Top Ten - July 14
1. Worship Outdoors – Mark your calendars for Friday, August 19. That night we are planning to hold an outdoor worship service at our North Campus. This might be a great opportunity to invite a friend to come and see what Northgate is all about.
2. The Communication Cards Are Back – We’ve restocked our sanctuary chairs with communication cards. This is an easy way to let us know if you are new to Northgate, recently decided to follow Jesus, want to be baptized or know more about membership, want to speak to a pastor, share a prayer concern, or anything else that is on your mind. Just fill out the card and drop it into one of the new “collection” boxes
which are located in each doorway of the sanctuary. We really love to hear from you, and this is just one way to do that. You can also always email, call, or talk to us when you see us!
3. Developing Space for Fun and Fellowship – There are two things happening in our backyard that you might like to know about. One is that the Disc Golf course is just about ready to go. This will be open to the public and we hope will help people get more familiar with us. The other is that we are starting a new playground project behind the building at North. God has blessed us with all of this land, and we want to use it to its fullest! These projects should just enhance our ability to join together, invite friends and make good use of what we have.
4. Men’s Campout – We have a group of men planning a campout to be held in the woods behind our building at North. This is scheduled for September 2-3. This will be a wonderful time of fellowship and worship and we’d love to see a great group of guys participating. For more information please contact Pastor John at John@northgatefmc.com.
5. Grief Share and Divorce Care – If you or someone you know has experienced a loss and is walking through the feelings of grief or has experienced a divorce and is coming to terms with that, and would like to know how to handle grief or divorce from a Christian perspective, we have a group for each here at Northgate. New sessions of Grief Share will begin on September 20 at 6pm, meeting at 34 Williams St. in Batavia. And new sessions of Divorce Care will begin on September 24 at 6pm at our North campus building (8160 Bank St. Rd. Batavia). For more information contact Pastor Vern at vern@northgatefmc.com.
6. Meeting for All Interested in Being Part of the “Set Free” Movement – Inspired by recent presentations at our church by Free Methodist missionaries Gerry McNamara and Kevin Austin, a Set Free Team has formed at Northgate. This group is considering how to be part of helping people to “live in the direction of freedom" together. If you want to help end human trafficking in our time and in our region, please attend one of the monthly meetings, held on the last Sunday of the month at 12:30p.m. in Meeting Room 2/3, North Campus. For more information, visit setfreemovement.com and/or email Pastor Marsha marsha@northgatefmc.com.
7. 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.
8. More on Prayer – We (the staff and our prayer teams) truly do love to pray about the things that are going in your lives, but to do that we need to be made aware of them! Please use the Connect Cards in the Sanctuary or share your prayer concern via email or text (prayer@northgatefmc.com, text 585-204-0645). It’s important to us to hold you up in prayer. And also please let us know how God is answering your prayers, so we can rejoice with you too!
9. Looking for Small Group Leaders – I’m beginning to think about the Fall and one of the things I’d like to begin to plan for is resuming small groups. Connecting with others and helping each other to grow in our faith is an important part of what we are to do as a church body, and a small group is a place that can happen. If you are interested in being part of a small group, or if you are interested in leading a small group, please let me know. I’d love to hear from you and I’d love to help with either of those things. You can reach me at vern@northgatefmc.com.
10. Thank You to All Who Helped With Kid’s Camp! – This has been a busy week at Northgate North. We’ve had a large group of young people here each day for Kid’s Camp, along with a great group of volunteers and staff helping to make Kid’s Camp a reality. From what I’ve observed and heard the kids have had a wonderful time and the camp has been a great success. Thank you to all who have helped to make this happen – I’m sure it will be a memorable experience for the kids and we pray that God will use it to help them know more about Jesus and His love for them.
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).
***************************************************************************************************
You Can Count on This – 1 Corinthians 8:9 – Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. (Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13)
This is such an important principle for Christians to keep in mind. It’s a principle that is built on a very important idea - the idea that “my freedom to do as I want” is not the ultimate value. Instead, I am to be concerned about others and willing to give up my rights if it is in the best interests of helping others to grow, especially regarding their relationship with Christ.
When so many are advocating the idea that our personal freedom is what matters most, Paul calls us to something greater. He calls us to think about how our behavior impacts the growing faith of others, especially those who are new to faith in Christ. In his world, a mature Christian might have no qualms about eating food in an idol’s temple. Perhaps this Christian has gone there with a non-Christian friend in hopes of leading his/her friend to Christ. He/she knows that the food offered there to “idols” is not really offered to anything real and so eats with his/her friend. But… what if a newer Christian sees this person going into the temple to eat. This might be damaging to the newer Christian’s faith. If that’s likely to happen, it’d be better for the mature Christian to avoid eating in the temple, because the faith of that Christian is more important than this Christian’s freedom to enter that temple to eat.
I’m sure you can think of areas in your life where this might play out similarly. Perhaps it’s with the use of alcohol or watching certain kinds of movies/television shows. Wherever we face this issue, the principle that Paul lays down here in 1 Corinthians 8 is a good one. Think about how your actions might impact the faith of a “weaker” Christian and if they’re apt to damage that person’s faith, be willing to put aside your rights to do as you wish. Of course, there will be times when it will be right to educate the new Christian about things. Like the fact that the Bible considers drunkenness a sin, but not all use of alcohol. But consider whether this is the time to be understanding, or to teach, and act accordingly.
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.
2. The Communication Cards Are Back – We’ve restocked our sanctuary chairs with communication cards. This is an easy way to let us know if you are new to Northgate, recently decided to follow Jesus, want to be baptized or know more about membership, want to speak to a pastor, share a prayer concern, or anything else that is on your mind. Just fill out the card and drop it into one of the new “collection” boxes
which are located in each doorway of the sanctuary. We really love to hear from you, and this is just one way to do that. You can also always email, call, or talk to us when you see us!
3. Developing Space for Fun and Fellowship – There are two things happening in our backyard that you might like to know about. One is that the Disc Golf course is just about ready to go. This will be open to the public and we hope will help people get more familiar with us. The other is that we are starting a new playground project behind the building at North. God has blessed us with all of this land, and we want to use it to its fullest! These projects should just enhance our ability to join together, invite friends and make good use of what we have.
4. Men’s Campout – We have a group of men planning a campout to be held in the woods behind our building at North. This is scheduled for September 2-3. This will be a wonderful time of fellowship and worship and we’d love to see a great group of guys participating. For more information please contact Pastor John at John@northgatefmc.com.
5. Grief Share and Divorce Care – If you or someone you know has experienced a loss and is walking through the feelings of grief or has experienced a divorce and is coming to terms with that, and would like to know how to handle grief or divorce from a Christian perspective, we have a group for each here at Northgate. New sessions of Grief Share will begin on September 20 at 6pm, meeting at 34 Williams St. in Batavia. And new sessions of Divorce Care will begin on September 24 at 6pm at our North campus building (8160 Bank St. Rd. Batavia). For more information contact Pastor Vern at vern@northgatefmc.com.
6. Meeting for All Interested in Being Part of the “Set Free” Movement – Inspired by recent presentations at our church by Free Methodist missionaries Gerry McNamara and Kevin Austin, a Set Free Team has formed at Northgate. This group is considering how to be part of helping people to “live in the direction of freedom" together. If you want to help end human trafficking in our time and in our region, please attend one of the monthly meetings, held on the last Sunday of the month at 12:30p.m. in Meeting Room 2/3, North Campus. For more information, visit setfreemovement.com and/or email Pastor Marsha marsha@northgatefmc.com.
7. 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.
8. More on Prayer – We (the staff and our prayer teams) truly do love to pray about the things that are going in your lives, but to do that we need to be made aware of them! Please use the Connect Cards in the Sanctuary or share your prayer concern via email or text (prayer@northgatefmc.com, text 585-204-0645). It’s important to us to hold you up in prayer. And also please let us know how God is answering your prayers, so we can rejoice with you too!
9. Looking for Small Group Leaders – I’m beginning to think about the Fall and one of the things I’d like to begin to plan for is resuming small groups. Connecting with others and helping each other to grow in our faith is an important part of what we are to do as a church body, and a small group is a place that can happen. If you are interested in being part of a small group, or if you are interested in leading a small group, please let me know. I’d love to hear from you and I’d love to help with either of those things. You can reach me at vern@northgatefmc.com.
10. Thank You to All Who Helped With Kid’s Camp! – This has been a busy week at Northgate North. We’ve had a large group of young people here each day for Kid’s Camp, along with a great group of volunteers and staff helping to make Kid’s Camp a reality. From what I’ve observed and heard the kids have had a wonderful time and the camp has been a great success. Thank you to all who have helped to make this happen – I’m sure it will be a memorable experience for the kids and we pray that God will use it to help them know more about Jesus and His love for them.
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).
***************************************************************************************************
You Can Count on This – 1 Corinthians 8:9 – Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. (Read 1 Corinthians 8:1-13)
This is such an important principle for Christians to keep in mind. It’s a principle that is built on a very important idea - the idea that “my freedom to do as I want” is not the ultimate value. Instead, I am to be concerned about others and willing to give up my rights if it is in the best interests of helping others to grow, especially regarding their relationship with Christ.
When so many are advocating the idea that our personal freedom is what matters most, Paul calls us to something greater. He calls us to think about how our behavior impacts the growing faith of others, especially those who are new to faith in Christ. In his world, a mature Christian might have no qualms about eating food in an idol’s temple. Perhaps this Christian has gone there with a non-Christian friend in hopes of leading his/her friend to Christ. He/she knows that the food offered there to “idols” is not really offered to anything real and so eats with his/her friend. But… what if a newer Christian sees this person going into the temple to eat. This might be damaging to the newer Christian’s faith. If that’s likely to happen, it’d be better for the mature Christian to avoid eating in the temple, because the faith of that Christian is more important than this Christian’s freedom to enter that temple to eat.
I’m sure you can think of areas in your life where this might play out similarly. Perhaps it’s with the use of alcohol or watching certain kinds of movies/television shows. Wherever we face this issue, the principle that Paul lays down here in 1 Corinthians 8 is a good one. Think about how your actions might impact the faith of a “weaker” Christian and if they’re apt to damage that person’s faith, be willing to put aside your rights to do as you wish. Of course, there will be times when it will be right to educate the new Christian about things. Like the fact that the Bible considers drunkenness a sin, but not all use of alcohol. But consider whether this is the time to be understanding, or to teach, and act accordingly.
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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