e-news for week of 7/4/10

paradox
■ noun
1 a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement or proposition that may in fact be true.
▶ an apparently sound statement or proposition which leads to a logically unacceptable conclusion.

We start a new sermon series this Sunday called “Paradox.” Just in case you don’t know this, let me remind you: Jesus Christ is our Savior. He’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords. In conjunction with that reality, He’s also the greatest teacher that ever hit our planet. We’ll be studying through the paradoxical nature of the kingdom of God through the parables.

Thanks to so many of you for the great feedback connected to the “I Do” series out of Ephesians. The best thing each one of us can do is implement. God’s church (that’s every believer) really doesn’t suffer from a lack of information but a lack of implementation. Sure, there may be some parts of the Bible you don’t know even exist, but “Love God – love one another” pretty much explains itself. (Can I get an “Amen?”)

We had friends from Michigan in town this past weekend. Mike, Carin, and their son Ben came to town because Ben will be in law school at MU this fall. It’s always great to get feedback about Forum from an outside perspective. What Mike and Carin affirmed that we are doing great was very encouraging, since it was some of the very areas where we have given great attention to detail. Some of their feedback connected to improvements came in areas, that as a staff and as lead minister, we are aware that we can do better. Most of all, they affirmed the warmth and the Spirit of God that is very much evident at Forum. They also communicated the excellence and the attention to details connected to worship, to the great impression our building and grounds make, and the overall atmosphere. While that’s just the surface of our dialogue, hopefully that gives you the picture.

Mark your calendars:
Family Vacation Bible School Day, "Your Personal Best" on Saturday, August 7 from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. A barbecue lunch will be provided. Be sure to wear clothes you can get wet in. See Katelyn or Jessie for more information and for how you can get involved.

If you want to read ahead, we’ll camp out in Luke 15 this week. I’m so very much looking forward to worshiping God with you all this weekend. — Scott

[1]Soanes, C., & Stevenson, A. (2004). Concise Oxford English dictionary (11th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.