Hello Everyone!

 

I hope you are enjoying your summer and keeping a glass of water nearby.  While June has been unusually hot this year, it did not deter the joyful celebration out at Martha Rivers Park this past weekend.  Our VBS "Kids Walk in the Park" was a resounding success on Saturday as the children worshipped, learned about Jesus and had a lot of fun together.  A number of children brought friends and the group reached out to a family who was having a picnic in the park.  Their children loved the prayer bears that our church made and gave to them.  Thank you, Terri and Anna Ellington, for all of your efforts in coordinating a great Saturday afternoon!  Thank you also to all of the staff that showed up to help!

 

We came back to Martha Rivers Park on Sunday as we worshipped the Lord in the midst of His creation.  Thanks to Jeff Owen's vision for this event and the mobile generator he brought, we were able to have electricity for the praise team.  We sang "How can I keep from singing?", "Let the River Flow", "One Pure and Holy Passion" and "Made to Worship" as our praises rose to heaven.  It was great to see new faces worshipping with us in addition to the Young Life group from Nicaragua.  Our hope is to reach out to the community to share Jesus and the saving grace found in His Name.  This was a great venue for such outreach.

 

Mark had more of a devotional Sunday morning so that some others could share their testimonies of what God is doing in their lives.  He spoke of different famous people in the bible, such as Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, David as well as others.  He stressed that the Lord wanted their obedience to Him, but that He desired more.  God wanted with each of them a personal relationship.  The Lord, the Triune Creator God, desired to have a committed love relationship with each one of these people.  He desires the same thing of us.  Yes, He wants us to obey His Word.  But He wants so much more.  God Almighty wants us to know Him....and to know Him is to love Him.  Through the blood of Jesus and His Holy Spirit, the perfect Most High God has reached out to each one of us in a covenantal relationship.  Let's grab hold and walk with Him in obedience as we experience the Living Lord in deeper and more satisfying ways.

 

We then were blessed to hear some testimonies.  The first came from our own Olivia Belk.  He opened with the famous passage from Lamentations in which it speaks of God's great faithfulness and how His mercies are new every morning.  She shared with us how God had been showing her His goodness and faithfulness.  Next we heard several of the youth from Nicaragua who had just come back from the Young Life camp at Windy Gap, NC.  Each of them spoke of how God had made Himself more real to them this past week.  A few of them asked Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of their lives while another had renewed his commitment to Jesus during this time.  Ashley Butler spoke of the great week they had and how blessed they were to be with us and be supported by us.  Her husband, Pratt, then led us in worship of a couple of songs that they sing in Nicaragua.  It completed a great time of worship.

 

While worshipping outside and with people from different ethnic groups and different nationalities, it really brought home to me God's glory and His beautiful plan of salvation.  We will be together with all tribes, tongues and nations for all of eternity basking not in the glow of the sun, but in the glory of HIS SON.  Sunday gave me a magnificent glimpse of that reality.  May we continue to share that reality with others.

 

Your brother in Christ,

 

Deric Smyre