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Wonderful! Awesome! Fun! A great Blessing!

Thats the things I heard when people tried to describe Vacation Bible School. To many it was the highpoint of June. Certainly for the children . When Gods people listen and obey Him those same words can also describe their lives and their relationship with Him. I have seen a church sign that says, Children spell love T-I-M-E. The first time I read that I thought how true that is, in everyday family life and at church too. Vacation Bible School is all about spending time with children just to tell them Jesus loves them and He made a way they can go to heaven to be with Him forever. There is no doubt in my mind God blesses those who make VBS possible. My next thought about love and time is that everyone spells love that way. I believe God does too. Time is the one thing that we never have enough of. We tend to spend it on ourselves, work, family and friends; but we spend so little of it on God. Even if we go to church every service, read our bibles and pray every day, that is still very little time. Having said that, Bro. John has asked us to pray earnestly this month as Pastor and officer elections will be held the first Sunday night of August. As a congregation, we need Gods leadership in everything we do. Certainly God wants to lead us in paths of abundant blessings, just because He loves us. Today is the first Sunday of July and tomorrow is the 4th:, a national holiday. Remember, as we celebrate, that although men fought for freedom it is still a gift of God and we should thank Him for it. Have a great 4th!

Can Anyone See God? A small boy once approached his slightly older sister with a question about God. "Susie, can anybody ever really see God?" he asked. Busy with other things, Susie curtly replied: "No, of course not, silly. God is so far up in Heaven that nobody can see him." Time passed, but his question still lingered, so he approached his mother: "Mom, can anybody ever really see God?" "No, not really," she gently said. "God is a spirit and he dwells in our hearts, but we can never really see him." Somewhat satisfied but still wondering, the youngster went on his way. Not long afterwards, his saintly old grandfather took the little boy on a fishing trip. They were having a great time together -- it had been an ideal day. The sun was beginning to set with unusual splendor as the day ended. The old man stopped fishing and turned his full attention to the exquisite beauty unfolding before him. On seeing the face of his grandfather reflecting such deep peace and contentment as he gazed into the magnificent everchanging sunset, the little boy thought for a moment and finally spoke hesitatingly: "Granddad, I - I wasn't going to ask anybody else, but I wonder if you can tell me the answer to something I've been wondering about a long time. Can anybody, can anybody ever really see God?" The old man did not even turn his head. A long moment slipped by before he finally answered. "Son," he quietly said. "It's getting so I can't see anything else."

A Beautiful Parable
Where there is Love there is also Wealth and Success!

A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said I dont think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat. Is the man of the house home? they asked. No, she replied. Hes out. Then we can not come in, they replied. In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what happened. Go tell them I am home and invite them in! The woman went out and invite the men in. We do not go into a house together, they replied. Why is that? she asked. One of the old men explained: His name is Wealth, he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, He is Success, and I am Love. Then he added, Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home. The women went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. How nice!! he said. Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth! His wife disagreed. My dear, why dont we invite Success? Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love! Let us heed our daughter-in-laws advice, said the husband to his wife. Go out and invite Love to be our guest. The woman went out and asked the three old men, Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest. Love got up and started walking

toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: I only invited Love, Why are your coming in? The old men replied together: If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us wouldve stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!!! My Wish for you Where there is pain, I wish you peace and mercy, Where there is selfdoubting, I wish you renewed confidence in your abilities to work through it, Where there is tiredness, I wish you understanding, patience, and renewed strength, Where there is fear, I wish you love, and courage. Wealth and Success to you always with Love!

Do you want your life to count? Saturate yourself in the

Scriptures! When God's Word and a receptive heart get together, something is going to happen. Walk in fellowship with like-minded Christians. Pray and believe that God will do great things in and through you. He will surely bring it to pass.

Live a Life That Matters Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else.

4 Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed. Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear. So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away. It won't matter where you came from or on what side of the tracks you lived at the end. It won't matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin color will be irrelevant. So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured? What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave. What will matter is not your success, but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example. What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you're gone. What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what. Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident. It's not a matter of circumstance but of choice. Choose to live a life that matters Congratulations to Cody Layne for graduating from the International Academy of Design & Technology in Tampa, Florida with a Bachelor of Fine Arts-Computer Animation Degree. We are very proud of him. Please keep him in your prayers. He is now looking for a job. Larry & Debbie Layne

FREE COUPONING CLASS Sat. July 9, 2011 10:00AM 12:00 Living Water Church Call 235 4750 to register

"Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."

July 4th Quotes Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it. ~Thomas Paine This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the

Congratulations

5 White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

ALL gave Some Some gave ALL

My Dad wanted me to take a picture of the picture in the church foyer of the military men. One Sunday back in the spring I brought my camera to church and asked Debra to take a picture of it for me and she did. I saw that if I made him a picture of it, the picture would have to be large for him to tell anything about it. For a while I did not do anything with it but he would ask about it most every time I saw him so I decided to put every man in an individual 4 x 6 picture. To make every picture the same size I had to do a lot of work on them because many were showing the effects of their age. I have posted some you may knowleft to right: Bro. Thomas Rollins, Bill Wet Duck DishroonDad told me he is Sis Annetta Potts father which was news to me. After Bill is Bro. C.W. Nunley who was a long time member of this church. And Lillard Campbell...seems I should remember him but I dont. I know some of you do. I will post more in future issues. Roger Shrum

6 thankful to all the people who have fought for the freedom we have and to those who have given their lives. While you are celebrating this July 4th, say a special prayer for all those still fighting for this great country. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! GOD BLESS!
Submitted by Sister Debbie Layne

Independence day Independence Day is the birthday of the United States of America and is celebrated on the Fourth of July each year. Independence Day is the anniversary of the day on which the Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776. John Adams, one of the founders of our new nation, said, I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore. Independence Day was first celebrated in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. In 1941, Congress declared July 4th a legal public holiday. Gaining and keeping our independence has not been cheap. It has cost and will continue to cost many lives. Be thankful to God for giving us the freedom to worship Him. And be The Cactus and the Caterpillar Once there was a man who asked God for a flower..and a butterfly. But instead God gave him a cactus. .and a caterpillar. The man was sad; he didnt understand why his request was mistaken. Then he thought: Oh well, God has too many people to care for and decided not to question. After some time, the man went to check up on his request that he had left forgotten. To his surprise, from the thorny & ugly cactus a beautiful flower had grown. And the unsightly caterpillar had been transformed into the most beautiful butterfly. GOD always does things right! His way is ALWAYS the best way, even if to us it seems all wrong. If you asked God for one thing & received another, TRUST. You can be sure that He will always give you what you need at the appropriate time. What you want .is not always what you need! God never fails to grant our petitions, so keep on going for Him without doubting or murmuring. Todays THORN Is tomorrows FLOWER!

7 NEWS FROM THE BIG APPLE!!!!! What a wonderful blessed time we had this month during Vacation Bible School, which was held the week of June 13-17. Our theme was THE BIG APPLE ADVENTURE! Sister Jan's lesson was Jesus instructing the disciples to tell the world about him. Sister Melody and Brother Tony's lesson was the Samaritan woman at the well. Brother Matt and Brother Casey's lesson was about Nicodemus and how to be born again, and my lesson was about the sinner woman who washed Jesus' feet. It was wonderful way to teach Salvation and plant a seed of God's Love with these Children. 160 Children and 95 Adults attended for the week. The best part of every night was prayer time, when all those children would gather around the altar to honor God. It was wonderful to see. I believe that was Brother John's favorite time, too. You could tell from the smile on his face. You could fill the Lord's presence all week, but not as much as you could Wednesday night. We had a terrible storm that night; just traveling to get there was scary enough. When Mandy asked for prayer request, people asked for safe travel and for the electricity to stay on, because the lights had blinked right as we were starting the program. We took flashlights to our rooms and all night the lightening lit up our rooms; but the electricity never blinked any more. The most amazing thing to me was when the time came for all of us to go to the fellowship hall. The storm died down, but it seemed that when we were safely back inside the church the storm raged on. Thanks to Sister Annetta and Brother John for the Taxi service back and forth to the fellowship hall. Too bad we didn't have yellow and black stripes for their vehicles! Thanks to all the volunteers who help make the week wonderful. Special Thanks to all the ladies in the fellowship hall. Sister Debbie, along with the help of Sister Jewell, Sister Willie Kate and Sister Betty, transformed the hall every night into a wonderful snack time spot!!! Special Thanks to the extra helpers, Sister Pam (I wouldn't have made it without you the first night when we had the babies), Sister Labreeska, Sister Tisha, and to all the parents who helped!! Last but not least, thanks to Sister Mandy for all the work you do. You make it easy for us to be able to concentrate on what we have to do. I believe the Children had a wonderful time. The program the children put on Friday night was wonderful; they praised God in so many ways and I believe the families were really proud. It was so great to hear the children singing bible verses and telling what they learned each night. I am so blessed to be a part of telling the children how great and amazing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is.

ABC's of Being a Christian

ADMIT Admit to God that you are a sinner. Repent, turning away from your sin. BELIEVE Believe that Jesus is God's Son and accept God's gift of forgiveness from sin. CONFESS Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
Submitted by Sister Valerie Smith

JULY BIRTHDAYS

8 8 - Roger Shrum (old as dirt) 9 - Gene Richard 10 - Jona Sanders 13 - Kenny Stewart 18 - Joe Cunningham 18 - Devan Meeks 19 - Valerie Taylor 20 - Alley Lyle 8 yrs. 20 - Chris Nunley 23 - Gunnar Morrison 26 - Randall Cannon 30 - Pam Turner 31 - Tamara King 15 yrs. JULY ANNIVERSARIES I - Sherman & Gwen Williamson 4 - Keith & Valerie Smith

Sunday School Childrens Choir