Hi Folks!

I pray that your "Faith Quest" is going well and that you are in regular contact with both the regional headquarters (Good News UMC) and the main headquarters (God via prayer and thinking about God's Word). I am asking the Holy Spirit to be active and present in your daily studies and in your keeping God's Word in your hearts.

From your regional HQ I want to send you several updates about our journey and about those traveling with you. First, one of our newest families is the Manning family of our new Director of Youth Ministries. They continue to be in the throes of moving into our area and they need our prayers. Also, if anyone has a twin mattress Judah (their son) has grown out of his crib and would love to move up to the next level.

Second, we have many in need of our prayers. Judy King is having a post-operative procedure today so let's pray for both a painless day and a day that gives her the relief she needs from a long-term sinus issue. Dick Pollock and Barb Lewis have received good reports from their doctors but both need our continued and fervent prayers as they recover from treatments. Don Sinclair, in his words, is back in the land of the living from a procedure and we need to keep Don and Gloria in our prayers as he grows in strength. Many family issues are happening in our church including babies scheduled for baptism, divorce problems, new births on the way and family stress from our local economy. As we travel on our Faith Quest life is happening all around us. Let's all be attentive, helpful and prayerful.

Finally, let's remember that as we are immersed in the issues of back-to-school, the coming Labor Day holiday and Tropical Storm Fay looming on the horizon we have a God that sees and cares about all of our issues. He is bigger than our problems, better than an occasional day off and more powerful than any storm created by nature or named by man. That God is the one we honor as we remember to "gather in His name" on Sunday. That God is the "why" we are at Good News. So come Sunday, get a Faith Quest T-shirt ($5 each) so you can wear your shirt on September 14th (the last Sunday of Faith Quest), hear God's Word read, sung and preached. See the hands and feet of the Body of Christ as we are obedient by our presence in His Sanctuary. And remember, it is not about our comfort, our needs or our wants. It is all about Christ, the "author and perfecter of our faith." If our Faith Quest is to end in success, we must keep our eyes on Him.

In Christ's Love, Pastor Randy