Agape Newsletter: Victory and Suffering. Easter covered dish breakfast and Saturday work day.

“Have you ever done a funeral for a baby before?”

“No ma’am” I said, “This will be the first.”

The above is a real conversation I had this week. I did indeed end up speaking at a funeral for a child this week, and I can tell you that I saw a level of suffering at that funeral that was off the charts, so to speak. The world we live in is capable of inflicting  unbelievable levels of catastrophic suffering. Does this mean that God doesn’t exist? Does it mean that He doesn’t care? Does it mean that Jesus did not triumph over death and hell on the cross?

Have you ever been around somebody who is suffering through a tragedy? It can be terribly disconcerting. Our natural impulse is to want to help, or encourage, but what does somebody who is suffering really need?

Have you been through a terribly difficult situation lately, one in which you prayed, but your prayers seemed to be dissipating right above your head - never reaching their Heavenly destination?

In the midst of a fallen world, is the resurrection really good news, or is it a myth, carried along by people looking for something to believe in and encourage themselves with?

We will be dealing with all of the above issues and questions over the next two weeks in a two part message series, culminating on Resurrection Day/Easter,  called “Suffering and Victory.”  We will consider practical issues like how to help people who are suffering, historical issues such as knowing for certain that Jesus was raised from the dead, and spiritual issues, like how the Resurrection of Jesus helps one in their daily life. Come join us, and be especially intentional about bringing your friends and family over the next two Sundays!

Upcoming Events:

• Saturday (tomorrow), March 27 8:00 AM:  Churchwide workday, all are invited, men, women, youth and children. Come and help clean and repair the church building, and be good stewards over the things that God has blessed us with.
• Wednesday night, 6:45pm: Special Youth communion service - invite your friends!
• Next Sunday - Resurrection Day (April 4) 10:00 AM: Covered Dish breakfast - bring breakfast items (cinnamon rolls, orange juice, egg casserole, etc.) and join everybody for a breakfast and fellowship time, followed by a worshipful, dramatic, and impacting celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus - the Victor over death and hell!

See you Sunday!

Chase

Agape mini newsletter - Special Call to Prayer Edition.

Hello all,

Here are our prayer requests. You will notice that there are many requests here,  and that many of them are heavy. This seems to be a very unusual time of heightened activity - please commit yourself to prayer for each other, and seeking God’s face this week!

• John McNamee, father of Lori, and husband of Ginger, died Tuesday morning of this week. His funeral was yesterday at the military cemetery in Montevallo. Please pray for Ginger and Lori, as they grieve the loss of their husband and father, as well as the rest of John’s family, including his oldest daughter, Sandy.
• Rita, a relatively new visitor to Agape, tragically lost her 2 month old granddaughter yesterday. Please pray for comfort for that whole family.
• Please continue to pray for Linda Roberts, wife of Jason. I visited Linda in the hospital earlier this week, and she was much more awake and aware than she had been previously. Please lift her up and pray for her - pray for movement in her legs, more movement in her arms, and for her voice to come back. Pray for her children Logan and Landon, and for Jason as he cares for them and works. If you would like to visit Linda in the hospital, please let me know.
• Please pray for Bob Underwood, Dennis’ father. Mr. Underwood had a heart attack Tuesday of this week, and is in the hospital. He has some other health issues that are complicating the treatment of his heart attack, so please pray about that as well.

God has called us to be a house of prayer, so let us pray, pray pray.

I’ll see you Sunday!

Chase

Agape newsletter - Special “the inmates are running the asylum edition”.

Hello everybody, and welcome in to another action packed and exciting newsletter.

• There is a great Sunday morning worship time planned for this week - I sure hope you can make it! Beginning at 10:45, Sunday morning, Sam and Laurie and our children will be leading us in worship with singing, dance, drama and scripture recital. Come one and all, and bring your grandparents! Sam will also be bringing the Word this Sunday, and based on the preview I got Thursday at lunch, I am excited to hear it!
• Also, Sunday night, the Genesis small group will meet at our house at 6:00pm. All are invited, especially those that would want to be part of seeking God for the future of Agape in discipleship and evangelism.
• Wednesday night (March 17), we will be taking a break from our normal Wednesday night activities to have a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. You might think that is odd, given the modern day association of St. Patrick, but he was actually an incredibly Godly man with a great passion for God and for prayer. Come join us to find out more about St. Patrick, to play games, have contests, and to enjoy some Irish food. (B.T.W. Everybody needs to bring some Irish food - if you don’t know how to make Irish food, just bring something that is green or Orange!). There are rumors that at least two people at Agape will be dying their hair for the event!
• There will be no food pantry this Saturday - as previously announced, we are phasing out Saturday food pantry to go to a once a month food pantry, where will we will need extra help, because we will be giving out extra food! Our next food pantry will be the fourth Wednesday night (March 24) at 6:00 pm.  More details to come.

Prayer Requests and Update: I visited the hospital last night to pray for our sick, and meet with their family. As Ann pointed out yesterday, we have far too many family at UAB hospital right now. Please pray for them!

1. Linda Roberts: I was able to pray with Linda last night. She is conscious and alert, and able to move her arms. As of yet, she is unable to move her legs yet, but after we prayed with her, she told her husband that her legs were hurting. Jason told us that was the first time she had said that, so perhaps it is a good sign. Linda asked us to pray for her job to still be there when she gets out, for their finances, for her family and children, and for her health. We need to ask God to bless the Roberts family abundantly during this time, financially and in every other way. Pray that Linda’s legs are restored to her, that movement comes quickly, and that her broken neck is healed. Pray for her voice to fully come back soon!

2. John Mcnamee: I was unable to get in to see John last night, but prayed for him outside his unit. He is in very serious condition. Please pray for him, and for Ginger and Lori - as you can imagine, this is a very, very difficult time for them, and they are in great need of the Peace that can only come from the Father. Please lift them up in your prayers, and encourage them in any practical way that you can think of.

3. Amber Smith (Drew’s sister) Drew is one of the members of our youth group who’s family doesn’t come to Agape. Drew’s sister, Amber Smith (19), was involved in a very serious four wheeler accident over the weekend, and is in a coma. I was able to see Drew last night and pray with him. He was very shook up, and his family is very, very concerned, obviously. Please pray that Amber would fully recover from this accident - that her brain swelling would go down, that she would awake from the coma she is in, and that she would be fully restored to health, and to herself. Pray also for Drew and her family.

4. Please also continue to pray for Paul Marshall, and his wife Ruth. Wayne and I visited Paul and Ruth last Friday, and brought them up to the church for a senior’s class luncheon. Paul has been struggling with headaches for the last couple of weeks, and he is no longer able to walk. They are both stuck at home, and only rarely able to attend Agape, because Ruth (at age 88+) is not able to load Paul into the van to do so. Perhaps the men of Agape would like to come up with a Sunday morning rotation to go to the Marshall’s to help pick Paul up, and bring Ruth and Paul to small group and worship time? If six to eight men volunteered, it would be a small burden to them, and a tremendous blessing to the Marshalls!

5. Pray for the Sellers family, and their daughter Leslie, as she gets married this Saturday. Pray for grace and protection on them as they plan and carry out the wedding, and for God’s blessings on Joshua and Leslie in their marriage.

This is a time when a lot of the members of our family our hurting - please take time today to pray for them!

May the peace and joy of God cover us all,

Chase

(p.s. - Hope to see you Sunday!)