Sunday, August 12, 2007

No, it isn't Friday yet! I am writing early this week because Beth and I are leaving on Wednesday to travel to Kokomo, Indiana to stay with Sam, Sarah, and Nicholas as I attend a Leadership Summit with their church staff. This conference is based in a large church north of Chicago, but is broadcast live by satellite to over 130 other locations around North America. By attending with their church, I will be able to go (to the Indianapolis location) with other guys, and Beth will spend quality time with Sarah and Nicholas. This will be a nice "summer ending" event for her as school preparations begin in earnest next week. Speaking of school, I saw this special news bulletin to give all teachers a "heads up": A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class because it was a weapon of math disruption. --- I suppose it could be a weapon of disruption in other classes, too!

Ministries for this Sunday will continue at full throttle. 9:30 AM brings our Sunday School and ABF's as usual. We have discontinued our ABF opening time, so grab your coffee and snack and head straight to your ABF for prayer requests and sharing. That way your teachers can get into their Bible discussion sooner. And all teachers, including high school and younger, need to be here early and ready to go by 9:30.

In our Morning service at 10:45 AM we will continue our look through 2 Corinthians by finishing chapter 10 (vv. 7 - 18.) This passage is where Paul gives us his feelings about whose opinion counts when everything is said and done in life. "The Most Important Opinion of All" is what we will consider, and I hope we will remember it when we feel less than we should when others hurl verbal attacks at our character and motives.

Our "Sports 4 Life" ministry has gone very well the past few weeks, and we anticipate another good evening of ministry this Sunday. Last Sunday we deviated a little from the plan due to the rain we experienced. But thanks to Doug Carr, our AWANA "game master" for providing a fun time for the second half of the evening. I don't remember the name, but the "crawling in the dark with out getting tagged" was a real hit! Our character trait for the night was "Listen" which we defined as "to pay attention to all that is being said." And we pay attention with our ears, eyes, mind, and posture. In Mark 9:7 God says of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, LISTEN to Him!" That is a great truth for us all! Another trait will be featured this Sunday.

Plan now to attend our annual "Dinner on the Grounds" day on Sunday, August 26. In addition to our all church picnic (instructions to come on what to bring) we hope to have some games for kids and even adults. And a special feature will be hearing from the Michael Banks family about the ministry that God has called them to which is exciting. Plan to be an encouragement to this great family.

If you haven't yet, why not try our sermon podcast ministry? You can review recent sermons from our Sunday morning services, including special speakers. Last Sunday almost all of our Communion service was recorded for you (no, I didn't preach for 55 minutes - only 35) and I think it will be a blessing if you had to miss it. Notice as well that you can get to this "Looking Toward Sunday" page from our home page on our church website (link on the bottom left menu.) Pray for our tech team ministry as we try to improve in this vital area.

I will tell you more about some upcoming ministries for the fall season in the next couple of weeks. For now enjoy the remainder of the summer with your family and friends. Hopefully you will attend our Wednesday night prayer time and Bible study, then continue to pray for yourself and others for the work of God in our lives this Sunday. That is something GREAT to look forward to.

God bless,

Pastor Don (and Beth) Workman (with Nicholas last Saturday)