By Darrel Proffitt, Lead Pastor
Dr. Del Tackett’s Truth Project is a survey of what a worldview is and how it has an effect on the way we see everything.  In his lecture on history, he reminds us “Nothing happens at random or by chance. The hairs of our heads are numbered, and the details of our lives are threads in the great tapestry of His overarching providential plan.”   
Too often we forget this.  We think we are all alone.  If God is there, then God surely isn’t interested in what I am going through.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Yet, as Tackett says, many people resist the idea of a sovereign God.  Why? Because too many people want to be in charge of their own world, living according to their own desires and plans. 
 The implications of such a belief are worth noting.  If I am in charge of my own life, if God isn’t there or interested, then I become my own little god.  When I face challenges and I am my own little god, then I have to rely on my resources.  If I believe in a sovereign God, this all changes.  It is God’s power, God’s resources (which are infinite) that I can rely on.  When I also come to realize that God loves me, that God has rescued me (which is the essence of the Gospel) then I can face challenges with an entirely different attitude.  I can know that God will see me through because God is good.  All the time. 
I encourage you to reflect closely on the Gospel during times of joy as well as in times of challenges.  The very God who got you to this point will see you through.  No matter what.  Resist the temptation to go it alone and reach up and out.  Reach up to God and reach out to your fellow disciples who can help you see clearly the goodness of God.
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By Sean Nelson, Pastor of Discipleship
We were blessed to have Dwight Edwards speak on Sunday during COTHA U. He unpacked the 3rd part of our why statement, “Connect the Disconnected”.  There were 3 points that helps a believer be a connector. Ephesians 2 provides a great explanation to how this works. But I warn you, it’s meaty! So grab your steak sauce and let’s eat.
            New Heart v. 1-5 “and you were dead in your trespasses and sins…were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which He loved us…made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).” Before you and I met the wonderful savior we were wonderful sinners doomed to the ultimate suffering – disconnection from God. God breathed life into us and we were spiritually reborn through Christ. Now our heart beats for him our lives match the rhythm of His love.
            New Life v. 6-9 “raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works so that no one may boast.” You and I are on display to the whole world! His grace is what saved us and His grace is what makes us throw a line to others. We ought to witness to the world and fellowship with believers because of this new disposition.
            New Legacy v. 10 “for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Good works always follow salvation and not the other way around. If you’re living for yourself than you’re missing a great adventure. The works He has for you and I to do can only be accomplished by His tools and His means.
             We have been Connected therefore we walk this earth seeking to Connect those who were just like us.
O taste and see that the Lord is good. In His presence and with His people.

By Darrel Proffitt, Lead Pastor
As you know, the sermon series that we are on is based on taking a close look at Paul’s letter to the Galatians.  Paul made it clear to the church in Galatia that the Gospel was all about Jesus and nothing else.  Jesus plus nothing equals our savior.  He reminds the Galatians that adding anything to the Gospel takes us to a place of slavery not freedom.
We conclude the series this weekend.  As we take our final look at Paul’s call to all Christians to continually return to the Gospel to live our lives, he reminds us that the good news of Jesus is all about how He has rescued us from sin, death, misery, and hopelessness.  Before anything else, the Gospel is a Gospel of rescue.  When we return to this, we are empowered to live our lives as ones who have been rescued.  We do this through faith and holding on to the hope we have in Jesus Christ.
Hope is a word that does not translate well.  In English, when one says “I hope,” it comes across as being unsure.  We hope things will be well, but maybe they won’t be.  That’s not what Paul means.  In the Greek, hope carries with it a certainty.  Perhaps we don’t see God moving, but we are certain (we hope) that He will.  Your life may not be where you want it to be, but because of Jesus we have certainty (hope) that Jesus will be faithful, true to his promises and tomorrow is bright and assuredly hopeful (certain).
I invite you to join me this weekend as we continue to grow as a congregation and explore Paul’s final word to the Church in Galatia and to us.  To live into the hope God has given us in Jesus Christ is to believe in both the sufficiency and sovereignty of God!  See you this weekend!

By Darrel Proffitt, Lead Pastor
As you know, we offer a free dinner for the community every Wednesday night.  We have been doing this for some time and we continue to feed many people every week.  This is an excellent opportunity for anyone at COTHA to participate in an outreach, since you can participate by bringing a food item (spaghetti, sauce, bread, salad or canned vegetables) and/or sign up to serve or clean up afterward.
As we move forward with this outreach ministry to the Katy area, I want to challenge you or a ministry group you are in (small groups or one of our many studies or service ministries), to participate.  We are streamlining the way that you can help.  We can serve and clean up with as few as three to four people.  If you have more people in your small group or ministry, you can sign up for more than one Wednesday.  We will have a sign-up sheet in the Evangelism Kiosk this Sunday so that you can see what the needs and dates are.  Also, please notice the basket for food that is located in the kiosk as well.  We would like to challenge you to remember to buy something extra when you shop for groceries.  Bring your food offerings every week as we seek to create a way in which every one at COTHA can participate.
Jesus gave us a clear mission to help those who are in need.  We need to pray for them and provide for their physical needs as well.  Our outreach ministry takes us to the far reaches of the earth but it also includes reaching out to the greater Katy area as well.  May God be blessed by our desires to “not look away.”

By Darrel Proffitt, Lead Pastor
As you know, we have two search committees meeting regularly to discern who God is calling to walk with us by loving our children and students, work with the many ministers who volunteer their time and pass on our faith to the next generation.  Both search committees desire your feedback and want to keep everyone informed as we move forward.  Neil Stratton is leading the Youth Pastor search and Eric Cleckler is leading the Children’s Pastor search.
 The Children Pastor’s search committee met last night and has begun the work of discernment.  Currently they are finalizing both the wording of the job description to be posted on various websites and will soon begin receiving names of candidates.  If you have anyone that you know who you believe would be a great candidate please let either of these committees know.  You can do that by contacting Neil or Eric directly, or let me know.
The Children’s Pastor search committee hopes to begin conducting interviews in a few weeks and hopefully issue a call to an outstanding candidate by the end of October.  This is ambitious and a lot of prayer is needed to help us sort through all those who we discern are potential candidates.  Our Children’s ministry is in great hands during this transition period and we look forward to finding the right person to build on the good work that is being done every Sunday.  Thank you for your feedback, support and prayers.  I will keep you informed as we move forward.  The Children’s Pastor search committee would like to meet you at the steps this Sunday morning following the 10:30 service to receive any feedback you may have.  See you there!!

By Paula Wilbrant, Ministry Pastor of Care
My last blog was about being grateful because every moment is a gift from God and every moment we are given opportunities. Some opportunities are very simple and sometimes they are life changing.
Recently, I was given one of those life-changing opportunities and after a lot of prayer and discernment, I accepted a sales position with a pharmaceutical company. I will be calling on OBGYN’s and pediatricians in the Houston area. This new job is the answer to my financial prayers. And for that, I thank God.
Therefore, this is my last blog while working on staff at COTHA.  Admittedly, I never thought I’d be sentimental about writing my last blog because writing is not my gift. But, like so many things… this too has been a blessing!
If I were to share about all the blessings that I have received as Pastor of Care Ministries at COTHA, I’d be writing into the wee hours of the morning! Truly, I have been so blessed by the many friendships made, the long meaningful conversations shared and above all the numerous prayers that have been prayed together.
We have laughed together and cried together through marriages, divorces, births and deaths. God has stretched us beyond where we ever imagined we could go.  We’ve grown together in the love of Christ.  Day by day, by the Grace of God we have done life together.
It has been a privilege to work in God’s office, and I am so grateful. I give thanks to Him and pray that He will continue to use me.  By His love we will all further the kingdom and share with others His amazing Grace.  This is my prayer.

By Sean Nelson, Pastor of Discipleship


~ Romans 15:5,6…”5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~
                  This Sunday, during COTHA U, was riveting! God blessed us with great teaching and shared conviction regarding centralizing our lives with the bible. I felt like we all walked away with One Thought – The Bible is to be lived out and not just read. Go Deeper: For those in attendance: 1. Reread 2 Timothy 3:16,17 2. Pray for wisdom and growth 3. Teach this to someone else. If you didn’t make it out, join the Go Deeper opportunity and let’s have a conversation about how God speaks to you through this passage.   
                  You don’t want to miss the next sessions starting this Sunday where I will be talking about a “Living A Life That Violates Status Quo” and guest presenter Diane Covert from the Krause Children’s Center will offer a unique opportunity to make good on our word. Then, the following Sunday, September 21st, is “Back-to-Church” Sunday so invite someone to “One Voice” where guest speaker Dwight Edwards will share “Connecting the Disconnected” and for Worship Service. Finally, our very own Pastor Darrel Proffitt will close out the series with “The COTHA Family”. Again, the mission doesn’t move without you. See you there!
 O taste and see that the Lord is good. In His presence and with His people.

By Darrel Proffitt, Lead Pastor
I was not moving very fast on September 11, 2001.  I was eating breakfast and glancing at my calendar for the day when something caught my attention on television.  I had the Today Show on but it was basically on in the background.  I wasn’t watching very closely.  Suddenly the taped portion of the show was interrupted by one of those frightening news bulletins.  The live cameras were focused on the twin towers in NYC.  It appeared, the newscaster proclaimed, that an airplane had flown into one of the towers.  I watched with curiosity but not much alarm.  In a few short minutes, I watched in shock as the first tower came forcefully down.  I lost any sense of time as I was now glued to the television.  I do not remember how long it was when the second tower fell.  Then I heard the news that there had been a similar incident at the Pentagon.  After this I was pretty numb.  There was some sketchy news about a plane that had gone down in Pennsylvania.  What was going on?
I emailed Julie at school to let her know of the news that was unfolding before me.  I don’t remember much of what I said, but I do remember thinking that this was more than coincidence.  In fact I wondered to her if this was “it.”  I’m not sure what I meant by that, but it felt like our nation was under attack.  What would happen next?
Most of you who lived through that day and the days that followed remember the way our country came to together, united behind the belief that these things were not supposed to happen.  There were all sorts of feelings: fear, anger, disbelief and so on.  There was a general sense that things had changed.  We would never go back to the way things were before.
Now thirteen years later we realize that things did change.  Not all of those changes have been for the good.  Much of the unity that we experienced soon disappeared.  We live under the dark cloud of terrorism.  There have been wars fought and lives lost.  Anger and fear still hang in the air.  That day will never be forgotten.
There is something that has not changed.  God is still God.  He is sufficient and sovereign.  There are bad things that happen in our world.  The innocent suffer.  There are wars and rumors of wars.  None of these are evidence that God is somehow not aware.  God is with us.  He has called us to be part of the movement that continues to announce that the Kingdom of God draws near.  Even when things seem to be spiraling out of control, our faith reminds us that they are not.  We are a people of hope.  We don’t need to fear.  We need to stand firm. 
We will never forget.  We will never forget that 9/11 day of tragedy.  But let us also never forget that our God is strong.  He is mighty and He is sovereign.  One day all things will be made right and those who bring violence and destruction will stand before a God who will judge all things.  In the meantime, let us shine forth with joy, hope, love and an expectation that God’s justice, mercy and love will have the last word.

By Darrel Proffitt, Lead Pastor
As we continue our study of Galatians this September, we come to a point Paul makes about living as a disciple. We know we come to faith by grace. This means that God has moved toward us, not us toward God. God calls us out of a life of meaninglessness to a life of hope and joy. We didn’t do anything to deserve it and we certainly can’t earn it. He just does it because He has chosen to do it. We have done nothing that forced God’s hand. It’s just pure grace.
Too often we live our lives of faith in such a way that we forget how it all got started. The Gospel needs to be read and re-read in order to get our mind and heart around the importance of never forgetting about the power of that Grace. We need this because of our tendency to live out our lives of faith by law. We add things on to the Gospel. We not only do that for others but we have a tendency to do that ourselves. The results are a fruit of a different gospel. The fruit of this gospel is worry, anxiety and guilt. Like any fruit, they grow naturally from having tacked on something to the Gospel of Grace. If we keep coming back again and again to the truth that we were saved by Grace alone, perhaps we can live more fully into a life of faith lived out by Grace alone. The fruit of this Gospel is peace, joy and love. We come to realize that in our freedom, we have been set free, not just at the beginning of our faith journey but even to the very end of this life!