Agape Newsletter, November 14, 2008:

Hello Friends,

Welcome to a somewhat abbreviated, as well as late edition of the Agape e-newsletter.

Ultra-quick summary of this week at Agape:

1. Sermon this week: The Great Romance Part 2.
1A - Coming December 7 and 14 - Agape’s Vision for 2009
2. Don’t forget to bring spaghetti noodles or meat this Sunday to give to the food pantry. (we have lots of sauce, not so many noodles)
3. Crossroads Sunday night at 5:00 pm - Subject: Christ In You
4. Christmas Shoe boxes are due November 22 (for more details, see display in the back of the sanctuary)


Sunday morning at Agape, we are going to continue looking at the Great Romance, specifically, how our love for each other should be a reflection of God’s love for us. I’m also going to share with you how I was almost killed this week in a high speed police chase (no kidding!), and some of the thoughts that have come from being that close to eternity. This might be something good to bring a lost friend or family member to come hear, so be encouraged to do that! (in case anybody is wondering, I was not the one who was being chased).

Sunday night, David will be continuing his series on the Gospel, specifically looking at doing the will of the Father - and how Christ dwells in us. Every week, David puts a lot of time into seeking God and digging in scripture in order to bring us the deep truths of God on Sunday nights - and he does an excellent job! John Talley is serving as the worship leader for Crossroads, and he is also doing an excellent job, leading worship on Sunday nights with a dynamic creativity that is refreshing. If you haven’t been yet, let me encourage you to come!

Please know, as I mentioned last week, that this current sermon series is laying the foundation for December 7 and 14th - the two Sundays that will be our Vision Sundays - in which we will be examining what God is calling this body to in 2009. I know that some of you who receive this email are infrequent at Agape - please let me say to you that the next few Sundays are critically important in the life of our fellowship! I encourage you to come and worship, pray and listen to what God is calling us to. If you are bored with religion, and normal “church stuff” I can assure you that 2009 will be quite different from the norm. The economy is crashing around us, and many are fearful. They are like sheep without a shepherd.  It is time for the people of God to step forward and shine the light of God to the lost - you are invited and called to be a part of that!

This Week’s Schedule:  (This month’s schedule online at: http://agapepinson.com/calendar_of_events.htm)

Sunday, November 16, 9:15 am - Please remember that we’ve changed corporate prayer time from 8:30 to 9:15am
Sunday 9:45 - Small groups
Sunday 10:45 - Corporate worship, prayer and word. This Sunday: The Great Romance, part 2.

Sunday night: 5 pm Sunday night at Crossroads, David will be teaching on:  Christ IN You. In Matthew 7, Jesus tells us that not everyone who calls Him ‘Lord’ will actually enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He goes on to say that it is only those who do the will of His Father that will be rewarded with eternal life. While these verses may be puzzling at first, if we clearly understand what it means to experience the Gospel of Christ, then the warning of Matthew 7 will become crystal clear in our lives. Join us on November 16th as we seek to understand the depth of these words: ‘Christ IN You - the Hope of Glory‘.
Wednesday night, November 19 - Correcting last week’s newsletter, we will not actually be having our fellowship meal this Wednesday night - to accommodate folks who don’t like to drive at night, we are moving our fellowship meal to Sunday, November 23rd, directly after church. This will be a Thanksgiving fellowship meal/celebration, so make plans to join us after church next Sunday, and bring some food! Actually, since we’ve invited some of our friends from the community, you might want to bring extra food.


Next Sunday, November 23 (right after worship: Thanksgiving fellowship meal and celebration.

This Week’s Links:

*****    The Cell Phone Challenge: How many unchurched people’s contact info do you have in your cell phone? http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2008/11/12/cell-phone-challenge/

*****     Do you remember hearing on the news that Sarah Palin didn’t realize that Africa was a continent? Well, that was a hoax: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/arts/television/13hoax.html?_r=1&oref=slogin.


*****    This is interesting; a very candid interview of Barack Obama on his religious beliefs. Perhaps not as shallow as some might expect, but definitely quite far from a Biblical understanding of Christianity. : http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctpolitics/2008/11/obamas_fascinat.html

Here’s an excerpt: “This is something that I’m sure I’d have serious debates with my fellow Christians about. I think that the difficult thing about any religion, including Christianity, is that at some level there is a call to evangelize and prostelytize. There’s the belief, certainly in some quarters, that people haven’t embraced Jesus Christ as their personal savior that they’re going to hell. I find it hard to believe that my God would consign four-fifths of the world to hell.I can’t imagine that my God would allow some little Hindu kid in India who never interacts with the Christian faith to somehow burn for all eternity. That’s just not part of my religious makeup.”

*****    Can you be busy and lazy? Why being busy doesn’t automatically mean we are being diligent: http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/Blog/post/how-busyness-and-laziness-coexist-cj-mahaney.aspx

*****    My favorite site for finding online bargains: http://slickdeals.net/


*****     Some interesting thoughts on surviving the economy from a Christian perspective: http://www.thinkchristian.net/index.php/2008/11/11/secret-to-surviving-economy/

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday! 

Chase

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