Top Ten - September 1
Please be aware that this is the first weekend of the month, and so we will be observing communion in all of our services. If you will be with us online, please have your elements ready for the worship service! Thanks!
1. Prime Timers Next Thursday – Next Thursday the Prime Timers will be meeting at noon in our North Campus café. This group is for anyone 50+ who wants to share a meal, experience some good fellowship, meet new people, etc.! The meal is potluck and if you can bring your own place setting that helps, but whether or not you bring food or a plate, you are most welcome and we look forward to seeing you!
2. MOPS Could Use Your Assistance! – MOPS is a wonderful ministry to young moms that will meet this Fall at Northgate North from 6-8pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays starting 9/27. One of the areas we could use some help with is in childcare. If you are available once a month or so to watch over some children, we’d love to talk with you. Contact Pastor Marsha at marsha@northgatefmc.com. And thank you!
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. Women’s Conference with Carol McLeod – Carol McLeod will be joining us on October 14 and 15 to lead a women’s conference. The title of the conference is “Authentic Faith: Embracing Genuine Faith When Life is Upside Down.” We’re looking forward to Carole being with us and if you’d like to be part of the conference you can register at northgatefmc.com by going to the “register” page.
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 14:19 – But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. (Read 1 Corinthians 14:1-40)
In this passage Paul spends a considerable amount of time addressing the differences between speaking in tongues and prophesying. Whether or not these are gifts for today is something that churches differ on. In the Free Methodist church, we believe these gifts are operating today, and when used as instructed they can bring glory to God.
In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul encourages the church of Corinth to emphasize the use of the prophetic gift when the church is gathered. Again, there are differences in how people understand “prophecy.” Some relate it to preaching. Others to an inspired word of God given to an individual. Some believe it refers to a future event God is revealing. One commentator points out that prophecy as an inspired word to a speaker is not needed today as it was in the 1st century church because we have the whole scriptures of God to provide illumination, whereas the early church had only the Hebrew scriptures and perhaps some but not all of the New Testament scriptures in their possession. As you can see, this can lead to quite a discussion!
The simple point that Paul is making, however, is that while speaking in tongues may have special meaning for an individual, when we are gathered, we really need to hear from God for our “strengthening, encouraging and comfort” (verse 3). This is what preaching is in part designed to do. To strengthen people in their walk with Jesus, to encourage people in their faith and to comfort people with the love of Jesus. In addition, the hope is that through the preaching of the gospel people who don’t know Jesus will be “convicted of sin” and come to worship God as well (verse 25).
Preaching is challenging work and not something we take lightly. We want to see everything Paul talked about take place… to see believers strengthened, encouraged, and comforted, and to see unbelievers convicted and brought to a saving relationship with Jesus so they can join in on the worship of God. Pray that the pastors of this church preach faithfully and with the help of the Holy Spirit and pray for those who listen to hear from God as messages are preached.
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.
1. Prime Timers Next Thursday – Next Thursday the Prime Timers will be meeting at noon in our North Campus café. This group is for anyone 50+ who wants to share a meal, experience some good fellowship, meet new people, etc.! The meal is potluck and if you can bring your own place setting that helps, but whether or not you bring food or a plate, you are most welcome and we look forward to seeing you!
2. MOPS Could Use Your Assistance! – MOPS is a wonderful ministry to young moms that will meet this Fall at Northgate North from 6-8pm on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays starting 9/27. One of the areas we could use some help with is in childcare. If you are available once a month or so to watch over some children, we’d love to talk with you. Contact Pastor Marsha at marsha@northgatefmc.com. And thank you!
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. Women’s Conference with Carol McLeod – Carol McLeod will be joining us on October 14 and 15 to lead a women’s conference. The title of the conference is “Authentic Faith: Embracing Genuine Faith When Life is Upside Down.” We’re looking forward to Carole being with us and if you’d like to be part of the conference you can register at northgatefmc.com by going to the “register” page.
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).
******************************************************************************************************
You Can Count on This – 1 Corinthians 14:19 – But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. (Read 1 Corinthians 14:1-40)
In this passage Paul spends a considerable amount of time addressing the differences between speaking in tongues and prophesying. Whether or not these are gifts for today is something that churches differ on. In the Free Methodist church, we believe these gifts are operating today, and when used as instructed they can bring glory to God.
In 1 Corinthians 14 Paul encourages the church of Corinth to emphasize the use of the prophetic gift when the church is gathered. Again, there are differences in how people understand “prophecy.” Some relate it to preaching. Others to an inspired word of God given to an individual. Some believe it refers to a future event God is revealing. One commentator points out that prophecy as an inspired word to a speaker is not needed today as it was in the 1st century church because we have the whole scriptures of God to provide illumination, whereas the early church had only the Hebrew scriptures and perhaps some but not all of the New Testament scriptures in their possession. As you can see, this can lead to quite a discussion!
The simple point that Paul is making, however, is that while speaking in tongues may have special meaning for an individual, when we are gathered, we really need to hear from God for our “strengthening, encouraging and comfort” (verse 3). This is what preaching is in part designed to do. To strengthen people in their walk with Jesus, to encourage people in their faith and to comfort people with the love of Jesus. In addition, the hope is that through the preaching of the gospel people who don’t know Jesus will be “convicted of sin” and come to worship God as well (verse 25).
Preaching is challenging work and not something we take lightly. We want to see everything Paul talked about take place… to see believers strengthened, encouraged, and comforted, and to see unbelievers convicted and brought to a saving relationship with Jesus so they can join in on the worship of God. Pray that the pastors of this church preach faithfully and with the help of the Holy Spirit and pray for those who listen to hear from God as messages are preached.
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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