It's so good to make a contribution to the lives of others in a way that is deeply spiritual. I thought you may enjoy reading some of the notes and emails I've received regarding the Winter Family Tournament.

Even though we are spiritual, we can underestimate the impact of our efforts on others. The mission of our congregation is not to build cars or manufacture furniture for consumers. As worthy as those efforts may be, we've chosen something that changes lives at a much more significant level.

The Winter Family Tournament provides the opportunity to worship God in the unity of faith. The people attending this event are from a variety of backgrounds yet a common statement expressed was the sense of unity within the group.

Is this important? Take a look at God's words to church leaders through the Prophet Ezekiel.

"You never tend the sheep. You have not taken care of the weak ones, healed the ones that are sick, bandaged the ones that are hurt, brought back the ones that wandered off, or looked for the ones that were lost. Instead, you treated them cruelly. Because the sheep had no shepherd, they were scattered, and wild animals killed and ate them. So my sheep wandered over the high hills and the mountains. They were scattered over the face of the earth, and no one looked for them or tried to find them. "Now, you shepherds, listen to what I, the LORD, am telling you. As surely as I am the living God, you had better listen to me. My sheep have been attacked by wild animals that killed and ate them because there was no shepherd. My shepherds did not try to find the sheep. They were taking care of themselves and not the sheep." (Ezekiel 34:3-8)

None of us can read these words without recognizing the importance of our mission. As the following letters attest, scattered sheep are finding a place to congregate.

From a family that has attended for a few years
The after glow is still alive and well. The Winter Family Tournament has once again been a breath of fresh air, encouraging, edifying, inspiring and simply fun for the whole range of ages attending. Hundreds of people had the opportunity to benefit richly from the well planned, diligently delivered "Labor of Love".
May God bless you faithful servants for grasping & acting on the vision! It is assured that whenever that much prayer, thought & effort is offered up to the Body of Christ... God will magnify the offerings to accomplish FAR MORE GOOD than we would expect or can measure or appreciate!
Well done you good & faithful servants

From a first time attendee
First, thanks to you and everyone involved for the great Winter Tournament this year! I had heard so much about the event and was quite surprised that it exceeded my expectations. My brother and I are already looking forward to next year.

Ranks with the Feast
Just wanted to say thanks again for what all of you do for the kids and families with the winter tournament! I wish we lived closer so we could attend with your group, it seems you all care so much about the next generation and want to encourage our youth. This has been one of the best events we've been to; it ranks with the Feast. If there is anything we can help with let me know we will try to keep coming for years to come.

Thank you also for the prayers for Jay, he missed us but was happy we had a good time. Hopefully he can make it next year.

Love in Christ,

Correction to a misstatement regarding COG7
Just wanted to say thanks to you and the congregations for hosting such a wonderful event. We were truly blessed. Our kids especially enjoyed their time in Lexington.
I also wanted to make a clarification about something said by Dr. Sam (Bacchiocchi). He said the COG (Seventh Day) has largely abandoned the belief in the literal 3 days and 3 nights time period between the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is entirely wrong. made a change to our understanding of the time element of the crucifixion/resurrection nor is there any push to do so. I did not want to stand up during the question time and say he was wrong, thereby creating a scene. I plan to write to him and inform him as well of the current situation within the COG (Seventh Day).
I'm still hoping that we can get you to come to Harrisburg sometime. Pentecost would be nice but it doesn't have to be a Holy day. Let me know what you think.
Thanks again for a blessed time. Blessings to you and your family.

The staff is great
Just a note to thank you for the great, high quality Tournament Weekend in Lexington. The assembly of speakers could not be beaten. It was so obvious that so many people worked very hard. We were all blessed by you and your staff. Thanks again, it was so needed!

It's in the hall of fame
Thanks for all of your hard work at the tourney!! It was great! One for the record books.

Good for the kids
We really enjoyed the activities again this year. The family in charge of soccer really do a great job to make it a family event and to keep it moving and matching teams. We really enjoyed the soccer and the volleyball and of course my son Caleb likes the dodgeball.
We also enjoyed the roller skating and that worked really well being so close.

The best one yet
Hey all,
Of the three I've been to, this was definitely my favorite Winter Family Tournament so far!

I just created a Google Gmail account called, "ChristianChurchOfGod", which also includes a Picasa page for sharing photos, along with a ChristianChurchOfGod Google Group for folks to join in order to stay in communication with one another and perhaps talk about ideas for our churches.

For all those who did not attend, keep an eye out on our new Google Picasa page: http://picasaweb.google.com/ChristianChurchOfGod ... as more photos will be coming!

If you have photos from the Winter Family Tournament '07 you would like to upload and share, please contact me -- bernard carman, bbc@infinitygames.com -- and I will give you the account log in information and help if you need it.

Another first timer
Hey you guys!!
It was great to meet so many people this past Sabbath and first day of the week. This is the first year that my family has attended the Winter Family Tournament and it was nothing like I expected. It was much better! There were more young people than I had (anticipated) and the programs were more open than I would have guessed. They were more relevant to my life because of the focus on outreach to others who need to know more about the love of God and how it is expressed in following His ways. Additionally, I appreciated the emphasis on youth, such as I, equipping us for the future as members of the churches of God.

I miss you all already! You guys are great. I'm looking forward to hearing from you as soon as you get the chance to write!

Until next time,