Serving the Lord

Another week in the books! Here's hoping your week was full of many joys and blessings.

Saturday was filled with excitement in and around the center. Our youth from Luke Simpson were with us to go on our visits to see our outdoor friends. What an impact the children have when our friends can visit with them and let them know, they are being prayed for all across the state. Basketball and bread wrapping was going on in full force.

Sunday evening, we attended part of the Methodist Conference. Some of us attended the opening ceremonies, while others attended the closing part. Some of our children were participants in the opening ceremony. Common Ground was asked to receive the bread brought by the churches to the conference Sunday night. We kept some of it, but also shared our blessings with other organizations around the city.

Tuesday at lunch time we hosted a small gathering of folks. We had the opportunity to with Dr Elaine Heath, she was one of the speakers at the conference. She wanted to see what the Common Ground place was all about. We shared some stories of our beginning and showed her around the campus. She was so impressed by what she saw, she talked about us and Grace in her talk on Wednesday at the conference.

Tuesday evening, the men gathered. Rickie led us in the reading of Joshua 24: 1-16. We had a special guest. Sione joined us for the evening. Joshua was sharing with his people, God has brought you out of captivity, fed you, kept you safe and still you worship your idols. What other gods do we worship, that takes us away from our God?

Thursday evening, we gathered in chapel as Willie and Ms Abbie shared their gifts. Our food was prepared by Brother George's church. Our market was busy all night long. Our clothing closet was full. A good evening of fellowship.

This morning and Saturday morning, Lisa and Momma T will be hosting our summer camp orientation. It was great to see Thursday evening, some of our returning interns. Can't wait to see how God will us our camp to build relationships.

Summer camp will begin Monday. Lunch will be at 12:30, with camp starting at 1. We have a full compliment of children and interns. Exciting times ahead for all involved. Come by and check out camp, guaranteed you will have a good time.

This coming week we have basketball games happening. If you can make it, the boys and Matt and Vikki would really appreciate it. The 14 year old games will be Monday June 15th at Princess Park. The game will start at 10pm. Their next game will be Thursday evening at Princess Park, starting at 9pm. The 12 year old games are Tuesday June 16 at Southern HIlls starting at 8pm,  Wednesday at Bill Cockrell Park starting at 7pm and Thursday at Airport Park, starting at 8pm.

Prayers for my wife Ginellen for her upcoming surgery this coming Friday. We knew this may happen, but it is still a shock to your system when the doctor says, I need to do more work. She has come a long way in her recovery and to hear more surgery is needed has been hard on both of us. Prayers for Sunday afternoon at 2pm as a new church family will be meeting to determine if they want to support our community both financially and prayerfully. Prayers for our upcoming camp, that it is not about all the stuff that will happen but about the relationships that will occur. Prayers for the Methodist pastors as they can take back what they heard and saw and are able to share that with their congregations.

Joshua says in the last part of verse 15, "But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord". Famous line, good one to remember, but do we do it? Joshua is sharing with the people, you and your ancestors have been brought out of bondage, given fertile land to grow crops on, protected from their enemies and still you turn away from the Lord. How could they?!  How could they worship other gods? But don't we do the same thing today?

The questioned was asked Tuesday night, what gods are we worshipping? Are we after that pot of gold? Fighting to get that bigger house? Allowing our egos and pride to dominate our lives? Trying to get more stuff, to make us happier?

God has brought us this far and still we turn away from Him. We take over our lives, because we think we can do it better. We make decisions concerning our families without going to God in prayer. Willie asked in chapel, does your God talk to you? Does your pot of gold, does your new car, or your bigger house bring you comfort and peace? Do they answer you?

But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. No better way to live our lives. No better way to find comfort and peace. No better way to let go of our trials and obstacles, our anxieties and frustrations. Only one way to find joy in your life, serving the Lord. Amen.

May our prayer be this week, letting go of those gods we might be holding onto and let's serve the Lord. Amazing things will happen. See you at camp this week. God is good!