Welcome to the monthly blog of Nathan Sayre of Child Evangelism Fellowship. Click on the Title to view the entire article.
Spring is officially here! A lot of great things come with each new spring: budding flowers and trees, warmer weather, baseball season and of course, Easter. For Christians, there should be no greater holiday celebration. We truly have something to celebrate … the resurrection of our Lord Jesus!
We had another two more new After School Good News Clubs® start in the month of February. This brings our total to eight brand new clubs, have two more scheduled to begin this month, with two more still on schedule to begin by the end of the school year!!! We wanted to share another testimony of one of our clubs that the Coordinator shared with us recently….
The Good News Club® ministry in our chapter has continued to spread like a wildfire.
An ancient Japanese proverb reads, “One kind word can warm three winter months.”
Roy L. Smith, author of the 1945 book “Know Your Bible,” says “He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.”
I wanted to share the following testimony from the field that was shared with me lately…
As a family, this summer was designated as the summer to learn how to ride bikes without training wheels.
In honor and celebration of Independence Day, may these words from our 1st President, George Washington, encourage and challenge you today…
We all tend to ask God to work out so many things in our lives. However, it’s harder for us to accept the fact that if we truly want these things to take place we have to do our part. We’re reminded of this story of a little girl who was running late for Sunday school:
Exodus 20:24 says, “In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.” (NKJV).
I am reminded of the words of the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor. 5:17 when he says, “…old things are passed away; behold, all things become new.”
Of course that verse is talking about the way we are as a new believer in Christ, but it also applies to the spring season. The temperature is rising, the trees are budding, and the flowers are sprouting up from the ground. The old things of winter are being passed away and things are becoming new. Not only is this verse a beautiful reminder of the great gift of salvation, but it also should remind us of the almighty power of our Creator God.
I wanted to share a Praise Report from our personal lives with you that just took place the morning of the day we are writing this note (March 1st).
During our morning family devotional time, Caleb (our 6-year-old son) gave His Heart and Life to Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior!!! Erin was sharing with him about Rahab. He just looked up at her with sad eyes and said, “I’ll never get to go to heaven.”
Towards the end of January one of our regular Good News Club® students, a fourth grader, came up and wanted to talk privately. I took him aside, and he told me that because of Christmas break he had been forced to wait several weeks to tell me what he needed to tell me.
With every New Year comes some sort of new excitement. For CEF, 2017 brings a GREAT deal of excitement.
For those of us that have been connected with CEF for several years have been anticipating this year for a while. “Why"? you may ask? It’s because 2017 is the 80th Anniversary of Child Evangelism Fellowship! Just as with people, 80 is a monumental year for organizations. But a big difference, is with age people begin to break down, but CEF is stronger now and in better health today than it was when it started all the way back in 1937.
Let the words of this glorious hymn, “To God be the Glory” speak to you today.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice!
O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son,
and give Him the glory, great things He hath done!
I think sometimes we forget what it’s like to be alone with God because even when we are by ourselves, the noise of technology has a tendency to drown out our senses. The computer’s on, the TV’s on, the phone’s on. Most people really don’t even know what silence sounds like any more. Most of us need to withdraw more frequently than we do to have a private meeting with God in prayer. I know that there’s been many times in my life that I have not taken that time and have regretted it deeply afterwards.
“Guess what I want to be when I grow up…a CEF missionary just like you!”
Some people feel that change is a bad thing. Others would say that change is a good thing. In most cases, both are probably right.
At one of the 5-Day Clubs we taught during the 5-Day Club Blitz just a few weeks ago in Parkersburg, a 3rd-grade boy came forward and simply looked at Nathan and said, “I want Jesus to change my life.”
Patrick Henry is known for several things including being the first post-colonial governor of Virginia, one of the founding fathers of our great country, and his “Give me Liberty, or give me death!” speech. However, we should truly appreciate him for quotes like this, “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians, not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ!”
