Many were instrumental this month and deserve our heartfelt thanks.
To: Joe Gregar and Glenn Pooler for keeping the grounds looking sharp during this long, hot, summer. Thank you!
To: Everyone that has invited friends to join them at church! Sharing the Word is a gift for both the guest and the church. Thank you!
Education News
Families with Confirmation age children (7th & 8th grade) need to touch base with Pastor to ensure your child is on the list. Be on the look out for a welcome letter.
Bible Study
The PLAN, an online Bible study tutorial is available HERE.
Wednesdays
Adult Bible Study at 7 PM.
Music News
"DON’T BE SHY”
Step up and volunteer!
This is a shout out to singers and musicians who want to share their gift of music, in worship, here at Christ Our Savior.
If you are interested in serving in music ministry, please contact Janet Hibbard for more information.
08/07 In celebration of Sam Walania's 10th birthday!
08/14 In memory of Ted Nay
08/21 The Eickhoff's in recognition of back to school.
08/28 OPEN
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Those who have signed up for flowers have two options:
You can provide your own. They must be at the church before the 8 AM service.
Sandy can get them for you for $20. (Make checks payable to Sandy Barsh.)
Flowers may be taken home after the 10:30 AM service. Please return vases to the church when flowers are done. You may contact Sandy Barsh at 913-548-9588 for questions or to fill and open date.
August Birthdays
08/04 Drake Varns
08/06 Sam Walania
08/07 Lila Marsh
08/08 Alyce Crow
08/11 Cooper McDaniel
08/16 Jeff Lohse
08/18 Jordan Brown
08/19 William Helms
08/20 Cole Mynsted
08/20 Vernon Rausch
08/24 Avery Graham
08/29 Steele Smith
08/30 David Sharp
08/31 Marilyn Towne
August Anniversaries
08/03 Tyson & Lindy Spinner
08/07 David & Cheryl Brown
08/07 Boog & Jimmy Chandler
In the Military
Military members and friends of our congregation include:
Colin Alexander
Dylan Ash
Jim Buckman
Garret Cline
Mark Edgar
Maurissa Glick
Megan Honeywell
Jeremy Howard
Zac Howard
Freddy Hurt
Greg Jeffrey
Tyler Jordan
James Keltner
Tom Moore
Danny Myers
Austin Nicholes
Rob O'Bannon
Garrett Rausch
Lindsey Rausch
Allison Walania
D.J. Weaver
Worship: 8 AM, 10:30 AM
& 7 PM
Sunday school at 9:15 AM.
Office Hours:
Monday-Friday
10 AM- 2 PM
Please contact us if we missed your birthday or anniversary so we can update our records.
Christ Our Savior newsletter is published monthly and produced in email and print versions.
Pastor Andy Writes...
The Plans
“For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” --Jeremiah 29:10-14
Jeremiah prophesies to a nation under siege. The Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians have set their
sights on the destruction of Israel. The Babylonians will lay siege to Jerusalem, destroy the temple, and take the Israelite into captivity in Babylon. I the midst of this turmoil Jeremiah tells the faithful of Israel that God has a plan.
We are amid turmoil as a nation and as the people of God. God has a plan.
"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according
to his purpose." --Romans 8: 28
God has a plan. We see His plan for our salvation in the person and work of his Son our Lord.
Notice what Jeremiah says to the Israelites. He tells them to call upon God. He tells them to seek and find God. God wants to be found. We find God when we call upon Him. We find God in worship. We find God revealed in Scripture. We find God when our eyes are opened by the Spirit, and we see that God has come to us and clothed us with the righteousness of Christ.
Often, we self-exile from God. We allow ourselves to be captive by our sins. Selfishness, bitterness, anger, jealousy, and strife hold us captive and keep us from enjoying our relationship to God. We strive to do things our way and we turn our back on God’s ways. God has plans for us. His plans are for welfare and not for evil. He has given us future and a hope through the death and resurrection of His Son.
God has plans for us. This is where we place our trust and hope. Our help is in the name of the Lord. Be still and know the eternal God is Lord.
A Word on the Importance of
Sunday School
Did you know 70% of youth leave the church their first year post high school?
They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. --1 John 2:19
Let’s start by defining what the church is.
Many people understand the church as a building, often with stained glass and a steeple. Though its true buildings can be awe-inspiring or even plain and simple, a more biblical understanding of a church doesn’t relate to buildings at all, but to people.
In the New Testament, the word for church is ekklesia (ἐκκλησία), or assembly of Christians. Literally meaning “called-out ones” in the original Greek, a church is a group of believers in Jesus who gather for worship, Scripture reading and teaching, fellowship, and prayers
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. --Acts 2:42
According to data collected by Promise Keepers and Baptist Press, if a father does not go to church, even if his wife does, only 1 child in 50 will become a regular worshiper. If a father does go regularly, regardless of what the mother does, between two-thirds and three-quarters of their children will attend church as adults. If a father attends church irregularly, between half and two-thirds of their kids will attend church with some regularity as adults.
Another study, focused on Sunday School, found similar results on the impact of fathers:
When both parents attend Bible study in addition to the Sunday service, 72% of their children attend Sunday school when grown.
When only the father attends Sunday school, 55% of the children attend when grown.
When only the mother attends Sunday school, 15% of the children attend when grown.
When neither parent attends Sunday school, only 6% of the children attend when grown.
Fathers are you regularly attending church and teaching your children the ways of the Lord? Are you following this command?
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
--Deuteronomy 6:6-9
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. --Ephesians 6:1-4
Who’s this 30% that's staying in the church? They basically fall into two categories; kids who are being discipled at home and kids who have parents that live a Godly life.
According to America’s Research Group who research church goers.
Twenty percent (20.6%) said they don’t believe the Bible is true and historically accurate.
27% said they don’t believe homosexual behavior is a sin, and two in five said gay couples should be allowed to marry and have all the legal rights of heterosexual couples.
30.6% said abortions should continue to be legal in most instances.
Almost 40% said they think premarital sex is okay.
62% (again, those surveyed attend church) said they believe if you are a good person on earth, you will go to heaven upon your death.
Less than 50% said someone taught them how to defend their Christian faith if they were challenged.
50% do not believe in a young Earth.
So what’s the solution? Our children need more training, more nurturing, more teaching than ever.
Parents, Christian educators, youth pastors, and pastors all have a role to play in the solution. All of us in the Body are called to defend the Word and live the Word. Our specific mandates, however, are unique, and our strategic action points vary depending upon where God has placed us. And teaching creation and biblical apologetics is a necessary part for all!
Why isn’t our faith taking root in our children? First, it’s possible that the parents themselves do not have a “robust Christian faith” to start with. Christianity is contagious, but children won’t catch it unless the parents are infected. If your children aren’t following Christ, you must first check to see if they’re following your lead! Your first priority as a parent is to live the Word of God in a natural, sincere way. If you try to preach it to your kids without living it, you’ll only add to the hypocrisy that turned so many of them away.
Second, you need to realize that our society is no longer “Christian.” Our kids are living in a culture that is saturated with counter-Christian messages built on a foundation of evolutionary secular humanism. It’s your job to protect your kids and prepare them for life in this post-Christian society. You need to teach them how to answer the skeptical questions of this age. Show them that you do not compromise God’s Word with man’s fallible word (for example, by allowing millions of years or evolutionary ideas to invade Scripture and thus undermine biblical authority).
It is time for a radical shift. We need to be diligent not only to teach our children the ways of God but to live them out. Here at Christ Our Savior we are committed to discipline the next generation to be biblically literate.
Please join us August 24th at 5 p.m. at the Flanery’s
for Sunday a school kickoff BBQ.
RSVP to Courtney Flanery by August 17th
by calling 913•314•8371
Credit for this article is in part to Answers in Genesis and Theology for the People.
The Meals on Wheels Pie Auction
is Back!!!
Who: Meals on Wheels
What: The Annual Pie Auction and Dinner
When: September 10
Where: The American Legion
For those that don't know, this event raises money to help offset the cost of the local Meals on Wheels program. That program provides meals to the elderly and shut in population in town.
This year's dinner will consist of pulled pork and smoked brisket (prepared by Walter Chester), potato salad, coleslaw, cheesy corn and baked beans. Tickets this year cost $20 and you can pay at the door BUT reservations for the event are required.
In years past, we have auctioned off between 45-55 pies that are donated by members of Christ Our Savior and the surrounding community. Bryan Knop will the our auctioneer again this year!
Please join with the Strubbes, Roths, and Meyers and volunteer to help out. Whether it's set up, tear down or donating pies, tasks are easier with many hands.
Contact Beth Ramsey for any and all information, including volunteer opportunities and reservations.
The August Council Meeting/Book Club is on Tuesday, August 9th at 7 PM.
