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My beloved Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

As you read these words today our family vacation is coming to an end, and we eagerly look forward to being with you this coming Lord’s Day!

I want to express my deepest appreciation for Rev. Jim Daughtry who preached in my absence. Jim’s messages were rich and powerfully encouraging, and we are all so very thankful for his gifts and his faithfulness in delivering God’s Word to us. I can’t possibly communicate to you how reassuring it is to know that when I am away the Word of God will be preached so wonderfully! Thank you dear brother!!

And thank you for your prayers for us while we were away. We feel very refreshed and rested, and we know our Father has blessed us though your kind and faithful prayers.

This Sunday, we begin our Summer Preaching Series on ‘The Parables of Jesus.’ Just about everyone knows that our Lord Jesus loved to tell stories. He has been called the “master story-teller.” The stories that Jesus told are known as “parables” in the Bible. The New Testament records at least 24 major parables, and a couple of dozen shorter ones as well.

The major parables are discovered in three of the four Gospels (the ‘Synoptic Gospels,’ or Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so called due to their similarity), but are concentrated largely in Matthew and Luke. It has been estimated that about one-third of the teaching of Jesus comes to us in the form of parables. So this demonstrates how critical it is that we study them carefully.

And when it comes to the parables of our Lord, we all have our favorite ones. For example, ‘The Pearl of Great Price,’ ‘The Lost Sheep,’ ‘The Prodigal Son,’ ‘The Rich Man and Lazarus,’ or ‘The Good Samaritan,’ just to name a few.

Over the summer months we are going to make a study of several of these larger (and more familiar) parables. However, we will begin our investigation not with a parable per se, but with our Lord’s own explanation as to why He taught this way.

Our text for Sunday’s message will come from Matthew 13:10-17. And as you review this passage, you’ll also want to consider the parallel accounts found in Mark 4:10-12 and Luke 8:9-10.

I love you all so very much, and I long to see you this Lord’s Day!

In His rich grace,

Mike

Upcoming Events:

June 17, 6:30 PM – Women’s Book Club
June 21, 7 PM – Senior Fellows attend City Lights and Stars Concert
July 8, 6 PM – Women’s Book Club Potluck at Timbers Edge Clubhouse
July 11, 11:30 AM – Women’s Monthly Lunch at Timbers Edge Clubhouse
July 17, 6 PM – Deacons Meeting
July 21, 2 PM – Davie Bridal Shower at Kim Fohrell’s house
July 30, 6 PM – Bags O’ Blessings packing at The CARE Center
August 11, 4:30 PM – Psummer Psalms recitation
August 12, 6 PM – Women’s Book Club Potluck at Debi Walker’s house
September 8, 9 AM – Sunday School resumes
September 20, 6 PM – Marriage Dinner

Order of Worship:

You can access this week’s Order of Worship by clicking here

If you’d like to sing the songs with your family beforehand, the songs for this week are:

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty – Hymn 53 v.1-3,5
Before the Throne
Great Is Thy Faithfulness – Hymn No. 32 v.1-3
Come Thou Fount – Hymn 457 v.1-3

Announcements:

Summer Schedule: Christ Pres is on Summer Schedule, which means Sunday School and regular weekly activities are on hiatus. Our weekly time of fellowship begins at 10 AM, with worship beginning at 10:30 AM. Regular weekly activities resume September 3 and Sunday School resumes September 8.

Bags of Blessings:Members, Our church will pack “Bags of Blessings” food bags at the Care Center, New Hope at 6 PM, Tuesday, 30 July. These food bags are given out by public school teachers on Fridays to children not receiving adequate food on weekends. We need about 25 church helpers to accomplish this important job. If you would like to help, sign up at the table in the narthex. The packing will take place in a warehouse on Main Street in New Hope, next to the City Hall (on right facing City Hall). Take New Hope exit off Hwy 431. This is Main street and it goes by City Hall. Please arrive before 6 PM. The job should take 1-1.5 hours to complete, and children can help. Thanks for your support.

FCA:  In less than a month; June 17^th-21^st  FCA’s camp (http://northalabamafca.org/madisoneast) will be held right across the street! I get the privilege of helping to serve lunch at that camp. Each year members from our church have donated food items, and volunteered to help prepare, serve and clean up lunch each day during camp as well as the very large family night meal on Wednesday June 19th. Much of the food served is donated by local businesses and individuals. Our church has supplied many needs for past camps; specifically dessert and side dishes for the coaches and staff table, coffee needs for the coaches and staff each morning, a fun dessert for the 13 year olds attending camp their last year, and HOURS of hands on help in the kitchen. This is such a blessing to so many! The kitchen staff is unusual in that we get to serve and come into contact with most everyone attending and working the camp. Having a team of people to help this run smoothly I believe allows more moments to spend pointing those kids to the gospel….the whole reason this camp happens!  If you would like to join me and several others from our church body in helping during camp please contact me! I think we have a lot of fun in the kitchen!  If you would like to donate food items I have a sign up genius for specific food needs. If you have any questions contact me! I love to chat about what we are doing and how this camp blesses so many!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084DA5A92DABFD0-fcacamp

Thanks, Erica McNeese

Women’s Book Club Fellowship: Title of book is Even Better than Eden by Nancy Guthrie. Meets Monday nights starting June 10th from 630-8pm at 2 locations
Home of Sharon Daughtry 5726 Jones Valley Dr HSV 256-520 0824
Home of Debi Walker 8538 Sedgebrook SE 256 929-3214
July 8th from 6-8pm will be a joint potluck fellowship at TimbersEdge Clubhouse
Aug 12th wrap up potluck fellowship for both groups at home of Debi Walker
We will not meet the week of VBS July 15-18

HPRC: Sunday, June 16, is the final day to return your baby bottles to support the Huntsville Pregnancy Center. Please return them at the Welcome Desk in the Nartex at the church. If you won’t be there on Sunday you may still return them to Jack Cooper by noon on June 19 at the church. Jack is in his office every morning—  simply ring the doorbell on the side of the building and you will be able to give your donation to him. Thank you, in advance,, for getting those bottles back to us right away and for supporting this important work.

Psummer Psalms: Everyone in the congregation is invited to memorize one entire Psalm this summer, then join us for a recitation at the church, followed by ice cream, Sunday, Aug 11, 4:30pm. “How sweet are your words to my taste…” Psalm 119:103  Recitation can be individual, or together in a group or family. We had a great group last year–young and old sharing God’s word out loud and with conviction. If interested, email darondrown@gmail.com for periodic encouragement and accountability.

Senior Fellows: On Friday, June 21 at 7:00 PM (show starts at 7:30) the Senior Fellows will attend the Burritt on the Mountain City Lights & Stars Concert to see the In the Mood Band (Richard Bagdazian). Buy tickets on line at BurrittOnTheMountain.com). The address is 3101 Burritt Drive. Carpools will leave the church at 6:30 PM.