Pastor Vern's Top Ten

1. Great Day of Giving Each year at Thanksgiving we seek to focus on how God has blessed us as a church by blessing others. We do this through a special offering called the “Great Day of Giving” and then we share that offering between local agencies that provide help to people, a global missions project and a capital project here. This year the offering will be taken in our services this coming weekend, or you can give online through our website or the Northgate APP. The offering will go to: Genesee Cancer Assistance; the Mental Health Association; the Suicide Prevention Coalition; the new Gahanda, Rwanda Free Methodist Church sanctuary; and the playground being planned for our North Campus. Thank you for your generous giving to this offering.

2. Angel Tree and Virtual Shoebox This weekend you can stop by the Angel Tree in the lobbies at North and South and pick up a tag which you can use to shop for some items to give to a child this Christmas. This is a program we assist the Salvation Army with each year. Also, at the Angel Tree table there will be tags which you can use to guide you in making a donation to a Virtual Shoebox program which is run by our missionaries in Bulgaria. Consider being a blessing to a local child, and a child in Bulgaria through these opportunities!  And thank you!

3. MOPS Volunteers Needed – Mothers of Pre-Schoolers is a wonderful program lending support to all moms of young children, and it meets at our North Campus. One of the essential features of MOPS is that childcare is offered to moms who attend the program, to give them a little break and to allow them a chance to fellowship and learn and grow spiritually with other moms. Those who provide the childcare are, therefore, serving in valuable way! We need some volunteers who can watch pre-school age children once a month, either on Wednesday morning or Wednesday evening, for a couple of hours. If you can help, please contact Pastor Marsha at marsha@northgatefmc.com and from all the moms at MOPS... thank you!

4. Christmas is Coming! Yes, it is, and we’re looking forward to a wonderful celebration of Christ’s birth! This year we are bringing back “Vintage Christmas” – our community-minded festival that will be held in our “backyard” on December 3 and 10 from 6-8pm. We’re looking for some volunteers to help us make this a wonderful time for everyone who attends. We need people to read, stoke the bonfire, help in the parking lot, serve as trail guides and more. If you’d like to help and couldn’t make the meeting last Sunday, just contact Anthony at anthony@northgatefmc.com.  Thanks!

5. Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain, and God’s Sovereignty” That’s the subtitle of a book by Joni Eareckson Tada called A Place of Healing. Pastor Vern and Pastor Marsha are starting a new group using this book to help us explore the topics of suffering and healing and the questions we have around these topics. You are welcome to join us on Sundays at 9:30am in Room 1 at North. And if you have any questions, just ask! This study will begin on November 28. For more information please contact Pastor Marsha or Pastor Vern. You can reach us at vern@northgatefmc.com or marsha@northgatefmc.com.

6. Another Kids Movie Night is Coming Up! This Saturday, November 20, our Children’s Ministry Leaders will be offering parents another opportunity to get a short break from parenting in order to attend a worship service or go to dinner or do some shopping or whatever you need to use that time for! We will be holding a Kto4 movie night beginning at 5:30pm that evening. For more information contact Leah at leah@northgatefmc.com.
•Parents… please note: There will not be a Kto4 class the weekend after Thanksgiving.

7. Curious About Life After Death? Pastor Vern has just started a new group where we’ll be talking about things like near death experiences, heaven, hell, reincarnation and so on. We’ll meet for an hour beginning at about 12:30 (after second service) in Room 1 and people are invited to bring a bag lunch if they like!  We’ll be using a new book by Lee Strobel titled The Case for Heaven. If you’d like one ordered for you please contact Pastor Vern at vern@northgatefmc.com.

8. Can’t Get Enough of the Christmas Hymns? Our Caregivers group is sponsoring another hymn sing, focusing on Christmas hymns, on Tuesday 12/7 at 6pm at the South Campus. If you enjoy singing the Christmas songs and enjoy times of good fellowship, please plan to join in!
 
9. Women’s Craft Night  Wednesday, December 8, all women of the church and their friends are invited to a women’s craft night. This will begin at 6pm and will be held in our Northgate North Campus café.

10.  Join Pastor Daniel for Game Nights Pastor Daniel is hosting game nights at South, on Monday nights from 6-8pm. A variety of board games are provided, and people of all ages are invited to come and bring a friend. This is a great time to get to know some new people and form more connections in the Northgate family. For more information contact Pastor Daniel at daniel@northgatefmc.com.

To learn more about these opportunities, or to suggest an idea for a group or a gathering, or to inquire about reserving space at the church or the pavilion you can always email the office (office@northgatefmc.com) or call 343-4011. You can check out our website too (northgatefmc.com).

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You Can Count on This – Romans 4:3 – What does scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” (Read Romans 4:1-25)

As it happens, we were talking about this verse just this week in our Monday night Bible study! It is a very important verse that is foundational to our faith. This verse in Romans is a quote from Genesis 15:6 and refers to the fact that Abraham believed God’s promise to give him descendants, even though Abraham was getting to the age where he didn’t expect that to happen! The importance of this verse is that it refers to his belief in God’s word, and therefore his belief in God, as the thing for which God credited him with righteousness. As Paul explains in Romans 4, it wasn’t for any works that Abraham had done that he was considered righteous; it was for his belief, his faith, his trust in God.

This is what we believe. Our good works don’t earn us righteousness with God. Our faith and trust in Jesus, God’s Son, is what obtains our righteousness before God. And out of that relationship built on faith and trust we do things that honor and glorify God, because we love Him, because He first loved us. That’s good news.

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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