#mainstreetlife

[mainstreetamericaphotos]

Main Street. White Deer, Texas. Population 1,000. Photo courtesy of Dan Watson.

[mainstreetamericaphotos]

Main Street. Lipscomb, Texas. Population 44. Photos courtesy of Dan Watson.

[mainstreetlife-blog]

Love Well

Sunday was Valentine’s Day. Many people celebrated by showing their love and appreciation to others in various ways – flowers and chocolate, dinner for two, and special gifts all helped to create valentine memories. Some say Valentine’s Day is a Hallmark holiday. A day the world designates for us to spend money and show love. But what if we looked at Valentine’s Day as a reminder to love well every day? Yes, there is a day set aside to celebrate but the other 364 days should also be filled with nothing less.

We love because he first loved us. – 1 John 4:19 While we may not plan fancy dinners and buy special gifts on a daily basis, it is pretty amazing to think that because we first received love, we have the ability to love. But sometimes that ability is hard to put in motion. We don’t always feel like giving or receiving love. For example, on Valentine’s Day, despite the yelling to pick up toys or follow a rule, a mom still received a special valentine from her child. Despite the devastating fight last week, a girlfriend still received a valentine from her boyfriend. Despite the busyness of life that prevents a daily connection, a wife still received a valentine from her husband.

Yes - we mess up daily. We yell, we argue, we lose sight of our priorities, we get swept away in worldly ways, and we are often unworthy of love. But despite our own unworthiness, we are still given the ability to love.

In the good. In the bad. In the hard. In the ugly.

Love is what prevails.

Love isn’t something shown on Valentine’s Day in a card, a gift, or quality time. Love is bigger. Love is better.

Love isn’t just a good thing – a kind deed. Love isn’t just a fleeting moment. Love is a gift and a command. Love is a way of life. We would be remiss if we failed to love at all. To pick people up. To encourage others. To provide support. To lend a helping hand. To alleviate a stress. To simply try and understand. Love is hard. It takes work. It takes time. It takes slowing down and putting the focus on others. And we’ve been given the ability to love.

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one that this, that he lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:12-13 There is no greater example of love than the love Jesus has graciously and abundantly shown to us. We, who are unworthy of his love, are loved beyond belief. Oh, how he loves us –

In the good. In the bad. In the hard. In the ugly.

He loves us on our very best days as much as on our very worst days – and every single day in-between. And so we should strive to live a life of love. Of kindness. Of giving. Of serving. Because every life has the ability to love and every life is worthy of love.

Love well.

Love well today. Love well tomorrow. Love well remembering our gift and our command. Love in the good. Love in the bad. Love in the hard. Love in the ugly. Just love – because you can.

[mainstreetlife-blog]

Choose Joy

You likely unwrapped lots of gifts this past Christmas morning. Gifts of clothing and perfume. Gifts of jewelry and gadgets. Gifts of toys and treasures. And no matter how much you love the gifts you were given, they won’t be the source of your joy – not for long anyway. You get showered with gifts one day a year, all wrapped in pretty paper, topped with sparkly ribbons and bows. The gifts make you smile and appreciate the people who gave them to you, but they can’t hold a candle to the gift our God gave to us.

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ~ Isaiah 9:6

Oh how we hope you have soaked in those words this month. More importantly, we hope your heart has been stirred as you look into the future possibilities for 2016. Those presents sitting around your home promise to bring you joy for only a moment. They may or may not last the whole year through. The gift so precious to you may break or shrink. It may get a stain or be stolen. You may lose interest by May.

But Jesus promises a different kind of joy. A joy that is present each and every day if we choose to take hold of it. A joy that can withstand any pressure, any trial. A joy that you will never tire of. A joy that is everlasting, long after 2016… long after we take our last breath. We want you to take hold of that joy. The joy only Jesus brings.

If you missed any of the sermons in December, click here and be refreshed as you head into 2016. We hope we will see you at church in the new year, soaking in more truth, building relationships, getting involved, and growing with us. Service times are 8:30, 10:00, and 11:30 – and there is always room for a friend.

[mainstreetlife-blog]

The Story Continues...

As I write this post, it’s an early December afternoon, the sky is gray, the temperature unusually warmer than normal, and I am awaiting word on the closing date of the sale of our building located at 705 N. Main Street in Walbridge. And I got to thinking…to remembering…to dreaming…

I wondered if Pastor Ken Graham and the leadership of our church ever dreamed when they were moving into that building back in 1972 that someday we would no longer be there because it just wasn’t big enough for all that God was gonna do. I wasn’t around back then (alive, but not around) but I can almost feel the excitement they must have felt as the congregation marched down the center of Main Street to that brand new location from their previous home at 207 N. Main. What a day that must have been!

I came to Main Street a few months later, a freckle-faced, energetic, four-year old boy who had no idea what church was really about. To me, it was simply a place where you learned about Jesus on felt boards, sang in kids’ choirs, had fun in youth groups…and eventually played lots of basketball in the gym once it was built in the late 70’s!

I have so many fond memories from 705. It is where I accepted Christ as my Savior and was baptized at age 11. It is where I attended my father’s funeral in 1984 when I was just 15. It is where Amy and I were married in 1990. It is where each of our children were dedicated to Christ as our family grew. It is where I first entered full-time ministry in 1995. So many memories…

But beyond those personal memories, that building was the place I first began to learn about what it meant to be part of a church…a part of a community of faith that worships together, learns together, serves together, and lives together. It is where I learned what it meant to pursue a life of full devotion to Christ. It is where I witnessed first-hand the devotion of so many committed to serving and reaching people for Christ. The foundations of who I am today as a man and as a pastor were laid in that building and I praise God for raising me there!

But even as I recall all of those wonderful moments, I can’t help but look ahead as well. I can’t help but wonder if God intends to someday have us outgrow our 795 facility too. I can’t help but dream of the future people God will allow us to reach and minister to. I can’t help but dream of the students we will reach together through our Next Move initiatives. I can’t help but dream of the lives we will touch and that God will transform. I can’t help but dream of the families who will be impacted and the relationships we will build. I can’t help but think of the unlimited possibilities and untapped potential that exists in all of us to unleash the love and grace of Christ on the communities around us.

I can’t help but dream…and I see lots of your faces in my dreams too. As we turn the page on one chapter of the Mainstreet story, we begin a new chapter on the next page. Let’s treasure the moments and memories that were created at the 705 campus and look ahead as we continue writing our story…

~ Marty

[love-mainstreet]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DjbUSAhNNTg OMG best ever all of the song from mainstreet are best but i like this song I'm proud of you owenplay and nilskaller