Two additional things:
1) Tyler Smith, a 25-yr-old, was in a serious motorcycle accident, and has been lifeflighted to Erie (collapsed lungs, coma, multiple serious injuries)
2) Mickey, a young adult who was a former camper of Rev Kev’s at the creative arts camp at Jumonville, has been missing since August 26th. Please keep this young man in your prayers.
Please add Sally Blum and her family, a co-worker of Jenafer Brocklehurst, to the prayer list for personal concerns.
Hey gang!
It seems to be human nature to forget to say, ‘Thank you.’ Take these examples…
Samuel Leibowitz, a brilliant criminal lawyer, saved 78 people from the electric chair; not one thanked him.
A man named Art King had a radio program ‘Job Center of the Air.’ He supposedly found jobs for 2500 people, of whom, only ten ever thanked him.
An official of the post office, in charge of the Dead Letter Box in Washington, D.C., reported, one year, that he had received hundreds of thousands of letters addressed to ‘Santa Claus’ asking him to bring many things, but after Christmas, only one letter came to the box thanking Santa Claus for bringing the toys asked for.
We forget or neglect to say thank you entirely too much, especially to our Lord, who gives us countless blessings each day, let alone His very presence with us along life’s way.
Don’t forget to say ‘Thank You!’ to God today–and embrace grace!
Rev Kev
Please add the following to this week’s prayer list:
1) Jim Clayton, friend of Don and Vicki Anthony, for aortic valve replacement surgery at the Cleveland Clinic
2) Cindy Dziendziel’s son and brothers
Thanks!
Rev Kev
Hey gang!
Torrential rainstorms were knocking down power lines all over a certain town. That meant that the electric company was dispatching repairmen right and left. When one lineman called a customer to get her exact address, he was told, “I’m at Post Office Box 99.”
The weary lineman replied, “Ma’am, I’ll be coming to you in a truck, not a memo in an envelope.”
While it is true that God sent His memo to us (in the form of the Bible), He also came Himself right to the source of our power outage: our heart, in order to provide the repairs we require. Let Him repair your heart today through His grace, hope and love!
Embrace grace!
Rev Kev
I received this message from Judy Templeton, and also just got a phone call from Kurt Shafer:
Rev Kev,
I just got a call from a friend of mine who has been in touch with a former long-time member of Grace Church whose name is Midge Gilfillan. She had moved closer to her family in the Washington, DC area several years ago when she could no longer drive due to failing vision. Her son Bill died this afternoon after having cancer with spread to his brain. I would ask for prayers for her and her family. If anyone wants to get in touch with Midge (Lois), her address is 3620 Littledale Rd. Kensington, MD 20895 Phone: 301-942-4029. This woman and her husband, Giff were so involved with many of the ministries of the church especially the youth of our church.
~Judy T.
Hey gang!
Hope your Labor Day weekend has been a blessed time of relaxing with family and friends! Don’t forget–we’re looking for volunteers to help us paint the home of Bev and Kent Petersen for Tuesday, September 7th and Saturday, September 11th. RSVP via email to me!
Embrace grace!
Rev Kev
Here are the blessings/concerns shared in worship yesterday:
PRAYER REQUESTS
Alex, Barbie, Bob, Carol, Char, Cher & Jim Battista, Colter, Danford Fischer, the Danielson
Hey gang!
Jesus gives us two great commandments: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength… and love your neighbor as yourself. Most often, it is relatively easy to love God–after all, consider everything that God does for us. But it can often be quite difficult to love our neighbors.
One of my favorite Christian authors and theologians was C.S.Lewis who had written, “Do not waste time bothering whether you ‘love’ your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the greatest secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.” (written in his book, “Mere Christianity”)
Go and do likewise–and embrace grace!
Rev Kev
Hey gang!
Once a king had a great highway built for the members of his kingdom. After it was completed, but before it was opened to the public, the king decided to have a contest. He invited as many as desired to participate. Their challenge was to see who could travel the highway the best.
On the day of the contest the people came. Some of them had fine chariots, some had fine clothing, fine hairdos, or great food. Some young men came in their track clothes and ran along the highway. People traveled the highway all day, but each one, when he arrived at the end, complained to the king that there was a large pile of rocks and debris left on the road at one spot and this got in their way and hindered their travel.
At the end of the day, a lone traveler crossed the finish line warily and walked over to the king. He was tired and dirty, but he addressed the king with great respect and handed him a bag of gold. The man explained, “I stopped along the way to clear a pile of rocks and debris that was blocking the road. This bag of gold was under it all. I want you to return it to its rightful owner.”
The king replied, “You are the rightful owner.”
The traveler replied, “Oh no, this is not mine. I’ve never known such money.”
“Oh yes,” said the king, “you’ve earned this gold, for you won my contest. He who travels the road best is he who makes the road smoother for those who will follow.”
Go and do likewise…and embrace grace!
Rev Kev
PS: I wonder what may be at the bottom of some of our potholes?!?
Hey gang!
Somebody asked me why I cared so much about missions. That’s easy to explain. Let me share some statistics:
Fact: The USA is the fourth largest and most diverse mission field in the world.
Fact: 71% of the USA is unchurched.
Fact: 30% of Americans attend church once a week.
Fact: 44% seldom/never attend church.
Fact: The poverty level for a family of four is $21,203.
Fact: 35.9 million people live below the poverty line.
Fact: 14 million children live in poverty.
Fact: The USA is now receiving more missionaries to its shores than we are currently sending out.
Oh yes, I believe in missions. Not only do I care about getting the gospel message to people in Jamaica, Haiti, Peru, and other places on different lands, but I also care about our own nation.
In fact, I feel like changing my business card from saying “pastor” to reading “missionary to Warren.”
Embrace grace (and the need for missions local and overseas!)
Rev Kev