getting ready for Sunday

We are at Debbi's sister's place in Nashville. Nashville is built around the Cumberland river. About five miles below the house the river has been dammed and a man made lake lies at our feet. Debbi's brother-in-law, Neal, took us out on a boat ride on the Cumberland lake produced by the dam the other day. This morning I was up early helping Neal repair his lift at the dock. One of the bolts had snapped off, so he wanted to replace it before putting his boat in the lift. As we were out there, the fish were jumping like mad. I was sort of wishing for a license, rod and reel and a chance to actually go fishing instead of my usual casting.

Now I am sitting on their deck, overlooking the lake, enjoying the birds and thinking about Sunday.

I am going to steal a message I heard a friend of mine preach last Sunday evening. I plan to split it into two parts and use it for both morning and afternoon services. For the Bible Study time, I want to take some time for us all to look back and review our Thru the Bible series. I would like those of you who are reading this to perhaps think back over our survey of Old and New Testaments and jot down one or two things that stood out to you as major lessons or insights on the Bible that you learned as we have gone through. We may extend some of this to the following week. I plan to get back to the Basic Theology study we left off when we began the Thru the Bible series. That will probably start the second Sunday in June.

[If you are talking to someone who doesn't have computer access, you could pass on this assignment to them!!]

We also want to build up our Sunday School. Pray for wisdom as we organize. Also, think about contacts you have who could be recruited.

Looking ahead, we have several events in the summer that you should keep in mind and pray about. We have Family Camp rapidly approaching, then we have a week with an evangelist in July. Both events can be a great blessing if you are able to participate. I would encourage you to think about Family Camp if you have not been able to attend in the past. You would find it relaxing and uplifting, I believe. The evangelist who is coming has a different approach than other evangelists we have had in the past. His whole family will be with him to provide special music (he has several daughters who are friends of our kids at school). I believe they use puppets and other things oriented to children to make the whole service have something for everyone, so I would encourage you to be inviting folks with children for these meetings.

Well, we are heading off for a visit of a Civil War battlefield. Yesterday we saw The Hermitage, the home of the seventh US President, Andrew Jackson. He wasn't one of my favorites, but it is interesting to see the place he lived and think about how much has changed since then. I'll post some pics later.

ESV Philemon 1:4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers,

Regards
Pastor Don
Jer 33.3