7 things that you need to know:
1. Before we even get into the topic at hand, let me just say how much fun this past Sunday was at The Gathering! It’s not often that I get to tell so many fun stories and relate them to so many powerful truths in so many great passages ALL IN ONE MESSAGE! If you missed it, want to watch it again, or simply what to share it with others who need to be encouraged about overcoming fear in their lives, head on over to the NO MATTER WHAT page on the site and click the share button.
2. Thank you to Phil Baucom for SCARING THE SNOT OUT OF ME by changing the wallpaper on my MacBook Pro desktop to a seemingly harmful picture of a mouse. May you dream often in the weeks to come of whatever scares you the most.
3. A second shout out to Jay Phillips for being so quick about offering to take me to a stable where I can get over my fear of horses. I’m sure I’ll be going there soon, MOST LIKELY AT GUNPOINT, and there will more than likely be video of it. Yippee. Don’t I sound thrilled?
4. One more sarcastic note of appreciation to Richard Kimmer for offering to take me rock climbing on a cliff somewhere nowhere near the ground in order to CONQUER MY FEAR OF HEIGHTS. With men like these around me, I’m certain to a) overcome fear, or b) go be with Jesus at which point I will have overcome fear forever.
5. In case you haven’t figured this out yet, WE BELIEVE IN LEARNING AND LIVING THE BIBLE. That’s usually a good thing, unless you publicly share with everyone things you’re afraid of. Then it kind of bites you in the butt.
6. I’m super-pumped about our FELLOWSHIP OF THE ORANGE SHIRTS this Sunday at 4:00 pm! If you have an orange shirt (which means you serve on one of our many iOS Ministry teams), you’re invited to Nehemiah and Renee Parah’s house for a covered-dish supper and pool party. WE LOVE OUR VOLUNTEERS!! You can get more information on the website.
And finally,
7. In case you didn’t notice on the faces of all the smiling students at church, IT’S SUMMERTIME!! For many of us, that means vacations, lazy days, and the occasional sunburn in the shape of a backwards number 7. But what it can’t mean is a SPIRITUAL SUMMER SLUMP! Christianity is first and foremost ABOUT JESUS, and since He’s Lord 365 days a year (and 366 days every leap year), we need to be in relationship with Him each day! At The Gathering, we’re committed to giving you the tools you need in order to STAY STRONG during the dog days of summer. Here are some of them:
- PERSONAL GROWTH GUIDES: While some of the Community Groups will meet during the summer, we’re leaving the frequency of the get-togethers up to each individual CG. Instead of taking a break from diving deeper into the teachings each Sunday, we’ll still be preparing a revised study guide that you can use individually or as a family during the summer weeks. They’re easy to use and easy to find. You’ll locate them each week on the current series page on the website labeled PERSONAL GROWTH GUIDE.
- ONLINE GIVING: If you’re going to miss and you still want to give, now you can do it while you’re in your jammies on vacation! Simply head to the GIVE tab on the website and choose the option that works best for you.
- INVITE CARDS: Honestly, the best way to stay active during the summer is to be active about your faith and about our church. In order to help you with that, we’ve got tons and tons of cards that you can pick up each week to give away to people around town. Even if you’re out of town on vacation, give a card away and invite them to check us out on the web. You never know how a message online could make all the difference in a person’s life!
Great things are happening at The G and I am so thankful to lead each of us. There’s no doubt that THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!
I LOVE MY CHURCH!
