Last Blog Post for a While
I will be on vacation next week and then
having surgery – so it will be a few weeks till I get back to posting another
blog. If you would like to keep up with what’s going on at church in the meantime,
sign up for our on-line newsletter. To do so, click here
and enter your information in the space provided in the lower right-hand
portion of our church home page and then follow the instructions.
Keep
Going
What do you do when you come to a dry place
in your spiritual life?
You know the place I am talking about,
right?
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… when it seems that God is silent
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… when it becomes hard to continue praying for the same people who show no signs of responding to God
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… when you spend your quiet time with Jesus, and it just doesn’t feel meaningful or worthwhile
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… when you try to pray, but your mind keeps wandering to other things
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… when you sit in church and nothing seems to connect any more
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… when you hear other people’s testimony of what God is doing for them, and it feels like you’re going through hell
The list could go on for a long time.
When I come to a place like this – and yes,
even as a Pastor I go through these times – here are few things I have found
helpful.
First, Thoughtfully and prayerfully look
inside yourself to evaluate if:
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You are disobeying a commandment of God or you have said no to something God has asked you to do – if yes, go to Him right away and confess your sin and ask Him to help you do what He has asked. Then step out in faith and do it! (2 Chronicles 7:12-14)
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You have hurt another person in some way – if yes, again confess it to God and then go to that person to do what you can to make it right. (Matthew 5:23-24)
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You are holding tight to something (or someone) that is more important to you than God – if yes, take this to God and ask Him to enable you to let go of those things and help you to value Him above anything or anyone else. (Matthew 6:19-34)
Many times I have found the solution to my
trouble here. And, as hard as it is to act on some of these, you will find that
your feelings will follow your actions. When these things are made right, you
will feel rest and peace in ways you can hardly imagine possible.
And then, there are those times when life is
tough for no apparent reason other than we live here in a world dominated by
sin and largely ruled by Satan. He would like nothing better than to have us
let go of God.
He is hard at work against anyone who is trying
to draw close to God. He will do everything within his power to make us feel
distant from God and convince us that He doesn’t really care about us.
In those times, we must simply hold on to
God, not because we feel like it, but because we are desperate to not fall into
Satan’s control. We need to choose to do the things that will nourish our
spiritual life; things like:
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Fellowship with other people who are on the same journey
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Finding some way to get God’s word into our hearts. For those who have trouble reading, an audio Bible may help that you can listen to when your driving or when you’re doing chores or walking.
Take the Bible in small chunks, find a part of it that is meaningful to you and spend every day with it until it becomes familiar to you, perhaps even becoming a part of your memory bank. Look for God’s story, not just a list of doctrines.
Ask God to teach you as you do this day after day, and you will find insights pop up at random times – if you’re like me, you may need to find a way to write them down or dictate them to a voice recorder so you don’t forget what He has said to you.
Consider some of His promises to you – think about what they mean and maybe even commit a few of them to memory. Some you may want to start with are: Psalm 25, Psalm 103, Psalm 139, Proverbs 3:3-12, Isaiah 40:27-31, Isaiah 41:10-13, Isaiah 43:1-7, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Ezekiel 36:25-27, Matthew 11:28-30, John 14:1-3, Romans 5:1-10, Ephesians 2:8-10, Philippians 4:4-7, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 1 John 5:10-13, Revelation 21:1-4 – and there are many others!
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And then, you need to talk with God through prayer. Forget about the formality of it, and just talk to Him like He’s riding in the car with you, sitting next to you on your bed, or walking with you wherever you may be headed. Tell Him about your day – the things you’re excited about and the things that make you nervous. Ask him to guide you through your day and to recognize divine appointments He may have for you that simply pop up and surprise you.
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And finally, look for ways to express God’s love to those around you – your family, your friends, people at school or work, and people you bump into as you go about your day. Ask God to help you recognize the opportunities and to give you the courage to step into them.
As Christians, we are meant to do more than
just take in God’s word and draw closer to Him – we are designed to love others
the way God has loved us. We will never be happy just sitting around and
gaining more knowledge, we must act on it in order to experience everything God
has in mind for us.
Don’t put this stull off. Take the steps now to begin following God where He leads you today. Your feelings will catch up with your actions before too long. Quit focusing so much on yourself and what your feel, and start obeying God with your actions. My experience has been that this makes all the difference in the world!
Pastor T & Pat Gone
Pastor T & Pat
will be gone on vacation from Monday, July 16 – 24. On July 25, Pastor T will
have surgery on his shoulder and will be on Medical Leave for a couple of weeks.
For a some days after that he will be back in a limited capacity as he will be
unable to drive. He should be cleared to drive by August 7 and will then be
back full time. If you have an emergency please feel free to contact any one of
our elders – click here for a list of elders with their contact
information.
Adventurers
Looking
for Boys and Girls between the ages of 3-9 to come and join us for some fun
as we learn more about our Best Friend Jesus and the beautiful things He has
created. We enjoy fitness activities and crafts as well! Join us for
our 2018-2019 Adventurer Year. You can register anytime between now and
our first meeting which will be held on Monday
August 27th from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. For more information
or to get a registration packet, contact Lori Knutson (e-mail or
402-980-5018 – text or call).
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Click here to download a copy of the 2018-2019 Adventurer Calendar.
Survey
for Parents with School-Aged Children
Our church has received a request to
participate in a study about current trends among Adventist parents who have
children in kindergarten through the 12th grade. If you are in this
group, please participate in this short survey by clicking here to
get started.
From
Bible Gateway’s Weekly Brief
How the Holy Spirit Changes Everything: Who
is the Holy Spirit? How did our relationship with the Holy Spirit change from
the Old Testament to the New Testament? What are the common misconceptions we
have of the Holy Spirit? How are we to think, speak, (and sing) rightly about
him? Bible Gateway interviewed Daniel Henderson
about his book, Transforming Presence: How the Holy Spirit Changes
Everything – from the Inside Out. (Click here to
read more.)
How Should Christians Engage with Culture? This guest Blog post is
by Philip Yancey, author of Vanishing Grace:
Bringing Good News to a Deeply Divided World. He says the shift in American society from
admiring Christians to fearing and criticizing them provides an opportunity for
self-reflection. How have we been presenting the message we believe in? Might
there be a more grace-filled way? (Click here to read more.)
Learn
about and download the free award-winning Bible Gateway App by clicking here.
Check
Out the entire Weekly Brief by clicking here. To subscribe to any one of their many
email newsletters and Bible Studies, click here.
Calendar Events
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Breakfast in the Fellowship Hall, 9:20 – 9:50 am
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Sabbath School (10:00 am)
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Traditional Sabbath School Class – Studying the current Sabbath School Lesson (Church Sanctuary, 10:00 am (click here to read it on-line).
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Alternative Sabbath School Class – Studying the New Testament books 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, and Jude using the book Exploring the Letters of John & Jude by George Knight (Hearth Room, 10:00 am. The emphasis is on making it relevant with personal application for each class member. Hard copies of the book will be available at class but if you wish to purchase one for your tablet – click here for a Kindle, click here for I-Tunes, and click here for a Nook.)
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Worship Service (11:15 am) – This Sabbath, we will continue our series on the book of Acts titled New Beginnings. Pastor T’s sermon is titled Holy Encounter and examines the story of Saul’s conversion. It is based on Acts 9:1-31. You’ll also find some interesting reading about this story in Acts 22:3-23, Acts 26:9-23, and Acts of the Apostles, chapters 12 and 13.
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To download or print a PDF copy of the last sermon in this series, from two weeks ago, titled Holy Appointment, click here.
PBE
Team Study, Monday, July 16, 6:30 pm – Luke 13-16. Contact Lori Knutson for more information (e-mail or
402-980-5018). They will meet in the Fellowship Hall of the Church.
Pathfinders & Adventurers are
taking a summer break. Contact Kalvin Tuel for more information about Pathfinders (e-mail or 402-201-6370) or Lori Knutson for the Adventurer Club (e-mail or 402-980-5018).
Prayer
Meeting next Tuesday (July 17) at 6:00 pm in the
Fellowship Hall. We
are watching a series of videos on Daniel 10 – 12. For more info contact
Pastor T (e-mail or 402-517-5333). This will be our last Prayer Meeting for
this summer. We will pick up again sometime in September.
Christian Record Services EYE RUN: Join
Christian Record
Services for the Blind’s EYE RUN on Sunday, October 7, at 10:00 a.m. at Holmes Lake
Park in Lincoln, Nebraska. Or if you live too far away, or are traveling,
participate virtually. That's right! Register for the run, snap a picture of
yourself, and we'll send you the EYE RUN t-shirt. Registration is $25 per
person. Proceeds from the EYE RUN provide magazines, books, Bibles, and more,
to people who are legally blind through the ministry of Christian Record
Services for the Blind. Register now at www.EYERUN.info.
Pathfinder’s PBE Team – from Lori Knutson
For
any of the Pathfinders that would like to meet for an informal study of the
Book of Luke over the summer, I will be at the church Fellowship Hall on Monday
nights from 6:30 - 7:30 for us to review and discuss various chapters of Luke.
It will be more of an overview of the chapters and we will get into more of the
practice questions for PBE once the Pathfinder Year is started. I will be gone
for a couple of weeks in July, but am planning to meet the following six weeks:
Pathfinders
should read through the chapters prior to meeting and make note of any
questions they might have.
Outreach/Community
Service Opportunities
Used Stamps Needed! Your used stamps
can help Christian Record Services for the Blind
raise money. Just tear them off the envelope, being careful to include the
entire stamp and bring them to church. Put them into the container provided out
on the table and we will take care of getting them where they need to go.
Miscellaneous Information
Lippincott Family
Updates: Check out the latest update from Lorilee
and Bryon Lippincott about their family’s experiences serving God in Asia. To
access a PDF copy of the most recent update, click here.
To access a PDF copy that includes all we have received from 2018, click here. To access a PDF copy from 2017, click here. To access a PDF copy from 2016, click here. To access a PDF copy of all the updates we received prior to
2016 (2013-2015), click here. To check out their website, click here. Don’t forget to check out Sharing Dots for
Kids. To sign up for
their e-mail newsletter, click here.
Free Estate Planning
& Wills: Norm Zimmerman, Trust Director for the Kansas Nebraska Conference, is
available by appointment to assist anyone who needs Estate Planning, Wills,
etc. For more information contact Norm (e-mail
or 402-617-2001).
On-Line
Giving Available! Our church offers on-line giving through our website. If
you would prefer to give electronically or if you are going to be away and want
to stay up-to-date with your giving, click here. Adventist Giving now
has an App you can download directly to your smart phone to make the
process even easier. For an iPhone, click here. For Android phones, click here.
Our Church E-Mail
Newsletter, Directly to Your Computer! If you would like to receive our
weekly, e-mail newsletter, directly to your computer, click here and enter your information in the space
provided in the lower right-hand portion of our church home page.
Verified Volunteers – Child Protection Screening
In cooperation with the Kansas Nebraska
Conference, we are working with Verified Volunteers to provide background checks and on-line
education for our church officers and everyone who works with our children.
This helps ensure that we have some training to help us recognize and avoid
situations that would put our children at risk. In addition to our elected
Church Officers, everyone who works
with Pathfinders and Adventurers, Children’s or Youth Sabbath School Classes,
Children’s Church, and VBS must go
through this training and submit to a
background check (there is no cost to you). It will take about an hour of
your time. These
need to be finished ASAP.
Even if you have recently completed this process with Shield the Vulnerable, you need to do
this now with Verified Volunteers
because the information did not transfer from one program to the other and we
are no longer using Shield the Vulnerable
due to many problems with their work.
To download a PDF page of instructions and links to help you
through this process, click here.
To go to the website where you begin this process, click here and
then select First-Time Registrant and
follow the instructions. For more information, contact Pastor T (e-mail
or 402-517-5333).
Last Week’s Sermon
To download or print a PDF copy of last week’s sermon titled Holy Appointment, click here.
Prayer Watch
There are several people and concerns that we are praying
about, for more information about any of these or to request something to be
added to our list, feel free to contact Pastor T. (e-mail
or 402-517-5333)
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The Holy Spirit – to fill and guide our church
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Our mission team who will be going to Alaska – let’s pray for their success and safety.
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Raul Calderon, Larry Carter, Ron Egger, Dusty Mayhew, Floyd Morrison, Tom Plant, Darin Stotler, Irvin Surber, Christian Willey, Gary Wilson, & Thaddeus Woolsey (inmates Pastor T. is studying with)
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The Lippincott Family
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Kevin Klesh (Safety in his work as a Police Officer)
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Those dealing with Health Issues: Mary Jane Agan’s father, Al Bakerlis (Diane Harrington’s brother-in-law), Heather Boulais (UC Student), Tanya Callahan (Elizabeth Knutson’s sister), Emma (Mary Jane Agan’s granddaughter), Tammy Gagne, John Hiers, Jane (Mary Jane Agan’s daughter-in-law), Janice (Elma’s friend), Dick & June Klein, Brett Knutson, Reagan Knutson (click here for updates and to contribute towards her medical expenses), Ginger Kroeker, Dagny Martinsen, Steve Newton (and family), Melody (Donna & Gary Parker’s daughter), Donna & Gary Parker, Sheila and her brother Paul, Dane Swensen, Donald & JoAnn Swensen (Les Swensen’s father and step mom), Cindy Tice (Elizabeth Knutson’s mother).
Pastor T’s Contact Information
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E-Mail: martinsent@gmail.com
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Cell Phone: (402) 517-5333
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