Rural Compassion

We are getting ready to head out early tomorrow morning and head to Springfield to Rural Compassion. Rural Compassion is an organization that helps rural churches with outreaches. We are teaming up with Rural Compassion this year with our Back to School Bash. We will be handing out school supplies, backpacks and shoes. Rural Compassion will be helping us with the back packs and the shoes. Instead of just taking, I felt in my heart it was important to give back. That is why we are going down to the warehouse for a couple days and packing shoes and backpacks for other churches. I believe it is so important to give back when we can. We are also bringing down thirty I Mac computers that were donated from the Montezuma school. These computers will be given to churches with after-school programs. Please be in prayer for us Wednesday through Friday as we travel.

Vacation Bible School

It has been a great week at Vacation Bible School. The theme this year is "Water Works Park". Which means lots of water games! We decked out the sanctuary like a water park, picked up the chairs and put beach towels on the floor for the kids to sit on. We have had up to eighty kids this week. Jennifer and all our great workers are doing a great job investing in the lives of these children this week. Here are some pics I've captured so far;

Camp

We had a wonderful week at Kids Camp. We took five boys and girls to Ogden and God did some great things. There was a team from Illinois that did the services and they were very creative in presenting the Gospel to the kids in ways that they could understand. We also had fun riding the zip lines, go-carts, inflatables and the zorb ball. Good times! I encourage parents to plan ahead and encourage your children to go to camp. It will be the best week of their life, guaranteed. It is a great way to get away from all the stuff that life throws at them and just get alone with God. God always does tremendous things around the altars and I love hearing the testimonies of how God touched these kids. I remember when I was a teenager how camp affected me. I am so thankful for the leadership of the Iowa Network that puts on such a great camp. Way to go guys!

The Community in Hope!

I was reminded this weekend why our church is named "Community Hope." As a church our vision is to reach our community. How do we do this? We do it by being involved in our community. This weekend we had a great opportunity to do just that. Starting Saturday we were at the local parade and afterwards handing out free water bottles and juice boxes to people on the square. Many people were amazed when we told them that the drinks were 'free'. I loved the looks on people's faces like there was something wrong with us by giving away stuff. This was just a practical way to show God's love to our community. Over all we gave away over 200 water bottles and 80 juice boxes to thirsty people. Praise God!

On Sunday our church was able to worship with the other area churches for a 4th of July celebration service. We are so blessed as a community to get together with the other churches and worship together. It is great to build the kingdom of God together as a community and not be about our church vs. their church. Each church will reach different people. The goal is to build the kingdom not individual churches. I love each pastor and each church in this community and thank God for them. They are great men of God and it is a privilege to work with them.

Next week we have another opportunity to be involved in the community. Montezuma is sponsoring Summer Nights every second Tuesday night of the month. Our church has an opportunity to be involved at the square and offer games for the kids. I want to encourage you to come on out and volunteer an hour or two of your time. I will be at Kids Camp that week so we could use all the help we can get.

As the years go on, we must remember as a church that we were called to be in the community and serving Jesus Christ to the community in practical ways. The people of our county need to see Christ followers serving God in tangible ways they can see. There are many opportunities for us to serve so let's keep the community in Hope!

4th of July Community Service

This Sunday we will not be at Community Hope for worship but gathering at the Court House in Montezuma for a special 4th of July Celebration service with the other churches in the community. I will be sharing along with Pastor George from the Presbyterian church and Pastor Klink from the Methodist church. We will have special music, taking communion and also taking a special offering for the needy in our community. Service time is at 9 a.m. Bring a lawn chair if you wish or there will be seats available. Hope to see you there!