What: Praise Vacation Bible School

When: August 6-10 from 9-11:30am

Where: Mountview Baptist Church

Registration: Register Online

How do you give kids a high view of God?  We believe it is by modeling a high view of Scripture. Kids will focus on an attribute of God and then praise Him in response. This is a curriculum where kids will actively be using their Bibles. Through daily skits, crafts, snacks, games, and music, kids will have an awesome time while giving God the praise only He deserves. Each day kids will learn to:

• Praise God for His Greatness
• Praise God for His Authority
• Praise God for His Providence
• Praise God for His Power
• Praise God for His Love

Come and join us in this movin’ and groovin’ VBS brought to you by the Go Fish Guys! We will start and end each day with a “concert” and “encore” time of worship. Children will then take their backstage VIP passes and their Bibles to explore all of the areas of Vacation Bible School.

“How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth.” -Psalm 47:2

This past week I had the privilege of being able to fill in for Pastor Kevin by teaching in James 3:1.

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” —James 3:1

About a week before I began preparing the message, I was in discipleship group with our college students. I shared a prayer request with one of our students about filling in for Kevin while he was on vacation. I shared with this student, Aaron, that I wanted to make sure my heart, while teaching, was centered around bringing honor and glory to God and instructing the church in the truth. I shared this with him before I looked at the verse in James I would be teaching on this week. I was very humbled when I sat down to read James chapter 3 and saw that I would be teaching on the topic of teachers; more specifically, that James says they will be judged more strictly.

That being said, I thought this might be a great opportunity to share with you a little bit about the process I go through in preparing to teach while Kevin is off wearing out his sand wedge on a golf course far, far away. Read more »

We are pleased to announce that Mountview Christian Preschool for the second year has received a 2 Star Rating with Step Up To Quality!

Step Up To Quality is a voluntary quality rating system created by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services Bureau of Child Care and Development, our licensing agency. SUTQ recognizes three progressive levels of program quality and builds upon Ohio’s health and safety licensing standards.

The goals of Step Up To Quality are to improve the quality of early care and education programs in order to support the optimal development and learning of young children and to assist families in selecting high quality early care and education programs.

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This past Sunday was Children’s Sunday at Mountview, a day where we celebrate all God is doing in our preschool and children’s ministries. In our teaching time, we talked about how God is always there, in control, through every step of our lives. We talked about how He has a bigger story than we could ever imagine. It’s what our hope is all about, knowing and believing that God can bring something good out of something bad.

This weekend, God showed me in several different scenarios where He is doing just that. On Saturday afternoon, some members of my D-group teamed up with our College D-group to prepare and serve a meal at Friends Ministry on the west side of town. Every Saturday, Friends Ministry has a dinner and worship service for people in the community. After dinner was served, we all sat down together to worship and praise God. I was particularly moved by the man who led the music. He gave a passionate testimony that Jesus is enough, and no matter what happens in your life, if you are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, that is all you need; nothing more, nothing less, just Jesus. What a great reminder.

As I headed to the church on Sunday morning, I was listening to a local Christian radio station, which had guest speaker, Mandissa, on the show. She shared with the listening audience how her song, Stronger, was a reminder for her that no matter what you are going through, God is always there and He will make you stronger in the process.

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It is not often I get the chance to write after having just watched the night sky become light, as morning breaks through darkness to reveal the palm trees and clear blue water of the Big Island of Hawaii. Having not adjusted to the time change, my eyes open at 5:25am, (which feels like sleeping in as yesterday I awoke at 4:15am) so I quietly climb out of bed to begin the day with some coffee, as the cool morning breeze blows through the condo we are staying in for the week. It feels like a good time to journal, and while I usually keep this part of my life to myself, I thought I would share the musings of my mind with you; my brothers and sisters in Christ. Though separated by miles and a vast ocean, you are never far from my thoughts, my heart, my prayers. Read more »

Wednesday was a day of shifting expectations. The morning started off fairly early, as most have so far, but there was some additional excitement as we were doing something new. We were going on a prayer walk in a neighborhood along Magazine Street. After eating breakfast and packing materials for the day, we set out on an hour-long drive to a Starbucks in the heart of New Orleans. After we arrived we met with a local pastor by the name of Eric, and his wife, Christina. He explained that he organizes prayer walks in many neighborhoods but for the day we were going to concentrate on the businesses residing along Magazine Street. This was my first prayer walk so I should explain; a prayer walk consists of walking through a specific area, while being intentional about using the spiritual eyes God gave us, to pray for what is pressed upon our hearts. He continued to explain that he would like us to walk up and down the street asking that God’s will be done in the businesses of the community. We were to pray for Him to keep watch over the business owners and employees so that they could thrive and help improve the living conditions in the area. While walking along the sidewalk, a woman pulled to the side of the road, parallel to our group, and waved us towards her. She explained that another group had repaired her house several years ago and then thanked us for being a blessing to New Orleans. We asked if we could pray for her family and she replied, “I can use all the prayer I can get, now, can I pray for your group?” While stopped in the middle of Magazine Street she prayed over our mission and for safe travel. I was taken aback. I came to the prayer walk with the expectation of being a witness of Jesus Christ but I didn’t expect to be shown God’s love by someone else who was touched by others like us.

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Hello from sunny New Orleans! Our whole team made it without any lost bags or travel problems, praise the Lord. We are staying an hour outside the city in a place that reminds me of church camp, meal times and bunks, we’ve got it all. Every morning we split into four teams and head to our work sites. Take a look at some of the people we’ve already encountered since arriving on Monday.

Lance’s team and Kurt’s team are working on a duplex. The homeowner, Larry, his wife and five daughters were displaced from their home and are renting a small place for $1200/month, while also paying to fix his duplex. We are working on one half of the duplex so they can move in and drop the apartment rent. Once they move into the renovated half, Larry will work to finish the other half; this will become his family’s permanent residence. We are painting, staining wood, doing electrical work and finishing work as well as some plumbing. Lance and some of the others have already met people from the community and spent time talking about their situations.

Justin’s team is working at Castle Rock church on a facility called “The Porch.” Renovated areas there will be made into offices for church staff, a sanctuary, classrooms and meeting spaces, including ” The Porch,” which is a safe gathering place for the community to grab a coke or coffee and hang out. Pastor John has a big vision and a growing passion to reach the community. This isn’t a guy who says all the right thing and knows the Word of God in his head, this guy is living out serving the least of these. The team even unloaded the baptism pool from the truck and installed it in the church. Can you imagine the people who will be baptized here? Awesome, God is just so awesome!

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My parents and my wife’s parents have been praying since the moment we left for our honeymoon that they would become grandparents. Well, Rachel and I will celebrate nine years of marriage this summer, and yes, if you haven’t heard the news, my wife Rachel is FINALLY pregnant! One of the most enjoyable and funniest parts of my wife’s pregnancy so far has been sharing the news with our family and friends.

For example:

1. When telling Rachel’s parents over Skype, Rachel’s mom cried so uncontrollably that she almost fainted, while Rachel’s dad continued to work on an open bag of Doritos. (He did say congrats after finishing the bag. Remember, never talk with a full mouth.)

2. Many of the middle school girls screamed at a pitch so high only dogs could hear; while one of the middle school boys simply stated, “Well I guess someone’s been busy.”

3. One of my closest friends (and boss), Pastor Kevin, discretely asked “Who’s the father?”

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Recently, I was returning home from a wonderful vacation, visiting good friends in Virginia; and was flying home through the Baltimore airport, also known as BWI. BWI is a little over an hour away from where my friends live, but is cheaper to fly in and out of, so they very graciously have always been willing to pick me up and drop me off there when I visit. On this trip, we ended up running a bit late on our way to the airport, and I arrived about 25 minutes before my plane was scheduled to take off. Being the kind of person that likes to arrive at airports about two hours early with a book in tow to read after I get through security and am safely at my gate, this arrival had me nervous. Very nervous.  When I get nervous, especially about time, it is possible for me to act stressed, and possibly be a bit unkind with people. (If you’ve ever been in a car with me while I’m running late you know this, unfortunately.)

As my friend was pulling up to the gate at the airport, we saw a van that clearly was unloading band equipment. So my friend said, “I wonder what band that is?” I looked over and immediately recognized the drummer and bass player to my favorite band, Switchfoot. Of course, I didn’t have any time to be excited, or contemplate whether or not I should go up and talk to them, so I just ran to the check-in counter. I was immediately reminded that wherever I go, I am always, always, a Christian first. Seeing my favorite Christian band was a good reminder to me that there is no reason to ever treat a person unkindly.

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In James 2:14–17, James writes; “14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,’ but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

What we remember from these verses most often is that “faith without works is dead.” Generally we think about works as anything we do on behalf of God. But what if James’ intent was specific acts of mercy? After all, the example he gives here and what he was talking about previously in verse 13, mercy, can be defined as “the attitude and action to aid the afflicted.” So what if he really meant “faith without mercy is dead”? What would that mean for our spiritual lives?

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