The last Sunday of 2024 was a memorable one.  Preaching through the prologue of John’s gospel was an enormous task and treat.  As I said in my introduction, that text makes me tremble because of its density and breadth concerning Jesus.  Hearing our church worship at the end of the sermon was a joy because sermons should draw us to worship.  I’m grateful that CLF is responsive to God’s word and willing to lift their voices to their God and Savior.  

Reading Plans

I’m sure many of you are curious about Bible reading plans for the New Year. Here is a list of a few that I’ve done with comments. I have included the link for each plan in the title.  

• The Discipleship Journal Plan (Navigators).  This plan has 25 readings per month and takes you through the Bible in a year.  Each day, it has a reading from the gospels, the New Testament, the Wisdom literature, and the Old Testament.  This one is fun because it’s manageable, and you read different portions of the Bible each day.  
• The Chronological Bible Reading Plan. This plan takes you through the Bible in a year in chronological order, focusing on biblical history and events. It is fascinating because it connects portions of the Bible based on history.  
• Mc’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan.  This plan takes you through the Old Testament once, the New Testament, and the Psalms twice a year.  You can customize it and spread it out.  In the link, I put a website where you can look at different versions of this plan.  I have done this plan most often, and it has helped me see how the Bible interprets the Bible.    
• Straight through the Bible Plan.  This plan takes you from Genesis to Revelation in the order they are in the Bible.  
• Redemptive-History Bible Plan.  This plan walks you through the different aspects of salvation history. I have never done this plan, but it looks exciting.  
• Customize your plan. This link is interesting because you can customize your plan.   

I completed the Discipleship Journal Plan in 2024 and enjoyed it. This year, I plan to read and re-read books of the Bible throughout different months.  

Whether you’re an experienced Bible reader or just beginning, I encourage you to find a regular time to read the Bible. If you get behind, don’t fall prey to Quitters Day (the second Friday of January). Just pick up where you left off and start again.  

Coming Change in our Sunday Services

If you have ever worshipped with us at CLF, you’ll recognize that we love children.  It’s a joy in our church to see parents intentionally raising their kids in the gospel.  One of the ways we encourage this is to have children in the worship-in-song portion of our service with us.  We have had a 5-10 minute break in our service for several years to allow parents time to take their kids to Children’s Ministry.  That time has allowed others to fellowship, shake hands with others, or do other things (many are checking NFL scores, Fantasy games, text messages, or emails).  

However, over the last several months, our elders and staff have been concerned that this break has created an unnecessary distraction from our purposes of the church gathering.  So, beginning this Sunday, we will intentionally use this time for something other than fellowship or checking our phones.

I will send out an email later this week detailing what we’re doing this coming week.  But here’s a regular, basic order of service beginning this Sunday:  Worship in Song, dismiss parents to take kids to CM, continue to worship in song, preaching God’s word.  

Obviously, there will be more detail than I’ve just written, but I think you understand. Our Sunday gatherings have two main goals: to encounter God together and one another. Anything that distracts us from those goals is superfluous.  

Looking Ahead

I’m excited about the preaching calendar for this coming year.  Here’s what the plan is:

• January: CLF Ministry Process. We will study how our people grow at CLF. We will examine four key elements of discipleship and explain why each element is critical to understanding CLF.  
• February:  Faith that Works:  James.  We will take our time to study this important letter.  The title of this series is Faith that Works.  
• June: Moments with Jesus. I’ve been pondering this series for a while. In it, we will examine moments when Jesus encountered broken people and demanding situations to see how He dealt with them. This will help us see how He deals with us. 
• September:  Build:  Ezra.  We believe we’re in an essential building stage at CLF (more than a structure; we’re building a people), and the book of Ezra is a great place to think about that.   
• December:  Advent 

This Sunday, we will study Worshipping God Together from Colossians 3:16-17 and Hebrews 10:24-25.  I want to challenge each member of CLF to make Sunday gatherings ‘big rock’ moments in their family schedules, not ‘pebble’ moments.  

From the Cheap Seats

• I love postseason anything. But I could live without bowls that don’t matter.  There’s nothing like watching games where it’s “win or go home.”   
• Speaking of the postseason, How can you not be impressed with what the Vikings have done?  Sam Darnold has played out of his mind, and it finally looks like he has a coach in Kevin O’Connell who understands him.  
• A growing list of athletes has shown a heartfelt, genuine faith in Jesus.  Zach Ertz has long been a Christ-follower and has spoken about his faith often.  I was so impressed with him and Jayden Daniels on the Sunday Night Game of the Week Postgame.  Here’s the link:  https://x.com/SNFonNBC/status/1873592343661588621?utm_source=chatgpt.com.  You can see the gratitude and humility of Zach in this. 
• My college football picks (not my desires) are Texas over ASU (anyone who knows me knows I’d love for Texas, aka tsips to get drilled), Penn State over BSU, Notre Dame over Georgia, and Ohio State over Oregon.  I know I’ll get killed for that last one.  But if Ohio State does what they did against Tennessee, Oregon could be in trouble.  

Have a great week! Christ is King!

In Christ, 

Dave York