Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanksgiving has
rolled around again. If you are following world news, there seems to be more
cause for fear and uncertainty than for thankfulness. For those of us who are
more mature (born in the last millennium) the world just seems to be getting
worse and worse.
The New Testament Christians faced fear and
uncertainty as well. Many of them even lost their lives because of their commitment
to Jesus. And yet, they showed us that, as Christians, we do have a lot to be
thankful for. Consider these passages that express their confidence in God and
their thankfulness for His work in their lives. To read these in a different
translation, just click on the blue verse references.
“I have told
you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you
will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the
world.” (John
16:33, NLT)
What shall we
say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can
ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own
Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? (Romans
8:31-32, NLT)
Every time I think of you,
I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you
with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ
from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who
began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally
finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns …
I pray that your love will overflow more and
more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I
want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and
blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return. May you always be filled with
the fruit of your salvation – the righteous character produced in your life by
Jesus Christ – for this will bring much glory and praise to God. (Philippians
1:3-11, NLT)
And now, dear brothers and
sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who
have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we
believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when
Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died.
We tell you this directly from the Lord: We
who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who
have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.
First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together
with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever.
So encourage each other with these words. (1
Thessalonians 4:13-18, NLT)
Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners – and I am the worst of them
all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could
use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners.
Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal
life. All honor and glory to God forever and ever! He
is the eternal King, the unseen one who never dies; he alone is God. Amen. (1
Timothy 1:15-17, NLT)
God has said, “I
will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The
Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?” (Hebrews
13:5-6, NLT)
And this is what God has
testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his
Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not
have life. I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of
God, so that you may know you have eternal life. (1
John 5:11-13, NLT)
Operation
Christmas Child
Thank you to each one who help prepare
Christmas Shoe Boxes for Operation Christmas Child. We were able to prepare and send 32 boxes!
Calendar Events
Thanksgiving Day this
Thursday
Sunset this Friday – 4:59 pm
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Breakfast in the Fellowship Hall, 9:20 – 9:50 am
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Sabbath School (10:00 am)
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Traditional Sabbath School Class – Church Sanctuary: Studying the current Sabbath School Lesson (click here to read it on-line).
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Alternative Sabbath School Class – Hearth Room: Studying the Gospel of John using the book God With Us - According to John by James W. Gilley (book 1, book 2). Paper copies of the book will be available at class but if you wish to purchase one for your tablet – for a Kindle (book 1, click here; book 2, click here), for i-Tunes (book 1, click here; book 2, click here), or for a Nook Book (book 1, click here, book 2, click here).
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Worship Service (11:15 am) – This Sabbath we will continue our series on the book of Acts with Pastor T’s sermon title Holy Disagreement, based on Acts 15:36-41.
Pathfinders
& Adventurers meet this Monday (Nov. 26), at 6:30 pm. Contact Kalvin
Tuel for more information about
Pathfinders (e-mail or
402-201-6370) or Lori Knutson for
the Adventurer Club (e-mail or 402-980-5018).
Prayer
Meeting meets this Tuesday (Nov. 27) at 6:00 pm. For more info
contact
Pastor T (e-mail or 402-517-5333).
MLT
Meeting this Tuesday (Nov. 27) at 7:15 pm in the Hearth Room. If you wish to submit something for them to discuss,
please contact John Stroman (e-mail or 402-871-9764).
Golden
Hills Church Cookie Exchange, December 9 at 2pm, In the Fellowship hall. See
below for more information.
From Bible Gateway’s Weekly Brief
Following Jesus Without
Faking It: After gathering for worship, do we simply go about our business,
void of true transformation? Is the gospel simply a self-help tool; the church
just a place where our needs can be met? Are we really following Jesus? Bible
Gateway interviewed Andi Andrew about her book, Fake or Follower:
Refusing to Settle for a Shallow Faith. (Click here to read more.)
Here’s
One Great Way to Focus on Christ This Christmas: Thanksgiving (in the USA)
is almost upon us, and Advent is just around the corner. That means it’s time
for Bible Gateway's free Advent and Christmas devotions. This year, we’re
bringing back several favorite classic devotionals, and introducing a new one
that we think will help you to renew your focus on God’s Word this holiday
season. (Click here to
read more.)
Learn about and download the free
award-winning Bible Gateway App by clicking here.
Check Out the entire Weekly Brief by clicking here. To
subscribe to any one of their many email newsletters and Bible Studies, click here.
Cookie
Exchange, December 9
You’re invited to a Cookie Exchange on Sunday, December 9, 2018 at 2:00 pm here in our
Fellowship Hall. The theme is Christmas Cookies. Your spouse/significant other
is invited – along with your family.
The Rules
of the Cookie Exchange are:
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All cookies should be homemade or from a bakery (not from the cookie aisle at the grocery store)
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Please bake and bring one to four dozen cookies of One Kind.
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You may take home as many cookies as you bring.
No time to bake? Burnt your cookies? Still
want to attend? Go to a bakery and pick up 1 to 4 dozen of the same kind of
cookies and come join us!
Church Positions Available
We are looking for
people to fill some vacant positions here at church. If you would be interested
or would like to suggest someone for these jobs contact John Stroman (e-mail or 402-871-9764) or Pastor T (e-mail or 402-517-5333).
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Head Deaconess: This person would coordinate the activities of our Deaconess Group. This would include preparation and participation in Communion services and may include arranging for things like flowers for people in the hospital, planning meals for funerals, and providing support and assistance to people in need.
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Women’s Ministries: This person would work to connect with the women of our congregation and plan some events that would bring them together and provide mutual support. They would also be our contact person with the Conference Women’s Ministries Coordinator.
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Webmaster: This person would keep our website updated with current news, announcements, and dates. It would be helpful to understand HTML a bit, but not completely necessary.
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Social Media: If you are really into social media and would like to help our church have a greater visible presence there (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.), please let us know.
Outreach/Community Service Opportunities
Help for Survivors of Current Natural
Disasters: ADRA (Adventist Development and Relief Agency)
works with other disaster relief agencies to assist survivors of the many
current natural disasters. To find out how you can help, click here.
Used Stamps Needed! Your used stamps
can help Christian Record Services for the Blind
raise money. Just tear them off the envelope, being careful to include the
entire stamp and bring them to church. Put them into the container provided out
on the table and we will take care of getting them where they need to go.
Miscellaneous Information
Lippincott Family
Updates: Check out the latest update from Lorilee
and Bryon Lippincott about their family’s experiences serving God in Asia. To
access a PDF copy of the most recent update, click here.
To access a PDF copy that includes all we have received from 2018, click here. To access a PDF copy from 2017, click here. To access a PDF copy from 2016, click here. To access a PDF copy of all the updates we received prior to
2016 (2013-2015), click here. To check out their website, click here. Don’t forget to check out Sharing Dots for
Kids. To sign up for
their e-mail newsletter, click here.
Free Estate Planning
& Wills: Norm Zimmerman, Trust Director for the Kansas Nebraska Conference, is
available by appointment to assist anyone who needs Estate Planning, Wills,
etc. For more information contact Norm (e-mail
or 402-617-2001).
On-Line
Giving Available! Our church offers on-line giving through our website. If
you would prefer to give electronically or if you are going to be away and want
to stay up-to-date with your giving, click here. Adventist Giving now
has an App you can download directly to your smart phone to make the
process even easier. For an iPhone, click here. For Android phones, click here.
Our Church E-Mail
Newsletter, Directly to Your Computer! If you would like to receive our
weekly, e-mail newsletter, directly to your computer, click here and enter your information in the space
provided in the lower right-hand portion of our church home page.
Verified Volunteers – Child Protection Screening
In cooperation with the Kansas Nebraska
Conference, we are working with Verified Volunteers to provide background checks and on-line
education for our church officers and everyone who works with our children.
This helps ensure that we have some training to help us recognize and avoid
situations that would put our children at risk. In addition to our elected
Church Officers, everyone who works
with Pathfinders and Adventurers, Children’s or Youth Sabbath School Classes,
Children’s Church, and VBS must go
through this training and submit to a
background check (there is no cost to you). It will take about an hour of
your time. These
need to be finished ASAP.
Even if you have recently completed this process with Shield the Vulnerable, you need to do
this now with Verified Volunteers
because the information did not transfer from one program to the other and we
are no longer using Shield the Vulnerable
due to many problems with their work.
To download a PDF page of
instructions and links to help you through this process, click here. To go to the website where you begin this process, click here and
then select First-Time Registrant and
follow the instructions. For more information, contact Pastor T (e-mail or 402-517-5333).
Prayer Watch
There are several people and concerns that we are praying
about, for more information about any of these or to request something to be
added to our list, feel free to contact Pastor T. (e-mail
or 402-517-5333)
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The Holy Spirit – to fill and guide our church
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Raul Calderon, Larry Carter, Ron Egger, Gary Jeffers, Michael McKinnie, Dusty Mayhew, Floyd Morrison, Tom Plant, Darin Stotler, Irvin Surber, Christian Willey, Gary Wilson, & Thaddeus Woolsey (inmates Pastor T. is studying with)
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The Lippincott Family
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Kevin Klesh (Safety in his work as a Police Officer)
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Those dealing with Health Issues: Mary Jane Agan’s father, Al Bakerlis (Diane Harrington’s brother-in-law), Heather Boulais (UC Student), Tanya Callahan (Elizabeth Knutson’s sister), Brenda Carroll (Judy Carroll’s sister-in-law), Emma (Mary Jane Agan’s granddaughter), Tammy Gagne, John Hiers, Jane (Mary Jane Agan’s daughter-in-law), Janice (Elma’s friend), Dick & June Klein, Brett Knutson, Reagan Knutson, Ginger Kroeker, Dagny Martinsen, Steve Newton (and family), Melody (Donna & Gary Parker’s daughter), Donna & Gary Parker, Chad Pelley (Flo Filkins’ grandson), Sheila and her brother Paul, Dane Swensen, Donald & JoAnn Swensen (Les Swensen’s father and step mom), Cindy Tice (Elizabeth Knutson’s mother).
Pastors Contact Information
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