I am so excited for this new partnership to begin, and the opportunity it provides our church to reach out to the children and families of our community and provide such an important ministry. As I noted during our first partnership, I think this is what Jesus meant when he said: “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).” I cannot think of a better way to “let our light shine” in our community than by providing a safe space for the children of Vinton to come after school to learn, play, and grow.

Unfortunately, the uncertainty of COVID-19 remains. Due to the emergence of the Delta variant, we are still wading through the waters of a global pandemic that will not go away quietly. We are still trying to cope with our losses, and adapt to the many ways this virus has changed our society, both temporarily and permanently. We are still trying to mend fences and heal from all of the division this unprecedented time has created. As the darkness of COVID-19 lingers, rather than wishing it would end or things would return back to the way they were, may we look for ways to share the love and be the light of Christ. I believe partnering with the Boys and Girls Club is one such opportunity. As we welcome them back to Vinton Baptist and continue to serve our church and community in a number of ways, may we put our light on a lampstand for all to see. May we do our best to fill our world with the hope and promise of the one who is “the light of life.” For we are assured that he was, is, and always will be, the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”

This Sunday's sermon is "What is Faith?"; the scripture reference is James 2:14-26. We hope to see you at 8:45 or 11:00 AM. If you choose to worship virtually, please access our livestream through our website or FB live. Sunday School is at 9:50 AM, and we have classes for everyone.

Read this week:

Meditate: ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power^[a] is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. ¹⁰ Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. -2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Prayer: “Lord, when we are weary of the journey, strengthen us by your Spirit to imagine new heavens and a new earth. Amen.” -Shane Claiborne et al., Common Prayer

PLEASE NOTE: Tonight's dinner is CANCELED due to a power outage at the church. We apologize for any inconvenience. Praise Team & Chancel Choir WILL rehearse at their regularly scheduled times because there is power in the sanctuary! Children's choirs and adult/teen Bible studies will be determined around 2 PM today; we will notify you as soon as a decision is made. In the meantime, please click here for the outline scheduled for tonight's adult study.

You won't want to miss the September JOY Seniors Luncheon on the 28th! We will have guest speaker Ann Green, an attorney, talk about long term care and estate planning. Our boxed lunches will come from Mission BBQ and will include your choice of a pulled pork or pulled chicken sandwich, side, coleslaw, drink, and dessert for $10. Sign up at the new JOY Seniors table beside the Welcome Center by this Friday, September 24th.

Please note the following change to our September 30th day trip: The JOY Seniors plan to continue our scheduled tour of the Water Treatment Plant (9 - 11 AM) and have lunch at Jersey Lily's (11:30 AM - 12:30 PM). However, PFG informed us Monday that they have closed their plant to non-essential visitors due to COVID protocols; therefore, our trip will be cut a little short. The deadline to sign up is this Friday, September 24th; we plan to leave the parking lot at 8:30 AM next Thursday. The only cost is your lunch, which you will need to pre-order. Order forms are available at the JOY Seniors table beside the Welcome Center.

Walk with Jesus classes begin October 3rd for 3rd - 5th graders; classes will take place in the library during the Sunday School hour every Sunday through November 21st (except 10/31). Please let Sarah know ASAP if you are interested so that class materials can be ordered. She is happy to answer any questions, as well.

In person - 131

Online - 103

In person - 127

Online - 83

Sunday School - 208

The Children's Ministry is in need of Children's Worship volunteers. Thanks to all those who regularly help out! If you're interested in helping, but don't know what is required, please contact Sarah. Otherwise, please sign up here (dates available through the end of this month).

I hope you are enjoying The Library Book by Susan Orlean. Use these questions as a guide as you continue reading:

The Realm roll-out is getting closer. Please be aware that if you and your spouse share an email address, you will both receive a Realm invitation at that address. Whoever responds to the invitation first will have the opportunity to set up a Realm account. Only one Realm account can be activated per email address. If you currently share an email account, but both of you would like to be able to login to Realm, please consider setting up a new, no-cost email address through Google. Just click here to get started. Let us know what the new email account is, and we'll add it to your profile so that you will receive a separate Realm invitation. (You can set up an email account using any email service, such as cox, yahoo, gmail, aol, etc.; we simply mention gmail because it's free and easy to use.)

Click here for an update from Roanoke Valley Baptist Association on the hygiene kits that have been collected.

The current prayer list has not been included because of today's power outage at the church. It will be updated to the VBC app as soon as possible and will be included in Friday's "worship materials" email.