Friday evening kicks off at 5:30 with dinner for the kids;  VBS starts at 6:00 and ends at 8:30.

Saturday morning activities begin at 9:30 and last until 12:30, followed by lunch for the kids.

Sunday morning all ages will meet in the auditorium at 10:00 for a Welcome and the final skit, then dismiss to Bible class.  Worship will begin as usual at 11:00. 

At the conclusion of our worship, family & friends will be invited to visit the classrooms to pick up the kids’ crafts and enjoy the decorations!

     Our friends:  — Wayne Brown (Jim’s brother in NC) is recovering from heart surgery.  The doctors performed a second surgery to remove excess fluids, then needed a third surgery to repair his leaking aorta.  Wayne is currently in the Cardiovascular ICU on a breathing machine.

- Ruth Christian (Jeanne Kline’s mother), cancer.

- Gary England (the father-in-law of Janet Smith’s niece, Julie, in Morgantown, WV) has multiple cancers, involving his liver, lungs, bones, brain, and lymph nodes. 

- Galen, the brother of Rod Grimes, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. 

- Agnes Hughes, as she attends to her sister Mae Burks.

- Jim Lanning of Ohio (Larry’s father), ulcerative colitis and chronic back pain.

- Ernie Macomber (Larry’s dad, in Erie, PA) recovering from a stroke.

- Johnny Turner (Hiawatha Green’s father), cancer.

Military:  — Marcel Cooke (Annetta’s grandson); Brandon and Laura (Yacus) Chapman.

Expectant Mothers:  Kimberly Reeves (Sept. 13); Penny Wagner (Oct. 13 ).

 Want to be a teacher?  See Shane Reeves.

Also, Don’t forget our Back-to-School Ice Cream Social this Sunday, August 17 @ 7 p.m., immediately following evening worship.  Please bring homemade ice cream or dessert; drinks and coffee will be provided.  What a great way to end our VBS weekend and give all our kids a great send-off into their new school year!

— Diana, age 4, stepped onto the bathroom scale and asked, “So, how much do I cost?”

“A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance.”  Proverbs 15:13

The gospel announces the solution to everyone’s spiritual needs.  However, the gospel faces another competing claim of satisfaction and fulfillment.  The world is dangerous because it competes with the promises of God, but its answers are only temporary and do not address our real problems.  Scriptures make it clear that our real problems are the curse of sin and the inevitability of death, so there is something fundamentally wrong with the world’s claims.  Believing in the gospel means accepting its promises while rejecting the claims of its competitors, but we face the desires of the world every day in every way.

In John, chapters 5 and 6, the writer tells of people who accept or reject Jesus, and how their belief or unbelief is rooted in their desires.  The episodes can be summarized as according to goals.

In John 5, a very ironic scene shows us the Jewish leaders staring right at the Messiah but refusing to believe (5:43-44).  Jesus’ opponents are not able to believe because they have their hearts set on something different.  Their desires do not fit into what Jesus and God offer.  Notice that Jesus does not scold them for having desires.  To want glory or praise is not a bad thing.  Paul speaks approvingly of those who “by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality” (Romans 2:7).  To want to be honored is a natural human desire.  But when and how do we expect that desire to be met?  There is temporary glory from the world today or eternal glory tomorrow because God approves of us.  This is the state of Jesus’ opponents:  They believe what they believe because they want what they want (5:46-47).

The great “bread of life” passage in John 6 provides another example of how biblical faith is connected to our true desires.  The day after Jesus miraculously feeds five thousand people, a great crowd seeks after him for a continuous feeding.  The crowd is ready to believe in Jesus, but they do not agree with God about what they want.  They will follow anyone who will give them what they desire, but they will not change their minds about what they truly need.  They believe that man lives by bread alone.  If Jesus will agree to those terms, then they are prepared to follow him (6:30-31, 34, and 41).  Jesus had earlier given the only terms, “The work of God is this:  To believe in the one he has sent” (6:29).  The crowds assess their needs wrongly, as did their forefathers in the wilderness, and so they leave.

In both John 5 and 6, Jesus explains the unbelief of his hearers in terms of their desires.  Believing in Jesus requires each of us to face this choice.  The gospel always confronts us with the choice:  Do we want what the world offers, or do we want what God offers?  The gospel cannot be an ornament tacked onto a worldly view of life; the gospel is an alternative to worldly desires.

               — Tim Appleton, via Christian Bible Teacher

     Our friends:  — Wayne Brown (Jim’s brother in NC), came through his heart surgery well; he received a new valve and a double bypass.  He is currently having a little breathing difficulty, so once they are able to reduce his fluids he may be able to go home from the hospital this week.

· Gary England (the father-in-law of Janet Smith’s niece, Julie, in Morgantown, WV) had an MRI in preparation for surgery on his rotator cuff, but the scan showed that his body is riddled with cancer, including his liver, lungs, bones, brain, and lymph nodes.  He is scheduled to see an oncologist this week to see if any course of treatment is available.

· Delores Burch (Delores Mosley’s friend/sister in Christ), complications from a kidney transplant.

· Ruth Christian (Jeanne Kline’s mother), cancer.

· Melanie Dodd (Janice Milhoan’s niece from Columbus, OH).

· Debra Ferguson (sister of Bobby Good), very severe health issues.

· Galen, the brother of Rod Grimes, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.  Rod’s mother, Louine, had been suffering with breathing problems, but she is doing fine now.

· Agnes Hughes, as she attends to her sister Mae Burks.

· Jim Lanning of Ohio (Larry’s father), ulcerative colitis and chronic back pain.

· Ernie Macomber (Larry’s dad, in Erie, PA) suffered a small stroke last week; he is in a rehab facility.

· Johnny Turner (Hiawatha Green’s father), cancer.

Encouragement:  Andy Arnold; Phydelma Howard; Andrea Parrish.

Congratulations:  to Brandon and Janelle Good on their wedding last Saturday in Manassas. 

Military:  — Marcel Cooke (Annetta’s grandson); Brandon and Laura (Yacus) Chapman.

Expectant Mothers:  Kimberly Reeves (Sept. 13); Penny Wagner (Oct. 13 ).

Please remember to give updated information on your loved ones to Janet so we can keep our prayer list current.