Specific Praise and Prayer Requests

Here are a couple of specific praises and prayer requests...

• Our House.  
• We are so thankful for the blessing of our current house.  For the proximity to the Emmanuel.  For the opportunity we have had to meet and get to know our neighbors.  

• We would appreciate your prayers for wisdom.  We are not sure where the LORD is leading us at the same we understand this is a good market for homes and after July 4th is not.  
• Pray for wisdom in deciding on and finishing projects around the house.
• Pray for wisdom about when to put our house on the market.  We are talking with people next week about what to do.  There are many things to consider.  But we know that God is sovereign.

• Our ministry 
• Please for EBC's Sonshine Carnival (6.17) and Vacation Bible School (6.18-6.22).  This has been a great opportunity to connect with many different people in the community and we are looking for even more opportunities this year.  Last night I did the Kid's Group Leader training.  We talked about the Bible stories the kids will be learning and how the leaders can use them throughout the night.  I shared the notes HERE.  The theme verse is Proverbs 3:5-6.

• It has been my prayer to help Emmanuel Baptist Church (the pastors and the people) transition well.  Pray for those who will be taking up my responsibilities.  Pray for Pastor Duke as he leads the church.  Pray for all the people  Pray everyone would desire to glorify God by making disciples who are submitted to His Lordship, grounded in His teaching and sincere in His love.

• Camp Patmos camp season is starting up very soon.  
• The staff is on the island getting their training.  Pray for David Sellers, his family and the staff as they prepare for the summer.  
• There are two fundraisers coming up.  If you would like to help support a camp ministry that we love you can check these out 
• Run for the Light - runner and/or donations - http://www.camppatmos.com/support-the-camp/run-for-the-light-5k
• Summit Motorsports -volunteers - http://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0e4da5ac2caaf58-usher
• I will be at Camp Patmos speaking at Junior week (4th-6th graders) the week of July 17-22.  Pray for my preparation and the preparation of the other speakers.

• God has blessed us with a number of ministry possibilities.  Pray for discernment as we begin to sort through the ones we have received and will be receiving.  We want to be prayefully trusting in our sovereign God as we make these decisions

• Our family
• We have begun working on the weekly Fighter Verses as a family.  Pray that we would be growing closer and closer to God and one another as we work through these verses.
• Here is a good article on motivations for reading, loving and memorizing God's Word - http://fighterverses.com/blog-post/seven-reasons-to-hold-fast-to-the-word/
• Here is this week's verses Philippians 4:11-13.

For the Cause - Sonshine Training!!

Here is my goal for the Kid's Group Leaders at tonight's Sonshine training...

Trust in the LORD and help the kids who will be at Sonshine trust in the LORD!
Proverbs 3:5 - 6 is this year's Sonshine theme verse.

This song from the Gettys

Click HERE for the powerpoint from Wednesday night's meeting tim.

Here are each of the lessons for the week.

Sunday:

• Wrangler quality:  COURAGE
• Bible Story:  David & Goliath
• Passage:  1 Samuel 17
• God has won the victory for us! 
• Click HERE for a Alistair Begg's sermon "You Cannot Be Serious."  It serves as a great reminder of the big idea of David & Goliath.

Monday:

• Wrangler quality:  COMPASSION  
• Bible Story:  The Good Samaritan 
• Passage:  Luke 10:25-37 
• God loves us so we should love others!
• While Jesus's command says "'Love your enemy.'  Jesus' story says 'Your enemy loved you.'" 
• “The larger context—the rest of Luke and the entire Bible—tells us that ‘while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son’ (Romans 5:10). Jesus loved us with an even more sacrificial love than the Samaritan. He not only risked his life but gave it.” from Show Them Jesus

Tuesday:

• Wrangler quality:  COOPERATION 
• Bible Story:  Nehemiah & Rebuilding Wall 
• Passage:  Nehemiah 4:7-21 
• God has a great plan to protect His people!

Wednesday:

• Wrangler Quality:  CHARACTER 
• Bible Story:  The Story of Achan 
• Passage:  Joshua 7 
• Psalm 86:5-6, 11 
• We cannot hide our sin from God!
• Joshua 22:20 
• One Sinned & Many Died 
• One died & Many were Saved
• HERE is another post about Achan 

Thursday:

• Wrangler Quality:  CONFIDENCE 
• Bible Story:  Abraham Sacrifices Isaac 
• Passage:  Genesis 22:1-14 
• God is a faithful God and we need to trust Him!

Click http://ekidzministry.blogspot.com/search/label/SONSHINE for some specific Sonshine posts on our EKIDZ ministry site.

Pentecost - The Holy Spirit has come!!

Ten days ago, May 25, 2017, I wrote about the importance of Jesus' Ascension.
Today, June 4, 2017, commemorates one of the biggest reasons why Jesus had to ascend to heaven - so the Holy Spirit would come.  The article I shared in that post gave 4 results of the Ascension.  Here is the 3rd result and what followers of Jesus Christ can celebrate today.  The day the Holy Spirit came to dwell among and in those who have been saved.

#3. The Gift of the Comforter. “One of the most important reasons for Jesus’ ascension was that Pentecost might take place, that the Father and the Son might pour out the Spirit on the church to strengthen it and empower it for its earthly mission. As we all know, to witness for Christ in a corrupt world requires strength greater than our own. John Calvin said that the most important task of the church is to be the visible witness of the invisible kingdom, and for that we need the Holy Spirit.” 

John 16:5-15 contains Jesus' words regarding "the Helper" and His purpose.

Here are two basic Biblical truths about the Holy Spirit I have in my doctrinal paper.

The Person of the Holy Spirit 
The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force. The Holy Spirit has emotions and is grieved by sin (Eph. 4:30), has a will (Acts 16:6). Throughout the New Testament, the use of personal pronouns demonstrates the personality of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; 16:13-14; Acts 13:2; 1 Cor. 2:12). 

The Deity of the Holy Spirit 
The Holy Spirit is God. He is coequal with the Father and the Son (Matthew 28:19; Acts 5:3, 4; 28:25, 26; 1 Cor. 2:11; 12:4-6; 2 Cor. 13:14) and eternal (Hebrews 9:14). The Holy Spirit has the divine attributes of God: omniscience (1 Cor. 2:10, 11); omnipresence (Ps. 139; John 14:17); omnipotence (Zech. 4:6; Job 33:4; Ps. 104:30).