First, A HUGE "THANK YOU!" TO the many Cross and Res family members who helped with the UPward Basketball Camp. Thanks to Paul who wrote on Thursday about all those who helped: (This did not include those who were there on Friday to help with other things including: grilling and serving for the lunch! Chris, Meredith, Beth etc..)
Upward Camp is going very, very well this week! Kids are hearing
about Jesus, while having fun with the fundamentals of basketball.
There is one child in particular who really jumps out as to why we do
this! This little 2nd grader is in the foster system, whose case worker
just happened upon our camp and asked if a little boy could participate
in the camp. This little boy has been in and out of a couple homes in
the past year and had a pretty tough life. He is being loved on by his
coaches, hearing the love of Jesus and encourage through our camp theme "You are the children that God dearly loves - so be just like him!
This camp would not be possible without the help of
the 40+ volunteer helpers. I think of Kevin Gady, Bob Vargo and a
couple of my kids who are setting up at WCA by 6:30 each morning. I
think of Don Hart, who came on Monday and helped solve a problem that
really would have been HUGE if he were not here. I think of Ellen
Johnson, Jackie Ham and Annaliese Schindel loving on the kids and fixing
the scraped knees and "boos boos" that incur from playing basketball
outside on the pavement. I think of Scott Guthre who is a station
leader teaching the kids the specifics of the sport. I think of Suzy,
Paul Thomas, Angela and Jonathon Knickelbein, Paul and Randall Schliebe,
Jessi Guthre, Emmaline and Caroline Ham, Bethany and Hannah Schindel,
Angie Post and Patrick Tincher all coaches loving on these kids and
sharing the devotions with them.
I just wanted to again thank everyone who participated, helped and prayed for this important outreach opportunity that we sponsor!!
Second, tomorrow we continue our study on St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians especially the second half of chapter 4 and the beginning of chapter 5.
Ephesians 4:17-5:2
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the
Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding
and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the
hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over
to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and
were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught,
with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted
by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on
the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore
each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all
members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while
you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing
must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that
he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk
come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to
their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of
God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness,
rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as
Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the
Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding
and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the
hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over
to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more.
You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of Him and
were taught in Him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught,
with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted
by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on
the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore
each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all
members of one body. “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while
you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. He who has been stealing
must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that
he may have something to share with those in need. Do not let any unwholesome talk
come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to
their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of
God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness,
rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and
compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as
Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
We will look at what St. Paul shares with us on how to live a life
worthy of our CALLING in Christ. St. Paul speaks by the power of the
Holy Spirit and shares how we should leave our old self and live as
Kingdom people. He is letting us know, after sharing the office gifts that we receive as believers Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers to equip the saints for ministry. We see in this last section that we are to put off our old self and put on our new self! St. Paul says that this is to be made new in the attitude of your minds and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness! Is this not an amazing CALLING! He then continues with a description of what this means in action. The final 2 verses we are reminded to be kind and compassionate to one another forgiving each other and be imitators of God. We are so blessed to BELONG to God as dearly loved children and to BELIEVE in HIS forgiveness, love, grace and power. This is so that by the power of HIS Holy Spirit we BECOME more like HIM in true righteousness and holiness!
The Gospel lesson from John 6 records Jesus sharing that
he is the bread of life and this is his flesh that he will give for the
our salvation. May we experience the BREAD OF LIFE tomorrow as we
worship our Lord and HIS TRUE PRESENCE in the midst of HIS Kingdom
people!
Third, you will notice if you call into the church later this week that Joanne Zuellig will no longer be answering the phone as she has faithfully done for many years now. With Johannes going part time as our Worship and IT person, working with Superior Text the other half of his time, restructuring of our staff team became a necessity. Paul is going to be taking his courses with the Specific Ministry Pastor Program (SMP) starting in September and he will be taking on the role of FAMILY and COLLEGE Ministry as well as other pastoral care situations involved in his training. With these changes the Council has decided to add a staff person in the role of Administrator. This person will work to do what Joanne has done and what Paul has spent half of his time doing (although with renovations etc... I believe it has been more). We believe in order for us to be the best stewards of the resources the Lord has given us, HIS Body here at Cross and Res, we need to work efficiently and effectively with the right team, with the right gift mix to be the best team we can be. With this being said, the Council agreed to restructure the staff team and with the Elders and me we are going to prayerfully seek an administrator who will take Joanne and Paul's administrator work and keep myself, Paul, Johannes, Beth, Dave, and Norma Polk (Deaconess in Training) the many volunteer staff and other leaders organized so that everyone works within our gifts and to our full potential. We have given Joanne a severance commensurate with her many years of service and do so appreciate her faithfulness in serving as my assistant and our secretary. She is still an important member of family and we admire her 30 years of Deaconess service within Cross and Res and look forward to her and Paul, with their whole family, continuing to serve among us. THANK YOU JOANNE!
Please keep the search process in your prayers. This is very important to our future and we need the right person with the right gift mix to help us with Administration. For your information it was great to experience Paul's leadership at the College Ministry meeting on Thursday night. Jackie, Chris, Carol and Carol, Bruce, Brian and myself dreamed and planned on ways to impact the EMU campus and serve the students that we have been called to do.
Just as Paul shared with you last week we talked about having only the 10:15 Service with Lunch at noon. We will put a lot of energy into Wednesday Family Night and be looking for volunteers for move in on September 1 and Freshmen Orientation on Sept 2 and 3. Please let Paul know if you can help.
SAVE THE DATES! Each Wednesday evening starting Sept 12th, we are planning to have our Cross and Res Family Night. This is a night for everyone! The schedule will look like this:
There
will be college student offerings after 9:00. We would like this to be
a time to fellowship, grow closer to our Lord and to each other - so
please plan on attending
Finally I want to thank all who prayed for me and my family as
we drove to Winnipeg Manitoba and back for my Uncle Merlin's funeral.
My family was all there and this was the first Uncle to pass away after a
fairly difficult time with multiple health issues. My family is sort of
unique in that my dad's best friend growing up, Merlin, married my
dad's oldest sister and lived 2 farms over from us. My dad's other
sister married my mom's brother and therefore our family is really
closely knit together. This funeral was hard on everyone and so I
appreciated your prayers and the opportunity to go back to Winnipeg and
be there. I took my car and Annaliese, Hannah and Jeremiah came with me.
We left after work on Wednesday about 8:30pm and went straight through
Chicago and Minneapolis during the night we stopped to visit friends in
Pelican Rapids and arrived in Grand Forks N.D at 4 on Thursday.
(Annaliese helped with the driving) We stayed overnight and drove the 2
hours on Friday. We visited with the family, celebrated eternal life for
believers on Saturday and then Sunday morning we drove into Church (45
minutes) for a 10am Service, went directly to lunch with family and left
directly from the restaurant at 2pm. We then drove straight through to
be here at 8:30am so that they could attend, coach and help with the
basketball camp. I was so proud of my children. They sat for 23 hours
straight with only one hour of stops between church and home. I know
that Lord was with us and we were thankful to be home.Third, you will notice if you call into the church later this week that Joanne Zuellig will no longer be answering the phone as she has faithfully done for many years now. With Johannes going part time as our Worship and IT person, working with Superior Text the other half of his time, restructuring of our staff team became a necessity. Paul is going to be taking his courses with the Specific Ministry Pastor Program (SMP) starting in September and he will be taking on the role of FAMILY and COLLEGE Ministry as well as other pastoral care situations involved in his training. With these changes the Council has decided to add a staff person in the role of Administrator. This person will work to do what Joanne has done and what Paul has spent half of his time doing (although with renovations etc... I believe it has been more). We believe in order for us to be the best stewards of the resources the Lord has given us, HIS Body here at Cross and Res, we need to work efficiently and effectively with the right team, with the right gift mix to be the best team we can be. With this being said, the Council agreed to restructure the staff team and with the Elders and me we are going to prayerfully seek an administrator who will take Joanne and Paul's administrator work and keep myself, Paul, Johannes, Beth, Dave, and Norma Polk (Deaconess in Training) the many volunteer staff and other leaders organized so that everyone works within our gifts and to our full potential. We have given Joanne a severance commensurate with her many years of service and do so appreciate her faithfulness in serving as my assistant and our secretary. She is still an important member of family and we admire her 30 years of Deaconess service within Cross and Res and look forward to her and Paul, with their whole family, continuing to serve among us. THANK YOU JOANNE!
Please keep the search process in your prayers. This is very important to our future and we need the right person with the right gift mix to help us with Administration. For your information it was great to experience Paul's leadership at the College Ministry meeting on Thursday night. Jackie, Chris, Carol and Carol, Bruce, Brian and myself dreamed and planned on ways to impact the EMU campus and serve the students that we have been called to do.
Just as Paul shared with you last week we talked about having only the 10:15 Service with Lunch at noon. We will put a lot of energy into Wednesday Family Night and be looking for volunteers for move in on September 1 and Freshmen Orientation on Sept 2 and 3. Please let Paul know if you can help.
SAVE THE DATES! Each Wednesday evening starting Sept 12th, we are planning to have our Cross and Res Family Night. This is a night for everyone! The schedule will look like this:
6:00 - 7:00 Meal (Free will offering - suggested donation - $0 is ok...)
7:00 - 7:20 Worship and Prayer together in Sanctuary
7:25 - 8:15 Break out groups (small groups, children, teen, bible studies etc...)
8:20 - 8:30 Close with song and prayer.
We will see you in the morning! 9:30 for Prayer and 10:15 for an awesome Worship experience...
check out the announcements at http://www.crossandres.org/newsletter
Love in Christ,
Pastor Bryan
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