Vacation From . . .

Vacation time at last! Kids are out of school, trips will be planned, cars will get packed, and many of us will be going off in different directions to Get Away. We take vacations from the routines of life, from mowing lawns, and from our daily work But do we take vacations from God and our relationship with Him and the body?

Being a Christian is a 365 day-a-year "vocation," as is the Lord's work which doesn't take a "vacation." This work is based on the generous contributions and personal work of the members of the body, many of which have made a commitment to give a certain percentage of their income on a weekly basis. It is because of these commitments and contributions that a budget is agreed upon and still other commitments are made for salaries, utilities, benevolence, teaching materials, etc.

Money is always a sensitive subject, isn't it? But, I have to admit that there are many signs of a maturing church evident in our giving, and I believe God is glorified and pleased. Nevertheless, vacation time usually brings a shortage of the regular contributions which can have a negative effect on the work. I believe that God has blessed us and entrusted us with talents (money)" to enjoy the things in this life as well as to accomplish His will.

The walls around Jericho fell by God's power, but it was the marching, yelling, and trumpet blowing of Joshua's men in obedience to God's commandment that completed the action. Would it have happened without their faithful response? I don't believe so - what do you think? And so it is with the work of the church today. God will do His part, He doesn't take vacations, yet we need to be faithful in our part; we still have to do the "marching," and "yelling," and "trumpet blowing" (i.e., trusting, working, and giving).

Let's not Get Away from God when we go on vacation; plan Him into it. And while we are away, perhaps there is something we can do to meet our contribution commitments. "Let each one do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed" (2 Corinthians 9:7-8).

Happy Father’s Day
to each of our dads

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." --Author Unknown

"A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again." -- Enid Bagnold

"That is the thankless position of the father in the family- the provider for all, and the enemy of all." -- J. August Strindberg

"It is a wise father that knows his own child." -- William Shakespeare

"It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was." -- Anne Sexton

"One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters." -- English Proverb

"I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father's protection." -- Sigmund Freud

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong. – Charles Wadsworth

"If the new American father feels bewildered and even defeated, let him take comfort from the fact that whatever he does in any fathering situation has a fifty percent chance of being right." -- Bill Cosby

"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father!" -- Lydia M. Child

"A Man's children and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding done during the growing season." --Author Unknown

Team “B” Meeting
Visitation Group “B” will meet today, after the morning services in Assembly Room “B”. All team “B” members should plan to attend.

Change Your Directory
Please make the following change to your directory:

[Click Here]

Third Sunday Singing
The monthly Third Sunday singing will be hosted by the North Lakeland congregation today at 3:00 p.m.

A good word is as easily said as a bad one.

We are dealing with the same God to whom the disciples prayed. He will grant to us also boldness in times that normally produce fear. Jesus himself prayed before He went before Pilate to make that good confession which He knew would ultimately lead him to the cross. If the thought of soul winning makes you fearful, then pray.