GoodNews fromGPC

March 4, 2010

 

Building relationships - Growing faith - Experiencing Christ’s grace and power

 

TO OUR GOOD FRIENDS:

After so many cold wet nasty days this winter it is soooo nice to see the sun.  Of course, even on the darkest day, the sun was there . . . I just couldn’t see it because of all the clouds.  It reminds me that God is always there too, even when troubles and trials make Him hard for us to see Him.  That’s why we gotta walk by faith and not by sight!

 


CHURCH STUFF:

  • Sunday School Breakfast – Our First Sunday of the New Quarter Sunday School breakfast happens this Sunday.  Breakfast is at 9:30 in the Fellowship Hall.  Please bring one of the following to share: Egg dish, breakfast bread or muffins, juice, breakfast meat.  How about bringing a friend along.  Click HERE for a funny Sunday School Promo.
  • Church Workday – On Saturday, March 13 we will be cleaning the church building inside and out, straightening the storage buildings and church attic, cleaning the churchyard, planting some flowers, and other such stuff.  Your help is needed.  Please plan to come at 8 am a week from Saturday and lend a hand. 
  • Choir Rehearsals – The GPC choir is now rehearsing pieces for the Passion and Praise Concert.  Time is short.  We have only 4 rehearsals left – March 7, 14, 21 at 4 pm and the dress rehearsal on March 27 @ 1 pm.  We need every voice every time to make it another great concert.  Soli deo Gloria – to God alone be glory!
  • Holy Week Activities – It is a busy but blessed time of the year for God’s people.  Here is our schedule of events:

SATURDAY, MARCH 27

Concert Dress Rehearsal – 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.

 

SUNDAY, MARCH 28

Palm Sunday – regular morning schedule

Palm Sunday evening – Passion and Praise Concert and Dinner

Featuring GPC Choir, Praise Band, solos and ensembles – 4:00 p.m.

 

FRIDAY, APRIL 2

Good Friday – Service of Contemplation – 6:30 p.m.

 

SATURDAY, APRIL 3

Egg Hunt and Fun Day – 10:00 a.m.

 

SUNDAY, APRIL 4

Easter Sunday

7:30 a.m. – Traditional Sunup Service

8:30 a.m. – Breakfast in the Fellowship Hall

9:30 a.m. - Sunday School classes for all ages

11:00 a.m. – Contemporary Resurrection Celebration!

 

IGNITE! YOUTH:

  • Meetings – Ignite meets every Sunday evening at GPC from 5 – 7 p.m.  Invite some friends to come, play some games, hang out, and talk about Christ.
  • Service Projects – Youth, clear your calendars for Saturday, March 13 @ 8 am and Saturday, March 20 @ 4 pm.  The church needs your help on both days. 

-- Justin

THOUGHTS FROM GOD'S WORD:

Getting the “Crick” out of Your Neck

A couple of Sundays ago one of my friends showed up at choir practice looking a bit strange.  He sat straight up in the pew while we were singing and never turned his head.  In fact, if he wanted to look at you he had to turn his whole body.  He had, what the people back in Missouri call, a “crick" in his neck. 

 

Has that ever happened to you?  If so, you know how debilitating it is.  You don’t want to move, because every time you do IT HURTS.  If you pick something up IT HURTS.  If you laugh IT HURTS.  Just thinking about moving HURTS!  You get the picture.  Now think about how it would be if everybody had that problem at the same time; everyone looking straight ahead, unable to turn, unable to see what is around them or behind them.  It reminds me why God used that condition to describe His people in the Old Testament.  In Ex. 32:9, for example,  God says to Moses: “I have seen these people, and they are a stiff-necked people.”  Of course, God wasn’t really talking about muscle cramps, He was talking about a spiritual cramps.  And it seems that the whole nation did have the same problem at the same time.  Clearly, theirs was a condition of the heart, not a condition of muscle and bone.  But in either case, it is a condition that makes people unable or unwilling to be turned and unable or unwilling to see the whole picture.  It puts them an uncomfortable, inflexible, and unfruitful condition.   

 

In Deut. 10:16 God describes the cure, He says: “Circumcise your hearts, and do not be stiff-necked any longer.”    Wow, that sounds like some serious scary surgery.  But fortunately, Paul gives us some help understanding what God means by “circumcise your hearts” when he writes in Romans 2:29 that real circumcision “is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit.”   The spiritual cramps that God’s people get from time to time have a spiritual cure – and the Holy Spirit is the Healer. 

 

If you get a spiritual “crick,” call on God to help you work it out; He is always available (and the Holy Spirit even makes house calls).  Of course, if you get the other kind of “crick,” the physical kind, call Dr. Joe @ 892-4636. 

 

REMEMBER OUR SOLDIERS:

Adam (in Iraq)

Sean (Afghanistan)

Ricky (Afghanistan)

Luke (headed for Kuwait)

Andrew (home – PTL!)

Wesley (home from Iraq)

Josh

Thomas (Germany)

Brian (home safe from Iraq)

Tobby (in Iraq)

George

Chris

Monica

Andy

George

Jacob

Cody

Joshua

Richard (back in the USA)

Todd

Brian

 

TRANSFORMATION

The rewrite and update of the “LETTING THE BIBLE SPEAK” material is complete!   It will be printed and available to pick up on Sunday morning for those who are interested.  Soon after that, it will be available for download from the church website.  I guarantee this class will transform the way you read, study, and understand your Bible.

 

BUMPER STICKER THEOLOGY

"If salvation is truly a work of God, it cannot be defective. It cannot fail to impact an individual's behavior. It cannot leave his desires unchanged or his conduct unaltered. It cannot result in a fruitless life."                                                                                              ---John MacArthur

 

Have a great week!

Grace and peace,

Keith and Vicki