November Update!

Hey everyone!

I know you all are probably very busy with holiday plans, work, family, etc. at this time of the year. However, we wanted to plan something fun for everyone to look forward to for the singles group. I had heard about the wonderful Christmas parties at Kathy Jennings’ home in the past, so she has graciously opened her beautiful home to us again this year. We have chosen to have the party on Saturday December 15 at 7:00pm at 7906 Bridle Vista Road. (directions and details will come to you at a later date)

Please mark this date on your calendar today so there will be no schedule conflicts. We are asking everyone to bring either hors’dorves , hot covered dish(with food in it!), or dessert. Please feel free to bring a guest and rsvp by Dec. 12.

FYI: You may be interested in seeing the movie “Bella” showing this Friday or Saturday (Nov. 16 – 17) only at Stony Brook or Tinseltown theatres. I have heard some wonderful comments about this movie. The central theme is the value of human life and it has won many awards.

We enjoyed some wonderful food, fellowship, and laughs at our Huber Farms event earlier this month. Half of the people who joined us were new to our group and we enjoyed getting to know them.

Don’t miss out on the Christmas party. Plan ahead and join us. We will schedule our activities for the new year at our Dec. 15 event.

Please email me or call the church ext. 1129 if you need to reach me at anytime.

Praying the blessings of God to cover you this day,
Becky


Spiritual Food for Thought:

Reference: James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”

*Trials! Tribulation! Troubles! Joy! Which word seems to not belong in this group? The definition of “Joy” in Strong’s Concordance is “calm delight”. This seems easier said than done, especially for those of us who have prodigals, or who have had a dream die, suffered the loss of a child or loved one, or faced financial disaster or sickness. However, the calm we have in difficult times comes from knowing that no matter what happens in our lives, God’s position never changes. God is God. He is Lord of heaven and earth, He is our Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, which means He is the God of the middle, too. When an earthly king walks into his throne room and takes his seat, everything in that room comes into order. When God is on the throne of our lives, He brings everything into order, too. Being in a seated position signifies rest and confidence. When He is seated on the throne, we can be at rest, trusting that God has everything under control. The Delight we experience during trials comes from knowing that God designs and allows circumstances in our lives to work a godly maturity in us. How we respond or react to these is OUR CHOICE. We can learn to embrace trials with delight, because we know whatever comes our way, successes or failures, works a character trait of God in us—endurance, patience, steadfastness. We must have these characteristics and attributes to finish the race (Heb. 12:1).

In this Singles group, let us always focus on encouraging each other to allow God to work a perfect work in our lives that we will be able to finish the race He has set before us with JOY.

*(some thoughts taken from Nancy Hinkle commentary)