Hello Church Family!
I hope you’re having a great week! Sorry I’m a day late on the weekly update! I suppose so long as it’s sometime during the week then it’s technically still a “weekly” update!
Things are wild and crazy up here at the office. VBS preparation is in full swing and there is a lot of coming and going.
VBS is the biggest outreach event of the year at our church. Over 100 volunteers are mobilized to create fun and engaging environments for 3 year news through fifth graders all in the hope that they hear and respond to the Gospel. I’m really excited about what’s going to happen this year.
The Lord can save anybody at anytime. However, in his wisdom he has chosen to use human beings as his mouth piece for sharing the Gospel with others. Every time the Gospel is shared in the book of Acts, it’s through the lips of another human being. Angels never do it. Animals never do it. Sometimes angels will tell another human being to get up and go do it but it’s always a human being. That’s why things like VBS are so important.
We are God’s plan A for getting the Gospel to those that need to receive it and there is no plan B. The reason I love VBS so much is because it helps remind everyone in our church that every member is a minister. Our church has paid ministers and unpaid ministers but we are ALL ministers. Because so many unpaid ministers are mobilized during VBS it helps remind us of that fact.
It’s true that God has given the church pastors and teachers and various other offices. However, they are there to equip EVERYBODY for the work of the ministry. We are all ministers if we are His people. It’s part of our genetic make up. Part of being fully Christian is being engaged in some kind of ministry.
What that looks like will be different from person to person but if you’re not currently engaged in some kind of ministry I want to encourage you to start! You’ve been gifted to serve!
One of the things we share with folks who join our church is our “four practices.” We sometimes refer to them as next steps because they should always be happening all the time if you’re a member of our church. (or any church for that matter)
1.) Engage God Individually
2.) Worship in a Gathering
3.) Connect in a Group
4.) Bless Others
You can read all about it on our website if you’re interested. An individual relationship with God is essential in the Christian life. But as essential is our “life together.” Corporate worship and small group enviornments bring the church together at appointed times in the week and God does something special. And, whether we’re “gathered” or “scattered” we’ve been blessed to be a blessing. We’ve been called to multiply.
In that regard, I’d like to close by giving you an opportunity to bless someone. We still need LOTS of help with the meals for VBS. We start next Sunday, June 11th. The meals are as follows.
Sunday – Old Fashioned Pot Luck
Monday – Breakfast
Tuesday – Pulled Pork
Wednesday – Italian
Thursday – Fried Chicken
Friday – Hot Dogs
The main dishes will all be purchased by the church but we need help with sides and stuff like that. Here’s a picture of the insert that explains it all. If you have something you’d like to bring then comment below or comment on the page with the meal plan.
If you’d like to give a donation to help with the cost of meals then you can give here. Either way, you’ll be blessing the volunteers who serve as well as the kids in our city who need to hear the Gospel and grow in their relationship with the Lord!
I hope you have a great rest of your week. If there’s anyway I can pray for you, please let me know.
Blessings,
Pastor Wes