Sunday, October 12 - 8:30 - Corporate prayer. If you haven’t yet joined us for corporate prayer - why not come and and seek God with your faith family? We meet at 8:30am in the back right of the sanctuary.

Sunday 9:45 - Small groups

Sunday 10:45 - Morning worship and word. This week we’ll finish up our series on leadership, and examine God’s plan for Elders, Deacons and Pastors in the church. Come join us, and bring a friend!

Sunday night: 5 pm - Crossroads. Sunday night David is going to tackle a very serious issue - How can a good God send people to Hell? If you missed last week’s message, then you missed a powerful explanation of how a good God who is all powerful can allow evil and suffering in the world. Here’s a link to download it: http://agapepinson.com/sermons_online.htm

Attention: parents: Please help us keep children off of the stage in the sanctuary. There is much expensive and sensitive equipment on the stage, and recently we have had issues with children getting on the stage and moving or knocking over equipment. Let’s all join together and remind the kids to stay off of the stage when we see them there!

Angel Food orders are due by October 11 (Saturday) at 9:00 am. Cindy and the missions team will be at Agape to collect these, as it is food pantry Saturday. For an online menu, as well as more information on Angel Food, go to our site: http://agapepinson.com/angel_food_ministries.htm

One other thing before I give you some external links to check out: Sadly, our dog, Kara (a stray who was dropped off at the parsonage a few weeks ago), was run over by a car and killed early this morning. She had a bad habit of crossing the street and going to the bank from time to time, and though it has gotten better lately, she apparently still would go over to the bank early in the morning to greet the bank tellers when they arrived. She was such a personable and sweet dog, and we’re very sad to see this happen - the kids in particular. After I told the kids about it this afternoon, they wanted to see Kara one last time, so I walked them down to the woods where I had moved her for them to say goodbye. On the way back up to the parsonage, Chloe looked at me and asked, “Why does God let bad things like that happen?” Answering that question on a level that a child (or even an adult) can understand is quite challenging, but David did an excellent job of doing just that last Sunday at Crossroads (see the link above to download the message).

Maybe you have somebody like Kara in your life. Not a dog, of course, but a friend or family member who is engaging in dangerous/risky behavior. All evening, I’ve been asking myself if I could have done anything different to prevent what happened this morning. If you have a friend or family member that is in a similar position, don’t wait until catastrophe strikes to help out or intervene in some way - otherwise you’ll be like me, wondering what you could have done differently, but knowing that it might be too late.

Also on his site this week is an article from Charles Spurgeon (the Baptist “Prince of Preachers”) that states that conviction of sin is necessary for salvation: http://adrianwarnock.com/2008/10/spurgeon-conviction-of-sin-essential.html

*****     Here’s a thought provoking article that I don’t entirely agree with, but definitely find some merit in. What the Church should learn from Google: http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2008/09/17/what-the-church-should-learn-from-google-1-of-many/

*****     From ThinkChristian (quoting the pope): Our financial systems are built on sand. Boy, has that been evident this week! http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2008/10/07/financial-systems-built-on-sand/

*****     Were you aware that the Christians in Orissa, India are currently undergoing major persecution? Please pray for them! http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2008/november/3.15.html

More information and a video from Gospel for Asia: http://gfa.org/orissa-video  - The speaker in this video is K.P. Yohannan a very trustworthy and Godly man, whom I have enormous respect for. Keep in mind that there may well be more Christians in India than in America. I am almost certain that there are more Christians in China than in America. Food for thought.

That’s it for this week! If you have questions, comments, prayer requests or announcements, please let me know by replying to this email!

Grace and Peace,

Chase