Northeast Community News – July 16, 2013
Dear Friends and Family,
This week our message came from Reverend Chris Christopher who filled the pulpit while Pastor Dan, Janie, Theo and I were all at Indian Lake enjoying the last worship services there. If you have not heard, Reverend Christopher had his credentials transferred into Michigan during our District Assembly on July 07th, and he is now officially a member of our church. Praise God! He is a blessing to us in so many ways.
The message this week was titled “God’s Transforming Power.” Through salvation and sanctification, God has provided all of us with a way to have a very unique relationship with Him, with the world, and with our fellow believers. You see God does not save us and then leave us to be ravaged by the evil one in this world. Rather, through the power of the Holy Spirit he sanctifies our hearts and transforms us in every way, enabling to walk in love, loving God and neighbor, unsaved and saved!
Through the Holy Spirit, it is possible for us to witness boldly and with power to non-believers, and to win more people to the Kingdom of God. Reverend Christopher used the example of John Hyde, a missionary to India who one day dared to pray that one person each day for 365 days would be saved. Everyone said it was impossible. Yet at the end of the year, 365 sinners were saved, baptized, and publicly testifying to God’s saving grace!
So what about you? Do you pray to God for souls? Is your concept of God big enough to be able to approach Him in prayer, knowing that He is faithful and loves sinners? This is a challenge to pray in confidence for the unsaved to our God who loves sinners!
While I did not get to hear the message, I trust you all were fed and challenged by the Word of God! See more below for Pastor Dan’s reflections on camp meeting.
With love, Pastor Amy
Dear Friends and Family,
What an amazing time we had to pray, worship, learn, and fellowship at Camp Meeting this year at Indian Lake Nazarene Camp. The daily rhythm goes something like this:
7AM – Gather with others for prayer at the stone altar in the tabernacle and pray for the day’s services and that the Holy Spirit will anoint evangelists and worship leaders and that the same Spirit would convict, shape, and transform lives.
9AM – Gather with others for Bible Study on the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew taught by Dr. Roger Hahn who wrote the Wesleyan commentary on Matthew. It was a bit like trying to take a drink from a fire hose! So good! So much! Such a blessing!
10AM – First 2 hour worship service of the day. Lots of prayer, singing, and of course, the preaching of the Word and an opportunity to spend time at the altar with Jesus.
7PM – Second 2 hour+ worship service of the day. Again a service with lots of prayer, singing, preaching, and opportunity to pray.
10PM – Campfire time with friends discussing the services, what we learned, how our walk with the Lord has been challenged and changed, and a time to eat Smores!
1AM – Reluctant time to leave the smoke and mosquitos and go to bed feeling renewed, refreshed, and recommitted to Jesus with a grateful heart and squeaky clean soul!
While not everyone attended everything, surely you can see how Camp Meeting can be an intentional time for spiritual renewal and refocus in the presence of the Triune God!
Words cannot express how wonderful Camp Meeting is; you just have to experience it yourself! Why not make plans to spend a day or a week at camp next year! As the guy selling suits says, “You’ll like the way you feel after Camp Meeting! I guarantee it!”
WED. NIGHT ADULT BIBLE STUDY AT 6:30PM
We are currently studying a little book on Christian Community on Wednesday nights and this week’s study is titled, “Everyone’s Invited” based on Philemon. Hope to see you Wednesday night at 6:30pm to learn about Christian Community!
Healthy Living! It is a way of life as Holiness People!
“Everything is permissible”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive…So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:23, 31).
This section of our newsletter is dedicated to healthy living. As holiness people it is important to realize our witness for Christ encompasses all areas of life! As temples of the Holy Spirit, set aside and completely yielded to God, our lives should honor God in all things! The following article attempts to address areas of practical holiness! This week we will discuss margin in finance!
Margin! Marginless Living! Margin in Finance!
In his book Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, Richard A. Swenson, M.D., a Christian doctor, sees a steady stream of exhausted, hurting people. The majority suffers from an uncontrolled societal epidemic he calls living without margin. This week we will examine margin in finance!
Dr. Swenson writes, “At last count there were about 210 countries in the world. Every year Americans spend more on trash bags than the individual gross national product of 90 of these countries. Even more astoundingly, we spend more on eating out than the individual gross national product of 200 of these nations” (p. 164).
Sadly, this incredible level of spending has not brought more joy and satisfaction; but more brokenness and pain! Swenson says, “Part of the reason families are broke is due to their unparalleled love affair with consumption” p. 168). But when this love affair with consumption meets stagnant income and easy lending terms people plunge deeper in debt instead of pulling back within their means and creating margin.
He concludes, “When it comes to fiscal matters, our skills at rationalization are so well developed we scarcely wince when God’s Word encounters us (p. 170). The reality is God has a lot to say about money. If you are struggling with money take a couple days and look through the concordance of a Bible and see for yourself what God has to say about money. Ask yourself who is the slave and who is the master and why. If you would like to borrow my DVD on affluenza, which speaks to consumption, let me know!
The doctor offered 16 prescriptions to restore our financial margin. Here I’ll list 12 of them. If you would like more information on any one of them let me know!
1) Break its back 2) Counter culture 3) Live within your harvest
4) Discipline desires 5) decrease spending 6) Increase savings
9) Make a budget 10) Discard credit cards 11) Share, Lend, Borrow
12) Resist impulses 13) Fast (go without) 14) Kingdom first
If you’re feeling like your finances are out of control right now remember you’re not alone! We’ve all been there! Just try to establish some margin by trying a couple of these strategies, remember to pray, and remember, God will help you!
Blessings! Pastor Dan
Hello from Pastor Amy, your Associate Pastor/Administrative Secretary
My office hours will vary every Tuesday, and if you need to see me, just call! My responsibilities also include preparing our weekly program, so if you have an event that you would like to put in the program or newsletter, please feel free to contact me!
On Prayer Requests: If you have a specific praise or prayer request which you would like to appear in the program and/or newsletter, please make sure to fill out the tear-off sheet in the weekly program, or contact me at any time.
Please Update Me! We have a long, ongoing list of prayer requests. Please keep me
updated. Requests will be pulled from the newsletter & program after three weeks.
Church Office: 616-459-2773 My Contact Info: 616-514-9521 or aorban@nnu.edu
NEWS AND EVENTS
PLEASE PRAY FOR OUR TEENS AT CAMP!
This week our church is sending three teens to camp at Indian Lake! They will be leaving Thursdaythe 18th and returning home on Sunday the 22nd. As many of us know, camp can be a time of powerful encounter and transformation with the living God. We know and have faith that God can and will work in the lives of teens. Your pastors are asking you to take special time out this week to love our teens by praying that God will move in the hearts and lives of Alannah Parsaca, Chelsea Christian, and Kamrie Daniels, and that they will grow closer to Jesus through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for these wonderful girls!
Adult Alternative Sunday School Returns This Week- YOU are Invited!
Our downstairs adult alternative Sunday school class has been on a two-week break during camp meeting. We will pick up our new book on Sunday July 21st with chapters 1-4! It is not too late to join us in our new book titled “A Charitable Discourse: Talking About the Things that Divide Us” by Dan Boone. Talk to Pastor Amy to get a book!
Do You Know About First Friday Chinese Lunch? August 02 @ 11:30am
On the first Friday of every month, a group of us gather at the Hibachi Grill on Alpine Avenue located behind the Target for lunch and fellowship at 11:30am. This is a very relaxed gathering, and everyone is invited to attend, and to bring friends, family, and kids. The food is cheap and delicious, and no reservations are required, just show up! Talk to Tracy Tamm if you have any questions.
Communion and Family Church – Sunday August 04th
Have you ever wondered why we don’t have children’s church one Sunday per month? On the firstSunday of every month, we celebrate the sacrament of the Eucharist, also known as Communion or the Lord’s Supper. On this Sunday, we also keep our children in service and do not hold our usual children’s church. This not only gives our workers a chance to participate in Communion, but more importantly it gives our children a chance to be part of this service and sacrament as well!
Jonathan Gingrich is in Germany!
Jonathan is a Calvin student who was with us for the year, and he is heading to Germany this summer. Will you pray for his travel and his time there? Will you check out his blog?
Here are some details from him:
I come to Grand Rapids on the evening of July 7th. We have a week of classes in Grand Rapids and leave that Friday (July 12) for Berlin, so prayers for travel would be very nice. We have classes Monday-Thursday every week and either have Friday through Sunday free, or we go on a group trip together. On the 19th we are going to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp just north of Berlin, so that should be a pretty somber experience. The week after we are taking the entire weekend and going down to the southwest, to Heidelberg, and then coming back to worship in Luther's church in Wittenberg.
We're going to try and find a race or two to run while we are in Germany, which should be a very exciting experience, as I've never run a race outside of the midwest, much less outside of the county, but we're having trouble finding a good race with competition to run against. My friend and I have to leave the program a week early to come back August 17th for cross country camp. I also went ahead and created my blog for the trip http://grinchingermany.
Indian Lake Paint Project – will you help?
Irene Pratt is leading an effort to repaint part of the Indian Lake Nazarene Camp Tabernacle. We recently received a $400 donation toward the project! So many of us cherish the experiences we have had at ILNC over the years, and we want to help take care of this wonderful place which is truly a gift from God. While this might seem like an enormous project for our little church, we believe that God has called us to make it happen, and He will provide a way! Irene is also asking people to come down to the camp to do the actual work. If you are willing to get on board, contact Irene!
Attention Teens – Summer Youth Group has begun!
We have kicked off our summer youth group, and we want all teens to know that they are invited to join us on Wednesday nights. For the summer we will be studying lessons about missions, and so far they have been great lessons. We also have pizza parties, dress up nights, work on painting the youth room, and pray for each other. If you are a teen or know a teen, won’t you join us? Talk to Theo Orban or Pastor Amy.
You can send mail to Larry! Please note new address!
Most of you know that Larry Terhaar is currently in prison. We received his new address. It is important that he hears from his church family! Don’t forget, we even have church postcards that you can use, just ask Pastor Dan for one! Here is Larry’s new address:
Larry TerHaar # 866962
c/o Marquette Branch Facility
1960 U.S. Highway 41 South
Marquette, MI 49855
Postcard Greetings Now Available
Don’t forget, we have NE Community postcards and they are available to anyone who would like to send them to invite, encourage, miss, or welcome someone to the church! Interested? See a Sundayschool teacher or Pastor Amy or Dan.
Upcoming Events
August 2 First Friday Chinese @ 11:30am, Hibachi Alpine
August 4 Communion Sunday/Family Church – NO Children’s Church
August 11 Northeast Community Potluck follows morning worship service
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