Upcoming Events in September
Sunday Sept. 1: Labor Day Weekend
Celebrating Communion, continuing our Nehmiah sermon series entitled “Faith Warrior.”
Tues. Sept. 3: Bible Study
Bible Study from noon to 1 pm. This is a weekly event – it’s the most important book you’ll ever read (study).
Wed. Sept. 4: Gratitude Walk & Prayer Shawl Group
Meeting at the church at 9 am (Weather permitting) we’ll take a leisurely walk around the block chitchatting and focusing on being grateful for the beauty of nature and life.
Prayer Shawl group knitting from 1-3 pm.
Sat. Sept. 7: Bargain Barn
Open from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. Lots of goods including a lawn mower, collectible cars and cards, lots of pans and glassware, Holiday items for Fall & Halloween. We have books, DVD’s and CD’s all at very reasonable prices.
Sunday Sept 8: Fall Kick off – Sports theme Sunday & Sunday School
10 am Coffee (½) hour (Pregame). 10:30 Worship with kid’s Sunday School.
11:30 Tailgating – Hot dogs etc… 12:00 Titans vs. Bears (Fellowship Hall)
Wear your Bear Gear or favorite team attire.
Sunday Sept. 15 & 22 Choir practice & performance
Choir practicing 8 am 3rd week & practicing & performing on the 4th Sunday.
John & Mari Aldridge will be leading, directing the choir, love to see you (hear you) sing in the choir.
Handbell Schedule
Joel A. & Trish W. are putting a schedule together for both Handbell groups.
Blessings, Pastor Michael
-
Labor Day, September 2, 2024
-
Patriot Day, September 11, 2024
-
First day of Autumn, September 22, 2024
Goals for your church
Pastor and professor Howard Clinebell Jr. described the ideal local church as one that strives to become “a healing, growth-stimulating, redemptive organism.” Each congregation, he wrote, should work to develop “a dynamic climate of mutual concern which gradually seeps into and saturates the whole fellowship.”
How can your church body meet those goals? For starters, compare your mission, ministry, outreach and attitudes to the early church.
The New Testament reveals that a fellowship of believers should engage in these activities together: worshiping (Acts 2:46-47), studying (Acts 2:42), witnessing (Acts 2:44-47; 3:9), serving (Acts 6:1-6; 20:35), loving (Hebrews 10:24), praying (Acts 1:14; 12:12), cooperating (Acts 1:11-14; 2:1; 4:23) and suffering for the sake of the gospel (Hebrews 10:32-34; Philippians 1:29).
In addition, Jesus calls New Testament believers to live joyfully (Acts 2:46; 5:40-41; 13:50-52; 16:25), courageously (Acts 4:13; 4:29; 15:26), powerfully (1 Corinthians 4:20), enthusiastically (Acts 2:43-47) and generously (Acts 2:45; 2 Corinthians 9:10-12). May the Holy Spirit equip us to heal, grow and mutually edify one another!
The Significance of Patriot Day
Three months after the 2001 terrorist attacks, Congress approved a joint resolution designating September 11 as Patriot Day. Every year, we pause to remember the lives lost and changed on that autumn morning.
The resolution requests that each year the president issue a proclamation calling on the American people and state and local governments to observe the day with appropriate activities. Those include remembrance services, candlelight vigils, moments of silence and flying the U.S. flag at half-staff.
In his 2023 proclamation President Biden said, “Together, may we continue to demonstrate that the rights and freedoms that those terrorists sought to destroy on September 11, 2001, remain unwavering — strengthened by generations of Americans who have dared all and risked all to defend, protect and preserve our democracy.”
The Extraordinary Amid the Ordinary
A violinist once performed in the New York City subway, entertaining passersby for 45 minutes. A few tossed him cash, totaling about $30 by the time he concluded.
Little did anyone know, Joshua Bell was one of the world’s best violinists. That day, he played one of the most complex musical pieces ever written on an instrument worth $3.5 million. Indeed, a few days earlier Bell had performed a sold-out concert in Boston, where tickets averaged $100.
Sometimes God does extraordinary things right in the middle of our ordinary lives, yet we don’t notice. You’re offered an opportunity you almost pass up, thinking it’s not worth your time or effort. But upon taking part, you find it leads to your life’s calling. Or someone crosses your path, but overlooking their worth, you brush them aside, missing out on a blessing God had for you through them.
And what about you? Do you undervalue yourself as “nothing special,” just an “ordinary” person? Look closer; think again. For an ordinary baby born long ago to an ordinary couple in an ordinary stable in an ordinary town was none other than … God’s Son! And you? Why, you are also an extraordinary child of God!
The Gift of Work
Missionary and author Elisabeth Elliot considered work a gift and a blessing. Ponder the following quotes of hers as you celebrate Labor Day. How do they mesh with your own views of work?
“This job has been given to me to do. Therefore, it is a gift. Therefore, it is a privilege. Therefore, it is an offering I may make to God. Therefore, it is to be done gladly, if it is done for him. Here, not somewhere else, I may learn God’s way. In this job, not in some other, God looks for faithfulness.”
“Work is a blessing. God has so arranged the world that work is necessary, and he gives us hands and strength to do it. The enjoyment of leisure would be nothing if we had only leisure. It is the joy of work well done that enables us to enjoy rest, just as it is the experiences of hunger and thirst that make food and drink such pleasures.”
“Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” —Anthony J. D’Angelo
Pioneer Center for Human Services
|
