Fellowship

On Sunday May 31, Pastor Ron Wedeking will present his third message about love and fellowship out of I John. The sermon title will be “Fellowship With Jesus,” based on I John 2:3-6.
Sometimes people seem to lack a sense of growing closer to God and complain that they are “not growing.” Sometimes they start thinking there isn’t anything in their fellowship or their church that is helping them grow in their relationship with Christ. And it is true that some fellowship groups seem closer than others, so we should take a close look at why that is a reality.
True Christian fellowship starts with acknowledging the love that Christ has for us. Then we demonstrate that love in our fellowship with one another. If we don’t comprehend our need for a growing fellowship with Jesus, we probably won’t be very successful in fellowship with each other. Pastor Ron’s message is going to describe how that happens and the outlook every Christian needs to have in order to be in fullfilling fellowship relationships in the body of believers. We hope you come and hear the message.
Attendance at our worhship services has been in the mid 30s; Sunday School in the high teens to low 20s.
On Sunday, June 7, we will have a special presentation regarding “Leadership & Ethics” by Dr. Tom Johnson at 8:30A. during the Sunday School hour, which of course you will notice is a half hour earlier than our regular Sunday School. Worship will start at 10:00AM with a potluck immediately following that, and a short congregational meeting after that. Somewhere in there we will hear the personal testimonies of Pastor Ron Wedeking and his wife Sheryl. It should be a wonderful day of edification, worship, and fellowship.
May God bless you this week.
Please check out our website at WHIDBEYCHURCH.ORG

Love is a verb

Of course love a verb for Christians, but it is most commonly a noun in the secular world. Even so, many us Christians get caught up in talking about love rather than in actually loving each other as we are called by Jesus to do as He changes our lives. Our failure to love changes love from the verb form to a noun which defeats the message. We simply cannot let that happen.
Pastor Ron Wedeking has begun a series on that subject taken out of I John. He is excited for all of us as he takes us a scriptural/spiritual journey through I John that should lead us to a deeper committment to living the word rather than just understanding it. He imagines that if we truly would adopt the message and the mission that Jesus would have us undertake, we would, even as a very small church, change the world because of the power of Jesus. You ought to come at 10:00A for the next three Sundays and hear this powerful message.
On other subjects, we continue to show the Truth Project every Thursday at 7:00PM. Please call 331-7774 for location and details. The Truth Project can change your world view too.
Our two Bible Study groups continue at 9:00AM each Sunday. One is in I Samuel and the other in Acts. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
We will have Dr. Tom Johnson again on June 7 at 8:30AM when he will finish on the subject of Leadership and Ethics. It will be a busy Sunday as after the the conclusion of the worship service at about 11:15AM, we will have an all-church potluck and then a congregational meeting. Ministries get born at these meetings, so they aren’t just boring business meetings. You are invited to come as an observer or in any capacity as a friend of the church.
God bless you this week.

“Did your Mother teach you to talk that way?”

Such was the title for Darrell Wenzek’s message out of Genesis, Chapter 11 on Mother’s Day.
Have you ever thought about how Adam and Eve first learned to speak to each other? Well, the logical answer would be that God must have taught them. And in so far as we know, eveyone spoke the same language until God changed that in the land of Shinar when the people decided to build the Tower of Babel. As you might recall, it is a story about a people who planned to build a tower as their accomplishment without giving any credit for their ability given to them by God. The message for us is that we need to carefully consider the consequences of ignoring God in our lives and accomplishments.
On Saturday, we had 14 at our Men’s Fellowship breakfast at the Grange Hall. Jim Craft gave personal testimony after Steve Hochenedel cooked us a wonderful breakfast. It was the kind of breakfast everyone tries to keep you from eating. So thanks to Steve for helping us escape the clutches of the food police for at least one meal.
Please visit our web site at whidbeychurch.com.
May God keep blessing you.

Where you have come from does matter.

Our personal history is a testimonyabout why we are what we are today. Every moment in our lives builds to become a story that is often quite interesting. Other people can hear about what we have done and be inspired in a positive way. Sometimes we hear a story about how someone has come through a crisis and vow never to allow that to happen. In every case, we ought to learn from other people’s experiences.
All of that is true until someone mentions the name of Jesus. Then people are often quick to reject the lessons learned because the story becomes more than just interesting: it is a call for a changed life.
There are a lot of reasons why people don’t want to change. Most of them boil down to wanting to continue living life “my way,” even if that way is destructive and self defeating. They just can’t believe that although Jesus sometimes does ask you to make some changes, He will remain standing right there with you as you make those changes.
The personal testimonies of Darrell and Lois Wenzek were a powerful reminder of how Jesus changes lives. They were inspiring and we welcomed them into membership as is our custom. You Can let Jesus change your life too – today. He can do it!
On other sujects, we will have a Men’s Breakfast at 8:30A on Saturday May 9 at the Deer Lagoon Grange. Please come and enjoy wonderful food and great fellowship.
And please remember Tom Johnson will be with us again during the Sunday School hour at 8:30A on May 10 – MOTHERS DAY. He will address the subject of ethics.
God bless you and keep you this week.