Operation Christmas Child Drive

Its time to fill shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child presented by Samaritan's Purse. Empty boxes and packing instructions are available. Each filled box is an opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with a hurting child.

In addition to individual or family boxes, the children's Sunday School program Life Tools is asking for donations of items so our children can experience packing the boxes. There is a list of desired items available. Also your prayer and financial support is welcomed.

Please return the filled boxes or items for the children to pack by Sunday November 16, 2014.

Fall Sunday School Lineup Announced

The fall Sunday School Classes begin on September 7, 2014. Adult classes being offered are listed below. Adults should sign up for the class they would like to attend. When class size is determined, it will be announced where each class will meet. The Life Tools class continues, providing our children with the opportunity to see, feel, hear, touch and just experience God's Word. Also a teens' class led by Jeanne Ball will be offered.

• The Practice of Godliness by Jerry Bridges is being taught by Joe Kendra. How can we develop a character that is steadily transformed into Jesus' likeness? By laying an inward foundation of God-centeredness! Discover how to seek a deeper devotion to the Lord; train yourself to be godly; clothe yourself in Christ; cultivate humility; contentment, thankfulness, joy, self-control, peace, love, and other fruits of the Spirit; and more!

• Ron Beil will be teaching on The Book of Ecclesiastes.This is one of the Wisdom literature books of the Bible. Wisdom books are distinguished from Prophesy and History books by the way the truth is revealed in them. Wisdom writers speak of the human condition and bring to it the perspective of the divine majesty. Come and let's study wisdom as Solomon penned this great book.

• The Gospel of Matthew Women's Class will be led by LeAnn Bonzo. Come and see Jesus in new, delightful and challenging ways through the study of Matthew. With the help of the Matthew Visual Bible, a film depicting the gospel of Matthew word for word, we will consider Christ's love for us and Christ's calling upon our lives. The aim of the study will be to fall more in love with Jesus and to become more committed to faithfully following Him. A great by-product will be getting to know and love each other better!

• The Sermon on the Mount/Beatitudes will be the topic of study for the ongoing Young at Heart class being taught by Mary Jane Scott.

Summer Sunday School Schedule

The summer lineup of Sunday School classes will begin June 1, 2014. The new children's program Life Tools will also start at the same time.

Life Tools will be experiencing God's Word through all the senses: not only hearing, but seeing, feeling, smelling, and tasting! Each week will approach the Truth in different ways. The possibilities are endless - it's different every week.

The adult classes being offered are:

Crazy Love: It's crazy, if you think about it. The God of the universe - the Creator of everything around us - loves us with a radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing love. Crazing Love - Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan may just be the most challenging book outside of God's Word you will read this year. It is written by a man who walks the walk. Prepare to be challenged. Dave Campbell will lead.

Desiring God: John Piper states in Desiring God - Meditations of a Christian Hedonist that pursuing maximum joy in God is essential to glorifying God. This pursuing of joy will magnify Jesus Christ in our lives when we are most satisfied in Him. Piper draws on Scripture to build his case and discusses the implications of this for conversion, worship, love, Scripture, prayer, money, marriage, missions, and suffering. It has implications for our lives. Chris Bowser and Abe Johnson will facilitate.

The women's Young at Heart class, taught by Mary Jane Scott, is ongoing.

Exciting New Children's Sunday School Program to Start Soon

Beginning in June 2014 a bold new approach to the children's Sunday School program will roll out. Life Tools is designed to present key Christian values that will be useful for the rest of a person's life. Its key is to give kids the opportunity to see, feel, hear, touch, and just experience God’s Word!

On Sunday May 25, 2014 we will kick-off Life Tools with a family lunch during the Sunday School hour.

We want to reach as many children as possible. Please complete and submit the following Student Information sheet for each child that you want to participate in Life Tools.

This will be a whole church effort. Of course, adult help will be necessary to make Life Tools successful. We know that they also need Sunday School classes for their own growth so this program will allow them to still attend frequently. There are lots of ways and levels you can participate: from shepherding a group each week for a quarter (12-13 weeks), to assisting a only few times a quarter, to committing to consistantly praying for Life Tools. All skills are needed and welcomed.

If you believe it is important to instruct our children about God then please read the Interest Survey and then submit your responses below.