Pastor Vern's Top Ten

1. Elections Results I want to thank everyone who was willing to serve on our Administrative Team or Nominating Team, and I want to thank all of you who were able to vote this past weekend.  Here are the results of the elections:

Elected to the Administrative Team:
• Justine McMillan (Elected to the A-Team and as a Delegate)
• Stephanie Debo
• Marlin Salmon
• Diane Deleo (Elected as Reserve Delegate)

Elected to the Nominating Team:
• Julie Varland
• Tim Spink

Again, I appreciate all nominees for being willing to help lead our church.  We are blessed to have a great number of leaders in our church, people who would make wonderful members of either of these teams.  May it always be so!

2.  Men’s Group The Mens Group has started meeting again on Wednesdays at 7pm.  Led by Mike Marsh this is a wonderful group of guys who help each other continue to grow as Christian men.  All men are invited to attend and the group meets at the North Campus.

3.  Pickleball at South Campus A community Pickleball League for both recreational and competitive players is now underway. The league is designed with all age ranges and ability levels in mind to promote a fun but meaningful program. Northgate Pickleball happens on Wednesdays at 3:00PM and 8:00PM and will take place at our South Campus. All equipment required will be provided and there is no fee for participation. League play will be established in June/July and will run throughout the year. If you have any questions or would like to assist in the construction of the program, please contact Pastor Daniel at daniel@northgatefmc.com.

4.  Celebrate Recovery Our CR group took a little time off so our leaders could rest and refresh, but the meetings are happening again now on Thursday nights at 6pm.  CR is a place where you can find support and encouragement for whatever “hurts, habits or hang-ups” you might have experienced or be experiencing now.  All are welcome and the meetings are at the North Campus in Room 2/3.  

5.  The Next Missions Meeting This past Sunday our Missions Team began meeting again, and it was great to be together and thinking about local and global missions, and Northgate’s role in both.  Our next meeting will be Sunday, June 27 after the 11am service.  We meet for an hour or so, and anyone with a heart for missions in the local community or around the world is welcome to join us.  We meet in Room 2/3.  

6. Prayer and Worship Night On the first Sunday of the month we are meeting for a time of prayer and worship at 6pm.  The next gathering is on June 6th in the sanctuary at North.  Everyone is invited to participate in this time of seeking God’s heart and healing and offering up our worship to the Lord.  We’ll begin and end with worship songs and in between we’ll spend time in prayer.  We’d love to see you there.

7.  Cross Creek Nights of Prayer and Healing And if you are interested in spending some time this week in some prayer services our Free Methodist church in Palmyra is offering those via Zoom on Thursday, May 20 (tonight) and Friday, May 21.  On Thursday the emphasis will be on forgiveness. Dee Pinckard and his Glory Tour team will talk about the power of forgiveness and how that is where the healing starts. On Friday Dee and his team will pray for things requested.  If you want to be part of either or both nights, use this link: https://crosscreekchurch.churchcenter.com/.../events/833235

8. An Update on the Mission Work in HungaryOur Free Methodist missionary in Hungary, Gerry McNamara, recently sent us an update about some of the work happening there.  We can praise God for how He is using them to spread the gospel!  The ministry is currently at work in four cities in Hungary and they hope to see a fifth location soon.  A European Worship Service was held on April 17 at which Gerry preached, and this summer the church in Gyor will hold a vacation Bible school at the state orphanage there.  Please keep the McNamaras and all of this in prayer, and if you want to interact with the McNamaras you can reach them at g.k.mcnamara@gmail.com.  

9. All Babies Cherished Spring Festival All Babies Cherished will be holding its spring festival on Saturday, May 22 from 10am to 3pm.  This takes place at the Batavia City Centre Mall Concourse and there will be more than 35 vendors including crafters, artists, artisans and others.  There will be games for children and food trucks also.  

10. The Free Methodist Way Our Free Methodist leaders have been working on articulating our denomination’s values in a fresh way. The result is a document titled “The Free Methodist Way” and now they have created some short videos that speak to each of the five values they were led to anchor on.  This week I’m sharing the link to the first of those videos which addresses this topic: “Life-Giving Holiness.”  You can watch that video here: https://vimeo.com/545425614/7598cdf38c

You Can Count on This – Acts 18:9-10 – One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.  For I am with you, and no one is going to harm you, because I have many people in this city.”  (Read Acts 18:1-28)

When I read this account in Acts 18 I wonder why the Lord told Paul to “not be afraid.”  It’s true that shortly before this he had had a difficult encounter with some people who opposed his message and “became abusive” but a little while after that he was able to see “many” respond to the gospel and get baptized.  And then the Lord speaks those words.

It makes me think that as courageous and strong as Paul seems to have been, the Lord knew that he could feel afraid at times too.  And even that Paul might be tempted to stop sharing about Jesus.  So Jesus speaks to him and encourages him to not quit.  In fact, Jesus says, there are a lot of people in the city who belong to him, or maybe will become one of his people once they hear the gospel preached to them.

So Paul stays in Corinth and keeps sharing about Jesus.  And good things happen as a result.  Several “takeaways” occur to me upon reading this:

•Keep sharing Jesus even if you’re not sure people will respond.  Jesus may have “many people” nearby you that you don’t know about just yet.
•If you get nervous, or even afraid when you go to share about Jesus, you’re not alone.  Lots of folks do.  But remember, Jesus is with you.
•Don’t quit after a negative experience.  Your next experience might be one you celebrate!

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.


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