August 10, 2017
Dear Eastridge Church Family,
On September 15th, 1860, the great French acrobat Charles
Blondin stood on a 3-inch thick tightrope stretched across the massive Niagra
Falls gorge. Blondin had recently made history as the first person to cross the
falls on a tightrope, and on this day, he inched across again, hovering
precariously above the swirling, violent waters below.
As Blondin made his way safely across the gorge, the tense
bewilderment of the crowd turned to a deafening roar of cheers. Then, Blondin
spoke.
“Do you believe I can cross the falls again?” he asked.
The crowd cheered back, “Yes!”
Blondin responded, “Do you believe I could cross the falls
carrying a man on my back?”
The crowd had seen Blondin perform many dangerous tightrope
stunts. They knew he could carry a man on his back, and they roared back in
reply, “Yes!”
Then Blondin asked, “Who will volunteer?” The crowd was
silent.
Blondin pointed to an onlooker nearby and asked, “Will you
trust me?”
“Hardly! I can’t risk my life like that!” the man replied.
Then, Blondin turned to his manager, Harry Colcord. “Harry, do
you believe I can carry you across?” he asked.
“Yes, Charles, I know you can,” Harry replied.
“Then will you trust me to do it?” Charles asked.
Harry replied, “I will.”
Harry Colcord stepped onto the platform with Blondin and
hopped onto his back. Blondin, with his balancing pole in hand, slowly began to
carry his friend across the Falls. Though a few of the guy ropes snapped as
they crossed, they both made it safely to the other side, and Charles Blondin
cemented his place as the greatest tightrope walker in history.
So What About You?
God doesn’t call us to just believe from the sidelines. He
requires that we step out in faith from the crowd. He’s asking, “Will you trust
me?”
Are you unsure if you are a Christian? Maybe you are like many
in the crowd that day: you believe in Jesus with your mind, but you know that
if He pointed at you to ask if you’d trust him to carry you, you’d recoil and
say “Hardly! I can’t risk my life like that!” Maybe it’s time for you to trust
Him and climb on.
Will you trust Jesus?
Ladies
Retreat
On Friday and Saturday, we have about 15 ladies who will be attending
a Hispanic ladies retreat. I encourage you
to pray for this retreat. Pray that God
would use the speaker to speak to our ladies and pray that their faith may be
strengthened.
Men’s
Gathering
Salomon Lopez has invited all the men from Eastridge for a
time of fellowship at his home 567 N. Bristol Ct., Wichita, KS 67206 at 6PM on
Friday August 11th. It is
important that men encourage one another and pray for one another to be the
godly men God has called us to be.
Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.
Church
Work Day
On Saturday August 12th the trustees will have a
work day at the church where everyone our church family is invited to come and
help. We will be starting work at 8:30
am and we will end when the work is complete.
We will be painting, fixing fixtures, killing and trimming weeds,
replacing doors, general cleaning and many other task. Come out and help for as long as you are able
while you enjoy your time working with fellow brothers and sisters.
MNU
Offering
Last week we collected a special offering for all of our MNU
(MidAmerica Nazarene University) students.
This offering was used as a church matching scholarship from the
University. MNU will match up to $500
for each student.
If you were not able to contribute I have good news…it is not
too late! You can still give towards our
two students scholarship offering. If
you would like to mark your gift to go directly one student you are certainly
able to do that as well.
MNU was founded like the other Nazarene regional colleges and
universities to be a place where students could go for training as pastors and
missionaries. The schools also provide
education for other professions like teaching and nursing.
Leadership
Summit
Today and again tomorrow I will be attending the Global
Leadership Summit via a simulcast here in Wichita at the Century II
building. Lots of high quality leaders
in both the church world and the business world have been sharing. I have a few of my favorite quotes from day
one here:
If you don’t know how it works when it is working, you won’t
know how to fix it when it breaks. – Andy Stanley
"Your greatest contribution to the world may not be
something you do, but someone you raise. – Andy Stanley
"You can choose courage, or you can choose comfort. You
cannot choose both." – Brene Brown
"It is in brokenness sometimes that we understand what it
truly means to lead." - Bryan Stevenson
"True leadership isn't measured by how you treat the rich
and powerful, but how you treat the poor and vulnerable." – Bryan Stevenson
The world is waiting for leaders who put others ahead of their
own self-interests." – Bill Hybels
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