Hearts of Grace- our new food ministry
needs your continued support. We
will stock shelf life product here at the church and then will add to it prior to distribution. So if you buy one and get
one free, think about donating one, or if you buy 10 for $10 maybe you could donate one or two. Bring in shelf stable items
and we will store them until we box & distribute to those in need. As well as food we
still need your monetary donations, to cover items not donated. You may give through your church envelope, by writing “Hearts
of Grace” on the envelope. This is a new ministry and as such things are bound to change along
the way, we will try to keep you updated since this is your ministry. If you have any questions you may contact any of the
following committee members: John Ramberger, Darlene Bakermans, Becky Witmer, Beth Spicher, Ina Schoffstall, Debra Goudy.
We are many hearts and we are able to extend our love of Jesus into our community through your generous donations
and gifts.
Adult Christian Education From Pastor Brad Hatter
The month of February is generally known as the month of love. Love by
its definition is “a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.” Now most
if not all of us have experienced this type of love or we have given this type of love away to someone else. However,
love is a word which in our society is thrown around rather lightly. We say we love that, or we love this,
but the question that must be asked is, “Do we really love those things or do we simply like those things or are we
obsessed with those things?” When one thinks of love, I believe there is something about love that
is deeper than simply liking someone or something or being obsessed with someone or something. It is this
deep kind of love that I believe we see in Jesus Christ. However, He adds to ones definition of love when
He says in John 15, “Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.”
Not only is genuine love a love that is tender and passionate but it is also sacrificial. Sacrificial
love is a love that Jesus demonstrates to us and when one is exposed to that type of love, there is a response that is required.
The response that Jesus desires from those who are exposed to the sacrificial love that Jesus demonstrates on the cross
is in faith with the desire to surrender our very lives to Him. So in this month of love, may we reflect on the sacrificial
love that Jesus Christ shows to us and may we respond in faith and with a desire to surrender our hopes, our dreams, our very
lives to Him and allow Him to work in and through us through the power of the Holy Spirit. God bless you.
Pastor Brad
What’s
Happening in Christian Education? 1.
“The Story”: The Sunday School class has begun but we are still looking
for a few who might be interested in joining us for a Monday night study. We have books ordered and so
if you are interested please see myself or John Orr. 2. “Courageous”: In late winter or early spring, we will
be showing the movie “Courageous” and from there launching a 4 week Bible
study primarily for the men of the church (sorry ladies). This will
be facilitated by Larry Paul, Cory Sass, and myself. Stay tuned for more
details. 3. Remember
to watch your bulletin for updates on the various Bible studies and small groups that are continuing to grow and transform
lives.
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Dear
Friends in Christ, We are approaching the Lenten Season,( Ash Wednesday is February 22) Lent reminds
us that it is a time for self-examination, purging ourselves of the sin that entraps us and living a life committed to our
Savior who made it all possible. Many ask, “What is repentance?” Think of a husband and wife in a car, the wife tells her husband to turn right at the
next junction and by mistake, he turns left. When he realizes what he has done, he says to his wife “I’m sorry
love, I went the wrong way.” But if that is all he does, it isn’t enough. His saying sorry isn’t getting
them any closer to where they want to be; it isn’t even stopping them getting further away. To get where they want to
be, he needs to stop the car, turn it around and go back on to the correct road that his wife told him to take in the first
place. That is repentance. Hosea
told the people: Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing
love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the LORD, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.
Hosea 10:12 (NIV) What does it mean to “break up
your unplowed ground?” “To
break up the fallow ground is to break up your hearts, to prepare your minds to bring forth fruit unto God. The mind of man
is often compared in the Bible to ground, and the Word of God to seed sown therein, the fruit representing the actions and
affections of those who receive it. To break up the fallow ground, therefore, is to bring the mind into such a state that
it is fitted to receive the Word of God. Sometimes your hearts get matted down, hard and dry, till there is no such thing
as getting fruit from them till they are broken up, and mellowed down, and fitted to receive
the Word. It is this softening of the heart, so as to make it feel the truth, which the prophet calls breaking up your fallow
ground.”
- Charles Finney To say
we are sorry is the first step, to actually mean it, will involve a desire to get back on the right road again.
So many of us take the grace of God for granted in that we often express our desire for forgiveness before we even
sin, like “Lord, forgive me for what I am about to do.” In your hearts you know that is wrong.
Nevertheless, we are assured the forgiveness
of the Lord: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9 (NIV)
May this
Lenten Season bring a deeper relationship with the Lord, that you feel his presence in your life and the removing the barriers
of unconfessed sin, you find a closer walk with Him.
Blessings,
Pastor Doug
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