Greetings New Life friends and family!

I hope everyone had a safe, restful and fun-filled July 4th weekend! We had much to celebrate. I thought the combined service was great- a nice mix of traditional and contemporary music, and several of you have mentioned how nice it was to see and worship with folks from the other services. A big thank-you to greeters and ushers who worked together to provide volunteer coverage for that one service.  And, a huge round of applause for the volunteers who arrived early to help Joey in the kitchen, cooking all those hot dogs and baked beans, then delivered them out to the big tent for all us hungry people. An event like this requires many helping hands to make it successful, and this congregation always answers the call for help! Thank you!

It was also a blessing to welcome Pastor Angela and her sweet family into our church family. During these first weeks and months I'd like to urge everyone to wear your name tags. New ones with our new name and logo will be coming, but in the meantime, we have made stickers to cover old logo, etc. You can pick one up at the front door. Some of you had already had been very creative in covering the name! Thanks again for your patience as we take care of all these items that need changes . Until new name tags are available wear your old one, or use a disposable one. It will help Angela learn who we are.

Last week I mentioned that prayer doesn't need to be fancy, and we don't need to worry about getting our words right or wrong.  We just need to start, because God is listening. In the beginning, I think I used prayer as a kind of weapon, something I'd pull out if things got bad. Of course, things in my life got more than bad, they got terrible. That's when the simple prayer asking God to "help me" became urgent. Ps.34:4-8,17-18 became a daily reading for me. It says; "I prayed to the Lord and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears. Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. In my desperation I prayed and the Lord listened; He saved me from all my troubles. For the angel of the Lord is a guard; He surrounds and defends all who fear Him. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh the joys of those who take refuge in him!...

The Lord hears his people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed."

I refer back to this often, as it reminds me that it's not about the right words, but about the right heart. You can start with a simple "Help me Lord ". God is listening, and even waiting to hear from us; it doesn't matter if we're in a beautiful sanctuary, in a prayer closet, or walking along the beach. He invites us to reach out to Him wherever we are. Just let His love wash over you, pray with humility, asking God for His mercy, and listen for His answers. Keep on praying!

I'm praying for you!