June 6, 2012
“Home is the Beginning and the End”
There once was a man named Adam. He was a faithful servant for the Lord. He did community service and went to foreign places to teach his belief. He had everything; his family had the same belief and life was easy.
Then he went to college. At college he had so many things on his mind. Sadly, he forgot about Jesus. Even though his mom, dad and minister taught him about his belief, he didn’t really find a place for Jesus in his new life. When he graduated his mom took him to church. Soon his mom noticed he wasn’t paying attention. She took him out of worship and she said, “What is the matter?” Adam said, “I don’t believe any more.” Then swiftly, she walked back inside. You could hear she was crying. Then the preacher came out and said, “Son, what happened? You used to love coming to church.” “So many things are on my mind. I don’t have time to believe.” Then the preacher walked away as the mom did. As Adam walked back to his apartment, he was thinking about why he should believe. As the next few months went by, bad things started happening to him. His girlfriend lied to him, his roommate was mad at him and sadly, his dog died. For the first time in months, he prayed. He prayed that things would go better. He prayed and asked for forgiveness. Things started going better for him. He realized that living for the Lord was the better thing for him to do.
The next Sunday he went to church and realized he was late. He opened the doors to the church auditorium. The preacher stopped talking and all the people looked from their pews. And Adam said, “I’m Home.”
By: Rylie Anne Michael
This past Sunday afternoon my dear friends emailed this to me shortly after I preached a sermon about beginnings and endings and the importance of keeping our faith as we grow and journey. The author is their beautiful ten year old daughter. She captures a beautiful and innocent sentiment in her story, much older than her years! It made me so proud to read this. As a preacher, I could be paid NO HIGHER compliment than knowing a young person listened and was so inspired to write a story about what she heard. Our children are truly amazing! Our kids hear more, perhaps, than we give them credit for. Maybe more sermons should be geared to them! Thanks to this special girl for reminding us all!
-- Pannell
The Following is a Short Version of our summer booklet to be handed out on Sunday detailing our summer of evangelism at West Main.
Who is my neighbor? –A religious expert once asked Jesus (Luke 10:29).
This summer the West Main Church of Christ is seeking to live out the answer given by Jesus. In short, your neighbors are The People You Meet Each Day. Like the Good Samaritan in Jesus’ story your neighbor may be a person lying in a ditch close by or far away, or a co-worker, a friend, your next door neighbor, a grocery store clerk, people in the community, or even among your own family members.
Our Combined Adult Bible Class will learn and discuss various ways you can reach out to your neighbors with the saving message of Jesus Christ. The class will provide multiple ways that you can engage others in conversation about Jesus and His Church.
Our Friendship Days: This will be our summer kick off to all our evangelistic efforts. We are asking members to especially invite The People You Meet Each Day to our morning worship services.
Our sermons will be shorter in length and geared especially for those who do not know Jesus. These series of lessons will be an excellent opportunity for you to invite your neighbors, friends, and family to worship with us. Each of the lessons will be self-contained. In other words, each sermon will have a complete message of what salvation means in Jesus. The advantage of these lessons will allow you to invite The People You Meet Each Day to any of the Sunday worship services knowing they will hear a complete message on being saved in Jesus.
Our Sunday Nights: Throughout the summer we will gather at Lewis Park for fun, fellowship, and food. We will begin each night with a few songs and a short devotional. In addition, we will provide free hamburgers and hot dogs to whoever chooses to come! In addition, flyers will be handed out to our neighbors surrounding West Main and Lewis Park encouraging them, especially the children, to come join us for free food, fun, and fellowship.
Our Christians in Action (CIA): We will continue our summer tradition of service and outreach. The goal here is to invite others to experience how we as a body of Christians serve the needs of others in our congregation and within the community.
Our Emigrant Lake Encampment: In keeping with our summer tradition, we will have our third annual worship encampment at Emigrant Lake. This is another good opportunity for you to invite friends, family, and neighbors to enjoy a time of fellowship and worship.
Our Clothing and School Supply Give Away: The elders have decided that our clothing and school supply give away is one of the best community outreaches we do for the neighbors who surround our congregation. This is an opportunity for you to both share Jesus and serve like Jesus. There will be a host of opportunities here for you to help set-up, run, and visit with our neighborhood.
--Terry
Neighbor to Neighbor – Did you get your Neighbor to Neighbor invitation cards last week? If not, please pick up some at the information booth in the courtyard to invite your friends and neighbors to our Sunday evenings at Lewis Park this summer. We want this to be a great outreach to our neighbors by West Main.
Vacation Bible School will be here soon! Our theme this year is Righteous Round-Up. VBS begins June 19-22 and is for children who have completed Kindergarten - Sixth Grade. Please invite your friends and neighbors to come join us each day from 9:00-11:30 a.m.
If you can help with VBS in the following ways, please contact Denise Beeks this Sunday at the sign-up table in the courtyard. Denise still needs help with the following items:
1. Someone who can go pick up the jump house, set it up, and return it on
Friday, June 22.
2. A refrigerator size box.
3. Adults and Teens to be actors for our story time each morning.
4. Adults and teens to help watch over our outside games Friday afternoon.
5. Two blue tarps.
6. One hundred fifty 8oz. cups.
7. Lots of prizes are still needed.
VBS work days will be Friday and Saturday, June 15 and 16 from 9:00 a.m. till noon. Also, on Monday, June 18, if needed.
Graduate Receptions:
Randy and Ronalie Sweet invite you to a come and go reception at their home on Saturday, June 9, from 1:00-4:00 p.m. to honor their daughter, Carissa, on her High School graduation. Please RSVP by June 8th.
Russ and Shawna Gann invite you to share in the celebration of their daughter, Marissa’s High School graduation at a come and go reception at their home on Sunday, June 10, from 2:00-4:00 p.m.
Terry and Corinne Christopher also invite you to a come and go High School graduation reception at their home for their daughter, Kelly, on Sunday, June 10, from 4:00-6:00 p.m.
Coffee Servers are needed for June. Please sign up on the list posted in the hallway by the stairs. Thank you for all your help.
Transportation Needed -- We need some volunteers to be on-call to help transport our seniors and members to appointments, for errands, doctor visits, etc., for any day of the week. Please contact the church office if you can volunteer.
Grants Pass Church of Christ invites us to join them for their VBS on June 18-22 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Please see the notice posted on the courtyard bulletin board for more information.
Prayer Requests . . . For the mother of Angela Beeks - her cancer has returned for the third time and she will have surgery this week...For the grandfather of Brian Pannell who is very sick - please pray for his wife as she cares for him...Jesse Page as he struggles with pain from his surgery...Eris Murphy requests prayers that her step-father gets a job offer in Los Angeles...Mike Eddy as he recovers from knee surgery at RVMC - he is expected to be released from the hospital on Thursday...For the friends of David Mayes that they will have spiritual healing and that David can be a good example for Christ...For our President and all of our military men, women and families.
Thank You Notes . . .
*We want to thank everyone for their nice comments, the cake, the wonderful gift that you gave us, and the great hugs and memories at our Going Away Party last Sunday evening. We arrived safely in Dayton, OR, and we are getting settled in our new home. We love you all, Larry and Lynn Albright
*Thank you for the support, love and prayers for our family. Special thanks to those who helped make my dad’s celebration day special for our family. Levi Wisdom and family
Calendar of Events
June 12: Ladies Class BBQ; 11:00 a.m. at the Viera's
June 13: CIA Initiation Dinner; 6:00 p.m.; FSR
June 19-22: VBS
July 4: Picnic at Don Jones Park in Central Point
July 8-14: CAMP
July 28-August 3: PUMP
Neighbor to Neighbor Sunday Evenings at Lewis Park at 6:00 p.m. on the following dates:
June 24
July 1, 15, & 22
August 5 & 12
