Top Ten - April 28

1. New Group for Couples Starting This Sunday A new group geared to dating, engaged or married couples is going to be starting up at North on May 1 at 9:30. The group will be studying The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. For more information visit the information table in the lobby or contact Pastor Marsha (marsha@northgatefmc.com). Register at https://northgatefmc.churchcenter.com/groups/unique/couples-connect.

2. Early Birds Rummage Sale is Coming Up Next Week Our Early Birds group is preparing for another rummage sale to support Northgate’s mission work in Gahanda, Rwanda. The sale will be held on May 6 and 7 at our South Campus (350 Bank St. Rd.) and volunteers, as well as items for the sale are needed. If you’d like to volunteer to help set up you can do so any time that week, May 2-5. If you’d like to donate items for the sale, please bring them to South May 2, 3 or 4. Thank you to the Early Birds, volunteers, donators and bargain-hunters for supporting the wonderful work going on in Gahanda!

3. Prime Timers Luncheon The next Prime Timers luncheon is coming up on Thursday May 12. Everyone is welcome though the group is mostly comprised of those 50 years of age and older. Please note that this month we’ll be returning to the “bring a dish to pass” lunch. We kick off at noon, and at this gathering Pastor Vern will be presenting some slides from the tour of Israel that a Northgate group took two years ago – before COVID – believe it or not!

4. Kids Color Run Was a Wonderful Event Last weekend our Children’s Ministry Team held a Kids Color Run and a great time was had by all! About 60 people participated in the run and our thanks go to all who ran or helped to organize and put on the run. To see pictures of the fun you can go to our Facebook or Instagram pages.

5. Support Group for Women with Disordered Eating Issues Dr. Joyce Wagner, a friend of Northgate’s, is organizing a new support group for women dealing with things like binge eating, compulsive eating, emotional eating and food addiction. This group will take place virtually, meet for six weeks and costs $150.  For more information you can contact Dr. Wagner at 585-733-9465 or check out her website: www.restorationcor.com.

6. “Set Free” Group Last Monday a group of people from the church met with Kevin Austin who leads the Free Methodist Denomination’s Set Free movement. This was a great time of learning more about Set Free and how the local church can be involved in helping people escape modern slavery. If you’d like to learn more or be part of a group that’s seeking God’s leading in this, please contact Pastor Marsha at marsha@northgatefmc.com.

7. Mental Health Association Scholarship – The MHA of Genesee and Orleans Counties is offering a scholarship to someone studying Social Work, Mental Health Counseling, Psychology or Human Services. They are extending the application due date for these scholarships which range from $500 to $2000. For an application or more information see the bulletin board in office hallway or contact Pastor Vern at vern@northgatefmc.com.

8. Prayer Groups You are invited to join with others to pray for our church and community on Wednesdays at 1 and Sundays at 9:30. The Wednesday Prayer Group prays for one hour in Meeting Room 1 at North Campus and on Sunday people gather in Room 4 for an hour and pray for our services and congregational needs. Everyone is welcome to either or both of these prayer meetings.

9. Suicide Prevention Conference On May 24 we will be hosting a Suicide Prevention Awareness conference for pastors and others at our South Campus. If you are interested in learning how to help address the crisis of suicide in a positive way please talk with Pastor Vern about attending this important meeting. You can reach me at vern@northgatefmc.com.

10. Homecoming Weekend! Our Northgate staff is hard at work planning a “Homecoming Weekend” on May 21 and 22. We envision this as a time we can gather as a church, invite friends, and encourage others who have been away a while to come and experience the blessings of being together. There will be food, games, activities for the kids and weather-permitting one large worship service under a tent in our backyard on Sunday! We’re really excited about this and hope you’ll plan now to be with us that weekend!

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 15:7 – Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Read Romans 15:1-13)

It ought to go without saying, but sometimes it needs to be said… there is no place for racial prejudice in Jesus’ church. Racial prejudice isn’t just a modern problem, of course. Paul is dealing with that here in the first part of Romans 15. Prejudice existed between Jews and Gentiles and both Jews and Gentiles were now getting saved and becoming part of the Church, and people needed to face and deal with their attitudes toward one another.

Paul says that they need to accept one another, for Christ has accepted all of them. Referring to his Jewish history he notes that the “promises made to the patriarchs” weren’t just for the Jews but were also so that the “Gentiles might glorify God.” And then he cites four separate verses from the Hebrew scriptures to emphasize that the Gentiles were included in God’s plan all along.

It's disconcerting and upsetting to see people treated differently in the world based on their skin color or ethnicity. It’s especially upsetting when we see that happen in the Church. Instead of prejudice, the Church should be known for what Paul cites in his benediction to this passage (v.13) – hope, joy, peace and trust in God. These are the things we want to be known for.

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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