ACC - Leadership Online

As I type this, the church is full of children and an awesome group of volunteers! Today is the end of a great week of Day Camp. It's been an exciting week. Here are a few things I love about the ministry of Day Camp...

- Children learning about God. This year we had around 55 kids participate in the program. That's 55 kids that have spent a full week in an environment intentionally crafted for their spiritual growth.

- The Gospel message being presented. On Thursday, we present the Gospel and invite children to place their trust in Christ.

- The volunteers. A program like this requires a LOT of help. We had a top-notch group of dedicated servants this year. Some who even used vacation time to help out. I love seeing so many ACC-ers passionately serving!

- Community outreach. Some of the children involved in the program come from families that don't have a church home. I love that Day Camp provides an opportunity for us to love and serve the children of our community and introduce their entire family to the role the local church can play in their lives.

This Sunday, we'll be taking some time during the church service to share some highlights from the week and show a video recap. I hope you'll join us!

Grace,
Chris

The birth of a child. A juicy rib-eye steak. The smell of burning leaves. The beauty of the Smoky Mountains. A ride on the Raging Bull at Great America. The refreshment of jumping into a cool pool on a scorching hot summer day.

What do all of these things have in common? You have to experience each of them yourself to really have a clue. Reading about each of them won’t do the trick. A friend telling you about them won’t cut it.

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8

In his commentary on this Psalm, Charles Spurgeon, the famous British preacher of the 19th century, wrote: “Our senses help our understandings; we cannot by the most rational discourse perceive what the sweetness of honey is; taste it and you shall perceive it.”

We are meant to experience God with our senses – to really encounter him and interact with him – not to simply have a certain amount of “head knowledge” about him – or knowing a list of facts about him. If we do indeed “taste” Him we will discover that he is truly “good” – in every sense of the word!

The classic spiritual disciplines allow us various ways of tasting him. Ways that He uses to engage us: Scripture, prayer, fasting, mediation, worship, fellowship, solitude, silence, journaling, service, etc.

Have you tasted Him lately???

The awesome thing is that whatever we apprehend of him here in this lifetime is but a “taste” – the full feasting experience will be our face to face fellowship with Him in heaven!

In the meantime – get tasting!

Peace,
Dave

1. Worry is extremely unproductive.

2. Prudence is often used as a euphemism for fearing men.

3. Free is seldom really free.

4. Being a Cubs fan is not a choice – it is a personal destiny and a cross to bear.

5. The Bible is to be sipped, not guzzled.

6. God loves you enough to often say no to your prayers.

7. Life is often hard and confusing yet obedience must be consistent.

8. Obedience is only possible with a lot of help from God.

9. Not everyone will like you – no matter how hard you try.

10. Relationships are way more important and satisfying than pretty much anything else.

Nothing new or profound here – just what I was reflecting upon at this milestone in my life.

Peace,
Dave

It's good to be home!

Our HS mission team had a great trip this past week. We're so thankful for such a memorable and spiritually significant week. We were stretched beyond our comfort zones, challenged emotionally and physically by the work we did, and encouraged by the joy of those we were there to serve.

I'm continually grateful for how God blesses us as we chose to be obedient and serve. As our team took time to reflect each day, we heard story after story of how much God was teaching each of us.

I so appreciated Dave's message yesterday about developing an lifestyle of serving others. I know I was challenged by what he had to say and will be looking for ways to put into practice the 4 next steps he listed:

- The service of listening

- The service of hospitality

- The service of sticking up for others

- The service of being interrupted

Grace,

Chris

Today, Friday, our High School Mission Team leaves for our trip to Boston, MA. We'll be driving half way today, staying near Buffalo, NY tonight. On Saturday, we'll drive the rest of the way to Boston. We don't have to be to our mission site until Sunday evening, so we'll have a full day to do some site seeing in Boston. We'll be at our mission site Sunday - Friday and will have opportunities to serve in the community throughout the week. You can follow our trip on www.twitter.com/acc_missiontrip I'll be texting in several updates each day.

We'd really appreciate your prayers for (1) Safe travel, (2) Health, and (3) Hearts open to how God wants to use us and what he wants to teach us.

Here's a list of our team members

Chris
Eric
Carla
Jenae
Tim
Curt
Samantha
Bridget
Jonathan
Kevin
Mark
Christina
Benjamin
Sam
Jonathan
Erika
Darshaun
Sandra

Be sure to be here for church on July 4th to hear from our mission team. Thanks!

Chris