Hey E-News Friends,
Do you like to go see a fire works display on the Fourth of July? My house is located in an area where, because of the elevation, I can catch a great view of them from my front yard. And I don’t know about you, but there’s always one question that’s rolling around in my brain while I’m watching: “What is the Grand Finale going to look like?” It all builds to that moment of climax of color, light and sound at the end that keeps us coming back year after year.
This weekend is the “Grand Finale” moment for our series entitled “The Creed”. We will be looking at the concluding and final line of The Apostle’s Creed. It is the line that all of the preceding lines build up to and it affirms that we believe in “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting”. This line is so huge to our faith that the Apostle Paul, in his letter to the church in Corinth, was prompted to write, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins. 18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.” Wow! That’s a pretty sobering picture. But what does he follow that with? He then writes, “But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.”
The reality of life is that one day each and every one of us will die and pass from this earth. Some of you have recently or are currently walking through that valley. I can’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to die without the hope of the resurrection. This weekend we will be talking about the encouragement, strength and hope that we all as followers of Jesus can find from this amazing truth that forms the bedrock of our faith. I hope you can find time to make church a central part of your weekend plans.
The disturbing picture of me in this week’s letter was taken in the church kitchen in Edinboro as an army of awesome volunteers were baking over 1,200 muffins in preparation for our teacher’s appreciation project. And when I say army, I mean army. Thanks to all of you who have donated time and resources to make this happen. We will be delivering these gifts of love and gratitude to staff and teachers from twelve different schools in our region on Friday. Pray that these folks will understand how much they are appreciated for the investment they make in our kids.
And one more really cool and exciting piece of news...30-40 people expressed interest in joining a team of volunteers that we are taking to Nashville next week to assist Franklin Graham’s organization, Samaritan’s Purse, as they help with a clean-up effort from the terrible flooding they endured a few weeks ago. I love the heart of this church! Due to space limitations in Tennessee, we are only able to bring 16 folks on the trip. Please cover this outreach with prayers of safety and that the flood victims would see the love of Christ through our efforts.
Thank you for being a church with a big heart for God and other people.
Bill
