“Are we there yet?” The age-old road trip question. I’m sure many of you have heard these words this summer as you’ve traveled with the kids and grandkids. And as a church, we can finally say “yes, we’re there” in two different ways this week. First, we’re there in that we’ve finished our summer study through the book of Colossians. I hope you’ve been encouraged and challenged in what it means to be IN CHRIST and live a life for Him. If you’ve missed a week or two or would like to revisit parts of our study, the sermons are always available online to listen to and share. We’re also “there” this week in that we have finally arrived at our Splash picnic event. I feel like we’ve been talking, planning, and waiting for this day for months and, suddenly, it’s here!
Hopefully, none of this is new information but just in case…
This Saturday is our church picnic and water slide event starting at noon with lunch, followed by worship at 1:30pm and the waterslide at 3:00pm. I hope to see you, your friends, family, and neighbors at some or even all of the festivities. After we eat, worship, and splash all afternoon, we can all sleep in on Sunday morning. There will be no service — again there is NO SERVICE Sunday morning. Feel free to sleep till noon or visit a friend’s church to see what our brothers and sisters in Christ are doing around Lancaster County.
In the midst of all the fun and sun I’m hoping we have this coming Saturday, can I issue a challenge to our church family as well? Many of you have been inviting others to join us this week. Several of you have used our Facebook page to invite individuals to the event. I’m expecting to see some new faces on Saturday. Yesterday in Colossians 4, Paul challenged us to “make the most of every opportunity.” Will you do that on Saturday? Will you step outside your comfort zone and sit with a family you don’t know at lunch and make them feel welcome? Will you say hello to someone in line for the Slip ‘N Slide? Will you invite someone to sit with you during worship? Will you share one of your lawn chairs with someone who forgot to bring theirs? As we invite the public to join us for this fun day, I hope we engage with them and make them feel welcome. I hope we “make the most of this opportunity” and share Jesus’ love with them. Will you?
Rain or shine, I’ll see you Saturday! If it rains, we’re still splashing…just maybe a little more indoors than we originally planned. As of now, the weather looks good ——keep praying! And come out Wednesday night to the Dwelling Place to “devote yourself to prayer” as Paul also challenged us yesterday!
In Christ Alone,
Pastor Jan