Tuesday, August 25: Children’s Church event. The grandmas of Children’s Church children, the Children’s Church teachers (perhaps their spouses), and the senior pastors are meeting at 3:00 PM at Grand Haven Beach, 1149 S Harbor Dr, Grand Haven, MI. We will meet under, or near, Edie and Ryan’s tent-like structure close to the part of the beach where you see the rocks just before the sidewalk. We will put it pretty close to the water so we will all be able to see the children in the water too. We can keep our things there, or you may want to wait until we return from the restaurant to put your things there. Any leaders and spouses who wish to join us are welcome to do so. Some of the participants will not be there until around 4:30 or 5:00 PM. After they arrive, we will walk together to eat at the hamburger/hot dog place right by the river. If you were to drive there, you would take the steps alongside Snug Harbor down to the river. Then turn right when you see the strip of businesses, and you will see the restaurant right away. After we are done there, we will return to the beachfront to enjoy ourselves. Probably some of us will stay until just after the sun sets. Everyone is asked to take their own chair and beach towels. If you have children who are considerably younger than the others, please take beach toys with you too, in case they do not want to play in the water very long. This event is primarily for our Children’s Church children. We adults must be sure to show love and keep an eye on each one of the children. While under “official ROL care,” children must be accompanied by an adult in order to take a walk on the pier or anywhere else away from the group, such as the pavilion or bathrooms, unless the caretaker who brought them makes an exception and takes responsibility for that.

Note concerning the Roll Call of Nations: The Roll Call this year is after the main Feast service. Everyone is encouraged to bring a testimony concerning the Lord’s work in one of the various ministries across the world. Find—perhaps through an internet search engine—a ministry somewhere in the world that you can discern is sincerely Christian and genuinely working to build God’s kingdom. On the evening of the Roll Call, you may share with us what that ministry is doing and where it is located. If you choose to share a little bit about the country that ministry is in, that is fine, especially if what you share helps us to empathize with what they must face in order to fulfill their ministry work. Pray for that ministry. You have up to three minutes to present.

Feast of Tabernacles Theme: The theme this year will be taken from the song, “Who Am I to Be a Part of Your People?”—the fulfillment of the word to Abraham. Galatians 3:8-9 (KJV): And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. One day we will surely be a part of a massive assembly of believers from all nations who will go every year to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast together after Jesus sets up His kingdom in Jerusalem. Beautiful times of rejoicing are in store for us!

Theme Song: Baruch Hashem Adonai — Maranatha! Music Who am I to be part of Your people? The ones that are called by Your name Could I be chosen as one of Your own? Could it be that our blood is the same? How can a stranger, a remnant of nations, belong to the Royal line? You showed Your grace when the branches were broken, and I grafted into the vine Chorus: Baruch Hashem Adonai; Baruch Hashem Adonai Blessed be the name of the Lord; Baruch Hashem Adonai How could You show me such bountiful mercy by taking the life of the Lamb? Your love is greater than I can imagine; I bless You with all that I am Praise to You Jesus, the veil has been parted and what once was secret is known Now I can cry to You, Abba! My Father! And praise You as one of Your own!

October 7: After the usual items before the sermon, preparation for the October 10 event will take place. Richard will oversee the auditorium, which will include table and chair setup because we will eat in the auditorium on October 10. Decorating, cleaning up, and other preparations can also take place.

October 10: After the service, we will gather in the Fellowship Hall for River of Life to celebrate the milestone 50th anniversary of Robert and Rosemary. We should be able to start this event at 1:30 PM. Robert and Rosemary will begin with a greeting and prayer for the food. We, Robert and Rosemary, may be inviting some family and friends too. The main dish will be supplied, and we are asking people to bring side dishes such as salads, vegetables, rolls, and desserts. Robert has already asked Dylan Schneider and Alexandra Vander Vliet to be in charge of the main dish(es). At the event, we will open the pulpit for presentations beginning sometime during dinner and continuing until everyone has done what they plan to do. Topics can include testimonies or insights on marriage, words for Robert and Rosemary, a song, poem, or other presentation. Please give the sound people your recorded background music if you want it played for you. Just before October 10, please send song and instrumental lyrics to the overhead people so everyone in the room can know the words: riveroverhead@gmail.com. Please, this time, do not choose to use a recorded song without either singing, playing an instrument, or dancing with it. Three to five minutes, or less, is our normal guideline for presentations. Because of the special dinner, we will have just a continental breakfast between our services.

Each Saturday night through Labor Day, September 7 — Light Force: River of Life does street ministry. We meet at 7:30 PM by Kilwins in downtown Grand Rapids, right by Rosa Parks Circle and kitty-corner from the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. When we start out, we pray together. After prayer, we minister to people. At around 8:30 PM, we return to the spot where we started and share with one another highlights of our ministry encounters. We close with prayer. We trust the Lord to lead us to whomever He wants us to reach that night. We do not have any particular “targets” in mind. Over the years, we have prayed for active Christians, backsliders, and unbelievers. We have touched the hearts of both rich and poor people. We prefer you to be extremely cautious in giving out money to the needy during the stated hour of ministry. Grand Rapids is blessed with quite a few programs meeting the needs of the poor. You, River of Life, regularly send money to some of those programs, including the Salvation Army, Guiding Light, and Mel Trotter Ministries. If it is 68 degrees or below, or if it is raining, we do not do this ministry that night. Note the weather at 7:00 PM and react accordingly. These instructions concern our “official” Light Force time; however, how wonderful it would be if people choose to independently minister—“unofficially”—downtown or in other places at any time.

In-Service Prayer Time: We have a rotation for prayer leaders for Sabbath at 9:30 AM and Wednesday at 6:30 PM. Our prayer leaders are Robert, Annie, Edie, Dylan, Karen C., Hannah, Karen V., Karen R., and Cliff. Hannah is overseeing the prayer rotation schedule. Please let her know when you cannot take your turn: Hannah.Menninga@gmail.com.

Wednesday Night Service Speakers: Pastor Cliff Baker schedules the Wednesday night speakers. He will be sending notices to the speakers requesting that they tell him when they can speak. Let Cliff know if you cannot keep a scheduled speaking time: cliffanniebaker@comcast.net. He will make sure someone speaks for the time you cannot do it. Please do not work it out for yourself. If it is a last-minute situation—for example, the day before or the day of your scheduled time— let me, Rosemary, know because I am always willing to fill in for people. The speakers are Cliff and Annie Baker, Karen Roark, Karen Cook, Karen Vander Vliet, and Hannah Schneider. Richard Menninga is a backup speaker. To the speakers: In the rare event that Robert and I make another plan for a Wednesday night for which you have been scheduled, you can preach your sermon another time. Tell Cliff that you need to be rescheduled.