Good Monday Morning MABC family,

 It is nice to greet you without having to warn you to be safe due to extreme heat and humidity!  Enjoy the cooler temps today!

 Now to see if you paid attention this past Sunday as we started our deep dive into Luke and the Book of Acts!  Who were the two books addressed to? Why did Luke write his gospel and then the Book of Acts (if he indeed wrote Acts)?  Same purpose? Different purposes?

 As we go through this Book of Acts, I want to remind you once again to spend some time in the Gospel of Luke.  These two books are best read one after the other.  This coming Sunday I will give you some examples of how they fit together.  We will look at Acts 1:4-11 for sure and maybe a little more as I flesh out the sermon this week.  If you want to read ahead, here are some questions I am going to be looking at:

 Why is the “gift” that the Father is sending them so important that they must wait for it? What do you think the disciples were asking when they asked Jesus about restoring the kingdom of God?  What words of wisdom (or admonishment) do the angels give to the disciples? What do these questions have to do with us today?

 I want to remind you of a couple of important outreach opportunities.  Marketplace this Saturday.  It is my understanding that first contact with some of the new families attending took place last year at Marketplace.  It took about a year but they are here!  We never know who we will engage this Saturday that may join us in worship and community at a later time.  It is also a good fundraiser for our youth and children for camps.  This year we don’t have anyone going to camp.  Next year I hope to have some “campers” from MABC.  Sherry has told me that we now have had about 15 different kids who have attended Kids’ Konnect during worship on Sundays.

 Please take a moment to read Les’ MABC update this morning and pay particular attention to the school supply announcement.  This could be a great outreach opportunity as well.  We will share info about the supplies to those who come this Saturday. Parents will be told that any child that comes to our one-day Vacation Bible School (Aug. 3) will get school supplies.  Our kids will get their supplies as usual.  Any additional supplies will be shared as part of our new partnership with Lawrence Elementary school.

 One more thing to update you on as well.  You can now catch our Sunday worship service on YouTube.  Search MABC Video and you should be able to find it.  It will look better than our previous Facebook live attempts in that we have two cameras and the sound will be greatly improved. The sound is still a work in progress as we try to get the livestream mix just right.  It is completely different feed than what you and I hear in the Sanctuary on Sundays so any suggestions are welcome. 

Have a blessed week!  Pray for our church family, use your bulletin notes!  Pray for Saturday that God would move in our community through us!

Pastor Rick