Chainsaw Saturday
Construction help needed. This Saturday we continue preparing our new church building! Workers of any skill level are welcome to help remove trees, tile, carpet, etc. Donuts and a tour of the building begin at 8:30 a.m. with work starting at 9:00 a.m. Other Saturday workdays will follow if you can't make this one. To join in, contact John Taylor at 972 668-3899 or jdtay77777@aol.com

PARENTING CONFERENCE 2006
Preston Trail Community Church is partnering with Watermark Community Church for an exciting Parenting Conference. Please join us for the Watermark Parenting Workshop, Saturday, April 1 from 9 am - 4 pm at the Watermark Building (7540 LBJ Frwy). The Workshop will help you develop a blueprint for raising your kids in a way that builds a strong identity and sets them up to be effective in the world. Childcare is available for a small free. Please register in the lobby or send an email to info@prestontrail.org. MORE

Men’s CLC Groups
If you want to be in a men’s CLC group, there are still a few openings. Currently, we have three CLC groups with 33 men involved. We would like to start three more groups of 10-12 men each. CLC stands for Christian Leadership Concepts and is designed to challenge men to be leaders at home, in the church, and in the community. Sign up at the Life Group Table.MORE

Discover Preston Trail Class
New to PTCC? Join Pastors Jim and Paul on Sundays at 11:00 AM as we take a look at our church and where it is going. This is an opportunity for all guests who are new to PTCC to learn more. Session will meet at the AMC Theatre. Please signup at the Life Group table. A 5 week Partnership Class will follow for all those interested in becoming a PTCC partner.MORE

JOB OPPORTUNITIES:
RESOURCE SERVING TEAM LEADER
Are you looking for a critical team to lead? We are seeking a leader for the resource team. This team records the weekly sermon, saves and copies it to CDs and provides them for sale in our lobby. The leader will oversee the sales team and work with our webmaster in getting the sermon on our site. Sign up on the offering card today or contact info@prestontrail.org for more information.

GUEST SERVICES DIRECTOR
Customer Service at its finest. We are looking for a customer driven, guest services leader to come on our staff at PTCC. This person will be responsible for overseeing the entire new guest process; from welcoming, registration, followup and more. Job is about 10 hours a week. We are seeking candidates who have former customer service experience. Please contact info@prestontrail.org for more information on the application process...and get that resume ready!

Calling All Men Softball Players!
Sign up in the lobby to join this year's team. Games are played Monday evenings starting 3/06 through 5/8. $30 registration fee. Contact Andy Tuggey for more details at jtuggey@comcast.net.

Life Groups
Now’s the time! In January, many of our Life Groups will be starting new studies. Stop by the Life Group table today and find a group that works for you.MORE

Chapter 2
Join us WEEKLY on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 PM, for a deeper service of biblical teaching, looking into the Life of Jesus. Led by our senior pastors, this will be a meaningful time of prayer, worship and teaching. 7:00 PM AMC Theatre.

Car Games

When our family drives to a vacation spot, we pass the time in different ways. Sometimes we play a game where we spot signs on the side of the road and look for all the letters of the alphabet – although I can never find a Q or Z when I need one. Or we might listen to music – but that often leads to an argument because I like classic rock, Denise likes soft rock, and Kristen likes pop, hip-hop, and country. So we often end up playing “Who am I?” It’s a simple game where one person thinks of someone famous then asks, “Who am I?” The others in the car ask questions to narrow down the options – like “Are you a male?” or “Are you a politician?” Whoever finally guesses the right person wins that round and gets to pick a new person.

For this week’s Trail Notes I want to tweak this game a little and make it “What am I?” Ready to play? Here goes …

“What am I?”

I’m in your thoughts ever day … you fantasize about me … you might fight for me … you might even kill for me … you can’t live without me … everybody wants me …

What am I?

The answer is: I’m money. (Did you see it coming?)

I recently saw some facts about money that might surprise you:

• The average credit card debt per U.S. household is $8400.
• The average college student carries 4 credit cards, with unpaid balances of over $2300.
• Americans spend more money on legalized gambling ($2500/American) than on groceries.
• Money problems are the #1 contributing cause of marital stress and divorce.

Welcome to the 21st century, right? But wait – there’s more …

God cares about money too – a lot more than we do. Want proof? Here it is. In the Bible there are 275 references to prayer, 350 to faith, 650 to love … but 2,350 references to money and material possessions. God knows “things” are on our minds, so He tells us how to use those “things” wisely.

Jim and I have been impressed with how many of you at Preston Trail are growing in your understanding of money and how you use it. More and more of you are discovering the joy of generosity. You are finding out that when you give to God’s work, you feel God’s pleasure. And you are experiencing firsthand God’s generous “payback” principle – when you give to His work, He will give you more money so you can do it again. Seriously. It’s in the Bible.

We want to help you continue to grow in the grace of giving, so our church is offering two services to everyone beginning this month.

First, we now have online giving available. You may open a secure account by going to our website (www.prestontrail.org), clicking on Preston Trail Family at the top, clicking on Giving/General Fund on the left, and following the Online Giving directions from there or by this direct link. The convenience and simplicity of online giving will be helpful to some, but in order to be good managers of what God has entrusted to us, we encourage you to use your debit card or, if you use your credit card, to pay off that bill in full each month.

Second, we will be mailing you offering envelopes once a month if you prefer to give in the worship service or mail in your offering. Every month you will receive two envelopes that can be placed in the offering bucket on Sundays or mailed to the PTCC address.

Why are we doing these two things? So that we can help you do what you want to do: give generously to God’s work through Preston Trail.

Grateful to God for teaching us about the joy of giving,

Read previous Trail Notes here

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