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 — Last Lord’s Day, we progressed in our introduction into a new study series in Acts 13-28, “The Church Around the World”. This Sunday, we’ll continue with the introduction. Be sure to check out the new sermon outline provided for you on the back of the bulletin!
- 12:30-ish – Encouragers (Elim’s over-60 group) will meet at the Stockholm Inn for an Afterglow Luncheon. Your cost will be whatever you order from the menu.
During the Week:
- Monday, 7:40 pm: Elim League Softball continues on Diamond # 3. Players and fans, check out the schedule at http://www.racsoftball.com/ for all the latest news.
- Tuesday, 10:30 am: Our Ten-thirty Tuesdays Bible study will continue this week in our reading and discussion in the Old Testament.
- Thursday, 6:30 pm: The Thursday Night Toolkit Bible study meets this evening, continuing our survey of the New Testament.
- Friday & Saturday, several women from Elim will be attending a women’s conference with Morning Star Baptist Church. Please pray for these ladies to be instructed, encouraged, and changed by God’s Word.
- Saturday, May 1st, Rock Valley Bible Church will be using the Elim Baptist Church building for a memorial service from 10 am to 3 pm. Please try not to plan any activities (lawn mowing, softball practice, music practice) for that time.
Upcoming and Ongoing:
- Mark your calendars now for a special Bible Conference! Friday evening, May 21, thru Saturday lunch, May 22nd, our friends at First Baptist Church of Freeport are hosting a special Bible Conference featuring Dr. Steven Lawson as the main speaker. Dr. Lawson has been a particular favorite of the men who have attended Shepherd’s Conference in the past few years. He is an engaging and challenging expositor of God’s truth. We are looking into going as a group in a large van. Please let the church office know if you are interested in attending this event. We will return to Rockford on Friday evening, and lunch Saturday is included.
- Are you qualified to be an Encourager? If you’re over 60 and you want to encourage those younger (and each other!) in the faith, you are qualified! And one of the unique privileges of an Encourager is the fellowship of others at specially planned events! Set aside Wednesday, June 9th, for a Luncheon Cruise on The Pride of Oregon, a paddlewheel riverboat, to cruise the beautiful Rock River. The group will leave the church building at 9:15 that morning. Cost is $30 per person. There will be a sign-up sheet on the back table in the next couple of weeks.
- Elim’s monthly newsletter, The Refresher, is mailed out to arrive in your homes by the first of the month. This keeps you up to date with activities and events in the body of Elim.We are looking into the feasibility of e-mailing this newsletter (as a .pdf file) in the future. If you would prefer to receive the newsletter by e-mail, please contact the church office.
From the Pastor’s Recent Reading:
[In reference to Matthew 16:18 (And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.)]
The word for “Peter, ” Petros, means a small stone (Jn 1:42). Jesus used a play on words here with petra which means a foundation boulder (cf. 7:24, 25). Since the NT makes it abundantly clear that Christ is both the foundation (Ac 4:11, 12; 1Co 3:11) and the head (Eph 5:23) of the church, it is a mistake to think that here He is giving either of those roles to Peter. There is a sense in which the apostles played a foundational role in the building of the church (Eph 2:20), but the role of primacy is reserved for Christ alone, not assigned to Peter. So Jesus’ words here are best interpreted as a simple play on words in that a boulder-like truth came from the mouth of one who was called a small stone. Peter himself explains the imagery in his first epistle: the church is built of “living stones” (1Pe 2:5) who, like Peter, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ Himself is the “corner stone” (1Pe 2:6, 7). —MacArthur Study Bible
Posted on April 23rd, 2010 by Janet
Filed under: This Week @ Elim