It is time to pen one of my favorites – cheers, tears, jeers (or whatever rhymes) coinciding with our routine, our lives, our mission, our living out our faith with one another in a world that sometimes seems to have gone mad. This coincides with a frequent column in the once great Evansville Courier several years past. So here we go:

· Congratulations Graduates! Cheers to all of you. Issac Bultitude from Central High School and IvyTech; and Devin Burris from North High School; Megan Yoder from the University of Evansville, Karen Skinner from college; Jonathan Tapp from Thompkins Middle School; (I am sure there are others, but these are the ones that I have been told) May the chosen career for these graduates be a blessing for them and others.

· We had a great year with God’s Kids Pre-School – we moved 22 children on to kindergarten with a wonderful send-off ceremony – we cheered and clapped for their program and gave them each a children’s Bible from our church.

· Covid changed so many areas of our lives for over two yeas. We teared over too many who were hospitalized or lost loved ones. The masks we wore fogged our glasses and teared our eyes. We pray we’re clear from the worst of the pandemic and no longer have to decide who essential or what is an appropriate “social distance.”

· Memorial Day is known as the kick-off to summer with picnics, baseball, swimming, and the Indianapolis 500. But we also paused on this day to remember those who adhere to the princi ples of freedom and sacrifice by giving of themselves to serve our country, with many paying t he ultimate price.

· Gas prices, inflation, baby formula shortages, grocery prices, home prices, stock market decline – are we near the end of this tumultuous time? Philippians 4:6: Do not worry about anything, but pray and ask God for everything you need, always giving thanks.

· We continue to pray for an end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. So many lives have been affected – so much fear; so many tears; so much to jeer about when one nation acts out of evil and greed towards another. Ephesians 6:12: Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world.

· MCC continues its support for severely afflicted peoples throughout the world: local efforts – Youth Home monthly meal, sending clothing and support items for homeless in Evansville, food pantry items for Patchwork Central, Habitat support, weekly meals, God’s Kids pre- school; nationwide – recent tornado relief in Kentucky, Kentucky Mountain Mission; world – Haiti children sponsoring 15 children, field hospital relief efforts in Ukraine sponsored by Sa maritan’s Purse, Operation Christmas Child. Matthew 25:40: “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my people here, you also did for me.’

· "I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field." – John Wesley

· VBS time is here! The week of June 20^th your church will transform into the Rocky Railway where our children will learn how Jesus’ power pulls us through!

· Our closing song each week: God be with you til we meet again. Let that be your cheerful encouragement.

God Bless,

Pastor Greg