MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF WALNUT GROVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH JUNE 2016 VOLUME

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1 WGCC Focus MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF WALNUT GROVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH JUNE 2016 VOLUME 6 June am 12pm VBS kickoff will be on June 12 th from 3-5pm at Moore Park in Arcola. There will be popcorn, snow cones and yard games for the kids. There will also be a place for VBS registration. The VBS Celebration will be on Friday, June 24 th from 5-7pm. This will be held at WGCC. There will be a short program to see what the kids have been up to all week! There will also be food, game and animals! If you would like to donate, just put a check in the offering plate with VBS MISSION on the memo line. Church Events Admin Mtg. 6/6 6/7-9, 6/14-16, 6/21-23, 6/ Deacons Mtg. 8am VBS Kickoff 6/12 from 3-5pm Eunice Club 9am Council Mtg. 6:30pm VBS 6/20-24 from 9am 12pm VBS Celebration 6/24 from 5-7pm AICM Mission trip 6/24-7/7 Missions Sunday 6/26 Team Mtgs. 6/27 VBS Mission All week we will be collecting donations to buy pigs for the Christian Mission to the Orient! (Abel & Ruth Sairattanyu) Abel & Ruth will actually be at VBS throughout the week so the kids will get a great understanding of how they are helping other people around the world!

2 ...but God has a big for small towns. We will be doing outreach opportunity in Humboldt every Wednesday in July. Below are the locations and times of where we will be. There will be more info in the weeks to come. 7/6 Community Center 7/13 School Sports Complex 7/20 Community Center 7/27 TBD (service project) Missions Sunday June 26 th We will have 3 special guests with us! Abel and Ruth Sairattanyu from Christian Mission to the Orient. Corey Fifield (Arcola resident) from Phokos. Illini Ministries There will be a potluck after church! Please join us to learn Eunice Club will meet on the 2 nd Monday in June (June 13 th ) instead of the normal date due to VBS. June 14 th at the Capitol Lincoln Statue at 12pm. We will be leaving the church at 9am and returning at 4pm. Please sign the signup sheet on the bulletin board if you would like to go. We will be doing a mission trip to the American Indian Christian Mission in Show Low, AZ from June 26th July 7 th. Please pray for safety while traveling and that many, many hearts will be moved towards Jesus. Soup During June & July the office hours will be as follows: Monday Thursday 8am 2pm Friday- Closed The office will resume normal hours which are Monday Friday 8am 1:30pm starting on August 1 st.

3 From our Pastor... Josh McDowell authored an apologetics book for junior high and high school students with the catchy title Don t Check Your Brain at the Door. It carried a simple and yet profound message to students: Being a Christian doesn t require intellectual surrender. The words that are used to describe Christianity can give the impression that our brains have been checked at the door: blind faith, wishful thinking, or antiquated beliefs. Yet, think back to the foundation of the New Testament. Luke in his Gospel started out by explaining his rational for writing at all declaring (Luke 1:3), since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, The word investigated paints the picture of a detective on the trail, letting the facts dictate the final report. Luke isn t the only one who refused to check his brain at the door. Paul who was once an antagonist of the Gospel, overseeing the murder of the first martyr Stephen, eventually went into the mission field in Athens to the Areopagus at Mars Hill. This was the place where philosophers sat around all day debating different ideas, worldviews, or positions. Think about it as a modern day debating club. Paul instead of shying away from criticism puts the Gospel before the people using their own city inscriptions against them. He found an inscription to an UNKNOWN GOD. He went on to explain that the unknown God had a name, took on human flesh, died and was resurrected. You see Paul was no unstudied slouch. He had studied under a guy named Gamaliel (still today considered one of the top rabbis of all time), was thoroughly acquainted with Scripture, and felt that the Word of God could stand against any assault. The Bible still today gets attacked and yet belief still doesn t require a surrender of critical thinking. You can trust what is in the Bible for a number of reasons. We have more manuscripts of the Bible than any other book of antiquity (99% accurate). Some skeptics claimed that the Old Testament with its numerous prophecies about the Messiah, so perfectly fulfilled in Christ, had to be changed in order to fit his life because how else could the Bible declare that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, crucified, born in Bethlehem, raised in Nazareth, be from the tribe of Judah, be buried in the tomb of the wealthy, etc.? The only problem for the skeptic is that in 1946 in the Qumran Caves a young shepherd boy found what today are called the Dead Sea Scrolls. 981 different texts protected and untouched for hundreds of years with nearly identical copies to the books and prophecies we hold to as proof today. Don t check your brain at the door. We have faith that is based on a foundation of truth! - Steven

4 Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul Join the Seconds Class for life-changing, faith building studies during the month of June as we continue the Erwin McManus study, Uprising. Warning: This study may not be for you! This study is dangerous! It is only for those who are ready to join an uprising a revolution of the soul that will change an ordinary life into an extraordinary one. It is only for those who want something more out of life, who desire to tap into the divine potential that was placed in them at their creation. You were in God's imagination before you were ever born. All the talent, gifting, and creativity you possess was placed in you by God Himself. Can you imagine the things you could do, the impact you could have on the world, if you tapped into the dreams God has for your life? In Uprising: A Revolution of the Soul, Erwin Raphael McManus boldly invites you to join the revolution. He illuminates the desperate heart cry of every human being "I want to live!" and then serves as a guide on a quest to answer that cry. Find your true purpose and destiny in the pursuit of the passion and character of God. Be a part of a revolution that changes a life of imitation and mediocrity into one of passion and character... a radical revolt that will forever change the world. Can t make it to class? This series is available on RightNow Media a resource website to which Walnut Grove Christian Church subscribes. Please contact Tera Arnold for more information on how you can access this valuable resource. Join us as we meet in the church basement classroom across the hall from Pre K/K class at 9:30 am for Uprising during June. Mission of the Month: Christian Mission to the Orient (Abel & Ruth Sairattanyu) They are a non-profit Christian organization serving in Thailand. CMO is a mission agency of the Independent Christian Churches / Churches of Christ. Their Mission: 1. To proclaim the Gospel and establish churches among the peoples of South East Asia. 2. To train church leaders for South East Asia. 3. To promote the publication of Christian literature and the translation of scripture into local languages. CMO Declaring God's Glory among the Lahu & Shan People Groups The Lahu Church Ministry is under the leadership of Abel and Ruth Sairathanyu. Abel and Ruth s ministry is to reach out and spread the Gospel to the Lahu people of northern Thailand. CMO has various programs that reach out to youth and orphans. They provide scholarship money to help poor, disadvantaged tribal youth to attend high school. Abel and Ruth provide a loving home for orphans through the ministry of Ban Suk Jai Home. Abel is a former teacher. He is a Lahu himself, so he has a special love for this people group. For more than a decade they have been serving among the Lahu. They have now established seven Churches in seven villages.

5 June 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Auxilliary to Heartland Rhonda & Chad Pedigo Kass Kersey Admin Meeting Kay House Rachel Sigrist Rhonda Pedigo Jeanne Strader Deacons 8am VBS Kickoff from Moore Park Eunice WGCC Council 6:30pm David Thompson Don & Jane Munson Hope Nisbet Mardelle Blagg Norma Jean Moore VBS Celebration from 5-7pm VBS Missions Sunday Team Meetings Erin Little AICM Mission Trip Bob & Karen Coombe Mandy Chupp

6 ` The Appreciative Boothe I would like to thank all those who came to the breakfast on Sunday, May 29th. We were happy to serve all of you what seemed to be a wonderful meal. Thanks to the generous giving we raised $500 for the youth group. It is always amazing to see how giving this church is. It is humbling for me, and I thank you for being willing to partner with what the church is doing with the young people of Walnut Grove. Thank you also to the kids who came out and helped serve, cook, clean, and all the other things that went into getting the breakfast off the ground. Once again, Thank you. - Aaron Published and mailed by Walnut Grove Christian Church E County Road 1700N Arcola IL Office Phone (217) WORSHIP 10:30am SUNDAY SCHOOL 9:30am FELLOWSHIP 9:00am OR CURRENT RESIDENT Steven Stern Pastor Aaron Boothe Youth Pastor Tera Arnold.Ministry Assistant Deanna Woolley.Bookkeeper Diana Groff. Custodian