All the crying children,
Can’t you feel their tears?
They’re broken, bruised and bleeding,
Scarred beyond their years.

They’re robbed of tender innocence,
Then left to weep and mourn,
Their spirits crushed and hopeless,
Their minds twisted and torn.

Oh! hear the crying children,
Reach out to them today.
Lead them to the Shepherd,
The one who knows the way.

The one who lifts the wounded
In arms of gentleness,
And bears them safely over
To the place of healing rest.

1. Genesis 3:8-9 Where are you?

2. Genesis 4:9 Where is your brother?

3. 1 Kings 19:9 What are you doing here?

And finally, is God’s name on the bottom of your lifes deed?

Most of the population of the high school will storm the auditorium, or wherever the rallies are held, and the cheer leaders will do everything they can to get everybody pumped up. Everybody has a great time. Then, when the rally is over, the student body is dismissed to go back to class, or to catch their ride home. Right? Wrong!

The primary purpose of the cheer leading squad is to prepare the team mentally and emotionally to get out on that field and defeat their opponent.

Isn’t this what our church services are supposed to be all about? Instead of a refueling station, we meet together to have a spiritual pep rally. We worship, listen to the Word preached, have fellowship, and sometimes we see souls saved and even miracles. This is good, and certainly God’s plan for believers. But so often that is as far as it goes. They are like a football pep rally with no game afterwards, and as a result the opponent is never defeated.

What the church in America needs is not just another spiritual pep rally to excite us. We need an Acts chapter 2 revival the brings us to repentance, fills us with Holy Ghost power, and then spills us out onto the streets to defeat the enemy by rescuing the lost and dying. (Acts 2:41) The day of Pentecost records 3000 souls saved the first day, then goes on to say more were added daily.

Dear believers, a church without outreach is very much like a pep rally with no game afterwards. I beseech you, pray for revival, the Acts chapter 2 kind.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)

Then the master said to the servant, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be full.” Luke (Luke 14:23)

A well-known songwriter has quoted the Psalms when he wrote, “I call to You, You’re worthy of all praise and glory, for You save me from all my enemies.”

If you want to sing for joy and let others know that He is worthy of all praise and glory, come out and join our choir.
Our choir members have had several months of much-needed rest, but the rest is over – it’s time to get started again. Choir practices will be on Wednesdays at 7:30 P.M. in the Fellowship Hall beginning on September 9.

The Psalms are filled with references that say that we should “sing for joy to God”. We need you to sing in our choir! Come and worship with us in song and help us to lead our congregation into worship.

See you on Wednesday nights!

Bob Weaver

YOUR TOUCH

by Rebecca Somoskey
 

I pray,

Lord, I need your touch today,

For I am lost, alone and wounded,

Sorely needing.

 
I wait,

Breathlessly expecting, not knowing how,

But still knowing that you surely will

Come to me.

I receive,

The warm, wonderful surge of love,

That fills me, thrills me, soothes my aching heart,

Incredible grace.

I praise,

A shout that begins so small,

And grows until it breaks forth in joyful sound.

Oh, hallelujah!

This picture was taken in the middle of a rice field in Tanzania. This was a beautiful tree. I gazed at it every time we passed. I remember wondering what was so special about this little, old, gnarled tree. Why does it keep grabbing my attention and refusing to let go? Then one day it finally clicked. My mind scurried into action as understanding was brought forth. This little old tree is a lot like me.

      “Austin, Austin, AUSTIN! Get up! You need to get ready or you’ll be late.” My mom was in frantic hurry as she yelled at me to get out of bed. After my initial startled state left me, I proceeded to slowly roll out of bed. One eye was alert and open to the day; the other was still in sleep mode. I was slow in getting out of bed because I had stayed up late the night before.  It was the night before my flight to London where we would have an eight hour layover before proceeding to Tanzania.  I know what you’re thinking ‘I was up late because of my excitement and nerves.’ Well, that’s partially true, but not entirely. I was up late searching for God’s voice. Yes you heard correctly: I was listening for God’s voice. I thought I really needed to get close to God before my trip. He was feeling very distant. I was looking for some huge thunder and then God’s mighty sound. I stared out my window waiting for God to appear in the clouds and talk to me. I know it sounds silly, but I was desperate to hear from God. I felt all alone. This is why that tree spoke to me so much. It is all alone in the middle of a rice field not hearing from anything– just as I was all alone searching desperately to hear God’s words speak to my heart. I was so detached from God, so desperate to see his hand or voice somewhere, anywhere. I rushed to look for it.

      I arrived in Africa thinking that for sure I would find God and his wonderful, powerful voice there. So I started searching. I listened for it in the giant blue Livingston Mountains that reached up and pierced the clouds like a ship through icebergs. However, I didn’t hear God’s voice there. Next, I tried the great Lake Nyasa whose waves thundered against the beach. But, it was not there either. Finally, I stared up into the great black abyss and saw seen millions of stars, with a great milky white film that covered them. It was the Milky Way Galaxy. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen in my life. It stretched halfway across the African sky. I looked and looked and listened very hard, but I didn’t hear from God.

      That night I went to sleep disappointed, thinking I would never hear from God. I had seen God do great things, but I had not heard from Him. I felt so bad, so alone, so abandoned. The next day I woke up and was sick as a dog. I ran back and forth from the bathroom every ten minutes.  It made me so sad because that day they were going hiking up a mountain, and I thought that it might be a place I could hear God’s voice, but it was not meant to be. I sat on the side of the soccer field longing so much to hear or feel God. I knew he wouldn’t come to me while I was sitting sick on the side of a soccer field watching some little kids play soccer with a paper bag. The sun was shining down on the field and I was sitting in the shade.  My head swiveled around and around. I looked at the kids and at the shade. My head slowly moved up, and I looked at the leaves as they swayed in the gentle breeze. THEN IT HAPPENED. I heard from God. It didn’t sound like a big roaring thunder or a band of trumpets. No, it was just a little calm voice in my head. It was clam, gentle, and soothing like a breeze on a hot summer day. Suddenly, I was not alone. He was with me, and I was with Him. He had been speaking to me the whole time I just never listened. It was a glorious feeling. I was not alone. I was with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. As we traveled back to our rooms I continued to marvel at the still small voice of the Lord. As I looked over toward the tree that was all alone in rice field, I saw a gentle breeze blowing its branches. I smiled.

1 Kings 19:11-14 “…A great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; And after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing…And behold, a voice came to him…” 

The above picture was taken in the middle of a rice field in Tanzania. This was a beautiful tree. I gazed at it every time we passed. I remember wondering what was so special about this little, old, gnarled tree. Why does it keep grabbing my attention and refusing to let go? Then one day it finally clicked. My mind scurried into action as understanding was brought forth. This little old tree is a lot like me.

      “Austin, Austin, AUSTIN! Get up! You need to get ready or you’ll be late.” My mom was in frantic hurry as she yelled at me to get out of bed. After my initial startled state left me, I proceeded to slowly roll out of bed. One eye was alert and open to the day; the other was still in sleep mode. I was slow in getting out of bed because I had stayed up late the night before.  It was the night before my flight to London where we would have an eight hour layover before proceeding to Tanzania.  I know what you’re thinking ‘I was up late because of my excitement and nerves.’ Well, that’s partially true, but not entirely. I was up late searching for God’s voice. Yes you heard correctly: I was listening for God’s voice. I thought I really needed to get close to God before my trip. He was feeling very distant. I was looking for some huge thunder and then God’s mighty sound. I stared out my window waiting for God to appear in the clouds and talk to me. I know it sounds silly, but I was desperate to hear from God. I felt all alone. This is why that tree spoke to me so much. It is all alone in the middle of a rice field not hearing from anything– just as I was all alone searching desperately to hear God’s words speak to my heart. I was so detached from God, so desperate to see his hand or voice somewhere, anywhere. I rushed to look for it.

      I arrived in Africa thinking that for sure I would find God and his wonderful, powerful voice there. So I started searching. I listened for it in the giant blue Livingston Mountains that reached up and pierced the clouds like a ship through icebergs. However, I didn’t hear God’s voice there. Next, I tried the great Lake Nyasa whose waves thundered against the beach. But, it was not there either. Finally, I stared up into the great black abyss and saw seen millions of stars, with a great milky white film that covered them. It was the Milky Way Galaxy. It was the biggest thing I had ever seen in my life. It stretched halfway across the African sky. I looked and looked and listened very hard, but I didn’t hear from God.

      That night I went to sleep disappointed, thinking I would never hear from God. I had seen God do great things, but I had not heard from Him. I felt so bad, so alone, so abandoned. The next day I woke up and was sick as a dog. I ran back and forth from the bathroom every ten minutes.  It made me so sad because that day they were going hiking up a mountain, and I thought that it might be a place I could hear God’s voice, but it was not meant to be. I sat on the side of the soccer field longing so much to hear or feel God. I knew he wouldn’t come to me while I was sitting sick on the side of a soccer field watching some little kids play soccer with a paper bag. The sun was shining down on the field and I was sitting in the shade.  My head swiveled around and around. I looked at the kids and at the shade. My head slowly moved up, and I looked at the leaves as they swayed in the gentle breeze. THEN IT HAPPENED. I heard from God. It didn’t sound like a big roaring thunder or a band of trumpets. No, it was just a little calm voice in my head. It was clam, gentle, and soothing like a breeze on a hot summer day. Suddenly, I was not alone. He was with me, and I was with Him. He had been speaking to me the whole time I just never listened. It was a glorious feeling. I was not alone. I was with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. As we traveled back to our rooms I continued to marvel at the still small voice of the Lord. As I looked over toward the tree that was all alone in rice field, I saw a gentle breeze blowing its branches. I smiled.

1 Kings 19:11-14 “…A great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; And after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing…And behold, a voice came to him…”

Dear Lord, I need you everyday,
Uthe path I trod,
For on this road of life I need,
The loving Hand of God.

So when I feel this narrow road,
Just isn’t very wide,
I know so well there’s room for You,
To walk here at my side.   by Gertrude Mc Clane

Tomorrow is Sunday, so I’ll see you in church.