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Ruth and I enjoyed our week of vacation at the Outer Banks. We were fortunate that we didn’t need to evacuate because of the hurricane offshore. It did though make the surf rough and kept us out of the ocean much of the week. We did enjoy watching the tremendous waves from the beach, biking each day as well as time in the pool. We were grateful that Bob and Marty, our friends from Harrisburg, could join us for several days. While it was good to be away, it is always good to come home too.

Last Sunday, we had our annual Southern End Celebration Sunday. What a great Lord’s day as we worshiped in the Grove and then enjoyed a meal together in the Family Life Center. My thanks to all who drove tractors, trucks, combines, you name it, to the church for the event. It was a great Sunday and a reminder that our beloved Solanco Fair is just weeks away.

If you haven’t signed up yet to help in the milk shake stand, the Wednesday of the Solanco Fair, look for the sign-up sheet in the gathering area. We are also gearing up for the return of our Roots nights, in just about a month and there are ways you can help with that too. A sign-up sheet for volunteering in this vital ministry is in the gathering area. 

On Wednesday this week, I traveled to Broad Top City, PA, about two hours west of Harrisburg for a funeral for Terry Hicklin. Terry was a dear servant of the Lord at the United Church of God where I served as pastor from 2002-2008. She was a powerful prayer warrior and such an encourager of people. Her son called me while we were on vacation telling me that she passed quietly in her sleep and asked if I would come. I was honored that they let me know and agreed to come and share a few words. 

Tomorrow will be a difficult day for me. Tomorrow morning is the funeral for Pastor Randy Jenkins at Grace Community Church in Willow Street. Pastor Randy was my pastor when I was a young adult at Providence Church and the person most responsible for me entering the ministry. He mentored me and has been my friend and pastor for over 35 years. The family has asked that I pay tribute to Randy at his funeral by giving the tribute/eulogy from the church and how Pastor Randy impacted my life but also the churches he served. Please pray that God would give me just the right words to honor Pastor Randy’s legacy of faithful service to Christ and His church.

I spent some extra time in prayer yesterday and today after the horrific shooting at the school in Minnesota. To know that two children lost their lives in God’s sanctuary as they are gathered in worship is heartbreaking.  I have been praying for the families that have been impacted and for the community for healing and strength. And I have been praying for the spiritual and emotional health of our country that sees violence as an answer. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure, who can understand it?” The answer is Jesus. Starting in a few weeks we will begin a series entitled, “Just Like Jesus” as we consider how we can have a heart that is not deceitful and beyond cure but rather a heart just like Jesus’. And that has been my prayer for our nation as well and believe that the “cure” for the inhumanity of man and senseless violence is Jesus. Let me encourage you to join me in praying daily for our nation that we indeed would be a nation under God with a heart just like Jesus.

This Sunday we will wrap up the summer series on David as we look at his final words and the end of his life. With schools back in session and summer winding down, let us make being together as God’s people a priority for months ahead. The writer of Hebrews cautions us to “not give us meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:24). I look forward to being together with you again this Sunday—to encourage you as you encourage one another. 

With a touch of fall in the air, enjoy your holiday weekend. Remember the church will be closed on Monday for the observance of Labor Day. And while it is Friday---the good news is that Sunday’s coming! 

 Pastor Kevin