Scripture Verse: Mark 12: 28-31

To anyone interested in helping out the community and just being a light in the darkness:
8:00 AM – 9:30 AM – Pack Lunches
10:00 AM – 10:30 AM – Distribute Lunches
11:00 AM – Fellowship at The Good Egg

Please sign up in the lobby or notify Kathy Williamson.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
No other commandment is greater than these.”
Mark 12:30-31

Last time we blessed 200 people in the Chandler community.
This time we are planning for 400!!

If you are able to help with the food outreach, please come and enjoy an awesome time of fellowship and blessings!!!!!

We welcome Pamela James to the Chandler First Assembly of God staff.  She has accepted the position of Worship Leader and will begin her ministry on August 9th.

Her vision for the music ministry is:
To enable our worship team/choir to use all their musical talents for God
To enable them to grow musically through vocal and instrumental lessons
To show how to worship, not perform
To encourage them to step out  of comfort zone

She is married to Tim James and has 3 children (Andrew (8), Kaitlynn (5) and Aaron (18 months).

Pamela has previous experience with New Life Spirit Filled Ministries as Worship Leader/Youth Pastors, Mountain View Worship as Associate Pastors/Worship Leader, Rocklin Christian Fellowship on the worship team, and Victory Tabernacle as Youth Leaders.  She has been a pianist, nursery worker, teen Sunday School class teacher and presently serves along side of her husband in establishing the Young Adult Ministry which is growing.  Her husband Tim also plays the piano.

She has attended Mesa Community College for the past 3 yrs majoring in vocal and piano.

Pamela wants to be a vessel used by God to lead His people to a deeper and more intimate understanding of Christ’s love; to experience God in joy, brokeness, and honesty, while remaining “invisible” to the congregation.

So it is with great joy that we welcome her to Chandler First Assembly of God!

Welcome Pamela!

A Special Thanks and Appreciation:
To Skip Salvidge for stepping in and helping out in this transition and for being a great support to the music ministry at CFA!
We appreciate all those involved in the Music Ministry as this transition takes place!  THANK YOU!!

We will be facilitating at series called  “Marriage  - Built to Last – Living Intentionally & Loving Biblically.”

We will be teaming up with Pastor Chip Ingram of the Living on the Edge radio program, financial guru Dave Ramsey and Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner to tackle the common issues couples are facing in their marriages today via CDs.

Marriage – Built to Last isn’t your typical marriage study. Throughout the series, you’ll watch 24 real life couples from across the country share candidly about their struggles in communication, finances, sexual intimacy, expectations, and more.

In this study, you will hear the story of Dave Ramsey and his wife Sharon as they recovered from financial stress and hardship. You will hear the story of Kurt Warner and his wife Brenda share candidly about expectations, trust issues, and adjusting to a blended family.

Marriage – Built to Last includes Biblical and practical teaching on these six critical topics:
Adjusting to Expectations
Learning to Communicate Clearly
Breaking Down Walls
Resolving Conflict
Restoring Sex and Intimacy
Striving for a Christ-Centered Marriage

Whether you’re newly married, remarried, or wanting to improve your relationship. This series provides Biblical and practical teaching to give you tools to live intentionally and love Biblically.

There is an excitement building about what God is preparing us for at CFA (Chandler First Assembly) this coming fall. We have a great response for Leadership for Life Groups and they are all feeling an anticipation for what God is about to do!

The Life Group Leadership Training will begin in July and Life Group sign ups will begin in August! You will see tables set up in the lobby of the church where you can sign up. Watch for more announcements on these two important times!

Last week I was in one of my meetings with Dr. Ron Woodworth and he shared with me about the churches in Costa Rica. They heard about what we are preparing to do in our Life Groups. They want to send a film crew to Chandler AZ to document how we are doing it and take it back to their churches. I’m talking about churches that have 2,000, 3,000 and even up to 10,000 people in them. God’s call to disciple the body of Christ through Sermon Based Life Groups is not unto CFA only but to the Nations.

In July, I’m going to be personally training the Life Group Leadership Team in my home. I will have three to four Life groups every two weeks. They will be trained in many different levels of ministry in our Life Groups such as…
· Praying with a Life Group member who has a financial or physical need.
· Sharing some verses of Scripture with a couple who are considering a job change.
· Meeting with someone who has just received the Lord and sharing with them how to walk in their journey of faith.
· Meet with a couple and disciple them in their marriage and family issues.
· How to visit someone in the hospital or family member who is a shut-in.
· How to share God’s Word in the Life Group meetings.
· Developing skills in becoming an encourager.

As you can see the body of Christ will be ministering to each other in so many practical ways! Yet there is so much more I will be doing in developing the quality of leadership in which you so deserve and in which will bring Glory to God.

Now to the purpose of this letter is to inform you that because of all of this training we will not be having Sunday evening services.

I will be meeting with Life Group leaders on Sunday nights and as well on other nights of the week. It will take me around six weeks to complete the training.

However, soon we will be giving you an opportunity to sign up for a Life Group in the lobby of the church in August. We will need to know what day of the week would fit your schedule best for being in a Life Group (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday) CFA Life Groups will be starting late in August.

A verse that has come to life for me in recent months is 1 John 4:12 NLT. “No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love has been brought to full expression through us.” God’s love is brought to FULL EXPRESSION through relationships with other members of the Body of Christ. That’s how God designed it, and we can’t alter the design.

My sincere hope is that you will connect with other members in life-giving relationships. That’s why we call them Life Groups. Life Groups give life. Life Groups open our hearts to God in ways that we simply cannot do alone.

Don’t isolate yourself. The very piece of the puzzle that your life needs can often be found in the heart of someone else. We want you to invite your friends, neighbors and relatives to experience a Life Group.

Remember, healthy churches grow and growing churches reproduce! Acts 2:46-47 NIV “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

This August be sure to connect…
Get Life and Get Connected!

Blessings,

Pastor Tom and Arlene Rakoczy

Thank you for bringing your kids as they had a great time learning the Word and fellowshipping with others through human videos, skits, songs, age-group classes, object lessons, crafts, games, snacks, and the mentorship of the Chandler First VBS staff.

One of the kids brought visitors, and through the week-long competition to bring as many friends as possible, he won a highly-anticipated Nintendo DSi XL.

The VBS closed off with a great presentation of several songs and human videos. The halftime show was sponsored by the rainforest gorilla and natives.