Sunday at South Haven=)

This morning the Stewarts were out of town so Mrs. Barbara Buck taught my class.
Sadly it was my last sunday in the youth group! I can't believe it!
Anyways the lesson was about "Spiritual Umbrellas" that God has put in our lives to protected us.
God is our main umbrella but beneath Him we have many others.

A) Parents
B)Pastor (and wife)
C)Teachers
D) Youth Pastor (and wife)
E)Godly Friends
F)Grandparents

If you are blessed as I am to have these godly umbrellas in your life appreciate them!
They have a boundary and we aren't safe unless we are within that boundary!
Boundaries=Protection!

Pastor and his family are on vacation so Bro. Mickey Austin preached this morning on "God's Formula for Peace"

Most of you were there so i won't get to in depth, but here are some of my favorite parts from that message.

The formula is
Being Careful for nothing + Praying and Supplicating + Being Thankful in everything + asking God = The Peace of God
(taken from James 1:8)

"Don't let your problems get between you and God, Let God get between you and your problems!"

Prayer- Me going to God with a situation and asking for intervention

Supplication-to bind yourself to others and help them take their burdens to Jesus, can't take it, but can help carry it!

"When I carry a burden, i get stronger!!"

Then tonight Bro. Fay preached on Obedience.
Once again, you were there but here are some quotes.

"Concern yourself with what you can do, not with what you can't!"

"God has wisdom and a plan far above mans, and all we have to do is OBEY!!!"

There you have it...other edifying day at South Haven.
I am so thankful for my church and all the servants that make it the great ministry it is!

Till Then,

Quotes from Last Nights Sermon

"Any time I spend out of God's will is WASTED TIME!"

"Time is a precious commodity, Once I use it I can't get it back!"

"Much turmoil today is a result of poor or wrong decisions yesterday"

"The biggest argument for Jesus or against Jesus is the life of a christian!"

"We are not only to be God's witnesses, but we are to be God's evidences!"

These great statements don't even scratch the surface of what a great message it was.
What i got out of the service last night is, use your time wisely and do things that count for Christ, because i don't want to look back and say i wish i had done this or that instead of this or that.

I strive daily so that someday when i look at all the things i have done i hope Christ can be satisfied with the life i've led.

Till Then,
Rachael

The Seven Rs: the formula to keep short accounts with God

• Recognize-See that you've sinned & are out of fellowship with God.
  
• Repent-agree with God about your sin & confess it to Him.
  
• Rethrone-mentally put Christ back in the center of your life, because sin pushes Him out.
  
• Replace-you must put something in place of the sin or it comes right back.
  
• Rejoice-Stop and realize that our fellowship with God is unbelievably sweet!
  
• Remember-to keep these good thoughts in mind as we move thru each day.
  
• Repeat-repeat this process again and again as often as necessary.

We all struggle to stay constantly right with God...we are all sinners and must get right with Him on a daily basis. Dr. Gibb's message last week on getting clean has really stuck with me and this is something that has helped me that i thought i'd share!

Till Then,
Rachael

Youth Conference Messages

Ok so i've been watching as much of YC as i can on the live streaming and i wanted to share some notes i've gotten from the awesome messages so far=)
These are all notes I took from their preaching.

Opening Speaker Last night was Bro. Mike Ray.....He opened with some funny statements and jokes to get our attention....he said "Lo Children are and heritage of the Lord"
God is talking about height!!! (you kinda had to be there...or be watching it live=)

I didn't get to see his whole message because we went to church last night but he mainly spoke on giving God your all. He used a great illustration to show us how much time in our life we spend sleeping, eating, getting ready, driving, etc. and that once you subtract that time from your life span...there's not a lot left to give Him. (so when God asks me for my all....He isn't asking a lot! After all, it is my "Reasonable Service"!!)
But then Bro. Ray pointed out...if you turn all those things into His service that gives a lot! Driving for a bus route, getting ready to serve Him soul winning, etc.

This morning I got to hear Bro. Chris Teft speak..the title of his message was "Walking With God"

"It's not the length of the prayer but the DEPTH!!!"
"Love God when everyone is watching, Love God when no one is watching!"

Bro. Teft pointed out that we all have "Tendencies of similarity" with the pharisees.

1. Pharisaical
(Exactly what it sounds like)
We are the separated ones. (or supposed to be!)

"Your not separated just to be separated, you are separated because you will be more efficient in the use God has for you!"

The pharisees didn't have a purpose for their separation, we do!

2.Hypocritical
We are all hypocrites! (Romans 3:23)

Don't ever forget where you came from! You may have come down a ruff road, but did you know God gave you that experience so you could help others down it later???
Don't criticize them, help them!

3. Typical
You ought not want to live a "pretty good" life. (which would be typical)
Rise above the Normal!!!

4. Skeptical
Trust God, he maketh No Mistake!!!

Bro. Ray then quoted this poem by A.M. Overton modernized by Adrian Vermeulen-Miller:

My Father’s way may twist and turn,
my heart may throb and ache.
But in my soul I’m glad I know,
that He makes no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray,
my hopes may fade away,
but still I’ll trust my Lord to lead,
for He does know the way.

Though night be dark and it may seem
that day will never break;
I’ll pin my faith, my all on Him,
for He makes no mistake.

There is so much I cannot see,
my eyesight’s far too dim
but come what may, I’ll simply trust
and leave it all to Him.

For by and by the fog will lift
and all things plain He’ll make.
Through all the way, though dark to me,
He made not one mistake.

5.Critical

Don't be critical...GET ON WITH LIFE!!!

(Proverbs 3:34)

Be humble too, humility isn't thinking lowly of yourself, but not thinking of yourself at all!

Do right when its convenient, Do right when its NOT!!
Do right when its the popular thing to do, Do right when its NOT!!!

In conclusion Bro. Ray stated
"Just please God, He'll take care of the rest!"

Next was Bro. Stewart Mason
He preached a message titled with the theme of this conference...
"Will You Be the One?"
(each point was given with the illustration of when Bro. Mason was on a sports team...not really on it at first, just the unnoticed helper, then the one on the bench, then the player)
1. You have to WANT to be THE ONE!!
-you have to desire it more than anything, doesn't matter how unimportant my job is, as long as i am part of the team! I'll do what ever you want me to Lord!

2. You have to be READY when God calls you!
-Be ready when sitting on the bench, stretched and warmed up, because if you aren't ready the first time He calls, sometimes He won't call on you again.

3. You must be WILLING to do what He wants you to do!
-Don't argue with God!
As stated before, He knows what He is doing and doesn't make any mistakes! Trust Him!

4. You have to be willing to be the one to BE COUNTED ON!!!
-When your "game" (testimony, ministry, etc) is on the line are you the one that can be counted on??

So far i have really enjoyed the preaching and skits and i hope all my friends get as much as i have out of this conference!

Praying for you peeps!!

Till then,
Rachael

Jr. Camp Recap

So Jr. Camp was AWESOME!!!
With a total of 6 salvations and 2 baptisms we are so blessed!
I was privileged to lead a little girl on my team named Cheyenne Johnson to the Lord.
Also Cheyanne Rebollar's little brother Gaby got saved this week too!
One of the other salvations was actually a parent!

Bro. Mitchell Buck preached and the kids learned about the wordless book that has five pages.
Gold which stands for heaven
The Dark Page(Black) which stands for our sin
Red which stands for the precious blood of Jesus Christ
White which shows how the blood washes us whiter than snow
and
Green which stands for our spiritual growth after salvation.

At the end of the week each child was given their own wordless book so they can share the Gospel in the simplest way!

The week was full of fun, competitions, singing preaching, games and much more!
With the waterslide, fooseball building, field games, water games, cowboy college, and play practice we were all super tired by the end of each day and especially at the end of the week!

I want to personally commend my helpers Ayslyn and Jesse for working with me! Great job!
Also special thanks to all my kids who worked so hard and listened so well!
PROUD OF YOU LITTLE PEEPS!!!=)

Now what we've all been waiting to hear....yes my lil peeps won the week!
First Place!
also see below our skit which also won first place!

Great JOB YELLOW PEEPS!!

Till Then,
Rachael

Circle J Day Number Two!!!

Late to bed and early to rise makes a very sleepy teenager!

Today we arrived and camp and had our God and I time, then we had the morning preservice games. Nothing extraordinary, we didn't win much either so not worth the telling=)
Then Bro. Walker taught us on following our Guide and the benefits we receive when we do.

Then we loaded the bus (or in my case the Stewart's suburban) and headed to Red River Canoe in Adams. Long story made short, i was in a canoe with Ayslyn, Ruth, and Anastasia. We only flipped once...and if you want to know the details call me. Most of you were there...but it was a bit interesting. SCARY jus cause i have this major fear of drowning.

That was pretty much the whole day...i is tired and dirty from the river...it was a blast though!!!

Till Then,
Fruity

Circle J

okie--- i'm gonna try to keep you updated on camp as it happens.

Today was the first day...the four teams were picked and competition began!!!

There are the
RED BULLS
BLUE CHEESE
ORANGE CONVICTS
and the best of all because it is mine
HONEY NUT CHEERIOS!!!!=)=)=)

So far i think we are about in third...we're not doing so hot...but i know for a fact we're not in last=)
My team consists of
Ayslyn Smith
Ruth Beam
Anastasia (Bro. Carl's niece)
Michael Mullenix
Kyle Epley
Derek Sattler
Micah Hatcher
Andrew Morgan
Evan Stewart
Alex Odom
Austin Spaulding
and Me=)

The other girls on my team didn't really want to participate in the pre-service games...so i did, plus, senior year...lets go all out shall we=)

So first one i did was dropping a egg in Micah's mouth whilst he was lying down...i missed=)
Second, getting life savers out of a bowl of flower with your mouth...i'm talking a BIG popcorn bowl. I got it all in my mouth, nose, eyes....believe it or not ears...eWWWW....but i did get 7 lifesavers....enough to tie for 2nd place.
Next, our whole team participated in chugging a 2 liter soft drink...we were told not to put our mouth on the bottle so i got that all over me.
Last i had to put a pantie hoes on my head and eat a banana through it....yeah...ick...kyle fed it to me and i accidentally bit his finger! Sorry Kyle!!!! But we won that one=)

So at the end of the day i had banana over mountain dew, over flour, on my shirt that was wet!!! GROSS!!!!

Okie, the most important part was the preaching of course, our special speaker is arriving tomorrow, one day late, so bro. Frankie taught us today (not that he isn't special=)

This morning he taught about not slipping and falling, and that we can fall, even when we dont plan to...we don't set out to fail! (then we went and played on the slip and slide=)

Then tonight he taught about making your life count for Christ, and that you use your time wisely to do everything you can for the cause of Christ.

Anastasia went forward to see about her eternal destination, and i think she got saved but i'm not positive. I prayerfully hope so=)

Till Then,
Ruthie

Pictures from Friday of Missions Week

To see more pictures and a video about this past week click here:
http://southhavenbaptist.org/shbc/19th_missions_conference

These are the missionaries from Missions Conference 2009 (From Left to Right)
Dr. Earl Jessup, Bro. Mike Morrissey, Ms. Ruth Morrissey, Ms. Nancy Grove, Bro. Mike Grove, Kelly Grove, John Grove, Stephen Grove, Abby Gross, Bro. David Gross, Ms. Stephanie Gross and Caleb Gross.

Here are some pictures and video from the Missions Parade and The Banquet.

Sorry about the red eye i didn't have time to fix it.
Enjoy=)

This is only one half the gym...we had tons of people!

Lauren the Ballerina


Boots the Clown

Marcy Mouse

Yep...lots of confetti=)

Throwing confetti on the missionaries was fun! This is a video of us doing just that=)
First Bro. Mike and Ms. Nancy Grove went by, next is Bro. Mike and Ms. Ruth Morrissey, then Dr. Jessup and the Spanish missionaries, and finally Bro. David and Ms. Stephanie Gross.


Dr. Jessup Preaching at the banquet...don't ya like the blue and white backdrop with the snow flakes? I got to put that up. (along with the help of Dustin's heighth)


Mom and Rebecca at banquet.


Ashley..obviously not paying attention..and Justin's Arm.

This is Shivangi's class's skit...intelligent don't you think??
Make sure and check totally brilliant if you think the SR. and JR. Class skit was just that.

Till Then,
Rachael