August 2, 2026
SPECIAL UPDATE ON THE WORD! (8/2)
Wow, so we had something happen today that has never happened when launching a new series at Stevens Street! We are out of Life Group material!
We ordered 325 copies which is common for us when school is in session. When I left the church this afternoon, we had 5 copies left. That was it.
So what does this mean?
First, if you have a Wednesday night Life Group, your group members will not be able to get a copy yet. I just placed an order for an additional 100 copies and they will be here on Wednesday, August 12th, which will be in time for your people to have it for the lesson that night.
Next, here is the digital copy of next week’s lesson: The Word - August 9th. If you lead on Wednesday nights, you will need this to prepare for your lesson. If you have a Sunday AM group, let your group members know that more copies on the way. Recommend that they use the digital copy for the time being.
Last, PRAY! To see this kind of excitement by our people for a new series is something special. We have a prayer team for The Word and I’m going to make sure they know this as well. Be praying that people will continue to have this passion for God’s Word and getting into it on a daily basis. The more our people get into the Word, the more God can work through that Word to change their lives. Also pray that more people will connect with a Life Group for the first time so they can be part of this series. I spoke with numerous people this morning at Next Steps who were going to join a group and made sure they had a discussion guide so they could follow along.
It’s exciting to see what God is doing and I can’t wait to see what else He does!
UPDATE FOR THE WORD (8/1)
We are 1 week away from beginning The Word!
Our new Life Group discussion guides are now available. You can view them online here. The reading plan for weeks 1-13 and the August Memory Verse cards are in this week’s bulletin so everyone can have a copy. Again, we desire for all of our Life Groups to be part of this series since it is a church-wide effort.
You can view more information and resources for The Word here.
As a reminder, everyone will begin their reading plan and working on their memory verse this coming week. The message on the readings will always come afterwards. This allows everyone to study the text on their own and then come to church on Sunday, ready to discuss it in Life Group. If you have a Wednesday night Life Group, your Life Group lesson will come after the weekly readings and the message have taken place. People will be on the next week’s readings when they come to group. Please keep that in mind as you prepare your lessons.
Also, after switching to a new t-shirt printing company due to issues, our The Word shirts will be at the church on Monday, August 3rd. My hope is to get as many distributed as possible so everyone who gave me their size can wear them on Sunday, August 9th. If you would like to stop by the church and get your shirt early, feel free to do so. I will also be available to hand them out to everyone on Wednesday night. If I don’t see you before Sunday, August 9th, I will give it to you that morning. I have a limited amount of extras available in the event you did not provide your size or you ordered the wrong size.
Once you get your shirt, please be sure to wear it on the 9th as we kick off The Word! Feel free to wear it often when you are at the church. I will let you know about dates in the future when we would want everyone to wear them together again.
UPDATED CARE CENTER NEEDS (AUGUST)
In an effort to create another opportunity for you and your Life Group to serve together, we sharing monthly needs for our Care Center. We hope you find this is an easy way to encourage your group to impact the world together.
The current needs for this month are:
Men’s jeans
Bedding
All items can be placed in the Care Center donation box next to the Fellowship Hall.
Click on a date to view that week’s lesson and commentary. Starting on August 9th, all lessons can be found here.
Dates to Remember
August 2nd - Reading plans for The Word will be made available to the church, Promotion Sunday for kids, students, and CYAM
August 9th - The Word series will begin