The Church Courier, November 2009

N O VE M BE R 2 0 0 9 V OL 1 0 I SS U E 1 1

Thank you God, for mercy sends, For health and children, home and friends, For comfort in the time of need, For every kindly word and deed ... With my heart, I thank you!

On giving thanks A record of the Pilgrims in Plymouth states that “… at noon men staggered by reason of faintness for want of food, yet ere night, by the good providence and blessing of God, we have enjoyed such a plenty as though the windows of heaven had been opened to us.” In spite of the difficulties, the Pilgrims thanked God for what they had. For many of us, this year may not have been a good one, and the future may not seem promising. Yet In this Issue: there is more to be thankful for than Community Plunge ········ 3 to complain about. And that makes The Big One ··············· 6 Thanksgiving one of the easier seaPathfinder Campout ······· 9 sons for Christians to understand and Church @ Work ·········· 10 celebrate.

Isn't it amazing how things change with time? Take for instance, the attitude we have in church regarding kneeling. The ancient Greeks and Romans did not kneel as a part of their worship. They said kneeling was unworthy of a free man, unsuitable for the culture of Greece, and appropriate only for barbarians! Some felt it was an expression of superstition. But God's people never looked at kneeling as unusual. In fact, we find in Psalm 95:6,7 "O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand." It's obvious the psalmist was expressing a deep reverence for God. In this one verse he used three different words to express what the attitude of the worshiper should be. First he used the word "worship," which means to fall down as a sign of honor to the Lord, giving allegiance to Him. The second word he used was "bow." This means to sink down to your knees, giving respect and worship. And the third word was "kneel," which means to be on your knees giving praise to God. So, kneeling in God's presence is a sign of reverence rather than a barbaric form of behavior. But the important thing to remember is not our physical position, but to have a humble posture of the heart. Our attitude in worship is far more important than the position of our worship! As you think about all you are thankful for, let's truly reverence the Creator God who is responsible for all we are and have. He is truly worthy of our worship! Yours for humbling ourselves before the King of the universe, Pastor and Sharon Webb

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The Church Courier

“Community Plunge” by Susan Hecht The New Port Richey Church Community Services Department provides food to an average of 35 families each week. With the growing number of people in need of food, the families are limited to the number of times they may return each month.

Two nursing homes facilities were also visited where the youth sang songs, delivered cards and flowers, and shared the Word of God with the residents.

Afterward, the youth returned to the Church where lunch was provided followed by an uplifting worship service enjoyed by all. Sebastian, Jeremy & Joseph, from Apopka, lead in song service and testimony, special music was With this in mind, extra done by youth food had been collected within groups from the last few weeks. On the New Port Sabbath of September 26, Richey and 2009 “Community Plunge” Port Charlotte, took place. On this outreach two groups Sabbath, youth and leaders from Port from several West Coast area Charlotte provided thought Churches met at the New Port provoking drama and pastor Richey SDA Church and Diana Halverson gave the “plunged” the community with message with the challenge over 100 full grocery bags of that - we as God’s people food to be delivered to 30 need to serve others everyday. families. In addition, 50 sack There were approximately 125 lunches were delivered to a in attendance participating in community of people that live the outreach program commuin tents in a wooded area. nity Plunge. Vol. 10 Issue 11

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Advertise with Us If you are a business owner this will interest you. We would like to offer you the opportunity to support our school by placing an advertisement in our Yearbook to be published in May 2010. Your ad in our school Yearbook will reach family and friends of the Adventist Christian Academy as well as other members of your church family. With your support we will reduce the cost of our annual yearbook. So if you have a business, please consider advertising with us. Last year we had 14 business ads. Included is an advertisement form so you can read in detail all the information. If you have any questions or want to see our previous yearbook, please let us know: Church Office (727) 848-4567, School Office (727) 842-8919, Omayra Rivera (727) 372-0052 or [email protected] We appreciate your support! Note: We are offering student ads also, where you can congratulate a student for the accomplishment of their goals. We want to welcome our new member Markley Richards, he was baptized in September, he also was one of the kids that attended the Amazing Adventure Bible studies. God guide you always Markley! Welcome also to Eunice Dawkins coming from the Bethlehem SDA Church in Clearwater, Florida.

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The Church Courier

PIXIE PIN-UPS DO YOU KNOW ME? If you think you know this church member, submit your guess to us, either by phone or email. You can submit your baby pix by email or directly to us. Photos can be black and white or color and will be promptly returned. For more information please contact us. October baby was: Alex Ortiz Clue: With hair or without hair he is good Clue: Everybody counting. wants him on their Alex recently shaved his head, he is also our team. Church Treasurer. Our winners were: Aldyth Marshall, Sandra Bishop, Stan and Martha Getlinger Thanks for participating!

Think about it…
O Lord, that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness! -William Shakespeare
Feed your faith and your doubts will starve to death.
Holy Spirit, think through me till your ideas are my ideas. - Amy Carmichael
Without God, our week would be: Sinday, Mournday, Tearday, Wasteday, Thirstday, Fightday, and Shatterday. Seven days without God makes one weak!

Vol. 10 Issue 11

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THE BIG SIN—PART III By Gary D. Grimes

We are incapable of coming back to God ourselves because of our sinful condition. So God (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) start the process of bringing us (sinners) back into fellowship (relationship) with Him. Here’s how. God seeks us out. He comes after us. Immediately after Adam sinned we see God walking in the Garden of Eden looking for the sinful couple. Genesis 3:8-24. The poet Tennyson describes God seeking sinful man “as the Hound of heaven.” Like a hunting dog seeking prey God seeks us out. He is relentless in His search for you. Describing this search Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” The parable of the one lost sheep emphasizes this Godly seeking. Romans 5:6, “. . . In due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:8, “. . . While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:10, “. . . If when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son. . .” Look at that love! While we are ungodly, while we are sinners and while we are God’s enemies He still comes for us. When God knocks at the door of your heart you must let Him in. Open the door. Revelation 3:20. When He knocks this is your chance to accept Him. This is your golden opportunity. Seize it! When you open the door the Holy Spirit gives you a desire to love Jesus. You desire to be with Him in fellowship. You become hungry for Him. You become thirsty for Him. You can’t live without Him. Only God can give you this desire to be with Christ in fellowship.

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The Church Courier

THE BIG SIN—PART III By Gary D. Grimes, cont. from previous page As with any love relationship you now desire to spend time with your Beloved. In this case your Beloved is God, specifically Jesus. This time is spent in talking to each other. The main way you talk to Jesus is personal prayer. You can talk to Him in other ways such as through music, through testifying of His love for you; through gifts to Him are some other ways to talk to Him. The main way Jesus talks to you is through your devotional reading of the Bible. You are reading devotionally to get to know Jesus as your Savior, your Friend, your Creator, your Advocate, and your example of how to live a victorious Christian life. He can talk to you other ways too such as nature, preaching and song, but the most reliable way is through the Bible. Finally, you will desire to tell others how wonderful He is so they can get to know Him also. So you overcome the BIG SIN of living your life apart from Jesus by opening the door of your heart to God so the desire to be with God can be planted there. Secondly, you communicate with Jesus through prayer and devotional Bible reading. Thirdly, you witness for Him by telling others of His great love for them.

“May God give you...For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in every trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer.” Vol. 10 Issue 11

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The thankful heart If one should give me a dish of sand and tell me there were particles of iron in it, I might look for them with my eyes and search for them with my clumsy fingers and be unable to detect them; but let me take a magnet and sweep through it and now would it draw to itself the almost invisible particles by the mere power of attraction. The unthankful heart, like my fingers in the sand, discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find in every hour, some heavenly blessings. Only the iron in God's sand is gold!

Fast and feast •

Fast from criticism, and feast on praise.

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Fast from self-pity, and feast on joy.

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Fast from ill-temper, and feast on peace.

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Fast from resentment, and feast on contentment.

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Fast from jealousy, and feast on love.

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Fast from pride, and feast on humility.

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Fast from selfishness, and feast on service.

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Fast from fear, and feast on faith.

-Henry Ward Beecher

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The Church Courier

Fall Back “It’s suppose” to be that time of the year again, when the jackets come out of the closet, and most Americans get an extra hour’s sleep by resetting their clocks. (Remember? Spring forward, Fall back.) With the clocks turned back, it will be lighter (or at least less dark) in the morning. So remember, time reverts to standard time at 2:00 AM on the first Sunday of November.

Pathfinders Campout by Justin Rivera During the weekend of October 16-18, I attended my first Pathfinder Campout. Boy, did we have fun! We went to Crews Lake and the weather was great. After making our tents, we ate and ended the day with a beautiful devotional. Mr. Pablo, Mr. Blain, and Mrs. Liz had the devotionals on Sabbath morning. Later on, some parents showed up, including mine. We enjoyed our Sabbath doing what Pathfinders do best, having fun.

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During our time there we worked on our shrubs honor. The highlight of the Campout for me was playing manhunt at night. What I learned about this experience was that some shrubs are poisonous and some aren’t. Thanks to the Pathfinders leaders for taking care of us and for this great experience.

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SUNSETS Nov. 7 ........................................ 5:41 PM

Bookmobile is coming to our Church: Sunday, November 15

Nov. 14 ...................................... 5:38 PM Nov. 21 ...................................... 5:35 PM Nov. 28 ...................................... 5:34 PM

11:00—12:30 PM You can order ahead of time to guarantee that they have what you want: 1-877-55FLABC

Fight truth decay; study the Bible daily. National Bible Week, November 22-29

Mark your calendars:

International Sabbath March 13, 2010 Please return the participation form to Martha. If you don’t have one you can get them in the foyer or church office.

CHRISTMAS CANTATA Saturday, December 19

“Festival de Otoño” Fall Festival Spanish Christian music festival held in Orlando every year in Fall, where you can enjoy and worship God. This years performers Jaci Velasquez and Salvador.

include:

At Calvary Assembly Church, Winter Park, Florida, November 7, 2009 at 6:30-8:30 PM. Admission is $10.00, parking free. For more information visit http://festivaldeotono.com or contact Xiomara Moreta (from St. Petersburg SDA Church) for tickets @ (727) 767-4771 or [email protected].

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From the Editors Blessings are all around us. If we look we can see them every minute, every day.

according to His excellent greatness." I will remember that every little thing is a blessing that God granted me in His infinite love and wisdom.

I feel bad when in the middle of troublesome times I don’t recognize that even little things in life are all Thank Him today wonderful bless- for all His mercies. ings that God has given me. Happy Thanksgiving! Psalm 150 tells us what to do about Omayra all this. "Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him

This newsletter is published monthly by the NPR SDA Church. If you have any comments to make about the newsletter, wish to make a donation, or wish to submit an article, please send it to the church or to us.

W h e

Contact Us Alexander Ortiz 727-365-2892

Omayra Rivera 727-372-0052 [email protected]

NPR Seventh-day Adventist Church 6424 Trouble Creek Road New Port Richey, FL 34653 727-848-4567  www.nprsda.org

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NPR Seventh–day Adventist Church 6424 Trouble Creek Road New Port Richey, FL 34653