On the Lord’s Day:
9:15 am — Sunday school classes for all ages: Classes for graded age groups meet to learn from the Scriptures. To see Sunday school classes, ages and meeting locations, click on the red “Ministries” button under the category “Pages” (to the right).
10:30 am — “The gospel alone is sufficient to rule the lives of Christians everywhere…any additional rules made to govern men’s conduct added nothing to the perfection already found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” – John Wycliffe. As we hear the Word of the Lord in worship this week, allow the gospel to rule your life.
During the Week:
- Tuesday, 10:30 am: Our Ten-thirty Tuesdays Bible study continues at 10:30 am, meeting in the Fireside Room.
- WednesdayOur Awana Clubs for this evening are cancelled due to the weather!
- Thursday, 6:30 pm: Thursday Night Toolkit Bible study continues in our survey of the Old Testament. This week, we’ll survey Nahum, Habbakuk and Zephaniah./li>
Upcoming and Ongoing:
- Encouragers (those 60 and over) have a special mission in the body of our church— to encourage us all that walking in faith and serving in love are NOT age-related! This special group will meet for a lovely Soup and Sandwich Christmas Dinner on Sunday, December 13th, immediately after the morning worship service. If you plan to attend, please sign up on the special sheet on the back table in the sanctuary.
- Our Tuesday morning Bible study and our Thursday Night Toolkit Bible study will be taking a brief Christmas break. These studies will NOT meet the week of Christmas or the week after.
- If you want to send a singular Christmas greeting card to all your family at Elim, please mail it to the church office or post it on the large bulletin board in the main foyer (push pins will be available). And don’t forget to go by each week and be blessed by the cards of love posted there.
- The Elim Council of Elders will not be holding a December meeting. However, if you are interested in joining the church before the end of the year, please contact Pastor Larry or Elder Don Burnard to set up a time to speak with the Council about membership.
- If you are interested in being part of the rotation of men and women who help direct our congregation to their seats and assist those with special needs, please see the church office. We are organizing those loving volunteers for next year and want to make sure that YOU are included!
- There is a special place at Elim for those Serving Sisters who want to bless someone with a special gift or card. Please place these items on the piano in the Gathering Place. Please don’t leave gifts or cards on the back table in the sanctuary
From the Pastor’s Recent Reading:
Augustus Caesar was ruling, but God was in charge, for He used Caesar’s edict to move Mary and Joseph eighty miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem to fulfill His Word. Rome took a census every fourteen years for both military and tax purposes, and each Jewish male had to return to the city of his fathers to record his name, occupation, property, and family.
When Mary said “Be it unto me according to Thy word” (Luke 1:38 ), it meant that from then on, her life would be a part of the fulfillment of divine prophecy. God had promised that the Savior would be a human, not an angel (Gen. 3:15; Heb. 2:16 ), and a Jew, not a Gentile (Gen. 12:1-3; Num. 24:17 ). He would be from the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:10 ), and the family of David (2 Sam. 7:1-17 ), born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14) in Bethlehem, the city of David (Micah 5:2 ).
All of this occurred just as the Scriptures said, and Caesar unknowingly played an important part. A.T. Pierson used to say, “History is His story, ” and President James A. Garfield called history “the unrolled scroll of prophecy. ” If God’s Word controls our lives, then the events of history only help us fulfill the will of God. “I am watching over My word to perform it, ” promises the Lord (Jeremiah 1:12, NASB).
—from Be Compassionate, by Warren Wiersbe
Posted on December 4th, 2009 by Janet
Filed under: This Week @ Elim