Good morning church family,
d44eacae-150d-4356-64d7-1af0c0f17e50@yahoo.com>”>GIVING THANKS:
* Cindy Holly expressed thanks for all of the prayers offered for her son Christopher. This past year has been very difficult although they see God is working.
* Our Area Wide Congregational hymn sing last Sunday went well. We had close to 70 people and God was surely praised. Thanks to all who provided food and helped with set up & clean up. Here are a few pictures to share. So proud that one of our Young Adults Kevon Turner lead singing and he did a great job!
d8cdf525-0a90-6f42-2674-1c25882de6b4@yahoo.com>”>Several expressed interest in seeing Trumbull’s history walk.
c89b4a61-35a2-e9fb-6631-f14a5dea7adb@yahoo.com>”>Many were especially interested in seeing the 1500’s bible that was donated to our congregation by Ted Abercrombie, the great grand-son of one of the early founding members.
2a20db56-683a-b44f-e1dd-fa4ab27d49b1@yahoo.com>”>PRAYER REQUESTS:
* Emille met with his Lymphoma doctor on Monday and learned he has a very rare genetic issue called “Cowden Syndrome”. This causes cancer, tumors, effects the nervous system along with several other issues. They will meet with the Doctor to discuss options going forward. Continue fervent prayer for Emille, and Jenna as he faces treatment and uncertainty both physically, and emotionally.
* Esther Aggrey asked for prayers for her family all around. Her mothers sister passed away yesterday, Esther is wearing a heart monitor due to heart concerns, and for her husband and children as well.
* Leah Fernandes request prayers given to her by Sue a friend and co-worker. Her cousin Gary Krysta was just diagnosed with stage 4 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Chemo and radiation are scheduled to start in about a week.
* Prayers for Nancy who is dealing with intense hip pain.
* Larry Lewis’s brother had a knee replacement, prayers for his recovery.
* Continued prayers for Flo and Jay as well, as they await her test results.
* Continued prayers for Angela and Shawn and family as they grieve the passing of her Mother.
COMING UP:
b4ed34ed-0b82-f3c7-814b-bf7c6335d5bb@yahoo.com>”>They will be having a gathering at Ron & Lisa’s home on Saturday November 23rd. Mark the date and stay tuned for details.
16be30e6-490e-b4cb-8206-e4e6a6fd203b@yahoo.com>”> “Death and the Afterlife” Wednesday zoom bible studies continue at 7:00 p.m. We have several new people joining in which is wonderful news! This is a perfect opportunity to evangelize and invite family, friends who may live in other states! If you mention the study to someone who is unable to sit in on the designated zoom time, these classes are being taped. Visit our website to view the classes. It takes a day or two for the lessons to upload onto our website.
OCTOBER EVENTS:
03daa9c8-354e-2071-d0c1-c93ebdca98e9@yahoo.com>”>TUESDAY, October 29th at 9:30 a.m. will be the next zoom mid-week ladies bible study lead by Lisa and Mary Lou Saracino. Next lesson is chapter 7 in the book. Please see Mary Lou if you would like to join the study and need a book.
f14193c7-0113-5bee-f9fb-4f014f305c46@yahoo.com>”>Saturday October 12th 10:00am – 12:00 noon will be the first of the Ladies’ Saturday Bible studies at the church building. These studies will meet every second Saturday of the month. We will be doing an in depth study on exploring the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – LIVING BEYOND YOURSELF – Galatians 5:22-23 this coming year. Thanks to sister Nadine Keller who will lead us in a study of the Holy Spirit for this first class. These consecutive Saturday classes will continue to incorporate works of benevolence to encourage others both in and outside of the faith, and this body. We will be putting together the College care bags this first Saturday class. Bring a friend as well!
TRUNK OR TREAT will be held on Saturday, October 26th! Stay tuned for more details. What will your trunk look like this year?
899434ff-ad87-8738-e142-0cf0f4775038@yahoo.com>”>Sunday October 27th – POT LUCK after worship. Join us for our Harvest themed Pot luck and Pie contest! A sign up sheet is posted for your Fall themed dishes! Start thinking about your pie & bring a friend!
2cbb91d0-823a-f133-0615-321fe346ea50@yahoo.com>”>
c1cc76d2-07dd-5734-53e8-2d75af852a41@yahoo.com>”>The definition of being swallowed up by something, means that the object no longer exists on its own. It is no longer independent.
Recently we’ve seen images of houses being swallowed up by flooding. Large houses which stood on their own, were reduced to rubble and swept away by the ravenous flooding. It’s horrifying to see houses built on solid foundations, large structures which crumble and simply fade away.
9145c26c-0655-583d-ac01-a49aeb4afc61@yahoo.com>”>
fb90d407-a902-56b8-0a20-c93f6a1afa26@yahoo.com>”>We witnessed this first hand with a home in Oxford several weeks ago, that was swept away by the floods. The house was swallowed up and is no more.
We are all familiar with the biblical account of Jonah. The Book of Jonah is one of the twelve minor prophets and is an individual book in the Old Testament. The book tells of a Hebrew prophet named Jonah, son of Amittai, who disobeys God and is swallowed up by a great fish!
The scriptures tell us that God commissioned Jonah to rescue the Ninevites from perishing, since their ways were evil. Jonah did not want to go to the wicked city of Ninevah, so he ran in the opposite direction and hid from GOD. GOD knew exactly where to find him. When God says “go” we need to obey, or else. God chose Jonah for a special purpose, and although Jonah tried to hide from the LORD, God sent a storm which caused Jonah to be thrown overboard. He was swallowed by a great fish. Jonah’s harrowing journey of 3 days and nights in the belly of that great fish, sent a message home loud and clear to Jonah, that GOD had a plan and he was part of that plan!
Can we imagine being in the belly of a great fish for 3 days and 3 nights? His harrowing underwater adventure was surely NOT as depicted in this comical image…
17523c25-87e7-4071-efa9-81d699b7877a@yahoo.com>”>The scriptures tell us that Jonah prayed earnestly to God. No doubt Jonah’s 3 days and nights in the belly of that great fish, was frightful and harrowing.
33be847e-8084-5568-5022-b1bb7527dd7c@yahoo.com>”>
God spared Jonah’s life and had the fish spew him out onto the land of Ninevah which was exactly where God wanted him to be! Jonah preached to the people in Ninevah and warned them to repent before the city would be destroyed in 40 days. Jonah 3:4 “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown“. No doubt Jonah spoke with true conviction after his roller coaster ride under the sea, when his life was spared!
God’s love and mercy is shown here for both Jonah and the Ninevites who did repent. To know that God will forgive everyone to comes to Him in faith and repentance is truly powerful.
Do we ever run away from God?
The biblical account of Noah in Genesis chapters 6 – 9 shares with us another analogy of the power of God and how the WHOLE EARTH was SWALLOWED UP in the flood waters of sin.
Genesis 6: 8: “But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. ” “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japeth.”
God tells Noah that He will destroy the earth because it was corrupt and full of violence. So corrupt that we read in verse 6 “the LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth – men and animals and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air- for I am grieved that I have made them. But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.“
Noah was given specific instructions to build an ark and he obeyed each and every one. Noah built the ark as God commanded him to do (not an easy task…with no power tools!). With God “Everything is possible for him who believes!” Mark 9:23
verse 13 “So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.”
Chapter 7 “The LORD then said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and your whole family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.” Noah told his family all that God had said, and they obeyed.
5b69d385-c14e-0b91-5eab-67bca338f8b8@yahoo.com>”>“Noah did everything just as God commanded him” (6: 22).
Then GOD shut the door of the ark and sealed it. (7:16).
The rain began. vs. 17 “For 40 days the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered”…vs. 21 “Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out, men and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds of the air were wiped from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.”
ff86a72d-0531-446f-5e26-97825a083062@yahoo.com>”>
47f2ebb4-1796-5fcc-f0a0-b19bae11ee2f@yahoo.com>”>God rewarded Noah for his righteousness and obedience, saving his family and the animals on the ark from the ravaging flood waters that destroyed all living things on the earth.
The flood waters destroyed the wicked and all creatures on the land, except those within the ark.
Noah and his family… who were obedient to GOD.
Imagine the WHOLE EARTH being SWALLOWED UP by the flood waters!
fcf34d00-458f-7bd0-e2cd-0f50bdd8ae21@yahoo.com>”>God makes a covenant with Noah, promising to never again destroy life by a flood in chapter 9.
And God said,
“This is the sign on the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with
you, a covenant for all generations to come:
I have set my rainbow in the clouds and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth.
Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
I will remember my covenant between me and you and all the living creatures of every kind.
Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds,
I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant
between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”
“So God said to Noah,
“This is the sign of the covenant I have established
between me and all life on the earth.“
3054daeb-d9bd-02ee-64f1-36dd0e54fc7b@yahoo.com>”>We read about the words “swallowed up”in 1 Corinthians 15:54 when the apostle Paul shares that
“flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable“.
Paul goes on to say in verse 51
“Listen, I tell you a mystery:
We will not all sleep,
but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet.
For the trumpet will sound,
the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.
When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality,
then the saying that is written will come true:
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
“The sting of death is sin,
and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”
Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.
Let nothing move you.
Always give yourselves fully to the work of the LORD,
because you know that your labor in the LORD is not in vain.”
ce2c66d2-9226-3ef0-f41e-0a0b98698deb@yahoo.com>”>Paul continues to explain that death is not the end of life for Christians, but rather a step before receiving a glorified body like JESUS!
c363edcf-3b73-e738-8d95-8c2d89292493@yahoo.com>”>In flipping to the Old Testament, the Prophet Isaiah spoke of Jesus Christ approximately 700 years before Christ was born. Isaiah shares his absolute JOY in the celebration of Jesus’s return in Isaiah 25: 7-9….
“On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever. (vs 8)
The Sovereign LORD
will wipe away the tears from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
The LORD has spoken.
In that day they will say,
“Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the LORD, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
08a51015-8a00-0185-bff2-e8b13237bd48@yahoo.com>”>To think that there will be a HUGE celebration, attended by people of every nation, every race, every language!
The veil of death, sorrow and warfare will be ripped in half and thrown away!
We look forward with anticipation perfect peace and harmony while GOD swallows up death forever! There will be no more sadness, no more pain, no more tears for…..ETERNITY!!! We will REJOICE when every last tear is finally dried from the face of God’s people.
This gives us SUCH INCREDIBLE HOPE!
38351ac5-9897-485b-00e9-263cdc248399@yahoo.com>”>LET US REJOICE in this true hope that we have and be SWALLOWED UP by the JOY & VICTORY that we have in CHRIST!
KEEP SINGING:
CHRIST IS RISEN FROM THE DEAD
Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love.
And bled for us
Freely You have bled, for us
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love.
And bled for us
Freely You have bled, for us
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave!
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again.
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave!
Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bow to none but heavens will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer’s crown.
No burden great can hold You down
In strength You reign
Forever let Your church proclaim.
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave
Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh church! come stand in the light!
the glory of God has defeated the night!
singing Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh Church! come stand in the light!
Our God is not dead, He’s alive, He’s alive!
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the grave
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake!
come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, Come awake!
come and rise up from the grave
FAITH IS THE VICTORY
Encamped along the hills of light,
Ye Christian soldiers, rise,
And press the battle ere the night
Shall veil the glowing skies.
Against the foe in vales below
Let all our strength be hurled;
Faith is the Victory, we know,
That overcomes the world.
Faith is the Victory!
Faith is the Victory!
O Glorious Victory,
that overcomes the world!
His banner over us is love,
Our sword the Word of God;
We tread the road the saints above
With shouts of triumph trod.
By faith they, like a whirlwinds breath,
Swept on o’er every field;
The faith by which they conquered death,
Is still our shining shield.
Faith is the Victory!
Faith is the Victory!
Oh glorious Victory,
that overcomes the world!
To him that overcomes the foe,
White raiment shall be given,
Before the angels he shall know,
His name confessed in heaven;
Then onward from the hills of light,
Our hearts with love aflame;
We’ll vanquish all the hosts of night,
In Jesus’ conquiring name.
Faith is the Victory!
Faith is the Victory!
Oh glorious Victory,
that overcomes the world!
PRAISE GOD for our VICTORY IN JESUS CHRIST!
df0b52f5-70d3-f847-7122-72480868275e@yahoo.com>”>As Ron lead the discussion and study of Death and the afterlife on our Wednesday night zoom class, once we depart from this life, there are no second chances. We only get ONE CHANCE in this life, to repent, be baptized and follow Jesus. We then let our LIGHTS SHINE for the LORD and spread the GOOD NEWS to all of the world.
Stay focused on JESUS and keep on keeping on!
The VICTORY has already been won!
We have wonderful opportunities to invite others to learn about the saving power of JESUS CHRIST!
Faith is the Victory!
Faith is the Victory!
Oh glorious Victory,
that overcomes the world!
Thank you for letting your LIGHT SO SHINE!
Bruce & Paula