The One That Didn’t Get Away
While fishing in the surf one day at “The World’s Safest Beach” in Carpinteria, I was having fun using small baits and catching small sand perch. Then I decided to change to larger hooks and bait, using the old theory that to catch big fish you need big bait. I was not disappointed. On one of the first casts with my “BIG” bait, I hooked into a 2 ½ foot, 5 pound Tiger Shark. This little gal was full of fight and gave me quite a struggle to get her on the beach. Although not big enough to chew my leg off, she tried to bite me as I unhooked the line to throw her back. Makes me wonder if her big brother is still out there and if this beach is really that safe.
 Jesus commanded us to be fishers of Men. (Matt. 4-19). When we go about spreading the plan of salvation to the lost, many will hear but will not respond. A few will listen and be drawn close to Jesus, making life changing decisions along the way. This is a good thing, but not the end of our job.
 If we do nothing else to help the new Christian grow, then it is just like throwing the fish back after you catch it. We must encourage new Christians to join a small group, where friendships can be made, and growth can occur while developing mutual accountability. Our Sunday School is just such a small group setting, with classes for all ages and group members with similar interests, problems and joys of life. All classes meet each Sunday at 9:15 am, and locations of various age group classes are posted in the foyer. You can also ask a greeter to help you find the right class for you.
 I am proud of our Senior members and their involvement in Sunday School. Some of our finest caring classes are made up of retired folks, who have decided that they choose not to retire from witnessing and serving the Lord. I don’t find anywhere in the Bible that says you can get too old to serve HIM.
New and long time church members need to be in the Sunday Bible Study hour. You simply don’t
know what you are missing, and we have the best teachers in town. But as your class
makes its plans for outreach, be careful what you fish for, cause if you use
BIG bait, no telling what you might attract to your class. Grandpa Dick
P.S. Here is a picture of “the one that didn’t get away”

Grandpa Dick has Writer’s Block
Grandpa Dick said there is so much going on at our church that his brain is all frazzled and he can’t find the words to describe it. The Sunday School is growing and people are being saved and Baptized. Praise the Lord! He said he just can’t wait for Sunday to meet with his Sunday School class, and then to hear such top notch preaching each week by our “on fire” Pastor Frank. He wanted to write about the Promise Keepers trip, because he had such a spiritual uplifting last year, but it isn’t until October 9th. Twenty two of our guys have signed up to go.
He wants to write about all the great things the Women’s Ministry is doing and about the wonderful Women’s conference we hosted at our church. The Prayer Quilt Ministry deserves an article all its own. He said he couldn’t find the words to share about the startup of AWANA, and to tell about the new commander of AWANA, Mr. Byron Henson. Grandpa Dick is leading game square again and the kids are having a great time. He is also really hyped about Children’s Choir as they prepare the musical “Holy Moses”. He wanted to tell about his Grandkids, but is just unable to describe them and their activities. Caleb is in his first year at Bakersfield Christian High School and doing well, and Kari, after a scary encounter with a dentist, is having a great year. He said he and Bev celebrated their 45th anniversary with a short trip out of town but he was just speechless to describe how fun it was. He said he was so excited about startup of Adult Choir, that he would have to sing about it rather than write. He said he wants to write a full article about the “Paint the Church Day”, how nice the nursery looks, and how all of you pitched in to help brighten up the church. He also wants to write about the grand fellowship we have at the Senior Potluck Lunch each month.
He wants to tell everyone about all the Youth activities, including the fundraiser at the County Fair Bolthouse Farms pavilion. He said he was struggling to find the way to tell his fellow Christian friends how much he loves them and hopes to write all about it soon. He signed up for the ASL sign language classes being taught by Pat Brenner, and wants to feature the Deaf Church in a future article. Wow! So much going on and so few descriptive words. Anyway, he wants to assure you that he will write a full article next time.
Grandpa Dick P.S. Pictures of “Paint the Church Day” are posted on the Church web site-www.columbusstreet.org, Senior page.