“Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground (Psalm 143:10)
The season of Pentecost is the time when we remember that Jesus has not left us alone, but has given us the Spirit of God, to teach, guide, heal, motivate, and illuminate us as we live, worship, and serve here in the kingdom. While our worries for the world may overwhelm us at times, we know that there is a power in us that is given so that we would be ones who bring peace, hope, and the promises of our God with us wherever we go.
I’m hopeful as I see all the new faces in our Sunday worship! Our newest member, Mariposa, granddaughter of Audra and Alfred was baptized May 22nd! I consider myself pretty good at remembering names, but with so many new folks joining us on a weekly basis, I’ve been challenged. I hope that we’ll all be working to get to know each other in the weeks to come! For our June 26th annual meeting, we’ll have lunch together and use some time to reconnect with fellowship. We’ll also hear a recap of events from the Grand Canyon Synod Assembly and elect new council members.
I’m inspired for our sermon series on “Good News for the Messed Up” with thanks to Pastor Matt for the ideas and scripture readings. I looking forward to sharing on how the Gospel meets us and transforms us in our lives, in our relationships, in the church, and in the world. Our new Bible study “Spread the Word” is all about sharing this good news, and I can already tell that it’s going to be a meaningful time that will inspire more sharing of our faith stories.
We are still recovering from the pandemic, and while there are new folks gathering with us Sunday morning, there are some who cannot safely participate in large groups. We are blessed to be able to share church online with so many who jump in and share in the word, the prayers, and fellowship in that way. I’m always looking for more ideas to take this part of our ministry to the next level, and I’m thankful that we have begun training on how to setup and run technology for worship. If you or someone you know would like to volunteer to learn and serve in this way, let me know!
We’ll soon welcome kids and families for Vacation Bible School (July 25-29th)! We’ll be meeting soon to discus the program, decorations, and additional needs. This is always a fun week to share in music, Bible stories, games, and food! And we always sleep well afterward. Our youth have some great faith-filled summer activities lined up as well, and I am grateful for the amazing gifts of Marissa our youth minister.
Our new Living Hope sign logo has been installed on the north side of the building. We want to continue to let people know who we are and share God’s grace in the neighborhood! We have many opportunities to carry the good news with us and participate in community outreach this summer, so if you know of an event where we might be able to setup and share, help, volunteer, or serve, please let us know! We want to meet your friends!
We will be taking a family vacation July 3-10th, and will be out August 7th. Thank you for always supporting me as your pastor and caring for my family so well. We are grateful to have called this church our home for 8 years now! Our church musician, Dr. Alexandria Le will be off June 26th and we’ll have Barbara Siegel on the piano.
The spirit of God is given to us in baptism, and gathers us as a community of faith, inspires us for service, sends and sustains us every moment of every day. Let’s continue to SHOW UP! to worship our God of grace, to SHOW UP! for one another in all our struggles and griefs, and SHOW UP! for our community of Las Vegas! Thank you for sharing your gifts, your faith, and walking with us as we worship our God in Spirit and in truth.
In Christ,
Pastor Jason Adams
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