The Champions Spirit
Volume 68, Issue 32
Aug. 16, 2009
In This Issue
My Dearest Friend
“My Dearest Friend,” so began many of the letters written between John and Abigail Adams. Over the years, more than 1,100 letters were sent between the man who both signed the Declaration of Independence and also served as both Vice-President and President and his wife of over 50 years. As I read an article about their letters in the newspaper, a few other thoughts came to mind. Let me share a few of those with you:
First, the many letters show the care, consideration, and (should I say it?) the communication between husband and wife. While they were apart, with John in Washington and Abigail at their family home in Quincy, still they confided in one another frequently.
Secondly, the letters allow historians to get an insight into the hopes, dreams and even fears of the couple who are long since deceased. That makes me wonder, with the advent of e-mail and “tweets,” will those who come behind us have any indication of what was important in our lives and relationships? There is still a place for hand-written letters!
Third, I like the phrase, “my dearest friend.” Isn’t that supposed to be what husbands and wives are? To have such a friendship, one must show himself a friend, and remember that friendships are continually “works in progress.”
Then, I am reminded that we have a letter from our dearest friend. While this friend isn’t with us physically, He is with us spiritually. His letter to us—specifically, the New Testament, is filled with words that will not only help us enjoy this life, but will make it possible for us to be with Him for all eternity. What a wonderful letter!
—Larry Keele
FAMILY MATTERS...
Our guests are special to us! We not only hope to be a blessing to those who visit with us during our Bible studies and worship, we also receive a blessing from those who come our way. Please complete a visitor’s card and place it in the contribution plate when it is passed. Thank you for blessing us with your presence.
We welcome back many of those who went on the mission trip to Rogers, Michigan. There were 16 from Champions who made this trip. We are proud of each one. Also remember in prayer some of the group who are going to return in a few days.
Roman Halamicek, a native missionary from Slovakia will be here tomorrow for a two-week stay. Roman is a fine young Christian man with the heart of a servant. If you would like to take him to dinner and get to know him better, please contact Marvin Trice or me. There is a schedule in the office for him. He will be flying back to Slovakia on Sept. 2.
Our young men will be leading our worship this evening and will emphasize the work done this summer. If possible, be here at 5 p.m. to hear a special presentation of the work that was done by our youth at the camp in Lithuania.
Caught doing good! Thanks to Lisa and Elizabeth Killough as well as Jessica Holt for coming up with a system to help keep the puppet room in an orderly fashion! Also, Hank Shepherd, Don Dearen and Gordon Kramer worked on a system to help the door security problems we have been having. Jess Long is helping get our Phone Tree system operational. Thanks to all—whether we see you or not—who do so much to bless the rest of us at Champions!
Parting Thought: Nobody gets a second chance to make a good first impression.
HAVE A BLESSED WEEK!
Luke Sandhop
Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support of my recent mission trip to Lithuania. We were incredibly blessed to be able to share the Gospel message with over 100 Lithuanians and Belarusians this year. The experiences that I had and the people that I met have changed my life and will continually help me to remember to keep God first in my life.
One of my major roles at camp was being a counselor to a cabin of 15-year-old boys. I had the opportunity to share Jesus on a deeper level with these boys during our nightly devotionals. One of the boys in my cabin named Jonas inspired me greatly by not letting us go to bed until we had all prayed together. I also had the opportunity to grow closer to our youth intern, Ben Treme, who was an extreme inspiration to me throughout the summer.
Another one of my responsibilities at camp was that of a Huddle Group leader. I also led a discussion class for other campers around my age. During our first discussion time, the question “How do you know God is real?” came up. Given that I am 17 years old and that this question still is difficult for most adults to explain, this was a difficult task. Because these huddle groups were small and the teens that I was leading were closer to my age, we were able to discuss more mature topics such as these. Sometimes it was hard to get them to talk, but it was very encouraging when I could tell from their responses that they were getting the point that I was trying to share.
On Thursday night, my task was to deliver the nightly sermon. Given that I had only preached once before on a Sunday night, delivering a sermon in front of over 100 individuals who did not speak my language was quite an interesting ordeal. In fact, I was so nervous before I spoke that I could not even eat my dinner. The lesson I gave was about the difference in Luke without God compared and contrasted to Luke with God; as well as the amazing ways God has worked through me. When I had finished speaking, I was flooded with encouragement from many teen and adult Lithuanians. One of the preachers for the church in Vilnius, Ilia, even told me that it was possibly one of the most real and heartfelt sermons ever delivered at the camp.
The theme of the camp this year was Jesus, Prince of Peace. Because of your help and support, many Lithuanian teenagers now understand that true peace can only be found in Jesus and want Him to be in their lives. Through your gracious support, “Jesus did (and is continuing to do) many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25).
In Him,
Luke Sandhop
John's Jogs
A SALES WOMAN AND A JAILER ARE CONVERTED
At Troas, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “come over to Macedonia and help us.” Concluding that God had called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia they left Troas and sailed straight to Samothrace and the next day on to Neapolis. From there they moved to Philippi – a Roman colony and the leading city of that part of Macedonia.
The First European Conversion occurred in Philippi. (Acts 16:11-15)
After staying there several days, they went outside the city gate to the river on the Sabbath where they expected to find a place of prayer. Luke in writing Acts says, “We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira, a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and her household were baptized, she invited us to her home, she said: ‘if you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.’”
There is no biblical knowledge of anyone prior to Lydia being converted on the European continent. Did you ever wonder if maybe she returned to her home town of Thyatira and helped start a congregation there that is mentioned in John’s Revelation as one of the Seven Churches of Asia?
Paul and Silas were arrested and put in prison in Philippi. (Acts 16:16-24)
Paul and Silas met a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a lot of money for her owners by fortune telling. Paul ordered the spirit to come out of her. The owner persuaded the officials to put them in prison for advocating a custom unlawful for Romans to accept or practice.
About midnight Paul and Silas were singing and praying when suddenly a violent earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. The doors flew open, and all the chains came loose. The jailer awoke and seeing this he prepared to kill himself. Paul shouted “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here.” He fell trembling before them asking, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved – you and your household.” They then spoke the word of the Lord to him and his household. At that hour of the night he and his family were baptized.
Bowling: Troy Thompson’s team, especially Kelly Thompson and Linda Sandhop, are the most benevolent of all bowlers. It breaks my heart to have to brag on Kathy Gerber, but she had eight strikes in a row before blowing it in the 9th and 10th frames for a mere 248.
—John Qualls