Tag Archives: missions

Jano22

Chase

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Agape Newsletter: This Sunday’s message and our efforts to help in Haiti! (BAKE SALE NEXT WEDNESDAY)

Hello everybody, and welcome to a most significant Agape newsletter! This upcoming week @ Agape we will have several opportunities to give of our time, our resources, and even ourselves to help people who are in desperate need! I want to exhort you to take advantage of the opportunities listed below.

Before I get to some important announcements, let me ask you a question. Does God hate Haiti? That is the word on the street currently in Haiti. Pam McCormick, a missionary in Haiti right now, writes this about the earthquakes, ““Bondye pa renmen Ayiti” (God doesn’t like Haiti) is the word on the street. And though I know it is the furthest from the truth, I can’t blame them for feeling like that. From its beginnings as a slave colony, the people of Haiti have suffered and endured unimaginable tragedy, abuse and injustice. When you think things just couldn’t possibly get any worse in Haiti, they do.” Read on for how we can help the people of Haiti, and Glorify God in the process!

  • First up, let me tell you what’s on tap for Sunday morning corporate worship. This Sunday morning we continue our series on the four major purposes of Agape (GRIP or Glorify, Reach, Impact, Propel) we are focusing on the second purpose this week - Reach - reaching people with the Gospel as Jesus told us to in His Great Commission. The title of the message is “No Parking on the Dance Floor“, which might mean something to those of you born in the sixties or seventies. We’ll try to answer the question of how the Great Commission informs our lives individually and as a group, and how practically we can reach people with the good news of Jesus.
  • Next up is the Nest on Tuesday night, January 26. This is where we at Agape feed the homeless of Birmingham, pray for them, provide medical help for them, and point them to the love of Jesus. If you can help, please come to the Agape building at 6:00pm Tuesday
  • Finally, we have a big Wednesday night scheduled for January 27th. We will be doing our normal food pantry outreach that night, feeding many in our area. In addition, we are hosting a bake sale with a silent auction with 100 percent of the proceeds donated to on the ground relief work in Haiti. We are asking our Agape family to do two things:   1. To bake cakes, pies, turnovers, brownies, cookies, etc. for sale that night. The more food you make and the yummier the food, the better! Enlist the help of your friends and neighbors….Draw up a mouth watering description of your baked goods. Whatever it takes!  2. We are asking you to help get the word out about the bake sale. Tell your friends, neighbors and coworkers. Call the local radio stations. Invite your family, and anybody who might come! Put flyers up at grocery stores, and other places. SPREAD THE WORD. Next Wednesday night at 6:30 - Haiti Bake Sale and Silent Auction!  Let people know about this via email, via your Facebook or Myspace page, and however you can think of.

This fund raiser is part 1 of our mission to help Haiti. Part 2 involves us participating in a relief trip with the Alabama or Florida Baptist Association when the doors open to us. If you are curious as to where the money we raise is going to be donated, it will be going to the Haiti Relief Fund of Fellowship International Mission. I found out about this mission via Paula Fargarson, who found it on a post on Beth Moore’s website. If you are looking for more details, I have included the links below:

1. Beth Moore’s daughter talks about Matt and Pam McCormick, missionary friends in Haiti. This link includes Pam’s account of the earthquake in Haiti (Matt and Pam, Pam being 36 weeks pregnant, are on the ground as missionaries in Haiti, along with their 2 under 5 boys.) CLICK HERE

2. Here’s Matt’s post of a few days ago, on how we can help in Haiti. CLICK HERE We will be participating in their efforts to get food from the Dominican Republic directly into Haiti. The current situation in Port Au Prince is that much international relief has poured in, but a great quantity of it is sitting on the tarmac at the Port Au Prince airport. Haiti’s infrastructure and government are not now adequate to distribute it all. Matt is leading a grass roots effort (using small groups and pick up trucks) to distribute aid in a more efficient manner. READ ABOUT IT HERE.

3. Finally, you can read about Fellowship International Mission’s Haiti Relief Fund here: CLICK HERE

Remember to tell your friends and neighbors, and to do everything in your power to spread the word about next Wednesday. While you’re at it - why not invite them to come worship with you this Sunday?!

See you then,

Chase

Augo14

Chase

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Agape Newsletter Part 1 - August 10, 2009. Welcome pastor Viorel!

Hello everybody, and welcome in to a few new people that I added to our newsletter list. If you don’t want to get this newsletter, the 5 time winner of the Felix Morton Church newsletter of the year (The Heisman Trophy of church newsletters), please let me know, and I will remove your email address from our distribution list. I usually only write once a week - sometimes twice, and sometimes not even once…like last week.

First and foremost, I need to let you know that we have a change of plans for this Wednesday night. I announced Sunday that we would be discussing predestination on a deeper level Wednesday night, but now we are going to put those plans on hold for one week, due to a surprisingly unexpected visit from Viorel Cruceru, the pastor of our sister church in Romania. Not Romania, Alabama, but Romania, Romania (as in the country in eastern Europe). I have never met pastor Viorel before, but I do get to grab some lunch with him tomorrow, and I am told that it was great the last time he came and spoke at Agape. If you aren’t a regular on Wednesday nights, allow me to encourage you to change your plans and come out and hear from our sister church. If you are a regular, then I hope to see you there as well. Also - we will be taking a love offering that Wednesday night for pastor Viorel and our sister church in Romania.

Some other announcements: (more details to come in newsletter part 2, due out this Friday)

Saturday August 29th - mark your calendars now, because we are having a church beautification day. Women’s bathrooms - prepare to be cleaned up, fixed up, and made beautiful!!!! We start at 8:30am, so please make plans to come and join us!

Sunday August 30th - we will be having an evening swim party/food gathering and hang out time at the Woodhaven clubhouse in Pinson. The action starts at 7:30 - bring your tennis rackets, your swim suit, and some sort of snack food/desert/drink. Food sign up sheets and more details to come soon.

Prayer Requests:

Please pray for Benny Cusimano, Greg’s brother. He had chest pains today, and will be having an arteriogram tomorrow morning.


Please also continue to pray for baby Sadie Hall, my niece, and the newborn daughter of Janet’s brother Stephen and his wife Kelly. After 26 days in the NICU, Sadie is finally home, and was even able to go to church with her family this Sunday! She is still bleeding occassionally, but she is doing better. Please pray for her full physical healing!!


Please also remember brother Paul Marshall, as his blood pressure has been very low lately, and his wife Ruth.


Finally, remember to pray for Jamey Benton, Logan’s older sister and Terry and Dianne Benton’s daughter. She is serving in Honduras as a missionary beginning this week. Please pray for the whole Benton family, as I am sure that they are lonely for her!


Grace and Peace to you, and I look forward to seeing you Wednesday and/or Sunday!


Chase

Jano23

Chase

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Agape Newsletter - January 22, 2009 - Special Scottish Preaching edition.

Hello all, and welcome in to another info packed Agape newsletter.

Don’t forget that each of these newsletters, as well as several other posts are published weekly on our blog at Pinsonchurch.com/blog - Check it out for yourself, and tell your friends about it. Featured articles this week: The prayers of Joseph Lowery and Rick Warren at Barack Obama’s nomination, as well as a couple of amazing nature videos showing two remarkable birds.

Here’s a quick summary of all that is going on in the newsletter:
1. David McConnell preaching Sunday on holiness (see below)
2. New member’s class February 1st
3. Angel Food pick up Saturday @ 9:30am
4. PRAYER 9:15 am SHARP.
5. The Nest, homeless outreach Tuesday night
6. Kenya/Tanzania prayer
7. Food Pantry.
8. Super Bowl party. (Sunday night, February 1st - details forthcoming)
As noted above, David will be bringing the word this Sunday, and I’m looking forward to it. Here’s a preview from David to give you an idea of what to expect:

Strive for … the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. Hebrews 12:14 (ESV)

What a verse! Too often, modern Christianity has regulated Holiness to an incidental role in our faith. Being Holy is viewed as minor consequence of our belief in Christ, perhaps not as important as Grace. Yet, the Word tells us that without Holiness, we will never be with Jesus. That shakes me, and I hope it does us all. Sunday morning we will dive into the Word to see that Holiness, in both the OT and NT, is much more than a minor consequence of our faith. And we will take a look at a beautiful dynamic of scripture: we are commanded by God to be something that we can never be on our own.

Also, please note that the New Member’s class is coming up a week from Sunday (February 1st). If you are interested in joining Agape, please let me know, and you can be included. The class lasts a little over an hour, and a home cooked lunch will be provided (thanks Jennifer!). The class will begin shortly after church is over.
We have three missions related announcements for the week: 1. Angel Food pick up will be this Saturday at 9:30am in the foyer of the church. If you ordered Angel Food, don’t forget to come pick it up! Also, The Nest homeless ministry will take place next Tuesday (January 27). If you’d like to help serve food, or work with John Talley on the evangelism team, then you should be at the church around 6:00pm, and be ready to leave for downtown at 6:30pm. Finally, we will be doing food pantry next Wednesday (January 28), and we need volunteers to help carry food and minister to the people that come for food. The busiest time is from 6 to 7 pm, so come early if you can!
As you may have noticed last week, we are now having corporate prayer in the sanctuary before small groups meet. I invite you to come meet us at the front of the sanctuary for prayer this Sunday at 9:15 am (we will start on time this week). If we would see revival come…if we would see true evangelism happen…if we would see more missionaries sent out…if we would see the hungry fed, then we must become a people who will prioritize prayer. As J. Herbert Kane said, ““Water cannot rise any higher than its source, nor can the mission overseas be any stronger than the supporting church at home. A sick church can never save a dying world…Throughout history, revival at home and missions abroad have always gone together.” Come pray with us Sunday!!

Speaking of prayer and missions: a team from my previous church is currently in Kenya and Tanzania right now, leading medical clinics, working with an orphanage, and holding evangelistic crusades. Thus far, I understand that 900 people have made decisions for Christ, and many more have been helped medically and otherwise. Please pray for grace on that team, as well as pray for the pastor leading that group, my friend, Michael French - he has become somewhat seriously ill on the trip (as has his son Caleb), and this is limiting his ability to do much of anything. Also please pray for the family of Charles, who has been the mission liaison and driver for that church for several years now. Charles was killed in a mugging this week, right before the missions team arrived in Kenya.

Speaking of prayer, please also remember Emerald, the baby of Tamiko (not sure I’m spelling her name right) who has been visiting with us from Olivia’s house, and has expressed an interest in joining Agape. Emerald was to have major surgery this morning - please pray for her to be covered in grace!

Finally, I close with some inspiring, challenging, interesting or fun links for you to check out:

John Piper, Al Mohler, Mark Driscoll, and Chuck Colson weigh in on the inauguration Tuesday: CLICK HERE

Fireproof the movie in 60 seconds. (don’t watch this if you haven’t yet seen Fireproof. Go see it.) CLICK HERE

Tim Challies writes about sin’s effects on us via an interesting (and disturbing) clean up that he assisted in. Part 1 ….Part 2 .

Past The Popcorn (Christian movie review site) has a nice interview with Kirk Cameron up: CLICK HERE

How to hack (or mod) your Bible to add extra ribbon bookmarks! (I am not skilled enough to do this myself…) CLICK HERE

Ron Jones types a passionate letter to Barack Obama on abortion. CLICK HERE

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday!

Chase

Jano07

Chase

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Agape Newsletter, 12-29-2008, Special Atheist says Send More Christian Missionaries Edition!

Hello all,

I know we didn’t have an e-newsletter last week, so this week you should get a special bonus - one extra issue. Wow! What a bargain!

I’m writing early in the week to let you know about a few things:

Of primary importance is the fact that this Wednesday night, at 7:00pm we will be ending 2008/beginning 2009 by having a worship and prayer gathering at Agape. We will worship and pray together for about ninety minutes or so, and be led by several different worship and prayer leaders. This should be a great time to put a powerful ending on 2008, and prepare us for all that God is calling us to do in 2009. We must seek first His Kingdom!

When we come together to worship and pray, we are imitating one of the chief activities of heaven. Check out Revelation 5:He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: ”You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.” (verses 7-9)

As Howard a. Johnston has said, “When the prayer-life of the people of God comes to be the dominant feature of Christian experience, the power of God will sweep the earth with the victories of grace.” Come and Pray!!!

Also, some have wondered about year end giving to Agape. My understanding is that your gifts can count towards 2008 as long as they are brought to the church or postmarked in the mail by this Wednesday, December 31st. Our mailing address (should you need it) is: p.o. box 746, Pinson, Alabama 35126.

I’ll give you a few links to check out here, so nobody feels too shortchanged:

*****     In this month’s Pastor’s Thoughts section on our website, David McConnell shares about how he cried and cried at a recent movie that he and Alyson attended. (I think it was Conan the Barbarian). You should read about it on our website:  http://agapepinson.com/pastors_corner.htm (Warning, I may not be portraying David’s article in as accurate a light as possible, in fact, I’m probably embellishing just to get you to read the article…….my wife made me add this disclaimer)

*****     As goes the family, so goes the church: http://www.crosswalk.com/marriage/11597516/

*****     Me and my dirty mouth! http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/2008/novdec/6.22.html

*****     Atheist says, Africa needs God!” (I’m not actually joking here): http://online.worldmag.com/2008/12/29/atheist-says-africa-needs-god/

*****     In other news of the unexpected, a famous lesbian couple in California (Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels) are defending Barack Obama’s choice of Rick Warren to lead the inaugural invocation prayer: http://christianpost.com/article/20081229/melissa-etheridge-lesbian-spouse-defend-pastor-rick-warren.htm

*****     This is… curious, Satan’s Ministers Await Satan’s Arrival: http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/johnshore/11597524/

I look forward to seeing you Wednesday night at 7 - be sure and invite a friend!

Chase

Jano07

Chase

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Agape Newsletter, November 21, 2008: Special Innapropriate Reference to Moonshine Edition. ;)

Hello friends and family,

Welcome in to another action packed edition of the Agape newsletter. This week is a big week, so let’s jump right in:
Ultra-quick summary of this week at Agape:

1. Sermon this week: The Great Romance Part 3 - The Great Romance played out in the world.
1A - Coming December 7 and 14 - Agape’s Vision for 2009…Please be praying!
2. Agape Thanksgiving meal this Sunday after church.
3. Crossroads Sunday night at 5:00 pm - Focus: One Life, One Shot.

4. Crossroads: Christmas party and December schedule (see below).
5. Traci Jones surgery….meals for the Jones family.
6. Cornbread and Cranberry Sauce needed.

What an exciting week we have ahead of us! In the Thompson family we love Thanksgiving week. It means great food and fellowship, and a time of thanksgiving, of course - but also - it means Christmas music! We look forward every year to the day after Thanksgiving as the time that marks the beginning of Advent, and the breaking out of Christmas worship music that will be played throughout the day. “What is Advent?”, I hear some of you ask? “Are you Catholic?” I hear others ask. Advent, put simply, consists of the weeks leading up to the celebration of the birth of Jesus. In our family, beginning after Thanksgiving, we gather nightly for a candle lit devotion, responsive reading, and singing. Then we place an Advent ornament on the Christmas tree. By speaking of the birth of Jesus every night leading up to Christmas, I believe it really communicates to our entire family what this season is all about. Next Sunday, I believe I’ll be sharing more with you about Advent and family worship, so stay tuned. Also, we are not Catholic, though we have caught Abbey sneaking around with a nun’s wimple lately. (I kid…)
Speaking of Sunday’s - this Sunday we will be concluding our series on The Great Romance. Two weeks ago we looked at the amazing fact that God loves us not just as a Father, but also as a Husband - indeed we are to be the Bride of Christ. Last week, we looked at the implications of that Romance - He loves us, so we are to especially love each other in the church. Sunday, we will take The Great Romance a step further and look at how the Love of Christ compels us to go into the world and invite others to the wedding feast.
After worship and word, we will all join together to celebrate Thanksgiving. You are encouraged to bring 2 dishes - either 2 side dishes, or 1 side dish and 1 dessert. The church will be providing the meat, rolls, drinks and moonshine*.


Also Sunday, our missions team asks that you bring corn bread and cranberry sauce for the food pantry. During last week’s food pantry, we had the largest line I have ever seen here - and even this week (when no food pantry was scheduled), we had people lining up outside the doors. Help us feed the hungry!
Please be in prayer for Traci Jones, who had back surgery this week. We would like to bless her family with meals as she recovers from surgery, so please email me if you’d like to provide a meal for the Jones family!
Finally, David sends this information about Crossroads in December: December 14th after Crossroads service we are going to have a Christmas fellowship dinner at Mary and David Ledbetter’s house in Pinson. Everyone is welcome. Mary and David ask that everyone who comes bring some kind of a dish, that way we have plenty of food. We are going to have Crossroads on Dec 7th, and the 14th. The 14th will kind of be our end of the year service so to speak. We will take the 21st and the 28th off and come back on Jan 4th.

This Week’s Schedule:  (This month’s schedule online at: http://agapepinson.com/calendar_of_events.htm)
Saturday, November 22: Angel Food pick up. If you’ve ordered Angel Food for this month, then it needs to be picked up at 9:30am Saturday.

Sunday, November 23, 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 3 - Into The World…

Sunday night: 5 pm Sunday night at Crossroads, David will be teaching on: :: One Life…One Shot

Jonathan Edwards once said that he was resolved to live his life the way that he would wish he had lived it when he came to die. All around us we are surrounded by the worldly ideals of what will make us a success in life. But in light of the gospel we have experienced, what will a successful life look like when we stand before Christ? Join us on November 23rd as we look at what scripture says it means to make life count for all of eternity.


Tuesday Night, November 25th: The Nest - church volunteers leave Agape at 6:30.


Wednesday night, November 26th - We will not be having Wednesday night Bible Study, but the Food Pantry will be open - from 6 to 8 pm, and I’m sure the mission’s team would appreciate your help!


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

This Week’s Links:

*****    In San Francisco, a group of 13 young adults with the San Francisco Justice House of Prayer, were physically and sexually assaulted by 200-500 homosexuals who were angered by the passage of proposition 8. The response of the 13 is a great example of love under fire. http://www.jhopsf.org/


*****    Serbian doctor who performed almost 50,000 abortions, becomes a pro-life activist. A must read!: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/nov/08111304.html
*****    Let the shaking begin! http://www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/worship/11584250/

*****    Tragedy in India: Hindu extremist groups are offering rewards of food, money, and alcohol to those who kill Christians and burn their homes: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article5186703.ece


*****     For you artsy folks, the Bible in sand (a video): http://www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/worship/11584250/

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday! 

Chase

*moonshine not available at all churches. Including ours. Why, the very thought of moonshine at a church - shame on you!  ;)

Jano07

Chase

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Agape Newsletter - 10-17-2008 - Economic Crisis part 1

Hello all, all and welcome to the third week in October edition of the Agape newsletter. Among our highlights this week: A missions yard sale Saturday at 8:00am, A message on the Economy this Sunday morning at 10:45am, and a Crossroads message Sunday night on how the sacrifice of Jesus saved us from our sins. Read below for more details:

This Week’s Schedule:
SATURDAY OCTOBER 18 at 8:00 AM: Don’t forget that the missions team is having a yard sale at Agape tomorrow (Saturday) morning, beginning at 8:00am. Come one, come all - find some great bargains AND help our missions outreach fulfill the calling of Jesus (Matthew 25:31-46) and love our community.
Sunday, October 19 - 8:30 - Corporate prayer. Prayer is so critical in the life of the church, so please join us in the back of the sanctuary to lift up our hearts to God.
Sunday 9:45 - Small groups
Sunday 10:45 - Morning worship and word. This week I will be bringing a message that is centered on all of the issues raised by our volatile economy. What is going on? Why is the stock market struggling so much? What does it mean to you and me? And, most importantly, where is God in all of this, and what should our response be as the people of God?! Come join us and have a listen to this very unusual message, as well as seek God and bless His name in worship and prayer. If you know somebody who has been effected by the economic crisis currently, or has been interested in it, then please forward them this email and invite them to come join us this Sunday!
Sunday night: 5 pm - Crossroads. Most of us know that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross makes it possible for us to enter heaven, right? But HOW does that work? Why did it work? Here’s David’s summary of what he will be teaching on this Sunday night at Crossroads: The Cup Christ came to secure our eternal redemption from the rebellion of Genesis chapter 3. But how did He do it? Was it the nails? The crown of thorns? A beaten and bloodied trip up an ancient hillside? How did the sacrifice of Christ secure forgiveness of all sins, for all times for those who would believe? Would we be surprised to hear that it was not what was seen on that day that saves us, but what was unseen? Please Join us October 19th at 5pm.

Wednesday night, October 22nd - Back to Matthew this week, as we’ll be tackling the 10th chapter of Matthew - a most challenging, yet refreshing passage of scripture. We will also have food pantry that night, beginning at 6:00.

Friday night - Family Movie Night with fun and games and much more!

Well, normally, I would try and type something interesting, funny, spiritual, inspiring, or antagonizing to Auburn fans in this space, but alas, I’m babysitting Kassidy while Janet is taking Chloe and John Caedmon to the doctor (they have bronchitis - pray for them please!), so I’m not able to concentrate enough to type much of anything worth reading, so I guess I’ll just close out with some hopefully high quality linkst.

This Week’s Links:

*****     Thinking about World Hunger Month….Did you eat breakfast today? (I did: 1 bowl of Frosted Mini-Wheats, one bowl of Rice Chex): http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/10/how_hungry_are.html

*****     Deep Truths of the Bible for Children (good children’s books with a deep Christian message): http://www.ligonier.org/blog/2008/10/deep-truths-of-the-bible-for-c.html

*****     This will be a bit controversial, I imagine. I am posting it less for it’s political content, and more for it’s incisive commentary on the importance of being pro-life: http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=2630

*****     Fireproof 1, Religulous 0 http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2008/10/religulous.html

*****     Real Preachers of Genius; Mr. Mega Church Seeker Sensitivity Guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb9DF16Fx8k&feature=related (Please note - this video lampoons seeker sensitive churches and touches on the Emergent movement. I’m including it here only because of it’s amusement value, not because I necessarily agree with some of the issues the video raises. For me, it’s a mixed bag)

I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday!

Chase

Jano07

Chase

0

Agape Newsletter - 10-10-2008. Yard Sale, Movie Night + more

Hello again everybody, and allow me to welcome you to another edition of the Agape newsletter - now available in print edition (when I remember to print it out)!


October looks like a very active month for us, so let’s get straight away into our weekly schedule and announcements, shall we?

This Week’s Schedule:
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
Here’s a summary from David of what’s coming up this week at Crossroads: Whether in public or private conversation, more than one Christian has been challenged to respond to why they believe a loving God would punish sin and send people to hell. In light of our rebellion, perhaps we should ask how a Holy God can allow sinners into Heaven. To answer these questions, we must search scripture to understand the character and glory of God. Join us October 12th at 5pm as we continue our study of The Gospel.

Wednesday night, October 15, we’ll be having a fellowship meal together, along with some various and sundry fun and games. The meal begins at 5:45, so come join us for some quality food and hang out time!


This Week’s Announcements:
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

Also here are some more announcements from Cindy and the Missions Team:

1. Movie/game night Oct. 24th starts at 6:30pm
2.Missions yard sale Oct 18th see Sue Taylor if you have items to donate
3. October. is world hunger month.  we will be collecting food/money specifically for food pantry at our church for the entire month of October.  See Cin for any questions.
4. Need personal care items for The Nest  on Oct. 28th.

Just in case you’re not on Sue Taylor’s email address list, here’s her email with more information about the Missions Yard Sale:


Hey guys!  This is just a reminder about Agape’s Benevolence Yard Sale which is NEXT Saturday, October the 18th.  PLEASE, if you have donations that you have not already taken to the church, plan to take them to Agape this Saturday morning before noon.  We will be there working with the donations!  We’ll even help you unload your vehicle!!! If you have donations but can’t get them there by then, please have them at Agape by the evening of the 17th.
Don’t forget, the more the merrier.  Come and visit and SHOP our yardsale.  (This would be a great time for the husbands to buy their stuff back!)  All proceeds further our benevolence work atAgape!

Love you all,
Sue

A personal note:
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.
Finally, some links to sites and articles worth checking out:

*****    Adrian Warnock is one of my favorite Christian bloggers. Here, he has a video of Billy Graham preaching in 1958: http://adrianwarnock.com/2008/10/video-billy-graham-preaching-in-1958.html
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

Jano07

Chase

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Agape Newsletter #2 - August 29, 2008

Hello all, and welcome to another exciting edition of the Agape Newsletter! Let’s start off with announcements, shall we?

Announcements:

Saturday at 9:00am: The youth will be gathering at the church to work on the youth room

Saturday mid-morning: The Seniors class will be gathering at the church for a lunch and fellowship time together.

Sunday morning, 8:30: Corporate prayer - We will meet in the sanctuary (look to your right as you come in the doors) and all are invited to come pray together for the Body of Christ at Agape.

Sunday morning, 9:45: Small groups - a class for every age and group; see the bulletin board in the foyer (or the bulletin) for a listing of available classes.

Sunday morning, 10:45: Morning worship - come join us together as we worship and lift high our God! The message Sunday will be a continuation of our worship series, and we will find out what Great Value trash bags, and Glad cling wrap have to do with worship!? At the end of our time together, we will be commissioning Richard “Bubby” Burchfield who is going to be leaving us this week to spend an entire year in Delaware as an urban missionary. How exciting and wonderful!

Sunday at lunch: After morning worship, we will be having a potluck luncheon and fellowship time in honor of Bubby. Sue Taylor is coordinating that luncheon, and here is what she has written about it: (her full email is copied at the bottom of this newsletter): “Agape’s Mission Team will commission Bubby on August 31st during the morning service.  Please make every attempt to be there to see him off.  We are also going to enjoy a meal together as a church family before he leaves.  Please plan to bring enough food to feed your family and one more person.  We will be eating directly after the Sunday service.  During this time, we will be able to spend time with him, give him our best wishes, and send him off with lots of Agape love.”

Wednesday night: There will be Bible study for all ages, including children and youth group. For the adult class, we will be finishing up Matthew 8, and going into Matthew 9 (if we can make it!). The three questions that we are pondering for this week are, “Can a Christian be demonized, and are demons still a real issue for the 21st century church in Alabama?” and “Specifically, how does God speak to His people today?” Bible study begins with worship at 7:00, so I hope to see you all there!

Prayer Requests: (Please email me your prayer requests if you’d like them to be in the newsletter)

Please continue to pray for Hannah Underwood, and the entire Underwood family. Hannah Hicks (the newborn of Kristy and David Hicks) has come home from the hospital, so keep them and her in your prayers. Remember to pray for Bubby as he prepares to leave for Delaware. Also remember some people in our fellowship that are struggling with job issues (job as in employment, not as in the book of Job). Please pray that God would lead and direct and provide for them!

Something to think about:

My wife sent this Oswald Chambers devotional to me a few weeks ago, and it has stuck with me ever since. We are always looking to the goal, or conclusion of something that we are going through, but it seems like the process is so muhc more important to God. This is a great read:

We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success. We should never have the thought that our dreams of success are God’s purpose for us. In fact, His purpose may be exactly the opposite. We have the idea that God is leading us toward a particular end or a desired goal, but He is not. The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.What is my vision of God’s purpose for me? Whatever it may be, His purpose is for me to depend on Him and on His power now. If I can stay calm, faithful, and unconfused while in the middle of the turmoil of life, the goal of the purpose of God is being accomplished in me. God is not working toward a particular finish— His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see “Him walking on the sea” ( Mark 6:49 ). It is the process, not the outcome, that is glorifying to God.

God’s training is for now, not later. His purpose is for this very minute, not for sometime in the future. We have nothing to do with what will follow our obedience, and we are wrong to concern ourselves with it. What people call preparation, God sees as the goal itself.

God’s purpose is to enable me to see that He can walk on the storms of my life right now. If we have a further goal in mind, we are not paying enough attention to the present time. However, if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.

Great stuff! To read more of Chambers (this is from My Utmost for His Highest) you can do so here: http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/07/28/devotion.aspx?year=2008

Other interesting Christian links, news, or just plain fun stuff:

A very moving, simple and useful article on Prayers that Move the Heart of God.

A funny picture (for football fans): God is faithful (click here)

Did you know that Charles Wesley (brother of John, and author of “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing” and “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”) had a secret, encrypted diary? I didn’t either, but interestingly enough, his code has just been cracked, and the diary has spilled its secrets. Nothing too earth shattering, but Charles did very strongly disapprove of his brother’s proposed marriage to Grace Murray. Interesting that the spirirual giants of yesteryear are just as human as we are! Read more here (click here)

Finally, here is a Christianity Today article that has a lot of good quotes on praise and worship, including this one from Thomas Merton, “if we have no real interest in praising him, it shows that we have never realized who he is. For when one becomes conscious of who God really is, and when one realizes that he who is almighty, and infinitely holy, has “done great things to us,” the only possible reaction is the cry of half-articulate exultation that bursts from the depths of our being in amazement at the tremendous, inexplicable goodness of God to men.“ Click here to read more….

thanks for reading - I’ll see you Sunday!

Chase

Sue’s email:

Hey everyone!

As most of you know, Bubby Burchfield will be leaving Alabama for a year to serve God through an organization called MISSION YEAR. (www.missionyear.com)  He will be spending a year in Wilmington Delaware studying poverty and at-risk populations while he gives of himself to the Lord for the Gospel.  We as a church family can’t express how proud we are of him!

Agape’s Mission Team will commission Bubby on August 31st during the morning service.  Please make every attempt to be there to see him off.  We are also going to enjoy a meal together as a church family before he leaves.  Please plan to bring enough food to feed your family and one more person.  We will be eating directly after the Sunday service.  During this time, we will be able to spend time with him, give him our best wishes, and send him off with lots of Agape love.

Instead of a list, I am asking that you reply to all in this email telling us you’ll be there AND telling us what you’ll bring.  Instead of hitting ‘reply’, hit ‘reply to all’.  This way, each of us will know who is coming and we’ll see what everyone is bringing!

If you haven’t already emailed or mailed a letter to me or Amber Perkins, please do so BEFORE that date!  Remember, he needs our love and encouragement!

John King is putting together a love box for Bubby!  If you want to contribute to that, please contact him.

Bubby will need financial support while he is in Delaware. If you want to make a financial contribution, please contact Cindy Underwood or Sonya Perkins.

Thank you all and remember, after August 31st, you won’t see Bubby for a WHOLE year! 

I love you all!

PLEASE, also…FORWARD this to all of your Agape and VN friends and family!