Since Independence Day, July 4th, falls on a Friday this year, we here at Ocean Lakes are going to be celebrating America’s freedom on TWO Sundays this year - the Sunday before and the Sunday after. Our gathered congregation will sing “God Bless America” on both of these Sundays. But the question for us today is, “When Can God Bless America?”

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Twice each year most states in our nation go through an ordeal of remembering to change our clocks – either forward or backward. “Spring forward – Fall backward” we say. Getting the right time is very important to most people. In the 90th Psalm, verse 12, there is a reminder from God that we are to “number our days.” We’re thinking about that this morning, as we look at “Just a Tiny Little Minute.”

On this Father’s Day this year we are thinking about gifts - not gifts that we might give to our earthly fathers, but rather the gifts that we have all received from our heavenly Father. What are some of these gifts? We could never name them all, but let’s look today at just a few. Thank you for worshiping with us today from Ocean Lakes Family Campground.

Have you ever had the unfortunate experience of standing outside a door and constantly ringing the doorbell or knocking on the door - all to no effect? Nobody is answering. Did you know that there is just such a situation in the Bible? We will be reading this story from Acts 12, the first 19 verses. If you are where you can get your Bible, follow along as we explore this story today!

The title of today’s message is one which may be confusing to some people: “Half-Way Christians.” One might say that a person is a Christian or not, but you can’t be just “half-way.” Actually this title is what is called an “oxymoron.” This is a figure of speech in which two or more words are put together which are actually opposites; they contradict each other. Some examples are: “minor surgery” – “new used car” – or “good grief.” Let’s look at this subject together this morning to try to get some answers.

If you look at the title of today’s message, you may get the wrong impression that we’re thinking today about some musical subject - “Blowing the Trumpet.” Actually, Jesus was talking about some people of His day who did good deeds, but wanted everybody to take notice. It is a very interesting analogy that Jesus used, and there is a real important lesson for us all in His words from Matthew, chapter 6, verse 2. What did Jesus have in mind in these words from the Sermon on the Mount? Let’s find out together.

The title of today’s sermon is one which many people may think that they would never hear from a preacher. We’ve all heard critics of the organized church say, “All they talk about at church is money.” Jesus did not do that, and in fact, there were times when He told people that they could just leave their money at home. That’s the subject of today’s sermon, so stay with us and let’s see what Jesus was talking about when he said that.

During the years when Jesus was on this earth in person, there were many who heard His words, but could not understand what He was talking about. One of His sayings which was so hard for people to take in is recorded in Luke’s gospel, chapter 9, verse 24. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Save your life and lose it; lose your life for My sake, and you will save it.” That’s our subject for today, “Finding Through Losing.”