April in the D - by Ron Bekkering

As I've watched my beloved Detroit Tigers start the 2015 baseball season, witnessed another playoff opportunity for my favorite hockey team, the Detroit Red Wings, and to be perfectly honest haven't watched a single Detroit Pistons game all season it is still "April in the D" as Fox Sports Detroit tells us! I look forward to this month when basketball and hockey are winding toward playoffs and baseball is just starting; it makes me think summer is right around the corner.

Well that's all fine and dandy, but April in the D takes on a different take when we talk about April in the DeWitt. More specifically April in the DeWitt Redeemer. I mean, we've experienced a tremendous Good Friday service with our friends from DCC (DeWitt Christian Church), then we jumped right into an amazing Resurrection Day service at Redeemer. So many faces and great reunions with many of our college students made my day, not to mention I got to celebrate a Savior who lives. Now I get to look forward and see the start of our Stewardship campaign at Redeemer where we will be challenged once again to step up and make a difference by committing our financial pledges to the ministries and mission of Redeemer UMC. We will also begin our annual Confirmation class. This year we will do it with 16 students that are signed up to take the next step in their relationship with Jesus by confirming in front of family, friends and their church community. My friends that is some outstanding stuff right there.

In my reading of 2 Corinthians this week, I read Chapter 5 and in verse 5, it says; "Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." When Paul wrote that to the Corinthians he knew that all these years later that we would look at this and know that what is to come is eternal life with Jesus. With Easter just passed and all we have to look forward to in April I hope you find the time to thank God for the gift He gave us in His Son!