Wonderful! Awesome! Fun! A great Blessing! That’s the things I heard when people tried to describe Vacation Bible School. To many it was the highpoint ofJune. Certainly for the children . When God’s people listen and obey Him those same words can also describe their lives and their relationship with Him. I have seen a church sign that says, “Children spell love T-I-M-E.” The first time I read that I thought how true that is, in everyday family life and at church too. Vacation Bible School is all about spending time with children just to tell them Jesus loves them and He made a way they can go to heaven to be with Him forever. There is no doubt in my mind God blesses those who make VBS possible. My next thought about love and time is that everyone spells love that way. I believe God does too. Time is the one thing that we never have enough of. We tend to spend it on ourselves, work, family and friends; but we spend so little of it on God. Even if we go to church every service, read our bibles and pray every day, that is still very little time. Having said that, Bro. John has asked us to pray earnestly this month as Pastor and officer elections will be held the first Sunday night of August. As a congregation, we need God’s leadership in everything we do. Certainly God wants to lead us in paths of abundant blessings, just because He loves us. Today is the first Sunday of July and tomorrow is the 4 th: , a national holiday. Remember, as we celebrate, that although men fought for freedom it is still a gift of God and we should thank Him for it. Have a great 4 th ! Can Anyone See God? A small boy once approached his slightly older sister with a question about God. "Susie, can anybody ever really see God?" he asked. Busy with other things, Susie curtly replied: "No, of course not, silly. God is so far up in Heaven that nobody can see him." Time passed, but his question still lingered, so he approached his mother: "Mom, can anybody ever really see God?" "No, not really," she gently said. "God is a spirit and he dwells in our hearts, but we can never really see him." Somewhat satisfied but still wondering, the youngster went on his way. Not long afterwards, his saintly old grandfather took the little boy on a fishing trip. They were having a great time together -- it had been an ideal day. The sun was beginning to set with unusual splendor as the day ended. The old man stopped fishing and turned his full attention to the exquisite beauty unfolding befor e him. On seei ng the face of his grandfather reflecting such deep peace and contentment as he gazed into the magnificent ever- changing sunset, the little boy thought for a moment and finally spoke hesitatingly: "Granddad, I - I wasn't going to ask anybody else, but I wonder if you can tell me the answer to something I've been wondering about a long time. Can anybody, can anybody ever really see God?" The old man did not even turn his head. A long moment slipped by before he finally answered. "Son," he quietly said. "It's getting so I can't see anything else." 2
That’s the things I heard whenpeople tried to describe Vacation Bible
School. To many it was the highpoint of June. Certainly for the children
. When God’s people listen andobey Him those same words can alsodescribe their lives and theirrelationship with Him.
I have seen a church sign thatsays, “Children spell love T-I-M-E.” Thefirst time I read that I thought how truethat is, in everyday family life and atchurch too. Vacation Bible School is allabout spending time with children justto tell them Jesus loves them and Hemade a way they can go to heaven tobe with Him forever. There is no doubtin my mind God blesses those whomake VBS possible.
My next thought about love andtime is that everyone spells love thatway. I believe God does too. Time is theone thing that we never have enoughof. We tend to spend it on ourselves,work, family and friends; but we spendso little of it on God. Even if we go tochurch every service, read our biblesand pray every day, that is still verylittle time.
Having said that, Bro. John hasasked us to pray earnestly this monthas Pastor and officer elections will beheld the first Sunday night of August. Asa congregation, we need God’s
leadership in everything we do.Certainly God wants to lead us in pathsof abundant blessings, just because Heloves us.
Today is the first Sunday of Julyand tomorrow is the 4th:, a nationalholiday. Remember, as we celebrate,that although men fought for freedom itis still a gift of God and we should thankHim for it. Have a great 4th!
Can Anyone See God?
A small boy once approached hisslightly older sister with a questionabout God."Susie, can anybody ever really seeGod?" he asked. Busy with other things,Susie curtly replied: "No, of course not,silly. God is so far up in Heaven thatnobody can see him." Time passed, but his question stilllingered, so he approached his mother:"Mom, can anybody ever really seeGod?" "No, not really," she gently said.
"God is a spirit and he dwells in ourhearts, but we can never really seehim."Somewhat satisfied but still wondering,the youngster went on his way. Not longafterwards, his saintly old grandfathertook the little boy on a fishing trip. Theywere having a great time together -- ithad been an ideal day. The sun wasbeginning to set with unusual splendoras the day ended.
The old man stopped fishing and turnedhis full attention to the exquisite beautyunfolding before him. On seeing theface of his grandfather reflecting suchdeep peace and contentment as hegazed into the magnificent ever-changing sunset, the little boy thoughtfor a moment and finally spokehesitatingly: "Granddad, I - I wasn'tgoing to ask anybody else, but I wonderif you can tell me the answer to
something I've been wondering about along time. Can anybody, can anybodyever really see God?" The old man did not even turn his head.A long moment slipped by before hefinally answered. "Son," he quietly said."It's getting so I can't see anythingelse."
Where there is Love there is also Wealth and Success!
A woman came out of her house andsaw three old men with long whitebeards sitting in her front yard. She didnot recognize them. She said “I don’tthink I know you, but you must behungry. Please come in and havesomething to eat.” “Is the man of thehouse home?” they asked. “No”, shereplied. “He’s out.” “Then we can notcome in”, they replied.
In the evening when her husband camehome, she told him what happened. “Gotell them I am home and invite themin!” The woman went out and invite themen in. “We do not go into a housetogether,” they replied. “Why is that?”she asked. One of the old menexplained: “His name is Wealth,” hesaid pointing to one of his friends, andsaid pointing to another one, “He isSuccess, and I am Love.” Then headded, “Now go in and discuss withyour husband which one of us you want
in your home.”
The women went in and told herhusband what was said. Her husbandwas overjoyed. “How nice!!” he said.“Since that is the case, let us inviteWealth. Let him come and fill our homewith wealth!” His wife disagreed. “Mydear, why don’t we invite Success?” Their daughter-in-law was listening fromthe other corner of the house. She
jumped in with her own suggestion:“Would it not be better to invite Love?Our home will then be filled with love!”“Let us heed our daughter-in-law’sadvice,” said the husband to his wife.“Go out and invite Love to be ourguest.” The woman went out and askedthe three old men, “Which one of you isLove? Please come in and be ourguest.” Love got up and started walking
toward the house. The other two alsogot up and followed him. Surprised, thelady asked Wealth and Success: “I onlyinvited Love, Why are your coming in?”The old men replied together: “If youhad invited Wealth or Success, theother two of us would’ve stayed out, but
since you invited Love, wherever Hegoes, we go with him. Wherever there isLove, there is also Wealth andSuccess!!!”
My Wish for you…
Where there is pain, I wish you peaceand mercy, Where there is self-doubting, I wish you renewed confidence in your abilities to work
through it, Where there is tiredness, Iwish you understanding, patience, and renewed strength, Where there is fear, Iwish you love, and courage.
Wealth and Success to you always withLove!
Live a Life That Matters
Ready or not, someday it will all cometo an end.
There will be no more sunrises, nominutes, hours or days.
All the things you collected, whethertreasured or forgotten, will pass tosomeone else.
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Do you want your life to
count? Saturate yourself in theScriptures! When God's Word and areceptive heart get together,something is going to happen.Walk in fellowship with like-mindedChristians. Pray and believe thatGod will do great things in andthrough you. He will surely bring it
Your wealth, fame and temporalpower will shrivel to irrelevance.
It will not matter what you owned orwhat you were owed.
Your grudges, resentments,frustrations, and jealousies will finallydisappear.
So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans,and to-do lists will expire.The wins and losses that once seemed
so important will fade away.It won't matter where you came from
or on what side of the tracks you livedat the end.
It won't matter whether you werebeautiful or brilliant. Even your genderand skin color will be irrelevant.
So what will matter? How will the
value of your days be measured?What will matter is not what youbought, but what you built; not whatyou got, but what you gave.
What will matter is not your success,but your significance.
What will matter is not what youlearned, but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage orsacrifice that enriched, empowered or
encouraged others to emulate yourexample.
What will matter is not yourcompetence, but your character.
What will matter is not how manypeople you knew, but how many willfeel a lasting loss when you're gone.
What will matter is not yourmemories, but the memories that live inthose who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will
be remembered, by whom and for what.Living a life that matters doesn't
happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
‘Choose to live a life that matters’
Congratulations
Congratulations to Cody Layne forgraduating from the InternationalAcademy of Design & Technology in Tampa, Florida with a Bachelor of FineArts-Computer Animation Degree. Weare very proud of him. Please keep him
in your prayers. He is now looking for a job.
Larry & Debbie Layne
FREE COUPONING CLASS
Sat. July 9, 201110:00AM – 12:00Living Water ChurchCall… 235 – 4750 to register
July 4th Quotes
Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigueof supporting it.
~Thomas Paine
This nation will remain the land of the freeonly so long as it is the home of the brave.
~Elmer Davis
You have to love a nation that celebrates itsindependence every July 4, not with a paradeof guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the
4
"Life without God is like anunsharpened pencil - it has nopoint."
Independence Day is the birthdayof the United States of America and iscelebrated on the Fourth of July eachyear. Independence Day is theanniversary of the day on which theDeclaration of Independence was
adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776.
John Adams, one of the founders of our new nation, said, “I am apt tobelieve that it will be celebrated bysucceeding generations as the greatanniversary festival. It ought to becommemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotionto God Almighty. It ought to be
solemnized with pomp and parade, withshows, games, sports, guns, bells,bonfires, and illuminations, from oneend of this continent to the other, fromthis time forward for evermore.”Independence Day was first celebratedin Philadelphia on July 8, 1776.
In 1941, Congress declared July 4th
a legal public holiday.
Gaining and keeping ourindependence has not been cheap. Ithas cost and will continue to cost manylives. Be thankful to God for giving usthe freedom to worship Him. And bethankful to all the people who have
fought for the freedom we have and tothose who have given their lives.While you are celebrating this July 4th,
say a special prayer for all those stillfighting for this great country.
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!GOD BLESS!
Submitted by Sister Debbie Layne
The Cactus and the Caterpillar
Once there was a man who asked Godfor a flower….….and a butterfly.But instead God gave him a cactus….….and a caterpillar. The man was sad; he didn’t understand
why his request was mistaken. Then hethought: “Oh well, God has too manypeople to care for”… and decided not toquestion. After some time, the manwent to check up on his request that hehad left forgotten. To his surprise, from the thorny & uglycactus a beautiful flower had grown.And the unsightly caterpillar had beentransformed into the most beautifulbutterfly.GOD always does things right! His wayis ALWAYS the best way, even if to us itseems all wrong. If you asked God forone thing & received another, TRUST. You can be sure that He will always giveyou what you need at the appropriatetime.What you want… ….is not always whatyou need! God never fails to grant ourpetitions, so keep on going for Him
without doubting or murmuring. Today’s THORN… Is tomorrow’s FLOWER!
NEWS FROM THE BIG APPLE!!!!!
What a wonderful blessed time wehad this month during Vacation BibleSchool, which was held the week of June13-17. Our theme was THE BIG APPLEADVENTURE!
Sister Jan's lesson was Jesusinstructing the disciples to tell the worldabout him. Sister Melody and Brother Tony's lesson was the Samaritanwoman at the well. Brother Matt andBrother Casey's lesson was aboutNicodemus and how to be born again,
and my lesson was about the sinnerwoman who washed Jesus' feet. It waswonderful way to teach Salvation andplant a seed of God's Love with theseChildren.
160 Children and 95 Adultsattended for the week. The best part of every night was prayer time, when allthose children would gather around thealtar to honor God. It was wonderful tosee. I believe that was Brother John's
favorite time, too. You could tell fromthe smile on his face.You could fill the Lord's presence
all week, but not as much as you couldWednesday night. We had a terriblestorm that night; just traveling to getthere was scary enough. When Mandyasked for prayer request, people askedfor safe travel and for the electricity tostay on, because the lights had blinkedright as we were starting the program.
We took flashlights to our rooms and allnight the lightening lit up our rooms;but the electricity never blinked anymore. The most amazing thing to mewas when the time came for all of us togo to the fellowship hall. The stormdied down, but it seemed that when wewere safely back inside the church thestorm raged on. Thanks to SisterAnnetta and Brother John for the Taxi
service back and forth to the fellowshiphall. Too bad we didn't have yellowand black stripes for their vehicles!
Thanks to all the volunteers whohelp make the week wonderful. Special Thanks to all the ladies in the fellowshiphall. Sister Debbie, along with the help
of Sister Jewell, Sister Willie Kate andSister Betty, transformed the hall everynight into a wonderful snack timespot!!! Special Thanks to the extrahelpers, Sister Pam (I wouldn't havemade it without you the first night whenwe had the babies), Sister Labreeska,Sister Tisha, and to all the parents whohelped!! Last but not least, thanks toSister Mandy for all the work you do. You make it easy for us to be able to
concentrate on what we have to do.I believe the Children had awonderful time. The program thechildren put on Friday night waswonderful; they praised God in so manyways and I believe the families werereally proud. It was so great to hear thechildren singing bible verses and tellingwhat they learned each night. I am soblessed to be a part of telling thechildren how great and amazing our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is.
ABC's of Being a Christian
ADMITAdmit to God that you are a sinner.Repent, turning away from your sin.
