VIEWS AND REVIEWS “IT’S ABOUT TIME”

Just about everything is a matter of time.

All that we do or want to do requires some of our time. And most of us are busy. Consequently, we have a shortage of time. We can’t do

everything we want or need to do. That means we have to set priorities.

Following Jesus is all about priorities. Our Lord made no bones about the fact that he

expected to determine the priorities of those who would follow him. He was not interested in only being “first in their hearts.” He wanted to be first

on their schedules. Jesus knew that the only way to really determine if he was “in their heart” was to see where he was on their calendars.

It takes time to be followers of Jesus

Christ. It is easy to crowd Jesus from our schedules. There are so many important things we have to do. But Jesus showed remarkable impatience when people delayed following him

because of other obligations. One would-be disciple said to Jesus, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow

me and let the dead bury their own dead” (Matthew 8:22).

Where is Jesus in your schedule? Real discipleship takes time. Relaxation,

entertainment and sports bumps Jesus from many a calendar. “Family time” is important. But is it more important than making sure the

family is in church? Being able to “sleep in” occasionally is a good thing. But is it good enough to justify missing worship?

It takes time for Bible study. It takes

time to have fellowship with other Christians. It takes time to serve people in need in the name of Jesus. If Jesus is Lord, our time is not strictly our own. It is his. It is only when Jesus gets

specific chunks of our time for building concrete discipleship behaviors that following Jesus becomes more than an abstraction.

The Lord has given each of us abilities and gifts and these are to be used to promote the church’s growth “in building itself up in love” (

Ephesians 4:16). But for this to happen it requires our time. Spiritual growth doesn’t

happen automatically. It takes time. Where is Jesus on your calendar?

Grace and Peace,

Craig

PRESCHOOL NEWS FROM MS. SUZANNE

Where or where did the summer go? We’re enjoying our last few weeks of summer

camp before we begin preparing for the new school year. Teachers return the week of August 16th to begin the transformation of classrooms into welcoming children-friendly places for our

new and returning students. Meet and greets are scheduled for Friday, August 20th, for VPK students and Monday, August 23rd, for all others.

A detailed letter will be mailed the week of August 9th. Any questions, call the preschool office (954-753-2445). “Mom, there are pink birds all over the

front lawn” were the words from my son last Wednesday evening. I started to laugh knowing exactly what I would find as I walked out the

door. There they were…60 flaming pink flamingos! They were so… cool! We were sorry to see them

migrate to another home. My thanks to everyone who sent them to visit.

Speaking of pink flamingos… Ms. Margie also got flocked, so she wrote the following poem and note for her “flocker”:

And now she lay us down to sleep

We promise not to make a peep

We need to keep our energy

To surprise our next great family.

“My dear Flocker, Great surprise, lots of laughs, love you for it… whoever you are! (I hope

the “mingo administration” thanks you for me.) Thanks a million. God bless. The Flocked One”

Church Chatter August 2010

“We will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before us, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” (Isaiah 55:12)

AUGUST BIRTHDAYS 1st John Linn

2nd Bethany Buzzell 5th Joanna Chung 7th Paul Davidson

10th Jordan Ehlebracht 12th Arlene Galarza 13th Tara Herman 16th Ibi Charles

17th Michael Balducci 27th Crystal Astorga Rick Ehlebracht 29th Allie Balducci

AUGUST ANNIVERSARIES 1st Kevin and Karyn O’Shea

[We apologize if your name is not on the list. Please call the office to update your information!]

UPDATE Friends, at this time we

have not met our quota for the initial cook book order. We were hoping that each family would purchase one book for

themselves and possibly another as a gift for a teacher, friend, or family member. By doing that we would help our

church and be a blessing to each other.

We are not giving up quite yet. Our new

goal date is November 7th, 2010. It is hard for us to believe that we can’t reach a 200 cookbook goal, so please consider how you can help us attain it. Unfortunately, if we are unable to reach

that goal, all money will be refunded. Please pick up a recipe form and an order

form from our box on the table. Place your check

or cash in an envelope, mark the envelope with your name and phone number and turn it in to the church office. Thank you.

Rose, Loni and Teri

WOMEN OF FAITH ~ OVER THE TOP October 29 – 30, 2010

“God is not stingy. He does not weigh out his love for us grain by grain; he doesn't squeeze

out forgiveness one tiny drop at a time…He loves us more than we know... He’s unrestrained… excessive….outrageous…Over the Top.”

If you’d like to join us for this amazing

event, our group cost is $89 for both days and includes a boxed lunch each day. Payments can be made along the way. Interested? Call

Rosanne (954-720-8488).

BLESSINGS God is at work! Do you have a blessing to

share with your RPCC family? To include it an upcoming Chatter, email your blessing to the church [royalpalmchristianchurch@gmail.com].

We received the following note from Winnie Dillon: “Dear friends, just a note of thanks to the staff and my friends at Royal Palm for all that they have meant to me during the

past 2½ years. It was a difficult time for me having lost my beloved husband and partner of 65 years. The church had always been a very important part of our lives. Special thanks to

Craig for his inspiring sermons and his leadership in Bible studies. This is not ‘good bye.’ God bless you all until we meet again! Much love.”

[Winnie’s new address is 5354 W. 62nd St. #325C, Indianapolis, IN 46268]

One of the new royal palm trees in front of the sanctuary was purchased by the Johnson

Family [Scott, Patti, Carolyn and Trace] in loving memory of Patti’s mom, Irmgard McNally.

We have been blessed with helpers at

different points this summer! Thanks to Jonathan Watts, Tommy Veliyathil, Gabriel Watts and James Surgeoner we have: cleaned out the table & chair closet; found a new storage place

for extra chairs; cleaned out the attic and shredded many years of paperwork; pressure washed cots, gates and fences; and other misc. items as well.

We have also had some great volunteers helping out each day in the preschool’s summer camp. Our thanks to: Shermese Bethley, Jessica

Clark, Sarah Clark, Nicholas Folz, Nick Forman, Annie Guastalli, Miles Haring, Sydney Lagogiannis, Madison Land, Carly Mern and Alexandra Torres. The preschooler’s love you,

and so do we!

BLOOD DRIVE ~ SUNDAY, AUGUST 29TH Come early or stay after church on

Sunday, August 29th, and share the gift of life by donating some blood. The mobile unit will be

here from 8:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

COMPUTER NEEDED Do you have a computer you are not using

and want to give away? We have a young single mom who wants to work from home – but needs

a computer. If you have a computer to donate, please call the church office at 954-753-2383.

JOSH’S REFLECTIONS ON HAITI 2010 Having just returned from a mission trip

to Haiti, I feel called to share my experiences with you so that you may have an idea of what life is like for our brothers and sisters in Christ

just south of us. Upon arriving in Port-Au-Prince, my first reaction was that of pure shock by the shear magnitude of poverty that was all around me. I was immediately overwhelmed by the

countless buildings still in rubble, the piles of garbage everywhere, the wild animals roaming freely in the streets, the tens of thousands of tents and poorly constructed one room shacks,

the combination of toxic smells, and the overall despair in their faces. It looked as if the earthquake had hit last week rather than over six

months ago. As we continued to drive, I began to wonder where God was in this chaos and whether these people would ever escape extreme poverty and experience true safety, freedom, and

fulfillment. We arrived in the city of Jacmel and quickly got to work on a building project that

involved building bunk beds and doing home repairs. Despite my complete lack of construction skill and experience, I worked faithfully on this project for two of the days that I was there. The

vast majority of our time in Haiti, however, was spent ministering to different groups of local orphaned children. Most estimates suggest that nearly 15% of all Haitian children are orphaned.

This staggering number of orphans is largely due to parents either dying young from sickness or injury or simply giving their children away as a

last ditch effort to save their lives. Our work with orphans was a mixture of joy and heartache. The most difficult of these experiences was when we visited an overcrowded

and underfunded/understaffed orphanage run by Catholic nuns. Despite their obvious love and dedication to the children, we saw rows and rows

of listless, underfed, and diseased children sitting in rusted metal cribs. We spent 2-3 hours playing and sharing our love with them with the hope of temporarily easing their suffering. I will never

forget the image of a three-year-old boy whimpering continuously despite all attempts to comfort him. We later learned that his parents had just dropped him off the day before. Other

experiences with orphans were not nearly as heartbreaking. We organized several VBS-style events in which kids were taught different Bible

stories, shown a film about Jesus' life in Creole, and exposed to various crafts and sports. It was a joy to watch their faces as they played without a care in the world and learned about Christ's

love for them (some for the first time). We also had the pleasure to visit a local community and present the Gospel to them. We

used a generator to show that same Jesus film on

a sheet hung on the side of one of their homes. Many stood for nearly two hours in the heat of a

Haitian summer to hear the message. After a brief sermon and "altar call" by one of the local missionaries, we were blessed to witness four young people come to Christ. Such movement of

the Spirit was also felt as we worshiped with another local community on both Sunday and Wednesday. Despite having next to nothing in terms of material possessions, the people were

filled with such joy and love for God. At one point, they sang the same worship song and danced continuously for nearly 30 minutes.

Having only Christ at that moment was enough. Overall, it was one of the best and one of the worst experiences of my life. I saw the love of Christ all around me. However, I also saw the

spectacular failure of God's people to care for the poor. Unlike my initial reaction, I left there knowing that God is at work in Haiti, and I felt

hopeful that he would continue to use all of us to answer their prayers and ease their suffering. If you are interested in learning about how to help the people of Haiti or about going on

a mission trip abroad, please contact me at jloomis@nova.edu or (954) 449-3150. Thanks and God bless!

101ST REGIONAL ASSEMBLY

“LIVING STONES” The Christian Church in Florida (Disciples

of Christ) 101st Regional Assembly will convene

on October 14 – 16, 2010 at the Wyndham Orlando Resort. Our Transitional Regional Minister, Rebecca L. Hale, will be one of the keynote speakers.

The Kids program is going to be all about Egypt focusing on the stories of the Exodus (Crossing the red sea and building an altar) and entering the promise land. The marketplace will

be a living-history area with "shops" where kids can make Egyptian jewelry, games, toys, dress up, write in hieroglyphics, & more. Help

needed: 10 volunteers to help with the marketplace and 2 storytellers for Worship and Wonder.

This is a wonderful opportunity for DOC

churches all over Florida to gather together for a bit of business, some study and, most importantly, worship. More information can be

found by visiting www.floridadisciples.org.

It is truly amazing what a big difference a

little change can make. Certainly the curb appeal

of the church has been increased with the new landscaping. And quite a few of our RPCC Family and Friends have felt the difference a few pink flamingos can make! [Pictures have been posted on

Facebook – check out Royal Palm’s fan page!] You read Ms. Suzanne and Ms. Margie’s

comments about the flamingos earlier in this Chatter. Here are a few things other people have

said: “Oh my gosh, we’ve been flocked!”

“Gratitude for our Flocking this week. It was so joyous to see them!”

“Amazing…they really made me smile.” “I was having a bad day,

and they gave me quite a lift.”

“Wow – what a joy to drive up after a doctor’s appointment and see all those pink

flamingos in the yard!”

Join us in this fun as we help fund the landscaping project we just completed and have

fun with our friends, neighbors, family and ‘our bosses?’ Unsuspecting homeowners will walk out their front door and see PINK FLAMINGOS

FLOCKING all over their yard!!! That said - don’t

be surprised if you find a flock in YOUR yard one morning.

Flocks will rest for 24 hours in each

location before migrating to their new location. Flocking orders can be given to Ms. Alice in the church office. (Forms are located on the bulletin board with all the flamingos.) Flock Sizes and

Cost are as follows: 12 @ $20; 24 @ $30; 36 @ $40; and 60 @ $60. If you’d like to be part of the ‘flocking migration’ team, please call Scott

(754-235-3663) or Karyn (954-303-6320).

Email Prayer Group

Would you like to be part of a group of people dedicated to praying for the needs and requests that are made known? Prayer requests are routinely sent out via email to the pastor,

elders, and prayer group. Confidential requests only get sent to the pastor and elders.

If you have a prayer need or you would

like to participate in the prayer group, call or email the church office (954-753-2383 or royalpalmchristianchurch@gmail.com)

YOUTH NEWS Our youth meet every Wednesday evening

at 7:00. The D-Unit group [Middle & High School

youth] usually meets in the Youth Room and Sanctuary, but occasionally they experience

KRASH [kids relaxing at someone’s house]. Special activities – including KRASH info – are posted on the D-Unit Facebook fan page, so check that out.

The younger youth meet too. JYF [Junior

Youth Fellowship for 3rd – 5th grade kids] meets at 7:00 on the 1st, 3rd & 5th Wednesdays, and Kidz Praiz meets on the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays. Come have some fun with us!

JIGSAW RETREAT

AUGUST 27 – 29, 2010 CYF of FLORIDA [Grades 9 – 12]

DaySpring Conference Center

8411 25th. St. East Parrish, FL 34219

THE CIRCUS

Are you interested in learning how to improve your leadership skills? Come to Jigsaw where we will explore ways to improve your

youth group, and develop your leadership skills. JIGSAW is a leadership training event, designed to help youth develop leadership skills and encourage youth participation in the leadership of

their local youth group and congregation. Come enjoy fun, fellowship, and worship with other youth from around the state while you

learn about leadership at home, in the church, and in your life! Registration forms are on the Youth Room door and must turned in by our meeting on August 18th.

NIGHT OF JOY On Saturday, September 11th, our D-Unit

Group [middle & high school youth] will be traveling up to Orlando to experience “Night of Joy” a contemporary Christian music festival held at Magic Kingdom Park. They will hear live

performances by a host of amazing bands, including these headliners: MercyMe, Third Day and Family Force 5. They will also ride some of

the Park's hottest attractions. If you are in Middle or High School and

you want to go to Night of Joy, please let us know. The cost will be $50 and covers ticket and

transportation. We must have a current Consent Form for each youth who wants to attend. Consent Forms are on the Youth Room door!