July 14th, 2019

This Afternoon

Bolding Mill Park

4:00 pm

 
This afternoon we look forward to great food, fun and amazing fellowship as we enjoy this year’s annual church-wide picnic. Bring your side dishes, drinks and desserts. The church will provide the hamburgers, hot dogs, and buns. We always have ample food for everyone. Oh yes, bring your appetite.
 
Today, is a special day related to our picnic. While at the park, we will celebrate the home going of Kathy Kay Tyson together with her family from Virginia and Nebraska. Her two sons will be with us, Joshua and Jerry Tyson. Her aunt, Merna Neher Herzog along with her brother Wesley Snider will be with us. There can be as many as 8 family members here today to share in the memorial service. We look forward to welcoming Kathy’s family to our church and our worship this morning.
 
You might remember that I baptized Kathy at our church-wide picnic on the first year we held it at Bolding Mill Park. She had been visiting our church for some time, when she surprised me one Sunday morning coming forward during the invitation to make a profession of faith and present herself for baptism. I thought she had been saved for some time and had already followed the Lord in baptism. She wanted to confirm her faith in Jesus before the church and be baptized as a public commitment of her faith in Him. It was a glorious occasion.
 
Today we have the joy of sharing her faith personally with her family. I look forward to meeting each one of them and telling them more about Kathy’s love for Jesus. Doug and Janet Bryant’s Sunday School class will host the family during the Sunday School hour. The family will hear testimony and share firsthand with our members who were the closest to her. Kathy loved her Sunday School class. She was faithful when her health and work would permit her to be. She was a person who believed God’s word fully and made it a regular part of her life.
 
One night during her hospitalization, I stayed with her into the early morning hours. I prayed for her while listening to her breathe in and out. Her breathing was like that when a person is nearing the end of life. I thought about how hard it is to give up the breath that keeps us alive. I thanked God for His gift of breath. Though Kathy was not conscious, she did not miss one breath that night. She kept on breathing. I praised God and thanked Him for the opportunity and privilege of listening to Kathy breathe. Every breath we take is a gift from God, I remember thinking. Thank God for breath.
 
I pray God will breathe on our services today. I pray that they will be filled with life and hope and joy. Pray for Kathy’s family and pray that the breath of God will give life to our worship to the glory of God.