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As the school year winds down, there are plenty of things to be aware of. Here's a quick round up:
An amazing thing happens when we give our lives to Jesus: we become a part of God's family! And we aren't relegated to a second-rate status like the proverbial "red-headed step-child". We have equal status with all other Christians as co-heirs of all that God has for us! This Sunday, May 27th, Steve Ludeman will be preaching on Galatians 3:26-29 and this wonderful truth of our position in Christ. I hope you'll be able to be there! Congregational Business Meeting & All-Church BBQ Potluck On Sunday, June 10th, we will have a brief congregational meeting immediately following worship. We will be voting to approve Al Bisnett as the church Treasurer to fulfill the remainder of the term as Clint Estes has had to resign due to work demands. We will also be voting on a Nominating Committee who will identify candidates for positions on the 2019 Church Council. After this short meeting we will gather outside for a BBQ Potluck. Meat, fixings and drinks will be provided. Please plan on bringing side dishes and dessert. Church Campout - June 15-17 Plan on joining us for our annual campout at Bridgeport State Park. We've reserved a group camping area in which you can pitch a tent or bring your trailer. You can even choose to come down for the day if you're not able to camp. Sign up on the list located on the table beneath the photo board in Fellowship Hall. More info will be coming soon. Vacation Bible School - June 24-29 Now is the time to register your children, grandchildren, and any other children you know for our VBS.
Now is also the time to sign up to volunteer in one of the many ways you can help out to make this wonderful program happen. Look for the table display at church or contact Naomi Murray at 509-668-7517.  I've played a couple of games with my youth groups that focus on rules. In "Rule-a-Rama" we go around the circle and each person creates a rule everyone must follow for the rest of the game AND a consequence for anyone who breaks it. For instance someone might say, "You must stand up when talking or you have to cluck like a chicken for 20 seconds" and that rule will apply from that point on. The next person might add, "If you say the word 'it', you have to run around the circle." As more rules are added, things get more complicated and chaotic to the point of hilarious confusion! The other game is the opposite: I simply tell everyone that the winner is the person who is sitting on a certain chair when the timer goes off in 3 minutes. That's the only instructions I give and I just say, "Go!". Since there are no rules, this game can get quite chaotic as well! In our sermon series, "Set Free", we've been seeing how the Apostle Paul lays out how following the Law of Moses actually ruins the Good News of Jesus. Throughout the book of Galatians, he insists that living a Christian life that focuses on "behaving" gets our eyes off of Jesus and leads to bondage. But the natural question becomes, "Then why did God give us the law?" It's a good question and one that we'll address this coming Sunday, May 20th. You can read Galatians 3:15-25 in preparation. I hope to see you there. Women's Retreat this Weekend There are 40+ women that I know I WON'T see this Sunday because they'll be together at the "Sistas Inspiring Sistas" Retreat. Please take a moment and say a prayer that hearts would be touched by the Holy Spirit as they grow together in faith and friendship. Church Clean-up this Saturday Those who aren't on the Women's Retreat this weekend are invited to join the crew that will be sprucing up the church and the church grounds this Saturday.
Starting at 8:00 (or whenever you can get there), there will be plenty of projects to take on. Come grab a donut and pitch in! If you aren't able to help on Saturday, a list of cleaning tasks is available on the table under the photo board in Fellowship Hall. You can sign up to take care of a job and then do it as you're available. There's an old saying that goes, "You can't have your cake and eat it, too." It simply means that sometimes you have to choose between two things. The problem is that there are times when we don't want to make that "either/or" choice. I don't want to choose between the cake and the pie for dessert - just give me a slice of each! When it comes to living in a right relationship with God, many people want to accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus, but then live according to following rules. Since life is full of "getting what you deserve" in the form of grades, raises, and awards, it's only natural that we would think that this is the way that God works. However, it's a good thing he doesn't! If we had to earn God's favor by following the rules and being good enough, we'd be out of luck. As Paul writes in Galatians 3:10 But those who depend on the law to make them right with God are under his curse, for the Scriptures say, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the commands that are written in God’s Book of the Law.” If we base our relationship with God on our behavior, we'll never make it. But what might it look like to let go of living by "the rules" and simply live by trusting in Jesus? That's what we'll be talking about this Sunday, May 13th, as we continue in our Galatians series, "Set Free". I hope you'll be able to join us! A BIG THANK YOU!!! Our students cannot thank you enough for your support of our fund raisers over the past few months. With your generous help we were able to raise over $8000 which will enable our group to attend the CHIC Conference in Knoxville, TN, this coming July! We're very excited and can't wait for all that God has in store for us during this once in a lifetime experience. Thank you so much and please continue to pray for our group as we prepare.   You've probably noticed that pop culture themes come in cycles - including "monsters". A few years ago you saw vampires in numerous books, movies and tv shows. More recently the "monster dejour" has been zombies. I'm waiting for "the Blob" to make a comeback. In a way, our lives as Jesus-followers could be described as "walking dead". The key to living in freedom is to daily allow your old, self-centered life to be killed off and allow a new, Spirit-filled life to be your reality. As Paul puts it in Galatians 2:20: My old self has been crucified with Christ. This Sunday, April 6th, we'll be looking at Galatians 2:11-21 and this key verse. I hope you'll be able to join us.  Saturday, May 5th 9-4 at CCC We'll be collecting items for the sale this week - you can drop them off in the Fellowship Hall (no clothing, please). We could also use people to help sort items on Friday afternoon. Thanks for your help in sending our students to the CHIC Conference this July!  |
Pastor JeffThoughts about living as a Jesus follower and life at Community Covenant Church Archives
December 2020
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