all have blessed these children with a time of fun and laughter as well as blessing their parents with a date night.

Again, Thank You.

The response to the ministry has been exciting. Some people in our congregation have personal stories that make this ministry especially poignant for them:

• One person in our congregation was an abandoned teen. He totally gets their plight, sees the Lord’s hand in His journey, and wants to help another teen in their journey.
• Two different congregation members’ families took in abandoned teens when they were growing up. They saw what it means to walk alongside a teen in need and the impact it can have on a person’s life.
• One person in our congregation was one of 9 children whose father died when he was young and whose mother never really had a job. He went to college, so he gets the challenges of what these teens will face in navigating college finances.

Who knew we had so many real and personal connections to the story and plight of abandoned teens? Success stories within our own congregation! As one person brought up, this is totally the story of the movie Blindside!

Praying for God’s powerful working~

The Abba Team

The Billings family says, “THANK YOU!!” to everyone for their support and prayers during their son’s stay at Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI). A video of Luke has been put together to document his stay at KKI. To view it, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmPNj7PIykE

Luke was suppose to be home last Friday but do to some bumps in the road; he will now be coming home this week. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers because the journey has just begun to get everyone on the same page as KKI.