No Free Meals

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Greetings in the Name of Jesus Christ,

Wednesday evening, the Men’s Group met for fellowship and food. The participation was well beyond our expectations. I guess when you offer a free steak dinner, men show up. It was great. Chris Givens and his team did a phenomenal job preparing first class steaks, baked potatoes, and salad. We filled up the Quad Room with men, fun, and good food. Even though we had prepared way more food than needed, the crowd was so large, we only had one baked potato left. 

When I spoke, I joked about the free steaks. I said, “I hope you enjoyed the food. But really, there are no free meals.” With that we asked for volunteers for our ministries. We had men sign up to help with all of the events listed below. Will you also give of your time for one of these events? 

The reason VBS and the Youth Mission Trip need more volunteers is that we have more kids signed up this year than we anticipated. With the children’s area growing, we planned for more, but the response has been astounding. Let’s make sure we have enough volunteers to handle as many kids as possible.

We also have a need for scholarships for the mission trip and extra supplies for VBS. The need for VBS is $5,000, and the need to underwrite the extra transportation and scholarships for the Youth Mission Trip is $3,000. Please join Amy and me in giving an extra donation to these opportunities. Or… you may want to underwrite the entire amount. If you need more information, email me. 

VBS is one of the greatest opportunities to reach kids for Christ. It is the greatest faith formation event for our children. I know this sounds like a lot above what we originally budgeted, but we want to make sure VBS is a high impact experience for children and families. Let’s make this a signature event for Stonebridge UMC.

Youth mission trips are also high impact for students. I hear often from adults that they came to know Christ, heard the call to ministry, or realized they would always be connected to the church while working on a mission trip. Let’s make sure we can make it possible for as many kids to go on this trip as possible. 

This Sunday, I will continue the sermon series “The 4:8 Principle: Creating a Joy Filled Life”. We will continue looking at Philippians 4:8 and also consider the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3:14-21. 

It is going to be an exciting Sunday. Tell at least one person about the great ministries of Stonebridge UMC and invite them to worship. 

See you Sunday.

Pastor John Allen