December Newsletter

Greetings and blessings to you as we celebrate this wonderful and meaningful time of year - the birthday of our precious Savior, Jesus Christ! Our celebration began last week as our North Campus Worship Team presented a Christmas Concert during the morning worship service. One of the songs that we sang is called, "I Believe", by Natalie Grant. The message of this song had such an impact on me, and God used it as a defining moment and reminder to me that the bottom line of my whole relationship with Him is: DO I REALLY BELIEVE HIM? While it is easy for me to say that I BELIEVE that Jesus was born of a virgin and that He died and rose again to save me from my sins, can I just as easily and readily say that I BELIEVE that He is Lord of the particular circumstances that I am dealing with today? Do I really BELIEVE that His grace is sufficient in every trial? Do I confidently BELIEVE that in Christ "all things work together for good..."? These are statements of belief that I must make, and have been making every day. Henry Blackaby has shared some great insights in this area of believing:

"In the Kingdom of God, believing is a prerequisite to receiving. God spoke to Mary and gave the assurances He always gives when He assigns the impossible to His people. Everything was in place for God to act. Everything waited on Mary to believe Him. Once she believed, it was done! ("Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to Your word." - Luke 1:38) . . . Mary could not have dreamed all that would result from her faithful obedience. Likewise, you cannot possibly imagine all that God has in store for you when you trust Him. He knows exactly what He will do to bring salvation to someone you have prayed for, or to heal your friend, or provide for your needs. God has everything in place. Will you believe Him?"

Every day is a new opportunity to renew our faith and trust in God - to BELIEVE that Emmanuel is with us to guide us, to comfort us and to help us. . . . I BELIEVE!

MINISTRY UPDATE

God continues to do amazing things at the Prestonwood North Campus, and we feel so blessed to be a part of this powerful ministry! Chris and the staff will be moving into their new offices in Prosper in just a few weeks. This new facility will provide us with a large room where we can begin holding choir rehearsals, which we hope to start soon in planning for a special Easter program. As far as "The Master's Music" is concerned, God continues to open doors for us to minister through worship leading and concerts, as our schedule will allow. My week is also busy filling orders for tracks and music from our online store, and a great blessing has been the continuing requests for our children's musical, "In God We Trust". This musical was written ten years ago, and is still going strong, even without any publicity. Also, just today I received a call that the "Christmas in the Smokies" show at Dollywood in Gatlinburg, TN has been doing Chris' song, "The Lord is With You" for the past several years, and the Gatlin Brothers and Lennon Sisters have been closing their Branson shows with "I Have Seen the Light." God is amazing! Please pray for these upcoming dates:

Jan. 12 - Chris in Nashville by invitation from Lilfeway Publishing Co. to help put together the new Baptist Hymnal
Feb. 9 - Chris and Diane - concert: Parkside Baptist Church, Denison, TX
Feb. 15-17 - Diane: Southern Baptists of Texas Ministers' Wives retreat, Marble Falls, TX
Feb. 20 - Diane: speak at Trinity Christian Academy Crossroads Bible Study, Dallas, TX
Mar. 1 - Chris and Diane: Illinois Evangelism Conference, O'Fallon, IL
Mar. 2-3 - Chris and Diane: Marriage Conference, Destin, FL

Thank you so much for your prayers for us and these ministry opportunities. We are so honored and humbled that God would use us in His Kingdom work! (1 Tim. 1:12) On the back of this letter you will find some pictures of our Machen family Christmas concert on Dec. 17th at the Prestonwood North Campus.

We love you,

Chris, Diane, Jennifer, Stephen & Ryan

Have a Christ-filled Christmas and a blessed New Year! With love from the Machens