Update on Children's Church
On Sunday, August 24th, Children's church opened the morning worship services with a song. They sang "The B-I-B-L-E" to the tune of "B-I-N-G-O". Martin gave a quick message to the children including a magic trick. The children were to be presented with NIV Bibles but they had not arrived yet. They will be given to the children when we receive them.
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We have been blessed by the presence of two young people for the past month, Bailey and MacKenna Andrews. There were here visiting family while relocating to the Northeast. They have lived in California all their lives but now will reside in Connecticut. They will hopefully get to visit more often since they are now on the east coast.
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Our contest at Children's church is now in full swing. The children have really been working hard. We are very proud of them. We have had two students, Alec and Kylie, learn the 12 apostles. Alec has also learned 20 of the books of the New Testament in order.
The children have learned the following memory verses:

• John 3:16
• Jesus is the Son of God.
• Love one another as I have loved you.
• Trust the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.

Our youth workers have been extremely helpful. They have participated in and encouraged all the children to participate in the activities.

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Here is what enquiring minds want to know:

TOP FIVE IN CONTEST:

1. Alec
2. Joy
3. Taylor
4. Casper
5. Kylie

The children need to continue working on the 12 apostles and learning the books of the New Testament.

Communion Meditation for August 24th

SIN

Sin means "missing the mark." The "mark" or target that we are aiming for is the glory of God. His perfect will, which we all have missed. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

Sin is disobedience. It is doing things God has told us not to do and not doing things that he has told us to do.

Disbelief is also sin, perhaps the greatest sin, and ignorance is no excuse.

Sin is deceptive. It offers beauty, pleasure, and fulfillment, but produces ugliness, disappointment, and emptiness. Sin is guilty of false advertising, it thrives on lies. Yet there are many who think that temptation to sin is irresistible.

Sin is destructive. It is a cancer on society and on the human soul. It is habit-forming and has the power to enslave and control us.

Worst of all, sin separates man from God. It keeps him from being what he wants to be and what God has created him to be.

The good news is that this terrible enemy has been defeated. By God's grace, through Christ's death on the cross, we are set free from sin and its hold over us. It is that forgiveness and that freedom that we celebrate here at the Lord's table.

Children's Church Contest

August 3rd we will kick off an exciting new contest with Children's Church. The students will earn points to use towards prizes of their choice. This contest will run for six months. At the end ot the contest we will have a Fun Fair of games and prizes. The children will get tickets according to the number of points they have earned. Choice of Prizes:

• McDonald's Gift Card
• Pizza Gift Card
• Movie Theater Gift Card
• Wal-mart Gift Card

Today begins our contest. This is a breakdown of the points required to gain a prize:
Children who cannot read have to earn 200 points.
· Children who are 1st grade to 3rd grade must earn 250 points.
· Anyone above 3rd grade must earn 300 points.
This is a breakdown of the ways to earn points:
· Attendance-5 points
· Bring Bible-5 points
· Weekly Memory verse-10 points
· Larger memory items-15 points
· Reading Bible -15 points
1. Children who cannot read can be read a Bible story
2. Children 1st grade to 3rd grade-read 5 verses for 5 days
3. Anyone above 3rd grade must read 10 verses for 5 days
· Bringing a visitor-25 points
· If visitor becomes a regular participant-25 points
· Perfect attendance for entire contest-special gift
· Participant with the most points during the contest-GRAND PRIZE WINNER
The extra credit for this week is learning the 12 Apostles:
· Peter
· Andrew
· James
· John
· Philip
· Bartholomew
· Matthew
· Simon
· James the Less
· Thomas
· Judas
· Thaddeus
Our hope is that the participants will build on their knowledge of the Bible while being challenged and having fun. They will be rewarded for all their hard work. Let the games begin!

Martin Stump is now our minister. We welcome Martin, Brenda (wife), and his youngest daughter Jenny. The Stumps have two other children, Jeremy (Davenport,Iowa) and Amanda (attending Johnson Bible College).

*Minister Tidbit: Martin is a triplet. Yes, you read that right. He has twin sisters. Now our church has not only the twins, Allene and Arlene, but we also have a triplet, Martin.

Sunday's Sermon(7/27/08) Luke 19:14 ; John 4:35 ; John 1:29
What is life about? Life is about introducing and getting to know each other. What is our goal in life? We are to introduce people to Jesus Christ. We also need to help them to grow as Christians by getting them more acquainted with Christ. Luke 19:44- Jesus was weeping because they did not recognize God among them. Others need to see Christ reflected in us. Small things can make a life changing difference. What is Jesus going to do for them? He will take away their sins. As Christians, we need to reach out to others and bring them to Christ.

We have been honored to have Tim Wingfield with us these last few months. He has been an inspiration and guided us in our search to find the right minister for our congregation. We thank God for allowing us this time with him.

THANKS TIM!

July 20th was Timothy Wingfield's last Sunday with our church. He finished his series on Jonah as well.
Jonah was a prophet but also a man with faults just like us. Even though we are not ministers, we are ALL resposible to tell the good news i.e. Romans 10:14-15; 2Timothy 4:2
Ch.3-Jonah OBEYED! After Jonah was spit on dry land, he went to Ninevah and delivered God's message as he was commanded.
5 Steps of Salvation
Hear
Believe
Repent
Confess
Baptism
Live the Christian Life (fist) You can teach this to kids with fingers
Ninevah Changes
When they HEARD, they BELIEVED, they REPENTED (vs. 8 ea may turn from his wicked ways), CONFESSED (King's Declaration), Baptism isn't mentioned but God forgave them and didn't send his wrath (vs. 10)
Ch.4-Jonah got angry because God forgave Ninevah. This is ironic considering Jonah had just received God's forgiveness. Why? He knew God was slow to anger and he wasn't. (vs. 2)

View on Baptism- It is a symbol/representation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. We do this in obedience to him. Jonah was eventually obedient to God. We all have flaws. God can use us. In closing, Tim had John play a CD of the song "When He Reached Out His Hand For Me".

The church received a memorial for Sally Vassar Shelton. Sunday would have been her 65th birthday. She was a longtime member of our church family. She was greatly loved and is sorely missed.

Timothy Wingfield has been bringing us a series of sermons on the book of Jonah. Sun. July 13th was Week 2. July 20th will end the series but it will also be Timothy's last Sunday with us. The theme of his message has been God Pursues Us. No matter how hard or how far we run away from what he wants for us, he will find us, i.e. storm and belly of the big fish. He wants us and what is best for us. God will ALWAYS be there.

New Minister at First Christian

On June 29th, Dr. Martin Stump accepted the invitation to become our minister. Martin and his family will arrive in mid-July. His first sermon will be on July 27th. The church is looking forward to welcoming the Stumps into our church family.