Sonrise National Park VBS – A place to be this summer! – June 25th – 29th

Kids explore the awesome wilderness at this great adventure park.  They’ll learn to depend on Jesus as their all-powerful Guide and Savior!  They’ll love the high-energy games, crafts and music.  Plan on sending your kids to this amazing VBS.

If you’d like to minister at VBS, there are several areas of service available.  Fill out a “Volunteer Form” in the InfoCenter or contact the office (648-4559).

Last  Formal Youth Group Meeting – Wednesday, May 30th until September

 ”Gardening With a Grin and Other Words of  Wisdom” – Thursday, May 24th at 6:30pm at the Church

 Judy Horn will be sharing some of her gardening secrets along with gardening fun!  There will be audience participation, free plants and a chance to …“guess the age of the geranium”!  Light refreshments will be served!  Sign up in the InfoCenter or phone the church at 648-4559.  This is a Women’s Event.

Phillip Schaff the church historian wrote this about the success of the Lord Jesus.

Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mahomet, and Napoleon; without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and schools combined; without the eloquence of schools, He spoke words of life such as never were spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of any orator or poet; without writing a single line, He has set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art and sweet songs of praise, than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. Born in a manger, and crucified as a malefactor, He now controls the destinies of the civilized world, and rules a spiritual empire which embraces one-third of the inhabitants of the globe. There never was in this world a life so unpretending, modest, and lowly in its outward form and condition, and yet producing such extraordinary effects upon all ages, nations, and classes of men. The annals of history produce no other example of such complete and astonishing success in spite of the absence of those material, social, literary, and artistic powers and influences which are indispensable to success for a mere man.

Paul tells that the obedience, the achievements, the” success” if you will, of Christ is credited to believers.

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.( Eph 1:6)…and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (Phil 3:9) You are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (1 Cor 1:30) For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. (Rom 5:19)

This truth can be a tremendous blessing to us. We all have a continual sense of not being successful, not accomplishing what we think we should; not fulfilling well our roles as father, husband, mother, wife, student, or worker. We never seem to live up to the expectations of others around us. We are constantly disappointing them and ourselves. We know that we should be better friends, neighbors, coworkers, brothers , sisters, children… than we are. We constantly make mistakes and come up short. We never even rise to our own standards. When we look at God’s holy demands we see ourselves as not really loving God like we should, not loving our neighbor as ourselves. We are always transgressing in one form or another. We are, generally speaking, abject failures in the light of God’s holy demands. Even our best works are tainted with selfishness and sin.

That’s why Christ is our only hope. We must look beyond ourselves to him, the perfectly obedient, crucified, risen one. We must see him triumphing for us. His glorious victory and exaltation to the right hand of the Father is the seal of his perfect accomplishments. No one has ever achieved what Christ has achieved. No victory is as great as his. No life was ever lived, as well as his. And now all things are under his feet. He is on the platform of glory over the entire world. Principalities, powers , things present, things to come… all our now and forever under his feet. He is the super achiever, the most successful person in all of history. He is now our federal head. His glorious victory and matchless achievements are now all ours. His list of accomplishments is now in our resume. His perfect job evaluation is now our evaluation. His perfect obedience is now our obedience. In him I’ve been given an” A” in all subjects. My status, my position, my standing, my rating and my record is absolutely perfect in him. All of my failures are overcome by his victories. All of my mistakes are subsumed by his flawless performance. All of my lapses in love, devotion, self control, and faithfulness are overcome by his total perfect obedience and love.

All of his achievements now make it possible for us to be freed from the tyranny of our own inadequacy and failure. The only way to silence the relentless accusations that we have not matched up is to look to Christ and to see ourselves in him. Our lives are now hidden with Christ in God. We have been made alive with him. We are coheirs with him. He has become for us, redemption, wisdom, and righteousness. We are raised and seated with him in heavenly places.

It is this reality that we need to constantly keep in mind when we are confronted with our failures. The only freedom I can ever have from the tyranny of having to measure up to my own or others’ expectations is this glorious reality of the righteousness , and accomplishment of Christ now credited to my account.

Peter tells us that in the latter days, scoffers, tired of time’s endless repetition, argue “Where is this ‘coming’ He promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” There is more than a little cynicism in those remarks. The scoffer is deceived into thinking that time has no real progression. Next year is just like last year. Time is a merry-go-round. However, according to the Bible, time moves forward. It is not repetitive. It is not cyclical. There really is an end in

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…….then the end will come when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father (Gen 1:1; 1 Corinthians 15:24). Simply put, time is additive and thus, our response should be, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12)

We need to remember that the apparent repetitive march of time is merely an illusion, the ironic result produced by God giving us a stable world after Noah’s flood. God solemnly decrees, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” That very stability allows us to build meaningful lives; it also lulls us into thinking that we’re not making any progress. But, again, it doesn’t have to be that way.

In the New World after the Flood, Noah worshipped God and was commanded to be fruitful (Gen 9:2). That is the same mandate we all have – to use our time wisely by investing our lives in God’s plans to extend His reign. And so we are to utilize the time to be fruitful – for as the Lord Jesus said, a time is coming when “no man can work” (John 9:4).

The year 2012 is indeed a New Year – further from the cross and closer to the coming of Christ. It is therefore imperative for us to “occupy ‘til I come,” (Luke 19:13) for “our salvation is closer now than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11).

May God enable us to view the New Year as a re-calibration of our senses by seeing Time as a gift to be invested in the work of the Lord.

~Pastor Steve

The Westminster Confession of Faith describes the incarnation this way: “The Son of God, the second person in the Trinity, being very and eternal God, of one substance, and equal with the Father, did, when the fullness of time was come, take upon him man’s nature, with all the essential properties and common infirmities thereof yet without sin.” (8:2)

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us so that He could become the Lamb slain as our atoning sacrifice. In Hebrews we read “… When Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire but a body you prepared for me’” (10:5) a body that could suffer. Paul writes: “…when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Gal. 4:4,5).

This is the incredible wonder of Christmas—God humbles himself for His fallen creatures. He limits Himself to remove our limits. He becomes a sufferer to alleviate our suffering. He endures death and rejection to give us life and acceptance.

Without the incarnation, Christmas is nothing more than fantasy, fairytales, and hoping for something to give life meaning.  There is no “spirit of Christmas” without the incarnate, dying, and risen Son of God. This is the fire that warms the sinner’s heart. This is the unspeakable gift of Christmas that always satisfies. Make this great truth the center of your celebration!                     ~Pastor Doug

In addition, we are planning outreaches to Urban Christian Ministries (Dec 17) and Orchard Glen Christmas service (Dec 14^th) among other things. Please feel free to join us in any of these events! Pray for our teens to know Christ personally and to “own their faith” as they move through this often challenging stage of their lives.

Mark your calendar for  Splash Lagoon on February 3rd and 4th.

 Wednesday Nights  at 6:30 p.m.   (Grades K thru 6th) 

It’s a jungle out there!

The world can be a scary place for a kid. Once your child is in school, society will have more influence on them than you. Some kids become lions, roaring at everyone to get their way. Others become lambs, hiding in the shadows only venturing forth when it seems safe. The Kid’s Klub, run by Jason Neudeck, Nancy Sukhia, Michelle McDowell and Rebecca Neudeck (3&4 yr. old class) seeks to educate children (3-6th grades) with not only the knowledge of the Bible, but also how to handle those scary situations in the jungle the way Jesus might have done. In between, they entertain the children with games and crafts, as well as special events such as boat races and sledding. When our children grow up, do we want them following the law of the jungle or the word of our Lord? We urge all concerned parents to help us grow the next generation of believers by having your family actively participating in our Kid’s Klub programs.

Don’t miss Kid’s Klub caroling at Orchard Glen on Wednesday, December 14^th.

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