Hope- It's what's for 2014!

Hope-It's what's for 2014! Today is the last day of 2013. Many people will make New Year's Resolutions- most a halfhearted attempt to correct some wrong in their life. "I will loose 20 pounds." "I will read my Bible every day." Well if Truth be told shouldn’t we do all of those things anyway?

Statistics say that the number one resolution each year is to loose weight. Gyms across the nation find a huge jump in membership around Christmas time and a large attendance increase during the month of January. Historically the gyms also find a decline in attendance around February with March returning to the Pre-Christmas attendance.

Similar attendance rates are found in most churches as well. We experience an increase in attendance around Christmas time, usually Christmas Eve. Then in January after school starts back we pick up and by March we have returned to pre- Christmas attendance with only a few more attenders.

The search for HOPE, I believe, is the reason for the season. Christ came to earth as a helpless child, dependent upon his mother for nutrients and his earthly father for protection. Yet this deity, this creator of the universe came to provide HOPE for all. That same HOPE who lived and breathed upon this earth, that HOPE who died and rose again, that HOPE is available to each of us today. This day! We do not have to wait until tomorrow to find HOPE. We do not have to wait until midnight to proclaim our resolution and determination to follow the KING of KINGS more closely.

If you are like the vast majority of breathing humanoids currently alive on this planet then you are hoping that tomorrow will come and provide a fresh start. You are hoping that next year will be better. You are hoping that your work, personal or financial problems will be fewer next year. The only chance you have for HOPE, for a better year next then this past one is in Christ alone! Don’t try to do this half hearted. Don’t try to do this alone. Don’t make a resolution for tomorrow. Listen to THE GOD, THE Creator of the Universe, THE HOPE that came, died upon the cross- rose again and is alive right now. HE-The HOPE, is calling out to each of us. Just answer, “Jesus help me!” and HE will!

Day of Prayer for VBS (Summer JAM)

Dear friends,

This Sunday is the national day of prayer for Vacation Bible School. I am asking each of you to please share the following information in your area of influence. I believe that VBS (a.k.a. Summer JAM) has one of the greatest opportunities to reach out to the community and to share the Good News. Statistics show that more people come to Christ before the age of 13 then do after age 13. Statistics also show that Vacation Bible School is the largest and most effective evangelical outreach tool in the Southern Baptist Convention. To top it all off- I believe that this year's theme provides an excellent avenue to grow individually. This year's theme is Facing Fear, Trusting God based on 2nd Timothy 1:7. Please join me in prayer this Sunday.

Some needs that are specific to our church this summer are: 1- There is a need for more volunteers. Please pray that God will provide the volunteers needed to carefor the children He will send us.2- We need a great first touch crew (parking, registration, classroom leaders) Please pray for those serving in these roles and for others to volunteer in these areas. 3- We need new ways to reach Grove Park and other neighboring communities. We are reaching out to every Day Care Center in Orange Park and inviting them to bring their school age children to join us. We are advertising this as Summer JAM, a free, one week, half/day kidz camp for school age children. Lastly- we are seeking spiritual growth for everyone, young or old who attends. 

There are a lot of little details that go into the week of VBS and many people working behind the scenes to make it happen. Please pray for everyone involved that we may represent the One True God! 

I thank you for taking the time to read this and for praying for VBS/Summer JAM!

          Sincerely,
          Skipper

 Please see the LifeWay article below for detailed prayer needs and a prayer guide.

New post on LifeWay VBS - Colossal Coaster World - Vacation Bible School 2013 May 19, 2013 – National Day of Prayer for VBS by Rhonda VanCleave  Have you ever flipped the switch on a lamp several times and nothing happened? Do you remember the frustration of, “Why isn’t this thing coming on?” during your fruitless flips up and down. What about that sheepish, “oh,” realization when you see the disconnected plug? This is a pretty good picture of our efforts to spread the gospel without prayer. Prayer is the power source that enlightens and charges our efforts. We are less than a month away from what are typically the two biggest weeks of VBS. Even if your VBS is later in the summer, the time to begin praying is NOW! The VBS 2013 Administrative Guide has great prayer resources from prayer calendars to prayer walk brochures. And, this Sunday, May 19, 2013, is theNational Day of Prayer for VBS. I started thinking about praying for VBS and it occurred to me that V. B. S. is a great acronym for praying for VBS everywhere. V – Volunteers! Recently on our Facebook we asked people to share their prayer requests. (Our team prays for you!) One of the most requested prayer concerns was for volunteers to help. Jesus told His disciples to pray for workers (Matthew9:36-38). It is still an urgent prayer. The harvest is ready! B – Bible! God’s Word changes lives. God promised that His Spirit would be our Teacher (John 14:25-26). We need His power and guidance as we teach Bible truths to others. S – Salvations! VBS is still one of the strongest evangelistic efforts made by many churches. Prayer, concentrated Bible teaching, and the forging of relationships set the stage to share the gospel in a powerful way. Pray that hearts are prepared to respond to the gospel of Jesus. I hope you’ll join me this Sunday, as we pray together for VBS! Rhonda VanCleave | May 13, 2013

*You may read this article and other wonderful articles about VBS at:  http://bit.ly/12tO09y

Father of Five- a Valentine's Day love story!

Father of Five- a Valentine’s Day story of Love!

Yes, it’s true. I am the father of five kids! I know it’s a shocker but it is true. It never ceases to amaze me- the look on people’s faces when I tell them how many children I have. For those of you that know my wife and me, it may be a bit easier to understand. Both of us love kids. We always have. We both have a background and experience in Primary and Elementary education. In fact we both meet at the YMCA working with children. (I did meet her before that but I made such a poor impact she never remembered me and says to this day that she met me for the first time that day at the Y) Like I said in the title, this is a story about love. My wife and I were married in August of 1992. She was 19 and I was 25. (Insert cradle robbing joke here) It would not be until ten years later that we would have our first child. After our third son was born in 2007 Tricia and I began to talk about more children. Well after one miscarriage, one emergency Cesarean  one life threatening case of HELLP Syndrome and two additional planned cesareans  the doctor highly recommend that we do not have any more children the natural way. We began to pray. We felt that God told us that we were not done with our family. We decided to check into adoption. As we investigated adoption we discovered the idea of Foster to Adopt. This term is very vague and as we discovered there is more to it than the way it sounds. Anyway, jump forward to 2010. We had taken the necessary classes, made the necessary changes to our home, filled out the endless pages of paperwork. We were finger printed, background checked questioned by the CIA. *Just kidding about the CIA partJ. The point is that all of the necessary requirements were completed and we were certified back in 2009. So here we are in 2010. It had been about a year and we had an empty nursery room sitting in our home (this fact in itself was difficult for Tricia). We were both ready to give up and not renew our licensing. Then one afternoon we got a call. That day would begin a 15 month journey. We would eventually adopt our little Sunshine. She would make our family a family 6. Now jump forward to a few months ago. We received another call and were asked if we could take care of another one of God’s little children who needed a safe and loving home. We had not planned to add anymore to our family. We were not out there putting our name on a list. But, when we were called we prayed and asked God what we should do. Both Tricia and I came away with the same feeling- we felt like God told us “If you could you should.” I even tried to come up with reasons why we should not take in another child but I could NOT come up with any! I could not find any logical reason why we could not/should not open up our home and lives to another child. So here I am the Father of Five. I do not know how long our little lady bug will be with us. I do not know if we will have the opportunity to adopt. This I do know “We are doing what God told us to do!” So no matter what friends, family or others may say- We love our kids-all five of them! We are not a perfect family but our family is one of LOVE! So, on this “Day of Love” I challenge you to consider Fostering or Adoption. As of July 2012 there were 400,540 children in the U.S. foster care system (source- Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System Report). So tonight as you say “I Love You” to your special one- remember to pray for the children in the Foster system waiting for their forever family.

Blessing and Happy Valentine’s Day!