Feel the Summer Breezes… Dash Crofts and Jimmy Seals were two musicians from Cisco, Texas who had a few big hits when I got out of high school in 1972. One of those was "Summer Breeze." The last verse says,

Sweet days of summer, the jasmine's in bloom.
July is dressed up and playing her tune. …
See the smile a-waitin' in the kitchen, food cookin' and the plates for two.
Feel the arms that reach out to hold me, in the evening when the day is through.
Summer breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind.

Love, summer, and food. What can I say? And even though not a breeze blows in Alabama after mid-June, we've got AC and the bill to prove it! We've been hard at work this school year in our church. We have been growing, we've redesigned your church staff and we're about to hire a new staff member as Mike McBrayer moves into a newly created position. We look for a great year upcoming.

The summer is a busy time, but it's a time for a different pace for the church family. Lots of coming and going for our families. Choirs and missions conclude their years next week, and in July we as a church take Wednesdays off. Let's call this one "Summer Breeze." While lots of activities go on—missions, Vacation Bible School, youth and children's camps, maybe we can also play a little. This summer, we'll have some fun together on Wednesdays in June and August. The Homeland Quartet will be back on July 3, and we'll have some laughter, fun, fellowship and music that will refresh, renew and uplift you. So, when you're in town, check out the "summer breezes." Hang out with the kids in Bible School and Arts on the Mountain Children's Camp. Drop by on Wednesday evenings. We'll all be casual for the summer and wearing name tags so we can call each other's names like we know them.

ABCs for the Good Life
Sunday I began a sermon series called "The ABC's of the Good Life." The subtitle could be "Basics for a stressful time." While it's not necessarily simplistic stuff, I would call it "Basics." Basics are what you continually require in life. "Base" is home, ground, center, "true north." We are challenged in a time when everyone wants our attention, money, time, and loyalty to their agenda. These sermons are scriptural reflections that keep us "grounded."

May 12: "The Three Rs" Galatians 6:1-10
May 19: "The 'A' List" Romans 8:12-16
May 26: "Making Saints" John 16:12-15, Heb. 12:4-12
June 2: "Right Word, Right Time" Hebrews 4:12; 2 Timothy 2:15
June 9: "The Family's Mission" Galatians 1:1-3; Psalm 68:6
June 16: "The Life You Learn With" Luke 7:36-8:3