What a great time we had last Sunday!  Thanks to Thames Robinson and all who made our Mothers' Day Hat Day a success! Over $170 was raised for the youth.  The women looked great in the hats (and so did Rocky Harnen!) and we all had fun commenting on them.  Thames is already working on another fun(d) raiser for Fathers' Day, so watch for details!

The PrimerTimers' Founders' Day Yard Sale was also a success!  Thanks to the hard work of the Primetimers' and your donations and purchases, the raised over $1700 which will be used to update the Youth Center (House on the Corner).  Our Praise Band, Water's Edge, has also adopted a room to renovate, so we are well on our way to seeing a major improvement in that building for our youth.  The Trustees are looking for other individuals or groups to "adopt" a room in the Youth Center and if you or your group would like to do so please let me or Bryce Click, chair of Trustees, know!

This week, we conclude our series on "Witnesses to the Resurrection" as we hear the story of Paul and Lydia, the first European convert to Christianity:

⁹During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." ¹⁰When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. ¹¹We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. ¹³On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home." And she prevailed upon us. Acts 16:9-15

·      Have you ever had a vision from God?  What was it like?  Did it confirm something for you or challenge you to do something different?

·      Paul usually began his ministry at the synagogue.  Apparently, Philippi did not have a synagogue so Paul went looking for a "place of prayer."  Outside the gates of the city, he found  a group of women gathered (and one would assume praying) and among them a rich Gentile woman who like Cornelius was a God-fearer but not a Jew.  In Grant, where might we find people gathered who might be searching for answers outside of the church?

·      How did Lydia respond to the message of the gospel?  How should we?

See you on Sunday!