Pastor Vern's Top Ten

1. Pastor Marsha is Going to Senegal – Please keep Pastor Marsha in prayer as she heads to Senegal this weekend.  Marsha is going as a member of our Conference Ministerial Education and Guidance board, on the invitation of a group of pastors in Senegal who are interested in uniting with the Free Methodist Church.  Please pray that she and her traveling partners will have safe and smooth travel, health, productive meetings, inspiring worship times and wonderful opportunities to make strong relationships with the Senegalese pastors and congregants.  Thank you!  

2. The United Way Day of Caring is Back This Year – Last year the Day of Caring was canceled due to COVID, but it’s back this year and we are participating for the sixth year!  We always enjoy taking this day to do some kind of helpful service project in our community.  It’s a great opportunity to show our love for others and let them know a little about the heart of Northgate.  If you’d like to join the staff in this we need to know as soon as possible: the United Way needs to put volunteer teams and projects together.  So please email Pastor Vern (vern@northgatefmc.com) or Pastor Chris (chris@northgatefmc.com) as soon as you can and let us know.  The Day of Caring is going to be held on Wednesday, May 19.  Thanks!

3. “Centered” - Three Evenings Focused on God’s Power – Join us for one, two or all three special evenings of prayer and worship from April 18-20 at 6pm. We’re calling this event “Centered” and we invite everyone to come and experience the power of connecting with God through prayer and Scripture.

Pastor David Prince from Cross Creek, the Free Methodist Church in Palmyra, will join us Sunday night with his wife Linda to share their incredible story of Linda’s recent healing from multiple sclerosis.

Monday night will feature Sandie Brock, a spiritual advisor who will join us by Zoom.  She will lead us in a listening prayer exercise, explaining the "why" of healing prayer, how it fits into the work of sanctification and how physical healing and heart/mind healing is related.

 On Tuesday evening Kyle Sullivan, Assistant Dean of Students at Roberts Wesleyan College, will lead us through a focused reading of Scripture – an ancient Christian practice called lectio divina.

All three evenings will include a time of worshipful singing and time for prayer, including prayer for healing of physical, emotional and relational issues. Please mark your calendars now and plan to join us for one, two or all three evenings!  We are asking people to register for any of the nights you plan to attend, so we can keep track of the numbers/space.  Thank you!

4.  New Women’s Bible Study Has Just Begun – Women’s Journey started a new Bible study on Wednesdays at 7pm at North. This is a 12-week, Women of Faith study called “Uncovering God’s Word”.  Please contact Cricket Johnson if you are interested in attending.  You can reach her at (585 )815-5356 or cricket@2ki.net.

5. Coming Soon: Pray Station – The Children’s ministry team is also planning a fun event at the church dedicated to the importance of spending time with God.  This will be built on stations, with each station taking your family deeper into what it means to talk to God. We hope this activity stimulates meaningful conversations about connecting with God and how kids can continue to do so on a regular basis.  More details will be coming out soon.

6. The Rummage Sale is Back This Year – Our Early Bird group is going to hold their rummage sale again this year, after having to miss last year due to COVID.  The proceeds from this rummage sale goes to support mission work and this year it is going to be held on May 7 and 8.  So start setting aside those items you’d like to donate and we’ll let you know when and how to bring them in for the sale.  Thanks!

7. Parents’ Event – Leah (our Children’s Ministry Director) and Pastor John are planning a special night for parents on May 20.  More details will be coming soon, but this will be a very informative and helpful gathering for parents of children of all ages, so you might want to “save the date”!

8. Need Prayer? – We’d love to pray for you, so please let us know how we can.  You can do that by emailing us at prayer@northgatefmc.com, or text 585-204-0645.  You can also submit your prayers through the Northgate app.  Prayer works, so let’s pray!

9. Prayer-Walk Opportunities – Prayer walks are beginning.  These groups are meeting once a week to walk and pray together and are in various locations around our community.  If you’d be interested in joining a prayer-walk group, please let Pastor Marsha know by emailing her at marsha@northgatefmc.com.  Right now we have these prayer walk opportunities lined up (actually one is a “prayer-run” opportunity!)

•Tuesdays at 10am (Oakfield)
oTriangle Park Gazebo with Robin Woodams

•Tuesdays at 5:30pm (Batavia)
oThis is a Running Group – Meet at Arbor House (South Campus) with Doug Forsyth

•Every Other Wednesday - Mid-morning/times vary (Rochester)
oJericho Walk at Strong Hospital with Mark Logan (Contact Pastor Marsha for dates/times – marsha@northgatefmc.com)

•Wednesdays at 6pm (Batavia)
oNorthgate Prayer Walk (North Campus) with Suzy Jarrett and Louis Smith

•Thursdays at 6pm (Batavia)
oArbor House (South Campus) with Pastor Chris Landon

•Sundays at 4:30pm (Albion)
oMount Albion Cemetery with Greg & Sherrie Staines

•Sunday at 6pm (Bergen)
oHickory Park with Pastor Vern
oNot meeting Sunday 4/18 due to the “Centered” event at North

•Thursdays at 6pm (Batavia)
oDeWitt Recreation Area with Anthony Hoisington

10. Questions About Membership, Baptism, Dedications, Etc.? – We’ve been getting some questions from people interested in membership at Northgate, along with questions about baptism, infant dedications, etc.  In the past (pre-COVID) we were holding classes on membership and special weekends for the baptisms and dedications.  For now we have pivoted to offering appointments to talk with people about membership, and we are holding baptisms and dedications on an individually scheduled basis.  If you have questions about any of this you can let us know by way of our website, or call the office (343-4011) or speak to one of the pastors after a worship service.

You Can Count on This – Acts 14:1 – At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. (Read Acts 14:1-28)

You just can’t stop a fully committed follower of Jesus!  In Acts 13 we read how, after receiving abuse from his Jewish listeners as he preached the gospel, Paul decided to turn his attention to Gentiles.  So he leaves Pisidian Antioch and travels to Iconium. And where does he go first?  To the Jewish synagogue to preach!  Apparently, God wasn’t ready to let Paul stop speaking to a Jewish audience and Paul wasn’t ready to give up on his fellow Jews.  

Even after being threatened with a stoning in Iconium, and later actually being stoned (and left for dead) in Lystra, Paul wouldn’t quit talking about Jesus.  He even later returned to these very same places to check on how the church was doing in each location.  And in Acts 14:22 Paul and Barnabas, his traveling companion, encouraged the believers by telling them, “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”  

I love Paul’s tenacity.  Which was a product of his great faith and trust in Jesus.  Pray for God to grant you great faith and trust so that you will be prepared for any hardship you face as you follow Christ.
 
When you’re not sure what you can count on in the world around you, know this: You can count on God keeping his word.  So read what God has to say in scripture!  And count on it.