Thanks, Warren K

The chair racks work great!

Five Guys Burgers

Michelle C's Netherlands Continentals Update

Hello family, friends, prayer partners, and folks from Continentals!

I am back in La Verne, home from Continental Singers NL South Tour!

The tour lasted August 2-22 with Continentals NL (Netherlands), and we gave concerts in Holland, Germany, and Italy. I went as an Assistant Director and then in Italy was promoted to Co-Director for the remainder of our time on the road.

There were 24 of us in the group - 17 female singers, 1 guy singer (who did great holding his own), a light tech, a sound tech, 4 bus drivers, and a great leadership team I am happy to have been a part of. It consisted of Rob De Jong (Director/Co-Director), a funny guy and great leader I learned a lot from (who is also the head of the Dutch Continentals), Thysia, a 17 year old first time AD wise beyond her years, and myself. Everyone was from the Netherlands except for me and Svenja from Germany.

It was a good group that liked to have fun, worked hard and had a bit of an attitude. Most of the tour was 16-19 years old. We had some strange group dynamics to deal with that arose partway through tour, and a very strenuous schedule that was hard on everyone and left not much time for fun. Most of the time it felt like challenge after challenge after challenge after challege...

BUT, every concert was good, the group focus was good, we prayed and God answered, people heard the Gospel, everyone in the group learned something and many grew in their walk with Jesus, we were kept safe, and throughout the entire tour I knew that God was close, personal, and watching out for us in every way. And we have some great stories! We spent one night in a cow barn in Switzerland, brushed out teeth with a hose, slept in cow stalls and used a toilet set up over a grate to the cow sewer. Haha.

We saw God work in many ways, which was awesome. I know there're more stories I'm forgetting, but here's a few:

- We partnered with Kirche Unterwegs, a camping site ministry in Germany, and did three concerts at different camping/holiday sites with their organization. We performed for some woodsy Germans with mullets and tattoos, and afterwards one guy came to a leader of the ministry and told him "now I know Who to look to [God]...", and asked him to come pray for a family member in the hospital.

- In Italy, a Dutch pastor thought he wasn't going to be able to give a church service since he had no pianist, then he got a call asking if he wanted to have a choir for worship (us).

- Once Rob got a bad toothace, and Thysia and I prayed and it was gone the next morning.

- After a concert near Florence we were in a very scary situation where the equipment van was too heavy to get out of the steep driveway next to the concert site near a nightclub. It was even too heavy for the brakes, and every time the clutch would pop it would go rolling down the hill towards about 50 drunk teenagers. We were yelling at them in 3 languages to get out of the way, and eventually we got them out of the way and the van out. It was one of the scariest situations I've ever been in, but I consider it a praise since we got out of there with nobody getting hurt.

- There were also some great conversations with people after the concerts who said they had been encouraged, etc.

For me personally, it was one of the best tours I've been on. I used gifts and leadership skills I forgot I had, conquered or made steps to conquering my fears of leading Bible studies, doing talks on stage, and giving the Invitation in the concert. I feel like I gave my best, grew, and learned. I also got some good advice, ideas, and inspiration for Continental Kids this next year.

Big Blessings,

Michelle

New Chairs and Tables Update

As of today, we have funds to buy another 33 chairs to add to the 50 pictured above, as well as three 8' serving tables. Our goal is 100 chairs--only 17 to go. At $22 per chair, they are quite a bargain.

End of Summer Picnic & Chili Cook-off

It felt like we had San Dimas's Horsethief Canyon Park all to ourselves!

Thanks to Fellowship Committee for organizing our after-church picnic.

Ellen J is our new Chili Cook-off Queen. Congrats!

Thanks to all who staked out the park early, to hold our spot.

And thanks to Phil J, the Gamemeister!

Free Garden Mulch!

We've got LOTS extra, so come and get some for home.

Work Day at our garden.

LA Times: Urban cycling spawns its own peddlers - latimes.com

Small business: Urban cycling spawns its own peddlers - latimes.com

Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University

Financial Peace University is a 13-week, video-based small group study that teaches families how to beat debt, build wealth, and give like never before. Click here to visit the FPU website.

$100 per family Registration Deadline is Sunday, August 29. Email us here for more information.

Class Begins on Monday, September 13, 7pm in the Sanctuary

All

All is a big word, and powerful.

It includes everyone warmly, as in a welcome mat that says "All Are Welcome Here". It encompasses everything generously, as when we say of a beloved person at his funeral, "All who knew him loved him."

All means, well, all. It leaves no one out.

The Apostle Paul uses the word all or its cousins (like "everyone" and "no one") often and masterfully in his letter to the Romans. He uses it because its the only word that speaks to the gospel issues at hand in Rome, where some were part of the current in-crowd (Gentiles), and some (Jews) weren't. From his initial greeting "to all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints" to his final parting hopes for the gospel, "that all nations might believe and obey him", the reality that all people are impacted by the gospel is Paul's central ethical concern.

The Roman gospel tells us this about us all:

• Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin (3:9)
• All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one (3:12)
• All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23)
• Death came to all men through Adam, because all sinned (5:12)
• Righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe (3:22)
• Abraham is the father of us all (Jew and Gentile) (4:16)
• Just as the result of one trespass (Adam's) was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness (Jesus's) was justification that bring life for all men (5:18)
• The death he (Jesus) died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God (6:10)
• He (God) who did not spare his own Son (Jesus), but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (8:32)
• And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (8:28)
• Nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord (8:39)
• "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." (10:11)
• For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (10:12)
• And so all Israel will be saved (11:26)
• For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all (11:32)
• For from him and through him and to him are all things (11:36)
• Each member (of Christ's body) belongs to all the others (12:5)
• We will all stand before God's judgment seat (14:10)

End of Summer Picnic

THIS SUNDAY, AUG 29

Meet at 12-Noon

(park to be announced Sunday morning)

Bring Potluck Picnic Foods and Drinks to Share

Optional: Bring a Pot of Your Award-Winning Chili for our Chili Cook Off

Try and beat two-time defending champ Dennis T

Garden Work and Eat

Food Garden Ministry

WORK AND EAT

Fri, Aug 27, 5pm

Please bring a side dish to share

Romans 9-11

Romans 9-11 is some of the most technical and difficult passages of the entire Bible, widely expounded upon by great preachers throughout the ages, and leading to interesting and far-flung interpretations. But what does the original text say for itself, especially when read in one sitting?

On Sunday mornings we've been preaching through Romans for several months now. We just concluded chapter 11 last Sunday with our very own Phoebe (Catherine T), of Romans 16:1 fame, reading the entirety of 9-11 from the New Living Translation. While I usually rely on the New International Version for bible study/preaching, I've found the NIV's rendering of Romans a bit clunky and unclear. The NLT is much preferred for ease of grammar and clarity.

But, if you are able to sit and read 9-11 all at once, please read it from Eugene Peterson's fine translation, The Message. In fact, you can read it by clicking here. To my mind, Peterson's rendering requires no sermon.

How Green Is My Valley

This is a view of the San Gabriel Valley, taken this morning while crossing the dam which creates Puddingstone Lake. The view is looking west, or northwest, toward the San Gabriel Mountains. The white speck in the middle of the picture is our local Egyptian Orthodox cathedral. The San Gabriel Valley is home is over two million people. Glendora, the city where I live and minister, is located on the right of the photo. On the left side of the photo, where the lower mountains and smog rise up, is Pasadena.

Church Sign(s)

This is us, advertising a fabulous program for family finances.

This is First Presbyterian Church in Bishop, CA, taken by Mark D. Roberts.

Out With the Old...

Approximately 40 well-used chairs once stood stacked in this location in our Fellowship Hall. Originally purchased as a set of about 300 in the 1980s, they were the last of the "brown chairs", as we knew them, and were sold on Craigslist. They are being replaced by 100 "white chairs" that are new, clean, foldable and light weight. The sale of the old chairs will help fund the purchase of new chairs. At only $22 each, they are quite a bargain.