Announcements for November 1, 2015

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 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.

Thursday Morning Prayer Meeting: Please join us for an hour of prayer on Thursday mornings from 6:00-7:00 a.m. at the church office. Women should bring at least one other person with them so that we can honor the Lord by maintaining appropriate boundaries. If you are unable to stop by the church office, feel free to join in wherever you are.

Next Week’s Fighter Verse:

“Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.”

Psalm 77:13-14

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

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