This Weekend at the Vineyard -- 10 am only!

Vineyard Family & Friends,
This weekend is exciting! We’re doing a couple of new things during our weekly service along with our annual blessing of the graduates. Here’s what to expect on Sunday – remember that we meet at 10 am this Sunday.

Baccalaureate Sunday. We congratulate our 2007 graduates and bless them as they move on to the next phase of their lives.

ServeFest Sunday. The church will leave the building and prayer-walk our surrounding neighborhoods. Just like God is on the move...we want to be a church on the move! Our desire is to pray for our community. God wants to show His love and affection, His mercy and grace to our neighbors. We are going to pray that they would be receptive to knowing Jesus; and that we would be followers of Christ who are actively sharing the gospel message with others.

Wear your walking shoes, hiking boots, flip-flops – whatever you feel comfortable walking in.

Do you have limited mobility? If so, we’ll have a group praying at the Vineyard building. They’ll be praying through the names of the people who’ve come to our food shelf. We want to partner with God in meeting our new friends’ physical hunger & also their spiritual hunger.

Parents: You are welcome to take your child/children along with you on the prayer walk. You must check them out of the Children’s Ministry before you leave for the walk. If you decide to leave your child in the Children’s Ministry we ask that as you sign them in please leave a cell phone number so that we can reach you in case of emergency. Those forms will be available at the registration desk.

Grilllin’ & Chillin’. We’ll grill out following the prayer-walk here at the Vineyard. Hamburgers/Hot dogs…eat for only a $1/per person donation! Enjoy some time hanging out together.

It should be an exciting weekend!
Congratulations to our graduates!

Vineyard Kids Info

Vineyard Parents -- here's some info for you...

Vineyard Kids Page...
Yeah, summer is here! School is letting out and it’s time to have some fun in the sun! Our kid’s ministry plans on taking advantage of the good weather and getting outside these walls on Sunday mornings. We will take about 15 minutes each week to get outside and play a game or two, so please dress your child appropriately.
The Attributes of God is our theme for the summer. Each week will talk about a different attribute of our great big God and how we can experience each one. The month of June will look like this:
· June 3rd God is our Justice
· June 10th God is our King
· June 17th God is our Father
· June 24th God is our Provider
Our time is spent in worship, teaching, games, and crafts, rotating through the stations. Our goal is keep things simple and fun!
Room change for the summer. We will begin and end in the youth room every week, beginning June 3rd. Check In/Out process and location will remain the same. We just need a bigger space to gather, due to one service time this summer.
Friday Family Fun Nights…be looking forward to some dates and times. No Vacation Bible School this year. Instead we would like provide a place and time to relax and have fun as a family and even invite some friends if you’d like. More info to come.
Focus Verse…We want to partner with you parents! We know you desire for your kids to know and love God’s word. Deuteronomy 11:19 encourages us as parents to be looking for opportunities and sharing God’s truth and heart as we live life together in families. Your really are your child’s best teacher! As they watch you spend time in God’s word and hear you speaking that truth into everyday circumstances, your child will understand how foundational God’s truth is to life. As a children’s ministry staff, we will provide a focus verse and spend a minute or two in our teaching time talking about that verse. We encourage families to focus on the verses with us! June’s focus verse is…
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of His unfailing love. Psalm 33:5

God bless you and your family,
Nicki Reeves

Looking Toward June

I always seem to look back at a previous event when I write so...let's look forward to June today.

On June 3rd we're going to one service at 10am. We'll continue that throughout the summer through Labor Day weekend. The reason: in the summer Midwesterners gotta play! It seems a lot of people go on vacation up north or around the country with their families. We thought we'd go to one service to keep our momentum going and have the whole church together.

On the first Sunday we're doing a prayerwalk during the service. We're going out into the neighborhood and we'll walk the streets praying for our community. We'll come back and have some hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and enjoy some time chillin' together. That's also Baccalaureate Sunday where we'll honor our graduates.

The following weekend will be the Free Oil Change -- the name says it all! We need your help to make this happen! Contact the church office or respond to this blog to volunteer.

The week of the 10th will be our annual Garage Sale. We already have the pods at the church and we're able to receive your goods and gently used clothing. All the money made will go toward funding our Food Shelf. The sale itself runs from the June 14-16th.

Our Mexico Mania team will head out as well. Students will head to Mazatlan, MX for a week in the sun (and heat!) to minister alongside our sister church there. They always have an incredible trip!

On June 20th, we bring the 18-mealer back to unload again and serve our neighborhood families. Make sure to volunteer for this! You'll enjoy every minute of it!

That's a good picture (but not a complete picture) of some of the events in the month of June. Get connected...get involved!

God's best to ya!

Incredible!

Wednesday night's Free Food Distribution was incredible!

We had over 300 families receive food (FOR FREE!)! People were lining up at 3:45 and registration didn't even start until 4:30. It was one of the most amazing things that I've ever been part of!

And the church! To see God's people be the serving army that He's called them to be! You are amazing as well! I loved seeing God's people give of their time to serve others in need -- we are learning about 'otherliness'! I looked at everybody working so hard...their hands were hurting from carrying boxes and laundry baskets full of food...yet, they had these huge smiles on their faces! Incredible!

The next morning I went in to Target to work at 5am and I was bouncing, filled with excitement. I think I still had so much adrenaline from the night before. My co-workers were asking how it went (some even came to help!) and were asking when the next one was.

I know we have some pix -- so I'll try to get them soon! Our next Free Food Distribution is June 20th. Get ready for it!

ALSO -- don't forget that we give food out every week at our Food Shelf called Fruit of the Vine. Saturday mornings at 9:30-11:30 am.
God's best to ya!

Today's the Day!

We are walking around here today eagerly anticipating the arrival of our 18 wheeler filled with food! Or, as we lovingly call it -- 'the eighteen mealer'!
We make ourselves laugh around here -- it was either that name, or call it the Truck of Blessings.

Anyway - I am pumped! There are 50-60 people organized to unload and distribute this food. I'm praying for over 100 families to come and get some help from this free giveaway. I'm excited that even some of my Target co-workers said they'd come to help out and unload the truck!

What a cool day this will be! Keep checking back for the updates! Maybe I'll even include some pix (if I remember how to!)

God's best to you!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all that are reading this today are enjoying time with their friends and family! Take time to really honor your mom (if still alive) or time to honor and grieve her loss.

Mother's Day this year is a mixed bag for me. Being a man, you may ask 'why?'
I love my mother but each year I miss my grandmother more. She had a profound impact upon my life.

This year the mixed bag comes from having lived through two miscarriages with my wife. It's hard to understand what she's feeling. I'm feeling similar thoughts, feelings, etc as she is...but then I also see how it has affected her physically...and that's where the mixed bag comes in.

How do you help someone you love so much walk through this? Trusting in God is always the 'correct' answer...spending time in prayer, etc. But when you're good at fixing stuff and this you can't fix...when you usually know the right things to do...and nothing seems to fit. AAAGGH! I feel like a helpless Charlie Brown as Lucy pulls away the ball. I fly up in the air and land flat on my back! WHOOMP! All the air knocked out of me.

But slowly God is blowing wind back into our sails -- He is always good, and He knows how to take good care of us!

Those are the thoughts behind the smile today!
I hope you enjoy your day! God's best to you!

Saying Goodbye is Always Hard

This weekend will be the final weekend to have Shari Luebbert as Director of our Children's Ministry at the Vineyard. We have been tremendously blessed with her service during the past year as a staff member and for her service as a volunteer before that. Shari has recruited and trained teachers, she's set the weekly schedule for teachers and helpers and has also created some fabulous new outreaches that the Children's Ministry led the whole church in. We will definitely miss her and her family.

Take time to read the following letter from Shari to see that this really is a God thing and a good thing! (God things always are!) We pray that God will bless her and the new staff she'll develop. We also pray that their family will enjoy the opportunity God gives them to 'church' together.

Thanks Shari, for all you've done! God's best to you!

Dear Vineyard Friends,

For several weeks, I have felt a bit uneasy. I could not place my finger on the reason why. In talking with a friend about it, I wondered aloud why I felt a strong connection to the pastor’s wife from NewDay Church. I have been praying for Laurie and Doyal VanGelder ever since I learned two years ago that they had a desire to start a church in Elko New Market. I heard that they walked through their neighborhood and prayed for their neighbors. It sounded like a great idea, so I joined their efforts by prayer walking through my neighborhood. Laurie and I have e-mailed each other over the past couple of years, but it wasn’t until six months ago that we actually met face-to-face.

God recently asked me to spend a day in fasting and prayer for myself. It seemed like an odd request, but after some consistent nudging by the Holy Spirit, I complied. God prompted me to head out on a prayer walk. Instead of praying for others, the walk was a conversation with my dear Friend. We were set to list our house that weekend. We wanted to be closer to town so that my family and I could better serve at the Vineyard, yet my heart felt so unsettled. As I walked by the homes of those I had been praying for these past two years, I asked God if the time spent in prayer was really all He wanted from me here. Was I really just to pray for Laurie and Doyal? If that was it, I would accept that. I won’t minimize the value of prayer, but was this really where my tie with them and this community ended?

Later that morning, I was stunned to receive an e-mail from Laurie titled “Bloom Where You Are Planted.” She asked me to pray and consider if God was calling me to minister in the Elko New Market area by partnering with them. Laurie, Doyal, and I sat down together two days later and we all knew that this meeting was God’s leading. After a lengthy interview and much prayer, they asked me to come on staff at NewDay as their children’s ministry director. I accepted.

In addition to the groundwork between Laurie, Doyal, and me that God laid for this partnership to occur, God is fulfilling a prophecy that was spoken last April by Jody Kingston from Vineyard Church North Phoenix. At the children’s ministry retreat in Estes Park, Colorado, Jody approached me to let me know that God said that it was time for my ministry to begin. She also said that God would bring my husband along so I didn’t need to worry about him. Rick has attended NewDay Church and he likes it. He told me that even if I continue at the Vineyard, he will be attending NewDay. My heart skips a beat to know that my husband is eager to join me at church.

I have loved my time at the Vineyard. I am eternally grateful to Paulette for giving me the privilege of teaching Sunday school. She had faith in me and it made me want to give my best. You, Chris, put an awful lot of trust in me and I didn’t want to let you down. I am thankful that you gave me the opportunity to serve as the children’s ministry director at South Metro. John coached me through two new outreaches. Paula modeled what good worship looks like in children’s ministry. Daris took care of the basics so that I could focus on ministry to the children. Greg took care of my kids so that I could take care of others’ kids. Carly became a friend that shared mistakes with me (sorry!).
I was continually amazed at the caliber of our volunteers. South Metro has some very talented and dedicated people. I can’t even begin to tell you how wonderful it has been to get to know each of the kids. Although I am eager to serve at NewDay, I feel a deep loss. I covet your prayers.

Today, Mother’s Day, is my last day at the Vineyard. Thank you for teaching me to lead. Thank you for also teaching me to follow. I’ve got a lot more to learn, but you set me out on a good foundation.

God bless you all,

Shari