Monday, August 27, 2012

Roll Tide, War Eagle & Go Jesus

My computer is fried & I an trying to type from the iPad so this will be short. I know we have played all summer so it is time to get the kids back into a lesson with a little more structure. This Wed. night will be a trial run of our new kids program called Big City Studio. Pray as we launch this that it will be an effective tool in teaching kids about Jesus. This will be every Wed. night except the 2nd Wed. of the month & that is still missions night. This is the last Wed. night the 6th grade boys will be with us. Sunday school promotion day is Sunday so those in 6th will go to youth. My ss class is 2nd- 5th & Mrs. Leslie & Traci have 4 yrs -1st grade. I am looking forward to the new ss year & I believe God has lots of growth planned for us in this area. Idk about everyone else but I still feel that kids revival going on & I plan on us really going after kids. If you know unchurched kids invite them to church! You just might be the person who changes their life & introduces them to Jesus! Remember to sign your family up Sunday for the directory picture & we have the Mayo's service & lunch Sunday. We are suppose to bring desserts. Just as a thought..... This week some of us are going to get CRAZY over some football.....why do we not get just as CRAZY over Jesus?????? Roll Tide, War Eagle & Go Jesus!!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Jeremiah 29:11

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,"declares the Lord," plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.  I am holding on to that verse as I have sent the boys off to their 1st day of middle school. I am not crying. I love being home with my boys during the summer so yes, I will miss them but I am excited for them. I am excited that God tells me He has plans for them.....not just regular any old day plans but plans that include prosperity & hope. That should give us parents encouragement! I was given some prayers over the weekend called 7 prayers a day for 7 days. I fully intended to pray those this morning but I couldn't find my paper so I improvised! These prayers included praying over the boys food, clothing & over them.  I just prayed as I cooked breakfast, as I got their clothing out, over their shoes, over the boys & with the boys, for the transfer bus drivers & the middle school teachers. I prayed on & off all night. I am so thankful that I have a God I can pray to & know that He hears my concerns & then reassures me with Jeremiah 29:11. I hope if you are having a morning of sadness & difficulties that you turn to the Lord and remember that God does not want harm or negativity for you but a future filled with hope & prosperity! 

Great morning @ church yesterday with the kids seeing Archie Wade do a magic show! I wondered how he would turn magic into something Christian but he did. Right out of the gate he told the children, there is no magic & only miracles come from God. He did a great job using tricks to teach Bible stories! 

This Wed. night the kids will meet @ 6 in he gym & Allison will teach. I will be w/ the  as of this morning 6th graders. We will load the van @ 5:45 & go to Deorio's for a final get together, be back @ the church by 7. Our new kids program, Big City Studio, will start the 1st Wed. in Sept. Kids & youth move up to their new Sunday school classes Sunday Sept. 2.
This is my favorite time of year! Fall is right around the corner, only a few more wks till football is on, soccer has kicked off, will not be long now until we feel some coolness at night, the leaves start changing & pumpkins appear. How blessed we are that God gives us seasons of change. I pray you have a wonderful hope filled week.



Monday, August 13, 2012

More Randon Thoughts

IDK what I am going to talk about today so I am just gonna go w/ my mind's flow which is probably not good. Friday night was a great movie night. I got to spend a little time w/ some parents & we had a visitor which is always great! The devil tried to mess up the night by tearing up the popcorn machine but we did not let him steal our fun or popcorn! We popped it the old timey way...on the stove! Yesterday was another great day @WBBC! I was so excited to see 3 more children baptized. I just don't think that sight can ever get old. I was also thrilled for our church to welcome another sweet couple as members of our church.  I continue to get excited as God blesses us w/ more visitors & new members. I just sit back sometimes & think & I can't believe the work God has done in this church! It was great last night to see John ordained. John has always been a bold go getter for the Lord so I know God is going to use him in a great way in the ministry. During the ordination service Blake read a poem by CT Studd called "Only One Life". At the end of each verse it would repeatedly say" Only one life, twill soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last." ONLY WHAT'S DONE FOR CHRIST WILL LAST just kept sticking with me. Maybe I need to put that on the frig or bathroom mirror as my daily reminder. There is nothing I can have here on earth that is as important as the things we do for Christ. There needs to be less of doing for me & more of doing for Him! Less Kristi more God, less Kristi more God, less Kristi more God! Maybe if I write that 100 times I'll get better at it! ( I told yall prob not good if I just go w/ my mind's flow).

Big thank you to Karon Fortenberry for meeting w/ me today & the church directory representative. We will be asking this week for you to send us your name, email address & phone numbers so we can move forward w/ the directory being made. You are welcome to email me at kristi@whortonbendbaptistchurch. Here is the kids news for the week!

Wed. night Aug. 15 is the much anticipated food fight. Yes we will be using real food & being wasteful so I am going to ask that each child bring a canned item for the food pantry.  I am also warning you parents that your child will be nasty! May I suggest old clothes, shower cap & maybe some goggles. Your child will be hosed off at the end so you might want to send a towel & change of clothes! I do believe the kids are going to feel the pie in the face feeling that Allison, Joey, Arlo & I felt at VBS! REVENGE is sweet sometimes! This coming Sunday, Aug. 19 there will be a special back to school treat in the gym. Archie Wade will be performing a Christian magic show during preaching, so send your child on to the gym & we will stay there until Joey begins the invitation & at that time we will come back to big church so we can pray for the kids & school workers before school starts on Monday. INVITE A KID to the magic show!!! Summer is almost over so we will be getting back to a structured lesson on Wed. nights but it will still be lots of fun. Our new fall program will be called "Big City Studio" so pray for us as that takes shape!The Go Fish Guys' Christmas music will be coming out this week so I plan on getting that here soon so we can work on a Christmas program. Thanks for listening to me ramble & pray for our kids as they gear up for another school year!

Monday, August 6, 2012

Wipe the Slate Clean

I was trying to find a back to school lesson and I came across one. Envision the old timey black chalk board & on it I have written your name, a few smiley faces on days you have been good, the frowns on the days you were bad and of course your grades. Satisfactory in handwriting & PE, 2 B's, 1 A, 1 C & 1 D. Probably a typical report card for some of us! School is out for summer and the teacher takes that old black eraser and wipes that board clean. Our life with Jesus is just like that old black board & eraser. Our sins are there for us & everyone to see but Jesus comes in and cleans our heart like the eraser & we are clean and ready to go again. Kids need to know that with the start of a new school year the old mistakes are gone. It doesn't matter if they made good grades, bad grades, were in trouble a lot...they get to start over with a clean chalk board. Let's remind our children of that. They get a brand new start just like  when Jesus comes into our hearts & saves us! In 2 weeks most kids start back to school so today I am going to ask you to start praying for them, pray for protection, for the ability to listen & focus, for the ability to show love to other classmates & for those who are Christians for the ability to witness. Pray for the bullies, the kids who have parents who just don't care about them, for the ones who are abused & for the ones with little or no food. Pray for the teachers, the administrators, the bus drivers, the aids, lunchroom staff, custodians, substitute teachers & the parent volunteers that they show nothing but love and compassion for these kids, that they have an attitude that all children are worthy the best education. Asking for a special prayer for my 5th grade group of boys. Pray that they continue to be great witnesses in everything they do, that they continue to be friends with each other & support each other & that they stay encouraged and supported from their parents as they make the transition from  elementary school to middle school & from the children's dept @ church to the youth group.

Continue to pray for Dick & Charlene Edwards, the kids who are going to be baptised this coming Sunday ( wasn't it great to see 7 kids get dunked yesterday?!!!!) and my mom is still in the hospital, so remember her.

This Wed. night the kids will have a lesson on missions by Katie Smith & Mollie Williams. Friday night, August 10, is "Family Movie Night" featuring "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs". FREE concessions starting @ 6:30 & movie will begin @7,  In the cool comfort of the gym w/ our amazing sound system & big screen!!! Bring a chair or blanket and invite someone. I hope you have a fabulous week w/ the thoughts of when you do wrong Jesus is your eraser & when you ask for forgiveness He washes the slate clean!