Vacation Bible School, 50 Days of Prayer, and Losing Your Baggage

Sunday's column...today.

It’s Sunday, July 21st. Today is a big day at The Water’s Edge! A really big day!

Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me. –Mark 9:37 

Tonight is the beginning of three days of fun, friends, family, and faith. It’s Vacation Bible School! At press time on Wednesday afternoon, we had over 160 kids registered. We expect lots more registrations. As long as the child is between the ages 4 and middle school – he or she is welcome. We can always use volunteers as too! You can register on Sunday morning at Millard West or on Sunday evening at Russell Middle School. Vacation Bible School runs from 6:15 to 8:30 Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday evenings.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. –Colossians 4:2 

Today also marks the beginning of our 50 Days of Prayer campaign. We mailed the booklets in the middle of the week and will be passing them out in worship this morning and at Vacation Bible School tonight. And you will also have access to it wherever you are - online. 

We will have individual time with God. We’ll pray for our church. And we’ll pray for our city and world. Couples and friends and families will be encouraged to pray together. You will read a short Scripture and have a thought or two to ponder each day. I believe this is one of the most important things we will do as a church in 2013. I also believe these 50 days can be a real spiritual breakthrough for individuals and will help families begin praying together and talking about some of life’s most important and essential issues. 

I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. –Philippians 3:13

One of the things I’ve been praying a lot about is our worship experiences this morning. We continue our sermon series Summer Vacation. The message is Losing Your Baggage. As people we unnecessary hold on to life’s baggage and are burdened with our past. My prayer is that, this morning, we lose the baggage that is holding us back and get past our past. God wants us to trade our baggage in for something else. 

• Our failures and our fears will become faith, forgiveness, and freedom. 
• Our brokenness and our boredom will become belief, blessings, and bravery. 

Serving and loving kids, praying and depending on God, and putting our past in the past…I really do believe the best is yet to come… 

Craig