Top Ten - December 1

This Wednesday (December 7) is a Centered Night of Prayer and Worship! We begin at 6pm and we’d love to have you join us!

1. Angel Tree There’s still time to take a tag from the Angel Tree and participate in this wonderful ministry of the Salvation Army. The tags will have information on them about a child, their age and some of the things they need/would like for Christmas. Purchase the gifts and return them to the church on the weekend of December 11/12. Then they will be organized and distributed to families on December 21. If you’d like to help with organizing (December 12-15) or distribution, there’s information on this at the Angel Tree table in the lobby. Thank you!

2. Great Day of Giving – Thank you so much for your generosity again this year, with the Great Day of Giving. We are excited to give each of the organizations that we chose this year checks in the amount of $2,413.22! We know they are going to be grateful to receive them and it’s a joy on our part to give them. We’ve been blessed, and now we get to be a blessing. Thank you!

3. Family Advent Cards Our Children’s Ministry Team has prepared a Family Advent Packet that can be used to help us prepare for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. This weekend, families can pick up their advent card packets from a table outside of the Kto4 room. You will only need one per family. If you can’t physically get here to get one but would like a packet, just let Becca know and she’ll get it to you (becca@northgatefmc.com).

4. Women’s Craft Night All women are invited to a craft night to be held on December 7 at 6pm in the South Campus Community Room. These are always fun nights with good fellowship and it’s a perfect opportunity to bring a friend and introduce them to some of our wonderful Northgate women.

5. Vintage Christmas Vintage Christmas is coming up on two Fridays in December – this Friday, December 2, and 9. The festivities run from 6-8pm at the North Campus pavilion. Come enjoy the nativity story which will take place on the prayer walk, as well as a Christmas movie, tree lighting, chili, hot cocoa and more! And this is another great time to bring a friend!

6. Service of Remembrance Every year at this time Turner & Co. Funeral Homes sponsors a “service of remembrance” – a time to gather and remember those we love who have passed on. This year the service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church in Batavia on Wednesday,12/7 at 7pm. Please rsvp at bataviafuneralhomes.com by 12/2.

7. Prime Timers Lunch Prime Timers are gathering on December 8th for a Christmas lunch.  Ham will be provided.  We are asking that attendees bring a dish to pass, their own table service and items for Salvation Army Christmas.  Suggested items include: coloring books, crayons/pencils; small toys; kids’ socks; hand held games (like fidget spinners); or children’s card games. No food items please.

8. Kids Movie Night Save the date! A Kids movie night is being planned for Saturday, December 17. More details to come!

9. Creation Museum/Ark & Sight and Sound Trips It’s time to make plans! Angelique has been working on putting together the first of our excursions planned for next year. We are planning a trip to Sight and Sound to see “Moses”! This trip will take place on May 1-3, with travel days on the 1st and 3rd and a 3pm show on the 2nd. We plan to travel by bus (though individuals are of course free to drive separately) and we’ll be staying at “Bird-in-Hand Family Inn.” The cost is coming in at under $500 per person for the bus, hotel, show and two breakfasts. At this point we need to get a firm handle on the number of people who would like to go. If that’s you, please email Angelique at angelique@northgatefmc.com and let her know. Thanks!

10. Prayer Shawl Ministry The Prayer Shawl ministry meets the first Saturday of every month 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!

To learn about all of the groups being offered by Northgate please check out this link: https://northgatefmc.churchcenter.com/groups/unique. You can also view the list on the Northgate app.

Can We Pray For You? – Please let us know how. Email us at prayer@northgatefmc.com. And if you’d like to join one of our several prayer teams (Sunday mornings, Wednesday afternoons, the Care Team) please let us know that too.

And on Sunday mornings from 9:30 to 10:30 a prayer team meets in meeting room 4. During this time people pray for the services, needs of our congregation and other topics as God leads.  We would love to have you join this prayer team.

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 – 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 – The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (Read 2 Corinthians 10:1-18)

So much in these verses that we need to reflect on. First, as Christians we don’t fight with the weapons of the world. The world fights with bombs and guns and fists and bitter words and gossip and slander and so on. Christians understand that we are in a fight, but it’s first a fight with the “spiritual forces of evil.” We don’t use the same weapons that these forces do. Our weapons are the weapons of prayer and love and grace and mercy and truth-telling. 2 Timothy 1:7 says this: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.” Our weapons are not ineffective, but powerful. The weapons of grace, love, forgiveness, mercy and God’s truth changed the world once and they can change it again.

The second part of Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 speaks especially to the truth-telling aspect of our weaponry.  We don’t give in to lies or spread them. We don’t water down the word of God or set ourselves up as judges of it. And we apply God’s word and His truth to our own lives even as we seek to help others to know it and make it their own. We “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” Where my thinking is out of sync with what God says, it’s my thinking that has to change. Not just my behavior, but my very thinking needs to be conformed to Jesus. As that happens I become more useful to God, healthier spiritually and emotionally and better equipped to face the battles I’m sure to face in this world.

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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