Welcome to the gathered church on this Lord’s Day. Sometimes I get questions about the phrase “the Lord’s Day.” What is the “Lord’s Day?” Why do we meet on Sundays? Why did their used to be “blue laws” that outlawed most commerce on a Sunday?

“The Lord’s Day” is a phrase used to describe the day the church gathers. Jesus was resurrected on a Sunday. The Holy Spirit came on the Day of Pentecost, a Sunday. The early church met on a Sunday. Throughout all of history, regardless of country, language, or ethnicity, God’s people have met on Sunday. The Lord’s Day is a day to be recharged and edified by the preaching of the Word, the teaching of the Word, fellowship, and prayer. The Lord’s Day is God’s gift to His people. Let’s never forsake our assembling together!

As of today, this is Nathan’s first anniversary of serving us vocationally. I’m very grateful for him. Thank him and his wife Jenny for their service to us this morning. I rejoice that God brought them here and in the ways he is using them. Speaking of Nathan, he updated our website this week. It looks great. And it’s an important tool we need to reach people.

In today’s bulletin you’ll see an order form for “West Haven Loves Tonganoxie” T-Shirts. We would like EVERYONE to have this T-shirt for the Community Carnival during Tongie Days in September (and for other days we are involved in public outreach). Not only that, we’d like you to have one to wear around town. If you find that the cost is prohibitive to your family, let me know. We’ll find a way to get you one.

We are working to increase the safety of our children. Soon we expand our check-in procedures to include 1^st-3^rd graders in Sunday School. We will also put doors at the front of the children’s wing and have three iPads there for check in. We’ll give you more details closer to the date.

As I requested last week, please pray for us. We are trying to lead in effective and even unique ways. I was very excited about something I have been researching since the start of the year. It fell through last week. However, in God’s grace a possible mission opportunity has been presented to us. Sometimes doors are closed because God has something else for us, something we could never anticipate. Pray that God would use all of us in His great mission enterprise of preaching the gospel locally, and around the world.