Top Ten - August 25

1. Meeting for All Interested in Being Part of the “Set Free” Movement 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, there is a meeting this Sunday 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.

2. Men’s Campout Men of all ages are invited to 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.

3. Prayer Shawl Ministry The Prayer Shawl ministry is restarting on Saturday September 3 at 10am at Northgate North. This group makes prayer shawls which are given out to people going through difficult times in their lives. All are welcome to come and join in; if you don’t know how to knit a shawl this is a great place to learn! The group will meet every first Saturday of the month at 10.

4. Meet D.L.! Our new Next Generation Pastor, DL Walter has a weekly newsletter for parents of middle school and high school students. If you have a child in that age group or would like to keep up to date with what’s going on in the youth ministry check out DL’s first newsletter by following this link. If you would like to be added to DL’s newsletter, please email him at dl@northgatefmc.com

5. Case For Christ Book Study I am starting another book study on Sundays at 12:15 (following second service). We’re going to be studying The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. If you are interested in joining us please let me know at vern@northgatefmc.com. We’ll get going on Sunday September 18.

6. Mothers & Grandmothers Moms In Prayer International group will begin on October 11, 2022 6-7 p.m. at North campus on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month while school is in session. We meet to pray for our school and/or college aged children, their educational successes and needs while they are enrolled in school and the typical challenges that students meet on a daily basis. Moms in Prayer guides, written by founder Fern Nichols, can be ordered and purchased if desired, however prayer outlines are provided each week. The hour is spent praising God using scripture, silent confession, Thanksgiving for answered prayer and praying for specific needs. You can check out the website for more information (www.MomsinPrayer.org) or contact prayer leader Paula Neumann (585)201-0079.

7. Right Now Media – As a church we subscribe to Right Now Media, a web-based video service which offers thousands of videos on all kinds of topics of interest to the Christian community. Included are many Bible studies of various kinds which make leading a family or small group discussion really easy. It’s free for you to use as a Northgate attender, but you do need a password. To get that contact Sherrie in the office at sherrie@northgatefmc.com.

8. 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.
 
9. Would You Be Interested in Taking a Trip? – Some people have asked me about the possibility of making an excursion to a couple of places here in the U.S. I’m wondering who else might be interested. One of those trips would be to Sight and Sound in Lancaster, PA. Next year they’ll be putting on “Moses.” If you’ve never seen one of their live shows, I can tell you that they are spectacular.  The other trip would be to see the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, both located in Kentucky. I have not been to either yet, but people from our church who have tell me they are worth the trip. If you’d be interested in us putting together a group trip to either Sight and Sound or the Creation Museum/Ark Encounter, please let me know. I would be planning these trips to take place in 2023. You can reach me at vern@northgatefmc.com. Thanks!

10. Salvation Army Food Pantry The Salvation Army is looking for some help restocking their food pantry. They are especially in need of the following: cereal, canned fruit, mac&cheese, pasta meals, pasta and soup. If you can help out you can take items directly to the Salvation Army between 9 and 3, Monday through Friday, or bring them here to Northgate and we’ll deliver to the Salvation Army. Thank you.

And thank you for donating so many school supplies to the Salvation Army to distribute to area children who will benefit from them. It was wonderful to see the S.A. van back up to our church to load all of those supplies. You are a generous church and a blessing to this community. Thank you!

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 – 1 Corinthians 13:4 – Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  (Read 1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

If you have ever attended a wedding, there is an extremely good chance that you are familiar with the 13th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Even if you have never read the Bible, you have almost certainly heard a portion, at least, of this chapter. It’s sometimes called “The Love Chapter” and for good reason. In this passage Paul writes about the importance and power of love, and gives us some very practical, inspired teaching about what it means to love well.

In the first few verses Paul says that no matter how gifted or faithful or generous I might be, if I am not also loving, nothing I do really matters. In the last few verses, he explains that love will outlast other gifts of God and along with faith and hope will endure, with love being the most important. But it’s the middle section that is most often read at a wedding; verses 4-8a. I’ll include them here:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

I think this is one of the really beautiful portions of scripture. And I’ve often thought of these words and tried to conform myself to what God says here, with the help of God’s Holy Spirit. This teaching is not just for husbands and wives though; in fact, it was originally written to a church – a fellowship of Christians – as a message about how we are to live in relationship with each other.

But I have often taken an assessment of my behavior and attitudes in relationship to my wife by asking myself if I have been patient, kind, humble, selfless, forgiving, protective, perseverant, and so on. I think that seeking to live toward my wife in these ways, the ways that the Bible calls “love,” has really brought God’s blessing to my marriage. And to other relationships as well.

I can’t profess to have lived these qualities out perfectly. I wish I could, but I can’t. What I can truthfully say is that I want to, and with God’s help I hope to more and more, until the day I am perfected in love.

What does this passage make you think about?

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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