Announcements
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL: There are many areas where you can serve or help during the week of VBS. Please stop by the Welcome Desk to sign-up! Also, registration of children (ages 4yrs. old - 6th grade) is available online, through the church website. See Pastor Josh for any questions.
NURSERY NEEDS: The Busy Bees Nursery has a Wish List on Amazon for anyone who would like to help out this ministry. To view items, follow this link - https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3DJ1NHR3Q1FYH?ref_=wl_share Please contact Anne-Marie Albaugh with any questions. Thank you for your support of our little ones!
SUPER SIXTIES: Summer Tour to Hanover and Gettysburg will be on Thursday, July 13, at 10:00 a.m. The group will travel by coach for a tour of the Utz Factory and the Utz Outlet and then proceed on to Gettysburg to enjoy lunch at the Dobbin House. The cost is $55.00 per person. For your reservation, please mail a check to the church by Thursday, July 6.
From My Heart
PATRIOTISM
By Dr. Curtis Hutson
What, after all, is patriotism? It isn’t the sight of the Statue of Liberty. It isn’t a whoop-dee-doo on the Fourth of July. It isn’t a hand waving a flag. Those are but symbols.
Patriotism is pride in each other. It’s children safe in their beds at night. It’s being able to scrap your job tomorrow if you feel like it. It’s having the right to laugh, play, speak, write, think, and pray as you wish. It’s liking it here in America. It’s wanting to say thanks. It’s contentment. Patriotism is going into the voting booth and making your choice and cheering your candidate if he gets in, and if he doesn’t, closing ranks behind the one who does.
When the rat-a-tat-tat of a drummer’s stick, the crash of brass cymbals, the twirling of silver batons, and a brilliantly dressed, fast-stepping color guard marching down the middle of any street, U.S.A. stimulate a grateful heart – that’s patriotism.
When we see visions of Betsy Ross, Washington, Jefferson, and Nathan Hale as we watch a parade pass by – that’s patriotism.
Feeling our heart race, a mist cloud in the eye, a “lump in the throat” – that’s the old-fashioned spirit of patriotism.
When we become so stirred that we shout, “three cheers for the red, white, and blue!” when the flag goes by, letting the world know we’re proud to be Americans – that’s patriotism.
The demonstration of strong faith in our republic and undivided devotion to our country is the duty of every true patriot.
But no one is born patriotic. Patriotism must be instilled through habitual practice. Each generation must rekindle its allegiance to our country and reverence for those in our nation’s past.
But how do we preserve our heritage for future generations? It would be simple if Mason jars could be filled and labeled BLOOD SHED WHILE THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER WAS BEING WRITTEN, or TEARS AND SWEAT FROM THOSE WHO FOUGHT AT FLANDERS FIELD, CORREGIDOR, AND PEARL HARBOR. But the accomplishments of the past can’t be bottled for future generations. Our national heritage must be preserved within the human heart. Each generation must allow itself to let loose emotionally and allow fervor for flag and country to ripple forth, as do the beautiful red and white stripes of our flag.