We will meet every Friday night, 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM, June 1 through August 17 (except July 6th).

Pizza will be available at 6:30 PM for the whole family.

Kingdom Kids: A Firm Foundation for Boys & Girls

Boys and girls aged 4 to 5 years are eligible for membership in Kingdom Kids. Kingdom Kids helps build a firm faith foundation in the lives of four and five year olds while also introducing them to club life. Kingdom Kids uses a learning center approach which guides children to multiple activity areas as they explore each lesson – holding interest with stickers, puppets, crafts and more! In a fun and engaging way, kids learn more about God and how to live a life that pleases Him.

Christian Service Brigade: Real boys becoming real men

Boys in first through eighth grade are eligible for membership. At Brigade, boys will find:

• Physical action
• Individual expression
• Character shaping
• Positive training
• Bible exploration
• Hands-on time with tools, science, projects, and more…!
• Opportunities to serve their community

Battalion (7th – 8th Grade) – a leadership learning laboratory in which teen guys are mentored toward mature manhood. Fun games, challenging achievements, exciting activities, small group fellowship, relevant Bible truth, personal accountability, and leadership development are all a part of the weekly Battalion meeting.

Stockade (3rd – 6th Grade) – building men one boy at a time by working, discovering, and growing together. An exciting program and the boys’ energy make a winning weekly meeting. Achievement projects, crafts, games, Bible memory, and group activities.

Tree Climbers (1st – 2nd Grade) – exploring the wonder of God’s world with godly men while playing games, making crafts, reading stories, and laughing together.

Christian Service Brigade is a discipleship ministry dedicated to engaging, encouraging and equipping godly men to raise up godly young men to lead and serve in family, church and community.

GEMS Girls’ Club: Looking for a place to belong?

Girls in first through eighth grades are eligible for membership. In club, girls will:

• Participate in team building
• Enjoy dynamic singing, creative movement, and dance
• Develop important life skills through badge activities
• Learn how to apply the Bible to their lives
• Make creative and fun crafts
• Participate in service projects that make a difference in others’ lives
• Find answers to challenges that girls face today

GEMS Girls’ Clubs is a relationship-building club program created especially for girls! GEMS Clubs are offered in local churches and other Christian organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The ministry is non-denominational with club participation in several different denominations and non-denominational churches and other Christian organizations throughout the United States and Canada.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” — Isaiah 53:6 (ESV)

There are many reasons for this switch. Some of those reasons were covered in Robert Berman’s Sunday School classes last spring and others reviewed in an article by him in newsletter.

If you are interested in reading some good reasons for the ESV, check out the brochure by Kevin DeYoung called “Why Our Church Switched to the ESV.” It outlines seven reasons his church, University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan, switched. (Note: His argument does not include the added wrinkle of the 2011 revision of the NIV which also factored into our decision)

Happy reading and Happy New Year!

Pastor Mike

Visitation with the family will be from 10:00 AM to noon.

The funeral service begins at 12:00 noon.

See you again next week!

We will meet every Friday night from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM starting May 6.

Food will be available from 5:30 PM to 6:00 PM.

Club activities will start at 6:00 PM.

Kingdom Kids: A Firm Foundation for Boys & Girls

Boys and girls aged 4 to 5 years are eligible for membership in Kingdom Kids. Kingdom Kids helps build a firm faith foundation in the lives of four and five year olds while also introducing them to club life. Kingdom Kids uses a learning center approach which guides children to multiple activity areas as they explore each lesson – holding interest with stickers, puppets, crafts and more! In a fun and engaging way, kids learn more about God and how to live a life that pleases Him.

Christian Service Brigade: Real boys becoming real men

Boys in first through eighth grade are eligible for membership. At Brigade, boys will find:

• Physical action
• Individual expression
• Character shaping
• Positive training
• Bible exploration
• Hands-on time with tools, science, projects, and more…!
• Opportunities to serve their community

Battalion (7th – 8th Grade) – a leadership learning laboratory in which teen guys are mentored toward mature manhood. Fun games, challenging achievements, exciting activities, small group fellowship, relevant Bible truth, personal accountability, and leadership development are all a part of the weekly Battalion meeting.

Stockade (3rd – 6th Grade) – building men one boy at a time by working, discovering, and growing together. An exciting program and the boys’ energy make a winning weekly meeting. Achievement projects, crafts, games, Bible memory, and group activities.

Tree Climbers (1st – 2nd Grade) – exploring the wonder of God’s world with godly men while playing games, making crafts, reading stories, and laughing together.

Christian Service Brigade is a discipleship ministry dedicated to engaging, encouraging and equipping godly men to raise up godly young men to lead and serve in family, church and community.

GEMS Girls’ Club: Looking for a place to belong?

Girls in first through eighth grades are eligible for membership. In club, girls will:

• Participate in team building
• Enjoy dynamic singing, creative movement, and dance
• Develop important life skills through badge activities
• Learn how to apply the Bible to their lives
• Make creative and fun crafts
• Participate in service projects that make a difference in others’ lives
• Find answers to challenges that girls face today

GEMS Girls’ Clubs is a relationship-building club program created especially for girls! GEMS Clubs are offered in local churches and other Christian organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada. The ministry is non-denominational with club participation in several different denominations and non-denominational churches and other Christian organizations throughout the United States and Canada.

How People Change

by Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp

“A changed heart is the bright promise of the gospel. When the Bible talks about the gift of a new heart, it doesn’t mean a heart that is immediately perfected, but a heart that is capable of being changed. Jesus’ work on the cross targets our hearts, our core desires and motivations, and when our hearts change, our behavior changes. It’s amazing to watch people who once seemed stuck in a pattern of words, choices, and behaviors start living in a new way as Christ changes their hearts.”  (from the Publisher)

It’s available at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/How-People-Change-Timothy-Lane/dp/1934885533/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1297456735&sr=8-5)

and directly from New Growth Press (http://stores.newgrowthpress.com/-strse-381/How-People-Change/Detail.bok). 

The study guide is also available from the same places.

Pastor Mike

Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. – 1 Chronicles 16:8 (NIV84)

Our family moved to the “big city” from the country in 2009. We went from a 2.25 acre lot down to less than one acre. The fenced area where the kids play is much smaller than the open back yard we used to have. The funny thing is that they spent more time in the new, smaller backyard in the first few months than they spent in the old larger backyard in the whole three years.

I attribute this new outdoor enthusiasm to the freedom that our six foot high privacy fence provides. “Freedom from a fence?” Yes. The fence takes away fear by providing a safe area to live in. Inside that fence is freedom to go anywhere and do anything. There is an openness to life within the fence.

King David learned a lesson about fences the hard way. His teacher, the Lord, instructed him not about physical barriers, but about spiritual hedges. The result was David’s repeated expression of thanksgiving and joy to the Lord which we read in 1 Chronicles 16:8-22 (which is also Psalm 105:1-15).

The immediate context of his thanksgiving was the coming of the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. It was obviously a time for joy and thanks – this time! Just a little while before, it was a time of wrath, anger, and fear (1 Chronicles 13:11-12). David had attempted to do this same task (bringing up the ark), but Uzzah was killed when he touched the ark (13:9-10).

David’s desire was commendable. He said, “Let’s bring the ark of our God back to us because we didn’t inquire of it during Saul’s reign” (13:3, NIV84). Everyone agreed. “It seemed right to all the people” (13:4, NIV84). So they set about the good task with a new cart, a couple of men guiding it, and much celebration (13:7-8).

Unfortunately, they soon learned that God was not pleased. In fact, the Lord was angry (13:10). Then David was angry (13:11) and subsequently afraid (13:12).

David learned the lesson and realized his error when he was attacked by the Philistines a little while later. In the face of that threat he “inquired of God, ‘Shall I go and attack the Philistines?’”(14:10, NIV84). The Lord said, “Yes,” and gave him the victory (14:11-12). Again the Philistines attacked (14:13). Again David inquired of the Lord (14:14). Again God gave him the victory (14:15-16).

It is not enough to have a good idea and do what ‘seemed right to the all the people.’ That was the problem during the period of the Judges (Judges 17:6; 21:25). More importantly, that was a major failing of King Saul (1 Samuel 13:11-14; 15:9, 13-15, 24-26). David recognized the problem and his first attempt to bring up the ark was to ‘inquire of it’ (1 Chronicles 13:3). Despite recognizing Saul’s error, David tragically committed the same mistake. He did not inquire of the Lord (1 Chronicles 15:13).

Unlike Saul, David learned the lesson (15:2, 12-15). As a result, he exhorts God’s people to live their lives before the Lord: “Give thanks to [the Lord]… call on his name… make known what he has done… sing to him… tell of his acts… glory in his name… rejoice in seeking him… look to the Lord and his strength… seek his face… remember…” (1 Chronicles 16:8-13).

Does God’s will and God’s Word provide a protective barrier around your life? Inside that fence, you find joy and life.

So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams’ horns and trumpets, and of cymbals, and the playing of lyres and harps. – 1 Chronicles 15:28 (NIV84)

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. — Psalm 90:12 (NIV)

What stands out as you reflect on 2010? As I think about our church family, what comes to mind is good and bad; gains and losses. We added more new members (16) than any year in recent memory. On the other hand, we said ‘goodbye for now’ to precious friends whom we loved dearly (Nancy, Tony, Helen).

We welcomed little ones into our extended families, but had to say, ‘See you soon’ to those we never got to know (Cordis, Zion). We have seen God do amazing things in answer to prayer for cancers and surgeries. Yet we have seen some problems return and others get worse. We have seen our nation’s economy sputter and our debt explode. Yet our church’s financial position is sound and our debt is gone.

Depending upon how narrowly you focus, you might be just as likely to say either, “What a great year 2010 was!” or “I can’t believe how bad 2010 was!”

What will the New Year hold? More of the same, we can be sure. There will be good and there will be bad. Our response will be largely determined by what we think about what is going on. Will we see chaos or will we believe in an order that we do not understand? In other words, will we believe that God is in control or not?

The Bible is clear that God “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Ephesians 1:11, NIV; cf. Proverbs 16:4). God’s will encompasses the tiniest details (Proverbs 16:33; cf. Matthew 10:29-30) as well as the direction of leaders (Proverbs 21:1) and the fates of nations (Psalm 33:10-11).

Our hope for the New Year is to believe that God is working out his purposes and our resolution ought to be not only to know his will, not only to do his will, but ultimately to love his will.

God’s Will

I asked the New Year for some motto sweet,

Some rule of life by which to guide my feet,

I asked and paused; it answered soft and low,

“God’s will to know.”

Will knowledge then suffice? New Year, I cried,

But ere the question into silence died

The answer came, “No, this remember too,

God’s will to do.”

Once more I asked, is there still more to tell?

And once again the answer sweetly fell;

“Yes, this one thing all other things above,

God’s will to love.”

—Author Unknown^[1]