It’s a blessed Lord’s Day and we’re glad you are here. I’m off today so please welcome Chuck Riddle to the West Haven pulpit today. Chuck and his wife Alicia (Osborne) grew up in West Haven. Both came to Jesus and were baptized here. Chuck is now the Associate Pastor of Student Ministry at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Overland Park. I am grateful to Emmanuel for loaning them to us today. I am grateful for their faithful service to the Lord. You’ll be blessed by the Word this morning.

June marks a new chapter in the life of our church. While we’ll never officially be “post-COVID”, it’s time to be back in one service. That starts June 6. Note the different starting times. This is a good time for a spiritual reset as well. If you haven’t had your kids in Sunday School, and if you haven’t been in an Adult Bible Fellowship, now is the time to start. You’ll notice a slate of classes attached to this bulletin. Several have asked if I will teach a class. The answer is “yes” but it will be a few weeks from now.

Also please note “Faith and Family Day” in your bulletin. This is an annual event at Kaufman Stadium but this is our first year to participate. The goal is to bring lost people with you so they can interact with church family and hear the gospel preached. So please plan and pray and invite people now. We’ll give you more information on the tickets when available. We hope to subsidize the cost of tickets so the cost is not a barrier to inviting people.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. When you look at history, remember God’s sovereign hand. And when the world has been threatened by tyranny, God has used the West to defend freedom. It’s fashionable among some believers to bash the West today. I’m not in that camp. While the West makes tragic mistakes, it’s still the bastion of freedom in the world. And that freedom is taken for granted today.

Freedom is always hard fought. And religious freedom is always in jeopardy. So tomorrow we remember those who died in the performance of their military duties so we can be free. Thank God for that freedom. May we exercise it responsibly and for the glory of our Lord.