IS HOLINESS

POSSIBLE? Dave and I met 6 1/2 years ago at a wedding in Arkansas where mutual

friends set us up. I love to remind Dave of his words before he met me, "I was

99% sure I wouldn't like this girl!" :) Anyway, though I

wouldn't say it was love at first sight for either of us,

we hit it off very well together that weekend. The next

two years of dating were a little rough, especially

since it was long distance, but the Lord brought us

through, and we were married in January 2011. Our

wedding was beautiful, albeit very cold, as it was in

snowy northern WI where I am originally from! We

have been married for over four years now, and it is

been wonderful. All that we worked

through during our dating relationship has

made our marriage so much easier now.

God is good!

Since that time the Lord has blessed us with our

blond haired blue-eyed little Patrick David, who turned

two years old in April. He is very busy, and keeps us on our

toes, but brings us so much joy as well! His little sister Ca-

mille Elise just joined our family one month ago on May

29. So far she has been an easy baby, and we are so thankful for her. Patrick

adores her! Even though parenting is more challenging than we could have

ever imagined, it is so worth it, and causes us to lean on the Lord for strength

and wisdom every day!

Dave was blessed to grow up in a Christian home, and was saved when

he was around 7 years old and baptized when he was 10. He was home-

schooled, and is one of nine children, seven brothers and two sisters! He

moved here from Pennsylvania with his family when he was a teenager, and

has lived in this area of Missouri since then.

He began working with his dad and several of his brothers from an early

age. In 2006 Dave started a new company, MachMotion. His company manu-

factures cnc control systems for automated machinery. The company is grow-

ing very quickly, and they have around 25 employees working for them at this

time. They recently built a new plant south of Rolla where their company is

located. When he isn't working, Dave enjoys flying his hobby planes, playing

(Eldredge continued on page 6)

Therefore, preparing your

minds for action, and

being sober-minded, set

your hope fully on the

grace that will be brought

to you at the revelation of

Jesus Christ. As obedient

children, do not be

conformed to the

passions of your former

ignorance, but as he who

called you is holy, you

also be holy in all your

conduct, since it is

written, You shall be

holy, for I am holy.

1Peter 1:13-16

As followers of Je-

sus, we are called to be

holy. This means that as

Jesus walked, so are we

to walk. We are to pat-

tern ourselves after the

Holy One who called us.

When I read this, I

am compelled to look at

my life and ask the (Continued on page 5)

Hebrews 11:13 records, All these people [the heroes of faith] were still living by faith when they

died. They did not receive the things promised; they

only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. How can you still live by faith when you die and pre-

pare future generations to receive the promises and

blessings from God that you only saw from a dis-

tance? Lets look at four men in the Bible and see what legacy they left as our examples.

1) Abraham - A Legacy of Obedience and Walking by

Faith. Abraham was promised as many descendants

as the stars in the heavens (Genesis 15:5). However,

he had to obey God and persevere in faith for 25

years until he was 100 years old (Genesis 17:17) to

see only one promised descendant, Isaac, through his

wife, Sarah. Then another 60 years passed before

Isaac had Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:26). Abraham

did not see numerous descendants, but by his obedi-

ence and faith while waiting for Gods timing, he gave us the legacy of walking by faith.

2) Moses A Legacy of Teaching and Training. Mo-ses was used by God to bring the children of Israel out

of Egypt and prepare them for the Promised Land.

Under Gods direction, Moses instructed the children of Israel in the Passover ceremony, delivered to them

the Ten Commandments, gave them hundreds of oth-

er detailed laws as well as the complete instructions

for how to build the tabernacle in the wilderness.

Much of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuterono-

my are Gods instructions to his people through Mo-ses. Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised

Land, but he taught and trained Gods people how to live in order to please the Lord.

3) David A Legacy of Financial Giving. David longed to build a glorious temple for the Lord. God

did not allow him to build it or see it, but he did allow

him to prepare for it. I Chronicles 29:1-5 lists the

riches David laid up for the future temple which God

then allowed Solomon to build: gold, silver, bronze,

iron, wood, onyx, turquoise, fine stones and marble.

Davids example of abundant generosity encouraged others to give bountifully as well (I Chronicles 29:6-9)

and the magnificent Temple of Solomon was built in

the next generation (II Chronicles 2-7).

4) Daniel A Legacy of Prayer and Intercession Daniels heart was to see the tribe of Judah restored to their homeland and the city of Jerusalem following

their 70 year captivity in Babylon. He did not get to

see his home country again, but he prepared the way

for others by fervent prayer and intercession as rec-

orded in Daniel 9. His prayers helped to set the stage

for the return of the exiles, the rebuilding of the tem-

ple and the rebuilding of the wall of Jerusalem as rec-

orded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

These men died in faith, not receiving the promise

they longed for, but preparing for it nonetheless. Its your turn now. What has God put in your heart?

What can you do to intentionally prepare future gen-

erations to fulfill Gods purposes? What will your leg-acy be?

Beverly Flori

Sixteen weeks ago a new Sunday school

class emerged. There was an interest in doing

something that would challenge and stretch us as

Christian thinkers. We knew that we wanted to be

grounded in the Word of God. We also wanted to

be prepared to interact with a culture that is dis-

missing Christianity as the only way to salvation,

and assuming there are many ways.

Our Sunday school class is called, A Ready

Answer, because we are learning important truths

that will help us engage the community we live in

and reach the lost. It is about apologetics, but it is

more about deepening our understanding of the

Word of God as it relates the world we live in.

KidCare America is pretty quiet right now during

the summer break. But that doesnt mean we arent busy making plans for the fall! We have a number of

staff & volunteer positions that we are needing to fill

when we resume in August. Perhaps this will be your

opportunity to get plugged in to a ministry at First As-

sembly? We currently have several mentor positions,

a van driver, a practical living teacher, and several tu-

tors. Perhaps youre rather new to First Assembly and arent familiar with KidCare America. This is our after-school mentoring program that mentors, tutors, and

teaches students about life, about God, and the im-

portance of education. We have many ways you

could potentially help! Please let us know if you have

any questions. 364-4700, kcatsc@rolla-

firstassembly.org.

Sam Parker

Beginning Sunday, July 5, we will begin a

new series called Answering Islam. We will again

immerse ourselves in the Bible to see what God

says, as we look at the following three things that

are essential elements of being able to have a

ready answer when trying to witness to the Mus-

lims around us.

Those three things are: (1) Understanding

the fundamental beliefs of Muslims, and how they

see God, Jesus, creation and more. (2) Examining

the criticisms that would attempt to defend the

Muslim viewpoint, and begin to show the incon-

sistency of Islam. (3) Examining the evidence that

supports the Christian faith.

We are surrounded by so many who come

from countries that espouse Islam as their religion.

We live in the midst of a great mission field, and

want to be able to send out into that mission field,

people who have a ready defensewho are trained in the truths of the Bible and have gained under-

standing in how to address the questions that

many Muslims will have. Join us on July 5th and see

if this class might be for you.

Carol Hudler

KIDCARE MINISTRY

OPPORTUNIT IES

Starting college and finishing a chapter of

my own life has drawn me to thinking about the

life Ive had over the past few years. There have been many, and I mean many nights of stress, cry-

ing, and just pure exhaustion. I even asked myself

sometimes if I was going to make it through. As

you can probably tell, I did, and I owe it to the per-

son God has created me

to be over these few

years in my childhood

with this church. Faith

has always been a big as-

pect in my life, as has

family. I am a fourth gen-

eration of Assemblies of

God, with both my grand-

parents and my uncle be-

ing ministers. I grew up

going to church potlucks

(which are just simply

amazing I must say),

Wednesday night ser-

vices, kids church programs, and of course Sunday

morning services. While all these things have in-

fluenced me in some point or fashion, they arent what have made the years at First Assembly of

God ones of growing and practicing a faith that

has been so instrumental in my own life. It has

been the people continually encouraging me to

seek what is good, and to trust in God, that have

truly influenced me.

The main lesson I have learned at First As-

sembly of God would be to trust in the plans of the

Lord. This year especially has been a big one for

trusting, with choosing a college and pretty much

deciding my life path in a month seemingly. I had

this idea in my head that God would have a bill-

board outside my house telling me EXACTLY what

I was destined for. I became so frustrated with my-

self, not knowing and getting upset that God did-

nt show me the GPS of my life. However, people at church would continue to say they were praying

for me, and they would encourage me, and tell me

that God has a path for me. They encouraged me

to continue to seek God in this time of uncertainty.

This led me to the verse Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do

not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord

your God will be with you wherever you go. This verse told me that no matter where I went, or

what I do, as long as I am earnestly seeking out

the Lord, He will guide me on the path He has for

me. So all there is for me to do is to keep God with

me and things will work out. In my time of need, I

went to the Lord, and I believe that this church

has taught me that and I am so eternally thankful.

It has provided and helped me build a firm founda-

tion on the Lord Jesus Christ.

As I now head off to Evangel University, my

entire life will change. I look forward to what God

has in store for me, and I pray earnestly that God

will guide me on his path for me. Im so thankful that God has given me such an amazing church to

grow in and love these past couple of years, and I

hope I will continue to grow at Evangel. Thank you

all for the encouragement and support. I have

been truly blessed.

Kalise Garner

TRUSTING LESSONS LEARNED IN MY HOME CHURCH

important questions about my walk with the Lord.

Am I living a holy life? Am I walking in the Spiritin obedience? In an honest examination, I am aware of

my lack, and I ask the question, can I walk in holi-

ness? Is holiness possible for me?

Because I know that our Lord is a just God, I be-

lieve He would not tell me to do something that is im-

possible. It may be unmanageable in my flesh, but

when I rely on Him, there is possibility. Colossians

3:1-10 gives me a plan of action that will enable to

stay on the path of holiness, and will redirect me

when I stray from it.

If the old person has died, let it stay dead.

Jesus covers me and hides my life. Therefore by the

grace of God, I can walk in this new life. I am not left

alone to try to figure this out. Paul is descriptive in

the patterns that I am to follow as I learn to walk in

holiness.

(Holiness continued from page 1) Holiness is a choice. Paul tells us that since we

have been crucified with Christ we have the oppor-

tunity for holiness (Col. 3:1). We are to set our minds

on things above, and put to death the earthly pas-

sions.

But now you must put them all away: anger,

wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your

mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you

have put off the old self with its practices and have

put on the new self, which is being renewed in

knowledge after the image of its creator (Col. 3:8-10).

It is tempting to think that holiness an impossi-

ble dream. It is only impossible if we try to operate

outside of the workings of the Holy Spirit. It is God

who began this work in us and, and it is God who will

finish it (Phil. 1:6). We know that we are to walk in

holiness, and we must believe that God will supply

what we need. We just need to pick up the supplies.

(Holiness continued on page 6)

Our quarterly week of prayer is the first full

week in July. We plan to meet each morning before

VBS from 7-8 am in the conference room, and will fo-

cus on praying for VBS and other children's outreach

ministries.

VBS is a vital ministry to our children and to

the children in our community. Join us at 7:00 am,

WEEK OF PRAYER JULY 5 - 10 every day or even one day. Whatever you can give in

time of prayer will be multiplied into the lives of

these children.

We will have prayer watch from 8-12 on Friday

the 10th of July, and will continue in prayer for the

planning of the fall programs and outreach to com-

munity.

As followers of Jesus, we have endless provi-

sions (Phil 4:19). He provides us with inward strength

and the permeating influence of the Holy Spirit,

whom He has sent as our helper (John 14:26). Holi-

ness is a possibility because the Holy Spirit lives with-

in us.

It begins with a commitment to the Lord Jesus

Christ. Then it then it takes action on the part of the

believer, i.e. (1) set your mind on things above, (2) put

(Holiness continued from page 5) to death earthly passions, (3) get rid of anger, malice,

slander and obscene talk, (4) dont lie, (5) put on a compassionate heart and kindness, (6) dress yourself

in humility and meekness, (7) forgive.

The call to be holy is a challenge to change the

way you think. Prepare your mind for this work of ho-

liness. Realize that even with your daily imperfec-

tions, God can still supply all that you need to live a

holy life. Be attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit,

and dont grieve Him (Eph. 4:30). Be obedient (1Peter 1:14), and walk in the Spirit (Gal 5:16). As

you walk in the Spirit, He will produce fruit in your life.

Read Galatians 5:16-23, and ask the Lord how you

can keep step with the Holy Spirit. As He shows you

areas, that need to change, work on being obedient

to His call to change. Holiness is possible. God will

equip you with the strength you need.

Carol Hudler

racquetball, and spending time with family and

friends.

I lived in northern WI all of my life up until Dave

and I were married, and was also blessed to grow up

in a Christian home. I was homeschooled as well, and

am one of eleven children, five boys and six girls. I

was saved when I was 10 years old, and baptized

shortly afterwards. I am thankful to be able to stay at

home with my babies, taking care of them and all the

tasks that make a house a home. I enjoy volleyball,

being out on the water, four wheeling, sunshine, thun-

derstorms, baking, shopping, reading, coffee, dates

with my hubby, and a girls night out now and then! :)

We are both thankful for our church home at

First Assembly, for Pastor Chuck, and for the body of

believers we have to come and worship with every

Sunday. God bless!

Rebecca Eldredge

(Eldredge continued from page 1)

PA

ST

OR

S &

ST

AF

F

Sam Parker After School Ministries &

Missions Director kcatsc@rolla-firstassembly.org

Karen Turner Administrative Assistant

office@rolla-firstassembly.org

Mark Berry Facility Manager

Pansy Bingham Business Administrator

pansy@rolla-firstassembly.org

Abby Swearingen Media Assistant

media@rolla-firstassembly.org

Chuck Whitmire Lead Pastor

pastor_chuck@rolla-firstassembly.org

Ray Cook Associate Pastor

fireguy@rolla-firstassembly.org

Brian Feller Childrens Pastor

pastorbrian@rolla-firstassembly.org

Jason Gibson Youth Pastor

pastorjason@rolla-firstassembly.org

1608 N Oak St Rolla MO 65401-2342

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #116 ROLLA, MO

DAVID AND REBECCA ELDREDGE Spotlight family

A READY ANSWER A new Christian Education Class

WHAT WILL YOUR LEGACY BE? Worldview FAQs

KALISE GARNER Growing up at First Assembly