Dear Summer People!

Guess what – It’s my favorite weeks coming up!  The Summer Olympics are here.  Opening Ceremonies are tomorrow night and for two weeks we get to see the pinnacle of what it looks like to devote your strength to something, which is perfect since the last theme of this series Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength is about just that: our physical selves being an offering to God by which we love God with our entire being.  Jad will be leading us in our message and we invite you to read 2 Corinthians 12 and the final chapters of our guiding book Four Gifts as we ready our physical selves for worship.

It’s also tech week for our summer musical The Sound of Music.  Get your tickets here as they are going fast!!

I have spent a few nights in rehearsal with this talented cast of over 100 and I can’t wait for you to see what they have created this summer.  The hills will actually be alive with the sound of music.  Next Sunday, August 4, we will have special guest preacher, Rev. Jim Harnish, founding pastor of St. Luke’s, at both 9:30 and 10am services.  He will be sharing from his new book, Surprised by Mary, making the connection between Maria Von Trapp and Mary, the mother of Jesus.  You can join him at 11AM for a discussion and book signing in the NexGen Youth Center.

We chose this show because of its themes of standing against hate and violence and the power of music and love to heal, embolden and make us stand for what we believe in.  We are partnering with the Central Florida Pledge to use this show as a way to encourage our community to sign the pledge to stand against hate and stand for our neighbors.  If you haven’t done so yet, we invite you to please sign the pledge here.

A special podcast is coming out this week interviewing Dr. Joel Hunter and Dr. Lua Hancock who are leaders in this movement.  There will be a special talkback session after the show on August 8, and we are partnering with the Holocaust Center who will have artifacts and information to remind us how we got to such a divisive time before, hoping we can learn the lessons to never go there again in our country.

So get your TEAM USA gear ready, dust off your Julie Andrews record of The Sound of Music, and get ready for an amazing couple of weeks to end the summer!

Grace and Peace,
Jenn.

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