YOUR HELP IS NEEDED!

The leadership team for Saturday Night Worship (SNW) has been kicking around the possibility of adjusting the start time for the service from 6 pm to 5:00 or 5:30 pm.

What we’ve been thinking is that we want to continue to provide a convenient worship time that takes into consideration the present make-up of our church family and that also allows us to do the following:

• Provide more time after the service ends for fellowship and connection, i.e. strong stickiness.  Developing a sense of family and community is a core value of Emmanuel, and starting the service just 30 minutes earlier can help us in our commitment to this core value.

• Provide more time after the service ends to do some different kinds of occasional activities such as an extended worship night after the service is over (Core Value of Worship); an extended time of corporate prayer (Core Value of Prayer); seminars or classes or times of Q&A (Core Value of Spiritual Maturity/Discipleship and the Word of God)

• Provide Pastor Dennis more time with us, the church family.

• Be mindful of the fact that the worship team has to come back on Sunday morning to lead the 11 am service.  Moving the service ahead gives them a few more precious minutes with their families in the evening.

But before we do this, we’d like to hear from you!

Would moving the service time to 5:30 affect you and/or your family in a positive or a negative way?

Is 5:30 the best time?  Would 5:00 be even better?

Ultimately, what will best help to produce Christ-likeness in you and/or your family?

We would like to ask you to take a couple of weeks to think and pray and talk about this because we plan to do a more formal survey on 6-20-09 during the service.

During the next two weeks we’d certainly love to hear from you about this idea that we’re kicking around.  Feel free to e-mail Pastor Dennis at dkeating@efcc.org, or Scott Smith at ssmith@efcc.org or Jennifer Klein at jklein@efcc.org.  Or, you can write a comment in the space provided below.  Let us know your thoughts, questions, concerns, etc.  We’ll get back to you with answers and use the Saturday Night Worship website to post your questions and answers for all to see.  We’ll be sure to let you know when a post is made to that site.)

Thanks for giving this idea some of your valuable time.

P.S. If we were to change the start time, we’re thinking a good time to do so would be September 5, 2009.

 

Summer Plans

Following are the dates we’re planning to have meals after the Saturday Night Service.  We hope you can join in.

June 20th – PIZZA

July 25th – BURGERS

August 29th – SUB SANDWICHES

September 19th – BURGERS

October 10th – PIZZA.

We’ll announce more as the dates approach, but we wanted to give you planners an opportunity to get this on your calendars.

 

This Weekend at Emmanuel Faith

This weekend is “God Cares about the Prodigal!” It’s gonna be good stuff. Hope to see you there.

 

“Real Mothers”

Hi,

At church last night I read a little blurb about “Real Mothers.”  I thought some of you might like to have this in your files.  Here, then, is the text that I read.

REAL MOTHERS…

Real Mothers don’t eat quiche; they don’t have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors, filthy ovens and happy kids.

 

Real Mothers know that dried Playdough doesn’t come out of shag carpets.

Real Mothers don’t want to know what the vacuum just sucked up.

Real Mothers sometimes ask, “Why me?” and get their answer when a little voice says, “Because I love you best.”

Real Mothers know that a child’s growth is not measured by height or years or grade.  It is marked by the progression of Mama to Mommy to Mom…

 

DIAPER spelled backward is REPAID.  Think about it…

 

Source:  Mikey’s Funnies.  www.mikeysfunnies.com

 

Here is a great letter I read today…

Shepherd Press
Newsletter 51
May 1, 2009

Going it Alone – Man vs. Swine Flu

This week the headlines from newspapers, radio and TV stations, and the Internet are touting the dangers of a potential pandemic. The Telegraph.co.uk reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that “all of humanity is under threat” from a potential swine flu pandemic, and has called for “global solidarity” to combat the virus. Similar stories are cropping up from the various news agencies across the United States. The government is taking steps to prepare for this new flu pandemic. Vaccines are being tested and pharmaceutical firms are preparing for possible mass production. Surgical masks are in high demand. Worry and concern are creeping into the language of news anchors. The government is also urging that precautions be taken to avoid spreading the disease. In its April 30th edition, The Wall Street Journal reports President Obama has issued the following advice: “Keep your hands washed. Cover your mouth when you cough … Stay home from work if you are sick. Keep your children home from school if they are sick…This is obviously a serious situation, serious enough to take the utmost precautions”

The President is being consistent with his proclamation in April that we do not consider ourselves to be a Christian nation. So, it is wise to wash our hands and cover our mouths, but it would not be politically correct to ask God for protection. Amidst all the discussions, talking points, and headlines, I have yet to hear anyone mention prayer or seeking God’s care and protection.

It is possible, if this version of the swine flu does grow to pandemic proportions, that some national figures will cry out to God or a “higher power.” But for now, washing hands, using common sense, and trusting the government seem to be the way to go. We have become an advanced, enlightened society, ready to take on whatever comes. But as King Nebuchadnezzar found out, going it alone is not a good idea.

As Christians we can be thankful that God does hear us and that the progress of the swine flu is totally under his control. His word speaks powerfully to this situation. Take note of these verses in Psalm 96:7-10:

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.

Our leaders may not ascribe to God the honor and recognition that is his. Our leaders may trust in their ability to control an unseen virus. But that does not mean that Christians must follow suit. Jesus Christ is our King and leader. We can pray for God’s protection for a proud country even if our leaders think that it is wrong or unnecessary to do so. And we have the confidence that God hears and answers such prayers. At this point we do not know what will come of the swine flu virus – whether hundreds or thousands or even millions will die. But we do know that the world is firmly established under the control of our God. We have a message to give:  the Lord reigns!

Talk about Psalm 96 and other similar passages with your children. Pray for God’s protection from this virus. Also pray that God will cause our leaders to realize the arrogance of not turning to God immediately and humbly asking for his help and protection. Pray for repentance and humility to become the talking points of government and talk shows. But most importantly, pray with boldness and confidence that your God will bring honor to his name through all of this. Encourage your children with these truths. The swine flu is not a random occurrence. God has brought it about as yet another gracious reminder that he is Lord, and that it is foolish to go it alone.

When you pray, know that the Lord of the Universe has heard you. Don’t miss this opportunity to speak of the power of God and the message of the gospel when you see others reacting in fear and worry. May the earth tremble before our God.

To sign up for this enewsletter, you may copy and paste this link into your web browser: http://shepherdpress.com/enewsletter.php

 

SERVE DAY this SATURDAY, 4-25-09

Click here to be taken to the Emmanuel Faith Website which has further information on SERVE DAY 09.  Thanks!  Scott

 

How do you pray in the middle of a financial storm?

Friends,

I came across this article and found it helpful.  Hope you do, too.

Blessings,

Scott

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/january/29.80.html

 

Community Service Project

EFCC Family,

This is Hector Morales, Director of Community Outreach for EFCC, and I would like to invite you to join us in helping serve our community. We are looking for 20-30 willing people to come and help provide some needed maintenance and repairs to the Skate Park at Kit Carson Park on Saturday February 14 from 7:30am-4pm. Come for a few hours or the full day. This need was brought to our attention a couple of weeks ago and some men from our church will lead and organize the work day. This is a great opportunity to demonstrate God’s Love to our community in a tangible way.

If you are interested, please contact Dr. Larry Michel at drmichel@cox.net or 760-519-8400 to let us know if you can come for 1 hour or for the full day.

Also needed:

The organized recreation co-ed soccer league at Kit Carson still needs two coaches for the season that started this week. Below are ages and commitments…

1 coach for 5-6 year olds. They play Thursdays after 4:30pm and would like you to hold 1 practice a week.

1 coach for 11-13 year olds. They play Fridays after 4:30pm and would like you to hold 1 practice a week.

This is also a great way to serve and be salt and light in our community. If you are available to coach, please contact Peter Ritchie at 760-807-1053.

I look forward to seeing some of you at Kit Carson on the 14th!

Hector Morales

Director of Community Outreach

Emmanuel Faith Community Church

(760) 781-2159

hmorales@efcc.org

 

Here’s How We Know God Cares about Us!

I saw this story and couldn’t believe it, so I had to share it with you.  Here’s how we know God cares about us…

Today’s Christian, November/December 2008
Prayer that Works: No Toy for Ryan?
A 4-year-old’s impossible to deliver Christmas wish.
By Jim Judge

One holiday season years ago, our family was working at a mission hospital in Kenya. On the other side of Africa, in Gabon, our good friends Bill and Mary Beauvais and their three children were working as full-time missionaries.

Gabon was in economic crisis and so were the Beauvais, struggling to provide even the essentials. With Christmas approaching, they felt helpless as their children faced a head-on collision with disappointment.

Three weeks before Christmas, their 4-year-old son, Ryan, spotted the one thing he wanted in an old magazine ad: a small, pink brontosaurus.

His mother knew it was impossible—the ad was three years old, and the item was from a fast food kids’ meal. Still, Ryan was convinced a pink dinosaur would be waiting for him that Christmas.

The Friday before Christmas, some neighbors picked up a package for the Beauvais family. Ten months earlier, while we were still home in Illinois, my wife, Cindy, had sent the package in response to Mary’s request for some unglamorous but unavailable items, such as a new mop head and some tile grout. Cindy had saved on postage by sending it surface mail. It must have been rowed across the Atlantic, taking a full 10 months to get there.

While putting the package together, Cindy had included some other items: clothes for the kids, tapes, books. She’d found plenty for Ryan’s older sisters, about the same age as our girls, but nothing for a 4-year-old boy. Just before closing the package, one item in our toy box caught Cindy’s eye—an old toy the girls never played with. She tossed it in the box and sealed it up.

Ten months later, on the day before Christmas, Mary and Bill unpacked the box. It seemed there was something special for everyone—except Ryan. But when they reached the bottom and pulled out a small toy, they were stunned.

A kids’ meal leftover, the plastic brontosaurus was a promotional item for the movie The Land Before Time. God delivered the one thing utterly impossible for Ryan’s parents to provide, one thing no adult would have been foolish enough even to consider praying for.

A pink dinosaur.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today’s Christian magazine.
Click here for reprint information.
November/December 2008, Vol. 46, No. 6, Page 11

 

He is Emmanuel – God with Us!

 

Matthew 1:23, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel—which means, “God with us.”

 

Tomorrow we celebrate the greatest miracle of all: God became man. He chose to leave his heavenly kingdom to dwell among humans. And to dwell among us in a life much harder than anything we could imagine. Instead of a life of privilege, He chose to endure a life of difficulties, so He could better understand our sorrow, our heartaches and our joys.

 

The Creator of the Universe allowed himself to come to earth as a baby — a baby fully dependent on his young mother. A baby born in a smelly barn, surrounded not by adoring family members, but by common farm animals.

“Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a servant and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

 

“Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2: 7-11, NLT)