Hello Chapel Hill Families!

I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend! Pastor Jeff preached an amazing sermon on Sunday filled with patriotic hymns. If you missed it, check out the Chapel Hill YouTube page. Pastor Jeff will be on his annual July sabbatical for the rest of the month, but Reverends Jim and Jen will be sure to bless us with inspiring sermons in his absence.

This Sunday, we will have our second Summer @ the Hill event at 6:30pm in Fellowship Hall. Please join us for popcorn and a movie. Visit our Facebook group to vote for your favorite. We will announce the winner on Sunday morning.

I had the best week in Gore, OK last week with our middle schoolers. I loved getting to know these kids better and watching them work hard during the day, having fellowship with one another each afternoon, and exploring their faith together in the evenings. If you have a middle schooler, I highly recommend getting them plugged in with this great group of kids. Heidi does a fantastic job of facilitating discussion and creating a safe and loving environment to foster deep relationships with God and one another. I hope to go again next year to help bridge our current 5th graders into our youth group when they finish the school year and are promoted up.

Our July Faith Word is “PRAISE”, and our memory verse is from Psalm 150:6. Bible stories this month include:

• 7/3/22- “David Dances” (2 Samuel 6:12-19)
• 7/10/22- “Shout with Joy” (Psalm 100)
• 7/17/22- “Praise the Lord” (Psalm 150)
• 7/24/22- “Mary’s Song” (Luke 1:46-55)
• 7/31/22- “Salt & Light” (Matthew 5:13-16)

 A couple of reminders for our new kindergarten families:

• Our volunteers are supposed to arrive by 9:00, but life happens and sometimes they are running late. Please try to drop off kids between 9:15 and 9:30 AM to avoid waiting on them to arrive.
• Please walk your children back to their classrooms at drop off. We want our volunteers to see who goes with which kid to help speed up our pick up time.
• Don’t forget your pick-up ticket. You will show this to get back to the children’s wing and again to their teacher to pick them up.
• Remember that kids are now promoted to their next grade level so check that their name tags show they are in the right group. Please let Ryan know if it is incorrect.

We sponsor cousins, Neema & Kikwete, who live in the Angel House Orphanage in Tanzania, Africa. We have pledged to give $90/month in order to provide food, clothing and schooling to these children at Angel House. Each Sunday, kids have the opportunity to bring money to put into our offering for Neema and Kikwete. Would you help us meet our goal by sending your child with $1.00 each week? Our former Director of Children’s Ministries, Raegan Brane, has visited Angel House in the past. You can find out more information about the Grassroots Organization and Angel House by clicking HERE.

REMINDER:

If you have a 3rd, 4th or 5th grader that has a Deep Blue Bible, please help them remember to bring it with them to Sunday school each week! We don’t have many extras of that particular version at the church and they will be looking up and reading scripture every time they come to church from now on.

Don’t forget to check our Chapel Hill Kids Facebook Group regularly for the most up to date information. If you haven’t checked your child’s information on the birthday post, please make sure you do so as soon as possible. I have marked it as an announcement so you can easily find it. If you have moved in the last year, please contact the office so that we have your correct address on file so they can receive some birthday mail. The office number is (316) 684-1117.

Blessings to you and your children,

Allison

Celebrate Wonder is a Sunday school curriculum that engages children’s natural sense of curiosity to help them understand God’s love. It creates a safe environment for kids to ask big questions — helping them explore the Bible in ways that feed their imagination and encourages creativity. Through carefully-selected Bible stories, songs, videos, and hands-on activities, Celebrate Wonder gives children the tools to explore their faith while incorporating it into their daily lives.

Each month, our weekly stories will align with a Faith Word. The Faith Word for the month of July is, “PRAISE”.

Sometimes we equate joy with happiness and it is true that the two emotions are similar. However, if God is deserving of our joyful praise, surely that is not true only when we are happy. Even in the midst of sadness or confusion, it is possible for joy to exist as the assurance that God is with us in the midst of whatever we are experiencing or feeling. God is our God and is faithful no matter what. Now there’s a reason to be joyful.

Psalms is often referred to as the prayer book or the hymnbook of the Bible. The Psalms have played a significant part in the worship life of God’s people for many years. Many of the psalms were written for use in corporate worship, while others are the prayers of individuals. Psalms continues to play a significant role in both Jewish and Christian worship as well as being used for individual prayer and devotion.

In Psalms we find a reflection of the entire range of human emotion. There are psalms expressing sadness, joy, anger, happiness, despair, hope, fear, and trust. This aspect of Psalms provides a couple of valuable reassurances. First of all, whatever you are feeling, you are not alone in that experience; one of the psalmists has felt your pain or experienced your doubt or celebrated your joy. Secondly, you may take any emotion or situation to God in prayer. It is a good and appropriate thing to offer our entire human experience to God. The structure of Psalm 100 is typical of a song of praise. It begins with an invitation to praise, followed by reasons for praise.

Most of Psalm 100 is dedicated to the invitation to praise (verses 1-4). The reason for praise is succinctly stated in verse 5; God is good and God’s love lasts forever. Just five verses long, Psalm 100 contains an important reminder. God is our God and deserves our praise. What a great reason to be joyful!

Find some time to praise God through singing! Put on your favorite song and belt it out.