Let’s all of us say it together – “Hallelujah!” And again – “Hallelujah!”
What a wonderful joyous service we had for our “Celebrate Life Sunday”. It was great to combine the worship time, and the pulled sandwiches were delicious, and the bounce house was just a ton of fun. And oh, did you take us up on the opportunity to invite friends and neighbors? It may as well have been an Easter Sunday for all the new faces I saw. (And several of those visitors have already come again in the following weeks).
We also had a successful drive supporting My Choices. A total of 991 diapers were given (I’m tempted to go grab nine from the nursery just to bring it up to an even 1,000. ) and 4,442 baby wipes were donated as well. As of the writing of this letter I’m not sure how much money was collected in the baby bottles, but I enjoyed seeing those turned in as well.
Over all it was a wonderful day where we were able to celebrate the lives of babies born in our community. We were also able to celebrate the life we have together as a church family, and – most importantly - we celebrated the new life we all have in Christ.
This is the new life Jesus spoke of when He spoke with Nicodemus in the third chapter of the Gospel of John. Verses 1 through 8 read:
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?”5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Perhaps you know someone you didn’t have the opportunity to invite, or although the gathering sounded fun, a friend was unable to come. Please know we don’t need a special event for you to extend an invitation, but if such an event is helpful then keep in mind that on September 11th we will host our annual church potluck at Salt Creek, starting at 3pm. It is always a wonderful time of fellowship. (Also, I have it on good authority that the bigger the crowd at our potluck, the better the odds of the Seahawks winning their game that day. So make plans on coming out!)
Blessings,
Pastor Tim