News Items, 08/27/07

Teen Quiz Team meets this afternoon at 5:00 for a practice session. We want our teens to be involved with one of the best Bible programs in the church. We have talented teens to learn God’s Word. In the topsy-turvy world of the adolescence and beyond, God’s Word becomes the stable influence to live a life pleasing to God and helpful to others.

Children’s quizzing is another great quizzing program of the church. The children definitely learn about God through His Word. See Pastor if you’re interested in heading this important ministry with our young treasures.

Exercise aerobics will meet this Monday and Wednesday at 6:00p.m.

Recycle your printer cartridges by bringing them to the church and placing them in the white box in the foyer. These are sent to a company for recycling in return for a check.

Resolve is a 2-day event for teen and pre-teen girls to be held in Columbus, OH, next month. We have several girls attending. The tickets are $69. If you wish to help sponsor this event for our girls, mark you donation “NYI-Resolve.” There will be a Mike Bonanza spaghetti meal on Saturday, September 8^th to help raise funds. Also, you may donate ingredients for the meal.

Real Italian Spaghetti Dinner is planned to help raise funds for the girls’ Resolve gathering. Please see the bulletin board to sign up for spaghetti dinner ingredients. Your donations are very much appreciated. Chef Bonanza will prepare the spaghetti sauce and meet balls.

A special prayer project gives us an opportunity to help a fallen man back on his feet. For a person coming out of prison and getting back on track is a mounting task. The need of clothing, food, shelter, and employment can be overwhelming. We have a chance to help such an individual with providing a vehicle for transportation to employment. Several members of our church are interested in purchasing a 1992 Chevy truck to supply such a need. The truck costs $900. In the next few weeks would you be willing to help. By faith in God’s providence, will you indicate the amount you can donate by writing it on a card and placing it in the offering plate? Or possibly you may know of others who can donate for this cause. Let’s make a difference in this man’s life.

District Ladies Day is Saturday, September 22. Ladies need to sign up in order to reserve enough tickets. The cost is $25 which includes lunch. Special Guests: “Amen Sister Girlfriend Holy Water Revival.”

Hagerstown Church of the Nazarene
630 East Main Street, PO Box 54
Hagerstown, IN 47346
Pastor: Rev. Robert Fannin, Ph: 489-5440
Assoc. Pastor: Rev. David Ames
Music Pastor: Rev. Byron Hunt, Ph: 853-5488
Amazing Angels Child Care, Ph: 489-3544
http://www.HagerstownNazarene.org

Faith reality check

A red-haired, freckle-faced, six-year-old girl was shopping with her mom. It was pouring outside, rain gushing over the top of gutters. Several people stood under the awning patiently waiting. Others irritated because nature was interfering with their hurried day. The little girl’s voice rose above the downpour, “Mom, let’s run through the rain.”

“What?” Mom asked.

“Let’s run through the rain!” She repeated.

“No, honey, we’ll wait until it slows down a bit.”

The young child waited a minute and repeated, “Mom, let’s run through the rain.”

“We’ll get soaked if we do,” Mom admonished.

“No, we won’t! That’s not what you said this morning,” the young girl said tugging at her arm.

“This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?”

“Don’t you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ‘If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything!’ ”

The entire crowd was struck silent. Not a sound was heard but the rain. Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Some might have laughed it off or scolded the child for being silly. Some might have even ignored her. But this mom chose to affirm her little girl’s faith.

“Honey, you are absolutely right. Let’s run through the rain. If God let’s us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing.” And off they ran, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and right through the puddles. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few others who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars. Suddenly, getting wet didn’t seem like such a bad idea.

 

If you like this post please share it

 

Isaiah 26:3“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved.

Can you see them?

How many books of the Bible are there? How many can you quote from the Old and New Testament? Do you have an idea what each book is about? Though the 66 books of the Bible were written by different authors and over a period of thousands of years, the Bible has a unifying theme. Each book fits into the purpose of an all-knowing God. For starters, how many books of the Bible can you find in the paragraph below? There are 15 books from the Old and New Testaments.

I once made some remarks about hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu - kept some people looking so hard for facts and studying for the revelation that they were in a jam. Especially since the books were not capitalized. But truth finally struck numbers of readers. To others, it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy to spot. Others require judges to determine. We must admit it usually takes a minute to find one, and there will be loud lamentations when you see how simple it is. One woman says she brews tea while she puzzles her brain. Well, get to work if you want to complete it. Good luck!

If you like this post please share it

Psalm 94:18-19“When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O LORD, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.” Brought to you by BibleGateway.com. Copyright (C) NIV. All Rights Reserved.

Treasured Victory

God’s grace gives victory over sin, death, and the grave. The life of the Christian is a life of battle. Each day we face an enemy that seeks to destroy our faith in God. At one time the Evil One had us captive in the clutches of sin. But God sent His Son to release us from the prison of sin. Jesus our Christ became the Captain of our salvation and now we follow at His commands of love and obedience to eternal life. Jesus said eternal life was to know the true God and Jesus Christ whom God had sent.

With Christ there is victory not only over sin but also over death. Death can only do so much to these mortal bodies. It’s appointed unto men once to die and then the judgment. Since Christ came we have the victory over the judgment. To those in Christ judgment of sin has already taken place in the cross. And the word we’ll hear at our departing from this life is “enter in the joys of the Lord.”

Today we’re feeling mixed emotions. Our beloved Eileen went to be with the Lord last Tuesday. Her funeral was Friday and was buried with her husband, Ralph, at Bainbridge. We miss her presence and prayers. Eileen was very faithful to her Lord and her church. She endeared herself to our church family at Hagerstown and elsewhere. She became the one we called upon for prayer and counsel. She made the church the center of her life because she found it as an expression of her devotion to the Lord.

But we are glad for her because she is now with her beloved Jesus and her husband Ralph. Eileen was prepared and ready for this day. She had made Jesus the captain of her soul. The life she lived inspires us to serve the Lord in a greater service.

If you like this post please share it

Search for happiness

What does it take to make you happy? Many of us run into a mess of unhappy people. It seems to them that their condition is based upon something they lost or don’t have. And if whatever they perceive is missing is not found their lives are miserable. We are constantly measuring our lot in life with someone else’s lot in love. We feel a need to be elevated from the doldrums we find ourselves. We understand that something is not right and therefore we will brood about it.

NBC News set out to discover how joyous people found happiness. During one brief segment, a reporter interviewed several nuns who lived in a convent. They portrayed happiness, and their life expectancy was 10 years beyond that of the average woman.

One nun, Sister Genevieve Kunkel, felt hope was the clue to inner joy. She said, "If you hope, you cope. If you don't, you mope."

Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl captured by the German Nazi army in World War II, died in a concentration camp. Before her death she wrote that “the best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.”

It is often true that what we thought would make us happy will not? Only when we think beyond our little world to see God’s big picture can we begin to experience happiness. Taco Bell theology, “Think outside the Bun.”

If you like this post please share it