Check out some of the photos taken at our 35th Anniversary celebration. A special thanks to Nancy McLinden and Scott Anderson for being our official photographers!
Click to download:
In The Spirit – November 2012 Newsletter
Colossians 1:3-14 (click to display NIV text)
November 4, 2012
Pastor Dwight A. Nelson
“We always thank God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people – the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven . . .”
Here is a picture I have shared with you before; it comes from Halloween many years ago, but in my mind has always been more about All Saints’ Day. I was at a high school football game in the town where we lived, and it was Halloween and also the last game of the season. In our town the football team never seemed to be the champion, but was never last place either. This night the team finished a 3 and 5 season with a dispirited loss. They seemed not to have much energy or enthusiasm for the game. Afterwards the crowd trudged away and headed home, with an attitude of both resignation and discouragement. Another season ended and not much hope for next year.
For some reason I stayed at the field with maybe ten other people as the band came out to play a final song. They were all dressed in Halloween costumes, the kind of creative costumes that only high school kids can come up with from attics and thrift stores. And they began to play, with no one there, they played for the sky above and they played every song they knew. On and on they went, and they never sounded better – beautiful, energetic, hopeful and fun music. I have never heard a band play any better than they did that night, and for a time that muddy, lonely field came to life.
Life is difficult. We do not always win. Sometimes we lack energy and enthusiasm. We trudge along, not really expecting things will improve. The hurricane and the floods on the East Coast this week left many people discouraged, hopeless, wondering what to do next. A major flood takes a great toll. There is a great deal of physical work to be done: cleaning, restoring, rebuilding. That can be exhausting. But the greater toll is emotional and spiritual. People will feel this for many months to come. The only way through it is faith, hope and acts of love. Read more
Check out our Central Conference Camp’s newsletter. In particular check out the new leadership development tool in our conference, “AIL”. This important ministry included two
of our students, Mirielle Nauman and Tim Becker last summer! We are blessed to have two great camps in our conference!
Paul Nauman (not the apostle) will be leading a dynamic four week adult Sunday School series starting this sunday (Nov 4th) on the Apostle Paul. This series (Which includes video on
location) focuses specifically on Paul’s time in Rome. We will see how ancient Rome is similar to our world, and how Paul’s letter to the Romans can speak to us today. We will also see footage of some of the sites in Rome that were significant during Paul’s time there. This series was intended to accompany our survey of the letters of Paul in our worship sermon series. I hope it will give some context to Paul’s letters and some sense of what he encountered during this part of his life.