We were blessed!

We are thankful for how Jesus has provided for all of us and especially for how we are free to worship as we choose because we are free.  The expression “Freedom isn’t free,” is certainly simplistic but says a whole lot about our country and us as Americans.  If we ever do lose our freedom, it will be because we have first lost our thankfulness to God.

The first advent candle is lit.  We always anticipate the coming of Christ which will happen at a moment which has intentionally been withheld from our knowledge.  But we also expect to celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25.  So we use the advent season as a preparation for His birthday celebration too.  In spite of all the pressure that our culture seems to create, it really is “a wonderful time of year.”

We will have a progressive dinner on Saturday, December 6, which will start at 3:00PM.  Four homes will the site of some wonderful food and fellowship.  If you haven’t signed up yet, please call Dinah at 341-1649 and tell her you plan to come.  We would be so thrilled to have you join us. 

And please plan to attend our “Carols and Candlelight” service on Christmas Eve at 5:00PM.  Maybe your family is not nearby so you could enjoy our Family of God.  You absolutely should not spend Christmas Eve alone this year when Christ’s family wants to welcome you into His loving arms.

Next week, Pastor Ron Wedeking will again share a message out of the Book of Hebrews about the superiority of the priesthood of Jesus.  Maybe you haven’t thought that much.  Maybe you should and maybe all of us will learn a little more about Jesus on Sunday, December 7.  

Remember, our Sunday School hour is 9:00AM and the worship service begins at 10:00AM.

If you want to know more about us, click on the “about us” line.  Thank you for reading this BLOG.

In Christ

THANKFUL THANKSGIVING!

You know of course, that our traditional Thanksgiving holiday is supposed to be all about giving thanks and not about eating and watching football.  Well, you probably knew that, but we should all remember that as we enjoy the festivities.

This coming Sunday, at 9:00AM,  we will show the second half of the Lee Stroble film entitled “The Case for Faith.”  It provides answers for the two primary objections to Christianity:  why is Jesus the only way, and why would a loving God allow so much evil in the world?  The first half was terrific.  The second half is just as good.  You need to see it if you are struggling with keeping your faith and understanding the nature of God.  You will be blessed if you come.

Well, The Grange’s bathrooms have been refurbished and we will have the hallway in front of the bathrooms done before Christmas too.  We have ordered another two dozen chairs so seating will be improving dramatically as soon as we get them – within about six weeks.

We will have a great Christmas Eve service with Christmas hymns, scriptures, a candle light circle, and a wonderful dinner after all that.  It will start at 5:00PM, so put it on your calendar.  

This coming Sunday, November 23, Pastor Ron Wedeking returns for a three week series.  He has been traveling a lot lately so we do not yet know the subject, but we expect it will be uplifting and encouraging.

Please do have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING, and also enjoy the food, family, and friends as we all give thanks to God for how He has blessed us during this past year.

It’s happening during Sunday School hour

This coming Sunday, November 23, during the Sunday School hour at 9:00AM  we will be showing the Lee Stroble video that provides some answers to the two biggest objections to Christianity.  “Why is Jesus the one and only way to salvation,” and “Why would a loving God allow so much suffering and injustice in His created world?”  If you need to know answers, please come and see some people you will recognize as having some authroity to speak on the subject.   You will be blessed if you come.

During the worship hour, Dr. Ed Smyth, Professor at Seattle Pacific University, will share a message out of Jeremiah, Chapter 18 regarding “SWCC – Formed by the Potter!”  This will be Dr. Smyth’s third occasion to provide the message for us and, given how we have been blessed in the past, we look forward seeing and hearing him again.  Welcome back Dr. Smyth!

Our next Men’s Fellowship Breakfast wil be on Saturday, January 10, 2009.  Besides a great breakfast, we will have a short program that will include a testimony.

If you want to know more about us, then please click on the “about us.”  God bless you and keep you this week.

Salute to Veterans

To all of you who have served in our armed forces, we say THANK YOU.  Your willingness to put your own life on hold and serve in many difficult circumstances is very much appreciated.  We can never repay you for putting your life on the line for all of us.  May God bless and keep you on Veteran’s Day and every day from this day forward.

We had a great Men’s Fellowship breakfast on Saturday, November 8.  Steve Hochenedel served up a real man’s breakfast with pancakes, eggs, and bacon.  We had a dozen in attendance and since it was our first meeting, we just enjoyed the fellowship and made some decisions about what we want to do.  We decided to start by meeting every other month.  We will have breakfast, hear some personal testimonies, or do some short devotionals.  We will have a sign-up sheet, so we should be able to post the events with quite a bit of information in the future.  All of us are excited about how Christ is going to use our men to glorify Himself in our community.

Sunday, November 16 will find Pastor Darrell Wenzek sharing a sermon with us that will come out of Genesis 4:25 – 5:32.   Apparently God is ”looking for a few good men.”  And women too by the way.  Darrell’s series has been exceptional because it comes right out of scripture and is the unvarnish truth about our nature and relationships.  YOU NEED TO COME AND HEAR IT!  You will be blessed in great measure if you do.

There are a lot of things happening!!!

Of course by next Sunday, Nov. 9, we should have a good idea of how the election turned out.  No matther who you support, remember, God is still in charge and we have no reason to lay awake at night about any of this.  God will provide.

MEN – Plan on attending the Men’s breakfast at 8:30A at the Grange on Saturday, Nov. 8.  We will just have breakfast and talk about what we might do in the future.  If you have ideas, bring them with you.

Remember the Mexican potluck after church on Sunday, Nov. 9.  You don’t need to be a member to come.  In fact, we encourage you to come even if it is your very first time in the building.  There is always plenty of food for everyone.  The main dish is provided so if you want to bring something you like or prefer, make it a salad or dessert.  We will have a short congregational business meeting after the potluck.

God will be blessing us this week, so expect it and praise Him.