Members and Friends,

September is here and it’s time for us to shift gears and get ready for all that God has in store for this Fall!  Our official Fall Kick-Off is Wednesday, September 10^th and I hope you can make it!  We’ll have burgers and hot dogs at 6pm, with games, activities, and a bounce house for the kids.  This is a great chance to catch up with friends who have been gone over the summer, and to meet new friends as Emmanuel UMC continues to reach out and grow.

God is certainly at work in this place and among these people; there’s no doubting it!  This past week, we experienced a major answer to prayer, with Patty’s son David, who had been in a severe diabetic coma, returning home and even getting out to a Mud Hens game!

This September, we have a Membership Class after service on the 14^th.  The following week, in addition to welcoming any new members, we will also be celebrating several baptisms.  Praise God!

I’m reminded of the final verses of Mark’s Gospel:

”After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.  Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”

What signs have you seen lately of God’s work?  Note that it says, after Jesus had arisen and the disciples went out to preach, “the Lord worked with them.”  Remember, friends, that ministry is not something we do for God.  Ministry is not ours, it is Christ’s.  It is the work of Jesus, to the glory of the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

May God’s Spirit continue to empower us, and may we go continue to love and serve

wherever we encounter Jesus at work.

Blessings for a wonderful September!

Pastor Zack