Here’s a question for you: If you put together over 150 orange and blue GRACE Kids t-shirts, countless bags of popcorn, ice cream made with liquid nitrogen, boxes and water, a human brain, donations of nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars given for backpacks for our Freemansburg Elementary partnership, all kinds of crazy hats and socks, 5 rocking songs, traffic jams on Locust Street, and over 150 kids and leaders in the Sanctuary jumping up and down, what do you have?
Of course, the answer is VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL 2019 – known to the kids this year as POWER UP. When you read this, we will be finishing up our last morning of an incredible week. Our Locust Street midweek campus was electric as our children came each morning to experience a week of worship, Bible Study, as well as praying for and giving to God’s work in the world. A special thanks to the countless volunteers, the planning team (Linda O’Brien, Cecilia Fox, Melissa Rowbottom, Kristen Harting) and to our amazing children’s ministry leader, Denise Pierson-Balik, her summer fellow, Katia Faroun, along with all the staff who share a commitment to the vision of leading our children to find and follow Jesus Christ.
If you don’t understand all the things I mentioned in my question, this weekend should get you up to speed. At all the services, we will share the story of VBS and at the 10:30 service, our VBS band and kids will lead our worship music. Parents be sure to have them wear those GRACE shirts. We also have a video to give you a sense of God’s work on our campus this week. CLICK HERE to watch the video.
Also, at our 10:30 service, we will commission our Middle School and High School Students for their mission trips. And, we will welcome our Costa-Rica partners who will be with us the next week.
On Sunday, I will continue preaching our GOD IS…. Series with “God Is…Powerful”. That’s what the kids have been learning all week. We’ll strain our brain a little as we open God’s word to meet our omnipotent God – all powerful, all mighty, over all things.
I will not be preaching in the month of July as I begin to turn my prayer and study to the next church year. Over the next month, I will bury myself in a library and think and pray. As I pray, I will see your faces and think about your stories. As I pray, I will marvel at God’s faithfulness and our church’s story and where God is leading us. As I pray, I will read the Bible and begin to choose the texts and topics we will explore together from September 2019 all the way to June 2020. Please pray for me as I do this important work.
And last, I love seeing pictures of you and your families at the beach. The summer has a totally different pace and has all of us in and out of town. It would be a great help if you would please GIVE BEFORE YOU GO. Your giving and generosity are vital to the mission and ministry at Grace Church. In the summertime, our expenses and our programs don’t slow down, they increase. I am so grateful for your faithfulness in this strategic season. So, before you head out on vacation, please consider giving before you go.
See you Sunday. What a joy it is to be…
Your pastor and friend,
Dr. Marnie Crumpler, Senior Pastor