Nevertheless

"Though the cherry trees don't blossom and the strawberries don't ripen,
Though the apples are worm-eaten and the wheat fields stunted,
Though the sheep pens are sheepless and the cattle barns empty,
NEVERTHELESS...
I'm singing joyful praise to God.
I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.
Counting on God's Rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength.
I run like a deer."

Okay, so the word nevertheless isn't in the middle of this passage, but it is in our lives. Our keynote speaker delivered a tremendous sermon yesterday, saying,
"Though [fill in the blank]
NEVERTHELESS...
God prevails. We rejoice."

The classic example is Jesus, who though he dies, he lives and so do we. This is the good news. We need to share this with our children and grandchildren, but also everyone we come in contact with. Our whole lives should be driven by the joy we receive from this one occurance. Life from death.

Please attend Children's Sunday tomorrow at 10 am (we will also have the 8 am service...June 13th starts our summer 9 am worship...our next garden service is June 27th). We need to teach our kids and youth about the truth of NEVERTHELESS. We need to live it by example.

We have had great stewardship conversations this weekend. Heidi and I can't really afford to tithe, NEVERTHELESS...God provides.

My dream for Faith is that every child who walks through the door (member or friend) would be so convinced that they are a precious child of God that their lives would never be the same. I would love to see all of our Confirmands, before they make their vows in church in the spring of their freshman year, attend one week of Camp Calumet and one week of a mission trip free of charge. We need to give generously to make that happen.

A handful of people are working diligently to eliminate our budget deficit. Please let me know if you would like to join them. Tomorrow is our last Stockholder Sunday. Could you spare $20 for the campers and $20 for the mission trippers? For $40, you will get a postcard from each trip. Unified, we can make a huge difference in the world and in the lives of our youth.