Parents of Youth,
Please join me Sunday evening for a prayer meeting that is focused upon extending the kingdom of Christ in and through the hearts and lives of our children.  We’ll pray for:
—repentance and faith, for youth and their parents
—God to raise up staff for A.N. (After Nate)
—upcoming trips
—volunteer staff

We’ll meet from 6:00-7:15 in the purple room.

God’s purpose is that not only should His children enjoy liberty from sin’s dominion and presence, but that all creation should rejoice in His grace:
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55:12, 13 ESV)

It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. (Philippians 1:20-26 ESV)

“The curse of the old man at his inability to get his leg to do what it was meant to do is a cry for forever. The hurt inside the teenager who has been mocked by a peer is more than adolescent angst; it is a cry for forever. The whimper of the toddler who has had a toy wrenched from his hands by his older brother is more
than a scream of protest; it is a cry for forever. The tears of a mom at the end of a talk with a lost and wayward son are more than tears of parental grief; they are the tears for forever. The anger of the man who has just been laid off by a boss who didn’t seem to care is more than anger at a career injustice; it is a plea for forever. The sad silence around the casket of a dear one is more than the silence of the bereaved; it is a wordless longing for forever. The frustration of the erstwhile gardener that weeds grow faster than the flowers is more than a fight with the forces of nature; it is a wish that forever would come.  Forever is more than a hope and a dream. It is more than a theological formulation. It is more than a distant spiritual expectation. The Creator placed forever inside you. Longing for eternity doesn’t mean you’re spiritual; it simply means you are human. Life that never ends was the Maker’s original plan.”–Paul Tripp

The whole creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the
sons of God coming into their own. The world of creation
cannot as yet see reality, not because it chooses to be blind, but
because in God’s purpose it has been so limited – yet it has been
given hope. And the hope is that in the end the whole of created
life will be rescued from the tyranny of change and decay, and
have its share in the magnificent liberty which can only belong
to the children of God.
–Romans 8

Finish then Thy new creation;
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation,
Perfectly restored in Thee.
Changed from glory into glory,
Till in heaven we take our place,
Till we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love, and praise.

— Charles Wesley