Top Ten - March 31
This week we will be observing communion in our services at North and at Arbor House. (Communion is observed every week at Arbor House. At North we observe communion the first weekend of each month.) If you will be engaging with us online please have your communion elements ready. Thanks!
Also - A couple of people let me know that they received an email this week with my name on it, asking for gift cards. Unfortunately that was a spam message and not from me or Northgate. I'll never ask you to buy a gift card and forward the information to me. If you receive a message like that, please delete it immediately, and I'm sorry this has happened. Thank you.
1. News From Gahanda… – Did you see the video last weekend of the work that’s being done on the sanctuary in Gahanda? It really is incredible how quickly they are building this new church with the resources we were able to provide! And it’s wonderful to realize how Jesus will be glorified in that space in just a short time! They expect to have the new church completed by the end of May. We’ll be sure to let you know when that happens, and as always, thank you for the ways you support our partnership with our friends in Rwanda through your Child Care sponsorships, monetary giving and prayers.
2. Support the YWCA Domestic Violence Program – Pastor Chris has arranged for us to help support the YWCA DV program. Throughout Lent, we will be collecting new linens for them to use at their safe house. They are in need of sheets, pillowcases, towels and washcloths. They are also accepting donations of detergent. Items will be collected at both North and South. Thank you for helping with this local mission project. This week our focus is on blankets.
3. Women’s Night of Worship – Tomorrow night (April 1) is the Women’s Night of Worship. The evening kicks off at 6pm and is a great opportunity to invite friends to Northgate!
4. Hymn Sing on Tuesday – Next Tuesday (April 5) we’re having a hymn sing at our South Campus. If you enjoy singing hymns, we’d love to see you there! This is sponsored by our Caregivers group, and it kicks off at 6pm.
5. Kids Color Run Coming Up – Our Children’s Ministry Team is organizing a Kids Color Run! This fun event will happen at the North Campus and is being planned for Saturday April 23 (rain date: Saturday April 30). For more information contact our amazing Children’s Ministry Director, Leah Lennon, at Leah@northgatefmc.com.
6. Easter Bag Ministry – We will be delivering 30 Easter bags to migrant families in our area. We’ve been doing this for a number of years now and it’s something these local families really appreciate. The bags contain everything needed to make an Easter dinner, along with devotional literature. If you’d like to support this act of love, you can make an offering and put “Easter Bags” on the check or the envelope. Thank you!
7. 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.
8. A Night With “Set Free” Director Kevin Austin – Please mark your calendars for a vision-casting presentation by Kevin Austin, director of the Set Free Movement, the anti-human trafficking ministry of the Free Methodist Church. This will take place from 6-7:30pm on Monday, April 25th in Room 2/3 and is open to anyone interested in this ministry. For more information contact Pastor Marsha (marsha@northgatefmc.com).
9. Online Prayer Meeting for Europe and for Ukraine – From our Denominational Leaders: The Free Methodist Church is partnering with larger relief organizations to supply funding and supplies for relief efforts and is responding to specific needs that we are made aware of through our local, national, and international networks to help those facing this humanitarian crisis.
You can help by joining an online prayer meeting for Europe and for Ukraine which will take place on Friday, April 8, at 7:00 p.m. Central European Summer Time. This is 1:00 p.m., EST (12:00 p.m., CST; 11:00 a.m., MST; 10:00 a.m., PST). Join in prayers for the safety of our workers, for the protection of the people remaining in the country, and for the end of the war. Pray for the refugees, who have left almost everything behind and who are dealing with the consequent trauma. Pray for those who are working directly with the refugees, and especially those involved with trauma care, both for adults and children. You can be a part of this amazing prayer movement by visiting the Free Methodist Church of Europe's Facebook page by going to www.facebook.com/FMCinEurope.
And if you’d like to do more, our Free Methodist Church has a “Bishops’ Crisis Relief Fund” that you can give to and designate the money for helping people in Ukraine. You can find the link to that site here: https://mailchi.mp/fmcusa.org/fmcusa-haiti-needs-our-help-august-2616829?e=3618d2f190.
10. Care Team – Would you like to be part of a group that ministers to people through prayer and meeting practical needs? This really terrific group of people make sure that every prayer request that comes in is prayed over, cards are sent out to people who can’t get out or who need encouragement, and practical needs are addressed whenever possible. If you’d like to be a part of this vital ministry please contact Pastor Marsha at marsha@northgatefmc.com.
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 – Romans 12:2 – Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Read Romans 12:1-21)
This is absolutely one of my favorite chapters in the whole of Scripture. In fact, for the past year I have been regularly praying this chapter along with Psalm 51 in my morning devotions and have memorized both. I don’t mean that to sound prideful; I just want to convey how important this chapter is to me. When I finish praying through it, I usually end by asking God to help me live this out today. There is so much here that applies to everyday life, and, if we follow what God says here, will help us to be obedient and faithful to the ways of Jesus. Staying humble; using the gifts God has given us; loving others well; staying free of anger and resentment; fighting evil with good… just so much to think about and prayer over.
For me, one of the most important verses in this very important chapter of Romans is verse 12, which I’ve written out above. The “world” (that is, the influence of the world that does not know Jesus) is always seeking to frame our way of thinking and indoctrinate us to its morals and values. That’s nothing new, obviously. As Christians one of our challenges is to have our minds “renewed” – transformed, changed, patterned after the thinking of Jesus. That’s not a “one and done” kind of thing, but something that happens as we regularly read scripture, worship, prayer, listen to worship music and engage in dialogue with other Christians. Learning to think is an important task for all people and is a necessary task for all Christians. Fortunately, God stands ready to help us do just that. Maybe spending some time with this chapter this week will be helpful to you as you do that!
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.
Also - A couple of people let me know that they received an email this week with my name on it, asking for gift cards. Unfortunately that was a spam message and not from me or Northgate. I'll never ask you to buy a gift card and forward the information to me. If you receive a message like that, please delete it immediately, and I'm sorry this has happened. Thank you.
1. News From Gahanda… – Did you see the video last weekend of the work that’s being done on the sanctuary in Gahanda? It really is incredible how quickly they are building this new church with the resources we were able to provide! And it’s wonderful to realize how Jesus will be glorified in that space in just a short time! They expect to have the new church completed by the end of May. We’ll be sure to let you know when that happens, and as always, thank you for the ways you support our partnership with our friends in Rwanda through your Child Care sponsorships, monetary giving and prayers.
2. Support the YWCA Domestic Violence Program – Pastor Chris has arranged for us to help support the YWCA DV program. Throughout Lent, we will be collecting new linens for them to use at their safe house. They are in need of sheets, pillowcases, towels and washcloths. They are also accepting donations of detergent. Items will be collected at both North and South. Thank you for helping with this local mission project. This week our focus is on blankets.
3. Women’s Night of Worship – Tomorrow night (April 1) is the Women’s Night of Worship. The evening kicks off at 6pm and is a great opportunity to invite friends to Northgate!
4. Hymn Sing on Tuesday – Next Tuesday (April 5) we’re having a hymn sing at our South Campus. If you enjoy singing hymns, we’d love to see you there! This is sponsored by our Caregivers group, and it kicks off at 6pm.
5. Kids Color Run Coming Up – Our Children’s Ministry Team is organizing a Kids Color Run! This fun event will happen at the North Campus and is being planned for Saturday April 23 (rain date: Saturday April 30). For more information contact our amazing Children’s Ministry Director, Leah Lennon, at Leah@northgatefmc.com.
6. Easter Bag Ministry – We will be delivering 30 Easter bags to migrant families in our area. We’ve been doing this for a number of years now and it’s something these local families really appreciate. The bags contain everything needed to make an Easter dinner, along with devotional literature. If you’d like to support this act of love, you can make an offering and put “Easter Bags” on the check or the envelope. Thank you!
7. 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.
8. A Night With “Set Free” Director Kevin Austin – Please mark your calendars for a vision-casting presentation by Kevin Austin, director of the Set Free Movement, the anti-human trafficking ministry of the Free Methodist Church. This will take place from 6-7:30pm on Monday, April 25th in Room 2/3 and is open to anyone interested in this ministry. For more information contact Pastor Marsha (marsha@northgatefmc.com).
9. Online Prayer Meeting for Europe and for Ukraine – From our Denominational Leaders: The Free Methodist Church is partnering with larger relief organizations to supply funding and supplies for relief efforts and is responding to specific needs that we are made aware of through our local, national, and international networks to help those facing this humanitarian crisis.
You can help by joining an online prayer meeting for Europe and for Ukraine which will take place on Friday, April 8, at 7:00 p.m. Central European Summer Time. This is 1:00 p.m., EST (12:00 p.m., CST; 11:00 a.m., MST; 10:00 a.m., PST). Join in prayers for the safety of our workers, for the protection of the people remaining in the country, and for the end of the war. Pray for the refugees, who have left almost everything behind and who are dealing with the consequent trauma. Pray for those who are working directly with the refugees, and especially those involved with trauma care, both for adults and children. You can be a part of this amazing prayer movement by visiting the Free Methodist Church of Europe's Facebook page by going to www.facebook.com/FMCinEurope.
And if you’d like to do more, our Free Methodist Church has a “Bishops’ Crisis Relief Fund” that you can give to and designate the money for helping people in Ukraine. You can find the link to that site here: https://mailchi.mp/fmcusa.org/fmcusa-haiti-needs-our-help-august-2616829?e=3618d2f190.
10. Care Team – Would you like to be part of a group that ministers to people through prayer and meeting practical needs? This really terrific group of people make sure that every prayer request that comes in is prayed over, cards are sent out to people who can’t get out or who need encouragement, and practical needs are addressed whenever possible. If you’d like to be a part of this vital ministry please contact Pastor Marsha at marsha@northgatefmc.com.
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 – Romans 12:2 – Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Read Romans 12:1-21)
This is absolutely one of my favorite chapters in the whole of Scripture. In fact, for the past year I have been regularly praying this chapter along with Psalm 51 in my morning devotions and have memorized both. I don’t mean that to sound prideful; I just want to convey how important this chapter is to me. When I finish praying through it, I usually end by asking God to help me live this out today. There is so much here that applies to everyday life, and, if we follow what God says here, will help us to be obedient and faithful to the ways of Jesus. Staying humble; using the gifts God has given us; loving others well; staying free of anger and resentment; fighting evil with good… just so much to think about and prayer over.
For me, one of the most important verses in this very important chapter of Romans is verse 12, which I’ve written out above. The “world” (that is, the influence of the world that does not know Jesus) is always seeking to frame our way of thinking and indoctrinate us to its morals and values. That’s nothing new, obviously. As Christians one of our challenges is to have our minds “renewed” – transformed, changed, patterned after the thinking of Jesus. That’s not a “one and done” kind of thing, but something that happens as we regularly read scripture, worship, prayer, listen to worship music and engage in dialogue with other Christians. Learning to think is an important task for all people and is a necessary task for all Christians. Fortunately, God stands ready to help us do just that. Maybe spending some time with this chapter this week will be helpful to you as you do that!
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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