Announcements - August 28, 2016

Announcements—August 28, 2016

All Church Prayer Meeting: We encourage everyone to attend our night of prayer—Wednesday, August 31 at the Handke Cafeteria from 6:30-8:00 p.m. Childcare will be provided.
Sunday School: If you are interested in serving in the Sunday School ministry this year please contact Pastor Kevin. We have a few needs for Preschool and elementary age classes.
Men’s Retreat: Attention men! The 2016 men’s retreat is scheduled for October 13-15. Please mark your calendars. There will be more information available soon.
Pivot Meeting: The college age (and beyond) ministry meets on alternating Thursday evenings. 7:00 p.m. at Josiah Lee's house. The next meeting is on Thursday, September 8.
Wednesday Morning Prayer Meeting: Anyone who would like to join in corporate prayer may do so. The prayer time is 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. at the church office.
Arrive Ministries Needs Cleaning Supplies for New Refugee Families: 160 refugees will be resettled by Arrive Ministries between now and the end of September. There is a great need for household cleaning equipment and supplies. A large bin with a list of items needed will be near the Mission’s Table for the next couple of weeks to collect donations. Target or Walmart gift cards are also welcome as contributions. See David Gunderson with any questions about this need.

Next Week’s Fighter Verse

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. James 1:12

Comments

The Secret of all Failure is our Failure in Secret Prayer

“We may be assured of this—the secret of all failure is our failure in secret prayer” (12). So writes the anonymous author of the classic little book on prayer entitled, The Kneeling Christian (Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids: 1971). He means that the reason we so often fall into sin or live in discouragement or fail to bear fruit is because we do not cling to God in Christ above all things. We do not diligently seek him or lean on him or plead with him or draw on his strength. We give ourselves to busyness over communion with God and in this way we seek to accomplish in our flesh what can only be accomplished in the power of the Spirit. Giving first place to what our dear author calls “secret prayer” is indeed a key to the Spirit-filled life but let’s be clear: prayer is not magic, rather, it’s a relationship. It’s not as if we simply have to file requests with God, being careful to use just the right words so that we can get him to respond as we wish. God is not a vending m

Deacons - How They Serve and Strengthen the Church (Part 1)

One of the next important priorities for GCF is to establish deacons in the life of the church. On March 14, 2021 we were able to establish an elder team. Currently, we have a team of four elders overseeing the congregation of GCF. However, there is more work to be done. I have come to see that establishing an elder team was the bare minimum that needed to happen for GCF to survive. I believe GCF now needs to turn our attention to raising up a team of qualified and willing deacons to serve the congregation so that it will not only survive but thrive. I would like to begin a series of blogs on deacons to help us understand who they are and what they do in the life of the church. In this blog let me provide three reasons why I think deacons should be near our top priority. Number 1: It is Biblical. Paul instructs Timothy to install elders who will help him pastor the church. For whatever reason, it seems the churches in our circles treat the installment of elders as non-negotiable

Does the Doctrine Divide? by Patience Griswold

“Oh, I try not to talk about doctrine. It’s so divisive.” This is a sentiment that I’ve heard expressed, as well as implied, on many occasions, and one that raises the question, does doctrine divide? In answering this question, we must keep in mind a very important truth and that is that everyone holds to some sort of doctrine . “Doctrine” is defined as “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group.” Regardless of whether or not someone publicly holds to a statement of beliefs from a particular church, every Christian, by definition, holds to a particular set of beliefs. As Carl Trueman observes in his book The Creedal Imperative , [W]hile Christianity cannot be reduced to doctrine, to mere teaching, it cannot be meaningfully separated from it, either. Even the most basic claims, such as “Jesus is Lord,” carry clear doctrinal content that needs to be explicated in a world where, as we have noted before, every heretic has his text and n

Glory of Christ Fellowship

Search This Blog