I have so much I want to share with you that I almost don’t know where to begin. But I will start with this. Please pray for our nation. The events in Charlottesville remind us anew of how incredibly broken and fragmented our country is. When confronted by hatred and violence, our human tendency is to respond in like kind. And yet, as we talked about this past Sunday, we are called by Christ to love one another. I am more convinced than ever that the only real hope for our nation is Jesus Christ.
Our amazing Hero Central Day Camp!
One of the most important opportunities we have to share Christ is among our young people. I want to celebrate that this week we have had an amazing experience with a sold out Hero Central Day Camp. Close to 100 kids have gathered every day this week to hear the good news of Jesus in an environment of love, acceptance and fun! At the same time, teams continue to work at all of our campuses to prepare for the launch of our all new Nextgen children’s program beginning Sept 10. Wait until you see what we’ve done with the Nextgen space. It’s awesome.
I know summer is all about relaxing and having some “down time”, but here at Rock Church we are as active as ever. I want to take a moment to share with you some great upcoming events.
Tonight (Thursday Aug 17). As an expression of “For Our Community” we are partnering with the Declerck Gallery to promote a student art show that will help support the fountain restoration fund at Winnekenni Castle in Haverhill. The art show starts at 7:00 p.m. Admission is free. There will be refreshments and live piano music by our own Donnie Gaudreau.
Another exciting thing happening tonight is the first official gathering of our Newburyport campus. We are beginning our work there under the leadership of Pastor Paul Nolden. He and the core team will be hosting a weekly dinner/lifegroup. We are so excited about what God is doing in Newburyport. If you would like more info or would like to join them for the Thursday night gahtering, please contact Pastor Paul.
Saturday (Aug 19). Fishercats Baseball. Join us for the Faith and Family night at Fishercats stadium in Manchester. Tickets are on $12, and a portion of the ticket sales supports youth scholarship for Soulfest and other youth special events. To reserve your ticket, contact Sherri Nourse at this link.
Men's Retreat coming up Aug. 25-27
Men’s Retreat. Guys, it’s almost here. Our amazing annual Men’s retreat will take place in just over a week on August 25-27. There are still a few tickets available. You can register right on line at this link. This is going to be an amazing event. For the first time ever, I have been asked to fill the role of guest speaker. I have some things to share with you that you will not want to miss.
Women’s BBQ. Ladies, we have something special for you next weekend as well. Our annual women’s BBQ will take place on Saturday Aug 26 at our Plaistow campus. The ladies will gather at 5:00 p.m. There is a great fun program planned. See your attached newsletter for all the details.
Women's BBQ Aug. 26
Mark your Calendars for Sunday Sept 10th. We are planning a BIG DAY! This is the day we launch our new NextGen children’s program. We will begin a great new sermon series. And Sunday afternoon will be our Beach, BBQ and Baptism Bash at Camp Tasker beginning at 1:00 p.m. You will hear much more about this in the coming weeks, but I would ask you to save the date now. I hope to have every one of us together for this great celebration day.
We have some great opportunities coming up to share the good news of Christ. All that is going on in the world around us continues to remind us that there is an urgency to the work of the Gospel. Everyone needs Jesus! Let’s continue to serve him, and share him, with all we have!