~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sunday, July 13th — This is the 9th Sunday after Pentecost. Our color is green.
for the Scriptures they are:
Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13-1-9, 18-23
Matthew 13 — Jesus Teaches in Parables
1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea. 
2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.
3 And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate
them up.
5 "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.
6 "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
8 "And others fell on the good soil and yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some
sixty, and some thirty.
9 "He who has ears, let him hear."
Vacation Bible School in Casey - July 13th through 17th - from 6 P.M. through 9:00 P.M.
COME AND MEET —
AND — MANY MORE NEW FRIENDS —
“Power Lab, Discovering Jesus Miraculous Power” is the theme for the Vacation Bible School that begins Sunday, July 13, 2008 at 6:00 PM to be hosted by Casey United Methodist Church. All children pre-school to 6th grade are invited to participate. The VBS will continue nightly until Thursday, July 17, 2008 when it concludes with a program at 8:00 PM at the church.This is a great solution to summertime boredom. When your kids come to “Power Lab” they will discover how Jesus used miraculous power to help people as we explore daily our Bible adventures. Each day your children will take part in fun Bible learning they can see, hear, touch and even taste! Bible Point crafts, team-building games, lively Bible songs, and tasty treats are just a few of the Power Lab activities that help faith flow into real life. Every day, kids choose a Daily Challenge, an exciting way to live out what they have learned. Since everything is hands-on, kids might get a little messy. Be sure to send them in play clothes and safe shoes.
Your kids will also participate in a hands-on mission project called “PET” (Personal Energy Transportation) vehicles. Come and try to ride the PET by using your arms and help gather funds to provide a PET for a child in need, around the world, who is not able to travel on roads with out a stable vehicle like this.
Power Lab is great fun for all the children; even teenagers will enjoy helping as Crew leaders helping younger children. Parents, grandparents and friends are invited to join us each day at 8:45 PM, because that is when we will be having Faith Fusion Finale – a daily celebration of Jesus’ power you won’t want to miss.
So make July 13 to 17, 2008 on your calendar. The fun starts at 6:00 PM nightly and will end at 9:00 PM. To pre-register your children for this awesome power-packed adventure, please call the Casey United Methodist Church office at 641-746-2210. OR - VBS registration for Casey on Saturday the 12th at the Dinner following the parade in Casey for Casey Days.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANNOUNCING THE SECOND ROUND OF THE “PRACTICES” (Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations)
Nearly 500 individuals from over 130 churches all across Iowa got a “first taste” of the Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations last April when we met in three different locations within our Conference to learn more about applying the “Five Practices” within our own local churches. Now is your chance to experience the second of these three highly received workshops, this SEPTEMBER 20th. This “SECOND ROUND” will feature the following SITES AND THEMES:
Vinton: Radical Hospitality & Passionate Worship;
Winterset: Intentional Faith Development & Life-Long Evangelism; and
Cherokee: Risk-Taking Mission & Service & Extravagant Generosity.
Each workshop will begin at 10:00 and conclude by 3:00. You pick which site(s) and location(s) work best for you (such as your worship committee going to Passionate Worship or your Evangelism team to Intentional Faith Development). Some churches have sent multiple teams to two or three sites, and some have indicated that they want to “go back” and send additional teams to a theme they were part of in April. ANY COMBINATION IS POSSIBLE.
ALL THIS IS POSSIBLE BECAUSE THERE IS A ONE-TIME ONLY REGISTRATION FEE of $50. For that fee you have access at all three workshops (last April 12 and this coming September 20 & November 8), receive Bishop Robert Schnase’s book Five Practices of Faithful Congregations as well as Bishop Ruben Job’s book Three Simple Rules, 6 copies of each presentation AND a complete DVD set of all three workshops. Sounds good, doesn’t it!!!
NOW IS THE TIME TO REGISTER. OR - If you’ve previously registered, all you need to do is contact Dee Dee Sobotka (at deedee.sobotka@iaumc.org) and let her know which site(s) you’ll be coming to; then by September 14th let her know the number of meals reservations to hold for you. OR CONTACT DEE DEE and let her know your site(s) and send in your $50 check. (Make the check payable to the Conference.) She’ll send you the books and other material, then remember to get your number of meal reservations in to her by September 14th. “Homework” assignments will be sent out to you as soon as you register.
FEEL FREE to contact any one of your Leadership Development Ministers:
Scott Hibben (scott.hibben@iaumc.org),
Eric Guy (eric.guy@iaumc.org),
Kevin Gowdy (kevin.gowdy@iaumc.org) or
Naomi Sea Young Wittstruck (nsy.wittstruck@iaumc.org).
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Thank you for being on my team this week. It was a very busy time, but very enjoyable. God Bless and keep you, my friends,
Pastor Lynn
