Pastor Vern's Top Ten

1.  New Sermon Series Starts This Week  We begin a new sermon series this coming weekend.  We’re calling it “The Thread: Tying it All Together” and it’s a five-week look at the big story God tells through the Bible.  We’d love to have you join us in person or online and if you have any questions, you are always welcome to contact us!

2.  Apple Tree - School Supplies This weekend you’ll have an opportunity to help the Salvation Army supply children with what they need to have when they return to school this fall.  (Sorry to bring up “back to school” in July!)  Like the “Angel Tree” that we set up in the lobby at Christmastime, we will have an “Apple Tree” set up this weekend where you can get a tag and then go shopping and return items the following weekend.  Please consider helping some local children by getting a tag off the tree.

3.  Mission Cruise Here’s a great opportunity to get away from things, learn about what God is doing in Europe, and take a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea all at once.  Free Methodist World Missions is offering this cruise which leaves from Spain on October 24 and travels to Italy before returning to Spain.  One of our FM Bishops, Keith Cowart will be on board along with other mission leaders to share about the work of the FM Church in Europe.  For more information on this cruise, you can go to https://encountereurope.blogspot.com
 
4.  Divorce Care and Grief Share Groups Are Forming A new Divorce Care group will be starting on September 18 at 6pm at the North Campus.  This group is open to anyone who has been divorced, whether or not they attend Northgate.  And a new Grief Share group starts on October 5.  Anybody who has suffered a loss, whether part of Northgate or not, is welcome to come to this helpful and supportive group.  For more information please check out our website or contact John Chadwick at patti.chadwick@juno.com.

5. “Centered” – Time for Worship and Prayer The next “Centered” evening will be this Wednesday, September 1 at 6pm.  Please note the change in the day, from Sunday to Wednesday.  We spend an hour or so singing worship songs and praying for all kinds of needs and offering praise to God.  All are welcome!  Join us in the North Campus sanctuary.

6.  SafeTALK SafeTALK is a three-hour training that prepares caregivers to identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first aid resources.  This training is going to be taking place at our South Campus on Wednesday September 8 from 1-4pm and is open to anyone 15 or older.  You do not have to be a counselor to take this training – it will be useful to anyone who is concerned about knowing how to help others when they are in distress.  Preregistration is required, so if you are interested in attending, please email Pastor Vern at vern@northgatefmc.com.

7.  Café Help “When will the café be opened again?”  People have been asking and here’s the answer: the Northgate café will re-open the first weekend in September.  We’re using the time between now and then to do some enhancements to the café and make things a little nicer.  We are also using this time to find some folks who would like to be café leaders!  If you are looking for a way to serve others and get to know a lot more people at Northgate contact anthony@northgatefmc.com.  He’d love to chat!

8.  EMT Class We have the opportunity to offer one person a free spot in a comprehensive EMT training class.  The class will meet at our South Campus and it begins in September.  This is a great opportunity for someone who would like to become an EMT, but there is only one spot available, so if you are interested, please contact Allison soon at allison@northgatefmc.com.

9. Habitat Day If you like to swing a hammer or are interested in learning how to swing a hammer, maybe you’d like to be part of a Northgate Habitat for Humanity build day.  Pastor Chris is planning one for Saturday August 21.  We are limited to 8-10 people, so please let him know soon if you are interested.  If there is an abundance of interest we may be able to schedule another one too.  You can contact Chris at chris@northgatefmc.com.

10. Volunteer Help Needed As we approach our launch day in September, we are looking for some volunteer help!  We want to be ready to welcome people well, returning attenders and new guests and visitors too.  To that end we need people to…
•Help Rene and George direct traffic in our parking lot
•Greet at the front doors
•Staff the Information and Volunteer check-in desks
If you are interested in any of these positions, please let Pastor John know at john@northgatefmc.com, and please receive our heart-felt thanks!

You Can Count on This – Acts 24:16 – So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man. (Read Acts 24:1-27)

This is one of those verses I have memorized.  It’s a reminder to me of how I want to live my life.  I want to live in such a way that I can say, along with Paul, that I strive to keep my conscience clear.  When I was living without Jesus at the center of my life there were plenty of times my conscience was not clear before God or others.  I didn’t like living that way, and I thank Jesus for forgiving me of my sins, and for showing me how to live such that I don’t have to be tormented by my conscience.  I thank God for using the Holy Spirit to speak to me through my conscience and helping me to live a life that is more pleasing to Him, and which keeps my conscience clearer.  I’m not perfect and there are times God continues to help me grow by putting something on my conscience, but I’m definitely in a better place than I was before Jesus took over.  

The word for this growth is “sanctification.”  It means to be made holy.  It’s the process by which, as we cooperate with God’s Spirit and obey His word we become more like Jesus.  It excites me to think back on how much God has done in my life so far, and to look forward in anticipation of what He will do as I follow Jesus.  God is good!  All the time!  And God is making us good, through faith in and obedience to His Son Jesus!  Praise God!

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.
Posted in

No Comments


Recent

Archive

Categories

Tags

no tags