Glory of Christ Fellowship

Announcements – November 29, 2015 Agape Meal Next Sunday, December 6:   We will be enjoying an Agape Meal after the worship service next Sunday. Please see the back side of this sheet for more information. Christmas Outreach (60 x 60): This year our Christmas outreach efforts will combine a local and global emphasis. For the local outreach we will be cooperating with a Christian non-profit called "The Forgotten Initiative" to put together "Journey Bags" for kids in the foster system in Sherburne County. We will share more details in the coming days. For the global outreach we will be cooperating with Operation Christmas Child. For details about this outreach, please contact Julie Springfield at julie.springfield@comcast.net . The goal for each of these outreaches is to provide 60 Journey Bags and 60 shoeboxes. Advent Resources: We have some suggested resources to help you and your family worship Jesus this Christmas. Please stop by the Family Ministries T...

Over the last couple of months I have republished and written new installments in a series of devotionals entitled, “Glistening Webs: Seeing the Glory of God in Creation.” The first part of the title comes from a line written by Jonathan Edwards in a little report now known as “The Spider Letter.”  Having catalogued some the particular movements of a spider Edwards had been studying, he notes, “Hence [we see] the exuberant goodness of the Creator, who hath not only provided for all the necessities, but also for the pleasure and recreation of all sorts of creatures, even insects” (John E. Smith, et al., eds., A Jonathan Edwards reader, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995, page 5). Then a few pages later he concludes by requesting permission from a scientific society to submit a more detailed account of this little creature, “from whose glistening webs so much of the wisdom of the Creator shines” (page 8). His request was denied. His writing was rather juvenile at the ...

His Name Was Saul 1 Samuel 9:1-10:27 November 22, 2015 Study Questions 1.       Read 1 Samuel 9:1-27. Who was Saul? What distinguished him from others around him? How did God used some lost donkeys to guide Saul toward his destiny? 2.       How did God guide Samuel with regard to Saul? In what context(s) do you think God spoke to Samuel? How did Samuel honor Saul in the sight of others? 3.       Read 1 Samuel 10:1-16. How did Samuel honor Saul in the sight of God? What three signs did Samuel say God would give to him, and what was their significance? After receiving these signs, what was Saul to do? Did he do what he was told? 4.       Read 1 Samuel 10:17-27. Why did Samuel call upon Israel to gather at Mizpah? What message did he deliver to them? Why was their desire for a king a rejection of God? 5.       By what process was Saul chosen as ...

Advent Begins on November 29: We have some suggested resources to help you and your family worship Jesus this Christmas. Please stop by the Family Ministries Table to begin your planning. Sunday School: We will be having Sunday school on Sunday, November 29. Thank you for taking note of this. Christmas Outreach (60 x 60): This year our Christmas outreach efforts will combine a local and global emphasis. For the local outreach we will be cooperating with a Christian non-profit called "The Forgotten Initiative" to put together "Journey Bags" for kids in the foster system in Sherburne County. We will share more details in the coming days. For the global outreach we will be cooperating with Operation Christmas Child. For details about this outreach, please contact Julie Springfield at julie.springfield@comcast.net . The goal for each of these outreaches is to provide 60 Journey Bags and 60 shoeboxes. Thursday Morning Prayer Meeting : Please join us f...

The earth contains five oceans (the Arctic, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, and the Southern), all of which are designed to display the glory of God in a number of ways. Over the last two weeks I have highlighted the following features: (1) The oceans are massive and mysterious, inviting us to dive deep into the greatness and glory of who God is. (2) The oceans are marvels of engineering that display the genius of God, for their multiple systems (each of which is stunning in itself) not only create a habitable place for life but also regulate the entire atmosphere of the earth making it possible for all earthly life to have life. (3) The oceans are repositories of a mass of material resources displaying the riches of God. For example, they contain enough salt to cover all the land on the earth to a height of five-hundred feet and some twenty-million tons of gold!  This week I’d like to highlight one more God-glorifying feature, namely, the earth’s oceans are a teemin...

When God Gives us What We Want 1 Samuel 8:1-22 November 15, 2015 Study Questions 1.       Read 1 Samuel 8:1-3. Why did Samuel appoint his sons as judges over Israel? From where did they judge and why? As judges, what were they like? Was this a fruit of Samuel’s parenting or of their own hearts? 2.       Read 1 Samuel 8:4-9. Why did the elders of Israel approach Samuel? What did they want and why? How did Samuel react to their request and why? How did the Lord react to their request and why? 3.       Read 1 Samuel 8:10-18. When Samuel rose up to speak to the elders of Israel, whose words did he speak? What does this teach us about Samuel’s way of life? What can we learn from him at this specific point? 4.       Precisely what did Samuel say would be the ways of the new king of Israel? What did Samuel say the people would do in response to these things? How did he say th...

Advent Begins on November 29: We have some suggested resources to help you and your family worship Jesus this Christmas. Please stop by the Family Ministries Table to begin your planning. Sunday School: We will be having Sunday school on Sunday, November 29. Thank you for taking note of this. Marie Sandvik Center: There are opportunities to serve at the Marie Sandvik Center. If you are interested in learning more or signing up you can see Brian and Melissa Johnson. There will also be a sign up sheet on the information table. Christmas Outreach: This year our Christmas outreach efforts will combine a local and global emphasis. For the local outreach we will be cooperating with a Christian non-profit called "The Forgotten Initiative" to put together "Journey Bags" for kids in the foster system in Sherburne County. We will share more details in the coming days. For the global outreach we will be cooperating with Operation Christmas Child. For details...

Announcements – November 15, 2015 Advent Begins on November 29: We have some suggested resources to help you and your family worship Jesus this Christmas. Please stop by the Family Ministries Table to begin your planning. Sunday School: We will be having Sunday school on Sunday, November 29. Thank you for taking note of this. Marie Sandvik Center: There are opportunities to serve at the Marie Sandvik Center. If you are interested in learning more or signing up you can see Brian and Melissa Johnson. There will also be a sign up sheet on the information table. Christmas Outreach: This year our Christmas outreach efforts will combine a local and global emphasis. For the local outreach we will be cooperating with a Christian non-profit called "The Forgotten Initiative" to put together "Journey Bags" for kids in the foster system in Sherburne County. We will share more details in the coming days. For the global outreach we will be cooperating with Opera...

The earth contains five oceans (the Arctic, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, and the Southern), all of which are designed to display the glory of God in a number of ways. Last week I wrote that, first, the oceans are massive and mysterious, inviting us to dive deep into the greatness and glory of who God is. Further, I wrote, the oceans are marvels of engineering, for their multiple systems (each of which is stunning in itself) not only create a habitable place for life but also regulate the entire atmosphere of the earth making it possible for all life to have life.  This week I’d like to bring one more feature of the oceans to our attention. The vast and complex oceans that cover the earth are in fact a repository for some of the material riches of God. To begin with, we all know that the oceans are rich with salt, but did you know that if all of the salt in all of the oceans was mined a placed upon the dry land it would form a uniform layer some five-hundred feet t...

The earth contains five oceans (the Arctic, the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian, and the Southern), all of which are designed to display the glory of God in a number of ways. First, the earth’s oceans are massive and mysterious. They occupy nearly 71% of the earth’s surface. They contain nearly 97% of the earth’s water. Their average depth is two-and-one-half miles. Their lowest point, known as “The Challenger Deep,” is one mile lower than Mount Everest is tall. Furthermore, despite our curiosity and technological advance, we have yet to explore even ten-percent of the ocean’s volume and thus much of it remains a mystery to us.  Compared to a solar system or galaxy, our oceans are very small. But compared to the rest of the earth they’re massive and mysterious, and they help us to palpably feel these same aspects of God. When we behold the surface of the ocean and contemplate its magnitude, we gain a small glimpse of the massiveness of the being and the importance of God ...

Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I love the crisp morning air, the shifting arc of the sun, and most of all the fall colors. Our new home in Saint Michael is surrounded by a variety of old, tall trees, and the mixture of greens and yellows and reds and oranges in our yard has been truly breathtaking at times. As I’ve reflected on the beauty that surrounds us, I’ve asked myself two questions. Why do the leaves change colors in the fall, anyway? And, how does this seasonal display of color reflect the glory of God?  In answer to the first question, let me review what many of you already know. Trees and plants take water from the ground through their roots and carbon dioxide from the air. They then combine the water and carbon dioxide with light to produce two things: oxygen and glucose. The oxygen is expelled into the air and the glucose is sent from the leaves into the interior of the tree providing it with “food” to grow. The process by which oxygen and glucose are...

Our sun is a fitting metaphor for the glory of God. In the context of our solar system, it is massive, bright, beautiful, powerful, self-sufficient, heat-producing, life-giving, and dangerous. It is, by far, the dominant feature of our solar system and without it the system would fling apart and all living things therein would die.  On the other hand, our moon is a fitting metaphor for human beings, especially for those who believe in Jesus Christ. First, compared to the sun, the moon is tiny and dim. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, its mass is 27 million times greater than the mass of the moon, and from our perspective its light shines 450,000 times brighter than that of the moon. The sun is so much greater than the moon that it’s difficult to quantify and express the difference. Likewise, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is so much great than each and all of us that it’s impossible to quantify or express the difference. Indeed, the Lord is very great and greatly...

Parenting Seminar, November 14: All parents are encouraged to attend an important seminar on Saturday, November 14. We will be watching an address from Josh McDowell given in February at Moody Founder’s Week and then talking/praying about how we can be equipped to raise children in an age of internet accessibility. Marie Sandvik Center: There are opportunities to serve at the Marie Sandvik Center. If you are interested in learning more or signing up you can see Brian and Melissa Johnson. There will also be a sign up sheet on the information table. Christmas Outreach: This year our Christmas outreach efforts will combine a local and global emphasis. For the local outreach we will be cooperating with a Christian non-profit called "The Forgotten Initiative" to put together "Journey Bags" for kids in the foster system in Sherburne County. We will share more details in the coming days. For the global outreach we will be cooperating with Operation Christmas...

Our sun is, by far, the dominant force of our solar system. If we were to gather into one ball all of the planets and their moons, the asteroids, the comets, and everything else in our solar system besides the sun, it would amount to no more than 0.2% of the total mass. Yes, our sun makes up 99.8% of the total mass of our solar system.  From our vantage point, the sun doesn’t seem so massive as this because it’s a relatively small object in our sky. But if we had the ability to view our solar system from above, we would be stunned by how huge the sun is and how tiny the earth is. It would, in fact, take over one-million earths to fill up the interior of the sun.  And in addition to the size of the sun, our solar system is totally dependent upon it for light, heat, and energy. To remove the sun would be to destroy the solar system and kill the possibility of life therein.  As John Piper has said, our sun is the blazing center of our solar system, and as suc...

The atomic and subatomic “universe” is micro-massive beyond comprehension. Although no one has ever seen an atom, we know they exist, that there are many different kinds of them, that each kind has particular weight and structure and functions, and that they are the fundamental building blocks of everything in the universe. Each atom is intricately assembled with a particular combination of protons and neutrons in the center or nucleus, and electrons that orbit around the nucleus like planets in a solar system—only these “planets” travel at about 125,000 miles per second! Additionally, each atom has a specified balance of positive and negative energy that holds it together, and if these specs were altered even slightly the universe as we know it would come to an end. Atoms are in fact works of micro-art. They are scientifically precise, mathematically exquisite, and artistically balanced.  In addition to the complexity and beauty of the atom, the volume of them in the unive...

The universe is massive beyond comprehension. No one knows exactly how large it is, but even if one did his or her mind would not be able to take it in. The current estimate is that there are more than 170 billion galaxies in the observable universe, and the fact of the matter is that the amount of space required to house even one of these giants is nearly impossible to conceive.  The smallest of galaxies, called dwarf galaxies, can be as small as 200 light years across. This means that if we were to get in a space ship and travel at the speed of light—186,000 miles per second—it would take us 200 years to get from one end of the galaxy to the other and we would travel about 1,200 trillion miles. And that is an itsy, bitsy “dwarf” galaxy. Ponder this.  As we venture up the size scale, we come to the famous Sombrero galaxy which measures some 50,000 light years across. Our own Milky Way galaxy sits on the larger side of the scale at about 100,000 light years across,...

Agape Meal: We will be enjoying an Agape Meal after the worship service this morning. Please see the back side of this sheet for more information. Quarterly Strategy Meeting: Our quarterly strategy meeting will be held on Sunday, November 1 during the Agape Meal. Marie Sandvik Center: There are opportunities to serve at the Marie Sandvik Center. If you are interested in learning more or signing up you can see Brian and Melissa Johnson. Father/Daughter Dinner: Dads and Daughters are invited to a special dinner on Saturday, November 7. Please contact Pastor Kevin (kevin@gcfmn.org) or Julie Springfield (julie.springfield@comcast.net) with any questions. It is not too late to sign up. Pivot Meetings : The college age ministry meets on alternating Thursday evenings. 7:00 p.m. at Josiah Lee's house. The next meeting is November 5. Parenting Seminar, November 14: All parents are encouraged to attend an important seminar on Saturday, November 14. We will be watchin...