“Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” – Psalm 95:1

 How do we walk with Christ…on a daily basis?  That seems like such an obvious question one has to wonder why I am asking?  But while the question seems simple, the answer is not!  Our lives are so busy, and our schedules are so filled with activities that we hardly have time for family and jobs much less focusing on being a Christian.

Walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus came upon a fisherman named Peter and his brother Andrew.  He said to them, ”Come, follow me…” – Matthew 4:19a  A few moments later he came to two more brothers, James and John, and he called them also.  One by one, Jesus called different men until he had his chosen twelve – then he began the process of teaching them to daily follow him, grow in him, and faithfully serve him.  Jesus has called us to live the same life and he has left us the instruction guide to do so.  But how do we do that?

The Greek word for follow, akoloutheo, means to accompany on a journey or to walk with someone down a road.  Jesus has called all of us to accompany him on our life journey – not walk it by ourselves.  We read in the gospel records the kind of life that Jesus called his disciples to live.  At first they struggled.  But as they grew to focus on him and his example, they too mastered the walk. Eventually, the Apostles learned to live as Christ taught them and they themselves wrote about living such a life in their letters that were left behind.  The writings of the New Testament have been given to us so that we might learn to walk the walk as well.

The Hebrew writer wrote these words, “… let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith…” – Hebrews 12:1-2a   Did you catch that last phrase?  “…let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.”  Do you want to learn to walk the walk of a committed Christian?  Do you want to be more like Jesus?  Are you looking for calm in the midst of the storm you know as life?  Are you searching for peace from the chaos that surrounds you?  Then focus your eyes on Jesus and he will teach you how to Walk the Walk!

 Upcoming Events…

Monday & Tuesday, August 21 & 22…Lunch @ Mulberry Elementary School Muskie Days

Friday, August 25^th…Silver Society Lunch, All-American Diner, @ 11:30am

September 16^th – Fall Festival at the Kurz’s home

September 19^th…Blood Drive @ the Building.

September 24-27^th…Demons vs. Prayer Seminar with Steve Hemphill of Active-Faith.  www.active-faith.org

Can you help serve lunch…We need your assistance in serving our neighborhood school.  This coming Monday and Tuesday (8/21 & 8/22) we will be serving lunch to school staff as they participate in Muskie Days  (parent teacher conferences). Each teacher will have only 30 minutes for lunch between conferences and we will be providing them with food that they can grab and eat in their rooms.  Monday we will serve hot sandwiches, beans and chips and Tuesday will be a variety of salads with grilled chicken.  Karen Anderson is running point for this service outreach.  If you can assist her, please let her know ASAP.  This is an important opportunity to serve this community!

 Spiritual Warfare Seminar…with Steve Hemphill is coming up fast.  Mark your calendars for September 24-27^th, each night at the Riverview Center downtown on Harbor Drive.  Each session will be a different presentation.  Steve will be teaching class on My Search for Heaven, and preaching on The Covenant on Sunday morning at the building.

Sessions:

• Sunday, 9/24 @ 3:30pm Spiritual Warfare 101 (Dinner to follow)
• Sunday, 9/24 @ 5:45pm Biblical Demons and Symbols
• Monday, 9/25 @ 6:30pm Spiritual Weapons (pt.1)
• Tuesday, 9/26 @ 6:30pm Spiritual Weapons (pt.2)
• Wednesday, 9/27 @ 6:30pm Prayer Hindrances & Land Markers in Scripture, Spiritual Resources, and a final Charge for Battle

This Week at MCoC…we will take a break this week and do something different.  This week we will sing, a lot!  I’m working with Alan to bring you a themed lesson taught by the songs we love to sing.  I hope you will join us!

DJA