“I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone” - I Timothy 2:1

HAPPY TUESDAY TO THE BUNCH! Jesus said He came so that we would have life and have it more abundantly {John 10:10}. I hope this letter finds that everyone is having a week where the Holy Spirit is flowing through you in such a way that you are truly able to enjoy the abundant life and joy that He promised us as His children!!

We are down to 3 weeks before the “Multiplication” takes place and many of us will soon be worshiping at Desoto Hills Church. {FYI - for those that do not know, the “Multiplication” is a term that means our one church is multiplying into two buildings so that we can reach even more people in our community}. Over the next few weeks, the church will be sending out SOS calls for helping hands to make final preparations for clean up and move in before our first service on October 15th. Please keep an eye on the church calendar and be willing to serve when & where you can in this call for a little sweat equity in YOUR church. For all of us going to Desoto Hills, we are charter members and founders so make sure you are a part of making the dream a reality for all those generations who follow us into this congregation. These are truly exciting times and I hope we will all join in to help wherever we can!

We had a blast in class Sunday and we had a really powerful lesson from the book of Joshua 24:14-28, focusing on 14 & 15 that states
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
As the leader in your home, have you devoted yourself and your family to worshiping God and Him alone? Are you strong enough in your walk with the Lord that you have reached the point where you can tell the rest of the world that it is up to them to choose who they will serve, and confidently stand against the world by telling them you will serve the one true & living God no matter what? Is there anything worldly that is preventing you from courageously trusting and following the Lord even when it is not the popular thing to do?

If you are like me, I am sure you struggle with the fleshy & material gods all the time. Money, jobs, material items, kids activities, endless to-do lists, and on and on it goes. Like Paul, no matter how hard I struggle, I find myself thinking about and doing the things I don’t want to do and not doing the things I ought to do. God loved me enough to save me so I can spend eternity with Him….and all He asks in return is a heart committed to worshiping, praising, and serving Him. I hope these verses will remind all of us to commit all our energy to leading our families to follow God and Him alone. I amy fail often in that goal, but when God looks at me, I want Him to see a heart that is struggling to serve Him in the way I lead my life and the way I lead the family he has entrusted to me.

I hate to be brutally honest about this, but I have to admit that I did not get as much out of the sermon this past Sunday as I have over the past few weeks. Brother James was once again on fire and funny and a joy to watch and listen to, but unfortunately I had the false gods of to-do lists and work distracting me from the message. {Seems as though I was not able to apply the Sunday School lesson to worship service}. Brother James is still working us through Revelation and the sermon was from 4: 9-11 and the theme of the message was “How to Worship God Today”. I hope that over this week I will prepare my heart to receive a word from the Lord and that I will put on my full battle armor before service next Sunday so that I can hear the full message from our Lord clearly.

How are you doing in living out the challenge verse Brother James gave us at the beginning of 2006?
Proverbs 3:5-6 — “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.
Please keep all of the following prayer needs and requests lifted up for your Sunday School Class Family. Our God does answer our prayers so make sure you take time this week to intercede for your spiritual family. Have a blessed and Spirit filled week!

SPECIAL NOTICES !!!!!! !!!!!!!
CLEAN-UP AND SET-UP AT DESOTO HILLS CHURCH - Thursday nights at 6:00 pm until [??] and Saturdays from 8:30 am until [??]
October 14th - Open House from 4 - 7 pm at Desoto Hills
October 15th - FIRST WORSHIP SERVICE AT DESOTO HILLS!!!
Desoto Hills Worship Schedule - 1st Sunday School @ 8:30; Worship at 9:30; 2nd Sunday School @ 10:45.
SOCIALS & CHURCH CALENDAR
Faith Teams Meeting - Monday, September 11th at 6 pm
DATE CHANGE - RA Camp-out - Friday night, September 29th at 6 pm, Mr Greg’s house [5829 Tchulahoma] - Dinner & Breakfast provided. Bring tent, sleeping bags, & flashlight. Activities include Games, Spider Safari, Bonfire with S’mores, and more.
Youth Praise and Worship - starts back Wednesday, August 16th at 6:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall for 7-12th graders
Youth Choir - 5 pm Wednesday’s
GA’s & RA’s & Mission Friends - 6 pm Wednesday’s
Children’s Choir [1st to 5th grades] - 6:30 pm Wednesday’s
Pre-School Choir [4 & 5 year olds] - 6:30 pm Wednesday’s
Prayer Meeting - 6:30 pm Wednesday’s
Ladies Bible Study - Hall of Faith Study/10 week study of Hebrews 11 - Taught by Peggy Butcher beginning Tuesday, September 5th at 9:30 am. All Ladies are invited to come; sign up sheet on Women’s Ministry Bulletin Board
PRAISES [Our God is good....ALL THE TIME!!!!]
Dominick Morreale - prayed to receive Jesus and has been saved!!! Norma called last night and was very excited in her message for this great news and answer to prayer. He will be following up with baptism soon but Norma was not sure which Sunday night they will be doing it. This is truly a praise for Dominick and the whole Morreale family!
Debra Adkins - Joseph is now sitting up and crawling and can hear. Continue to pray for him as he works to learn how to chew.
Debra Adkins - Angela Moore’s little 4 year old daughter found out that the mole doctors were concerned about is not melanoma.
Jeff & Gwen Cain - Congratulations on celebrating their 17th wedding anniversary this past Saturday!
HEALTH CARE PRAYER REQUESTS & UPDATES
Leigh Ann Baker- Sister is not doing well and will probably end up in an in-patient care situation if her condition does not improve
Debra Adkins for Tim Vickers- Tim has been very sick and in & out of the hospital…his condition may require that he be put on the liver transplant list
Dee Church- Mom is waiting on tests results
Gwen Cain- Her cousin Phyllis is on dialysis and has been placed on the Kidney & Pancreas transplant list
Kelley Benson, brother Kevin Gunn - he has been returned to the nursing home in Ripley, TN which is a huge burden on the family trying to care for him and monitor his care. Pray that soon they will find a facility close to home and continue to pray that God’s hands will astonish the medical professionals with a full and miraculous recovery.
Jeff Cain - friend, Kenny Garrison, has inoperable esophagus cancer

PRAYER NEEDS
Kelley Benson - pray for God’s wisdom and grace as the family is facing decisions related to the long term care of her brother. The family is split at this point as to whether or not to continue treatments or to let him go the next time he is sick. Part of the family is holding out hope that the Lord is not done with Kevin and time will bring His healing power, while the other half has given up all hope. Only God knows the path that the family needs to take and pray that the entire family will seek the Lord in the decisions that must be made and that there will be unity when the time comes to make the difficult decisions about his care.
Gwen Cain - another employee has quit and there has been a lot of theft at the school. Pray for her work environment.
Paul Palmer - prayer for the family of the DCHS kids involved in the fatal crash with a pedestrian on Goodman this past Saturday night.
Gary Blaylock - his business is going through some changes that will increase his operating overhead and cause some hardships for a short time, pray that he and Aimee will trust the Lord to bring them through it.
Gary Blaylock - prayer for Dee Church and her family in the loss of her father a week ago.
Gary Blaylock - prayer that someone from the class will step up and take over the outreach ministry for our class.
Brad Dickey - will be out of town for three weeks beginning the last week of October. He requests prayer for his travels, for his family in his absence, and he is asking that the class call and check in on Sonja during that period.
Kenneth Duck - will be flying over 9000 miles between now and the end of the October. Pray for safe travels and a safe return.
Kevin & Dianne Avent - Diane’s Mom traveling this week. Prayer for safe travels and a safe return.
Kevin & Diane Avent - prayer for oldest son, Josh, who lives in Indianapolis and is facing some major decisions between now and the end of the year.
Bob Benson - prayer for my company, decisions that need to be made related to personnel changes, and for opportunities to help us rebuild our sales & income after recently losing our business at The Home Depot. As manufacturers reps, we need prayer that the Lord will bring to us new & profitable factories to represent, and that He will open doors for new business at our existing accounts, as well as accounts that we have not been able to penetrate in the past.

SPECIAL NEEDS FOR THE CHURCH
FAITH TEAMS - includes Gary Blaylock, Deanna Gray, and Leigh Ann Baker from our class family - prayer that they will make an impact on the community and prayer for ease in the learning process

SALVATION FOR FRIENDS & FAMILY
Bob Benson - Neel Rideout/business partner
Kelley Benson - whole family + Bryan Petrich/Brother- in-law
Paul Palmer - Margaret Ann Ferrez/Sister
Susan Palmer - too many to narrow to one name
Aimee Blaylock - too many to narrow to one name
Gary Blaylock - Mike Mullins/Step Dad
Leigh Ann Baker - extended family/in laws
Dewayne Eddington - close friends, family, & co-workers
Dee Church - Jeff/husband
Kristi Rikard - Dennis/Brother in Law
Lori Gilbert - Bud’s family
Cathy Chandler - Candice & Joey/her sister & brother
Norma Morreale - Russ & Joanna/Dominick’ s Dad and his girlfriend