News
OCTOBER MEMORY VERSE
"Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him for God is our refuge."
Psalm 62:8
OCTOBER 31st WORSHIP SERVICE
Adult Class - What Makes You Happy? - 8:30 A.M. - Room 110
Adult "Welcome" Class (Colossians) - 8:45 A.M. - Rooms 114-115
Connecting Point - 9:30 A.M. - Dining Room
Worship - 10:00 A.M. - Family Center Gym and Online
Pastor Mark: ROAD TO RECOVERY, Part 5 - MAKING CHANGES
featuring the testimony of
Read ahead - Matthew 5:6, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 3:12-18
NLC Kids - 10:00 A.M. - Rooms 101,103
GRAB & GO will be served as a FREE SUPPER during FAMILY FUN NIGHT
5-7 P.M. in the church parking lot/patio/lawn
"Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him for God is our refuge."
Psalm 62:8
OCTOBER 31st WORSHIP SERVICE
Adult Class - What Makes You Happy? - 8:30 A.M. - Room 110
Adult "Welcome" Class (Colossians) - 8:45 A.M. - Rooms 114-115
Connecting Point - 9:30 A.M. - Dining Room
Worship - 10:00 A.M. - Family Center Gym and Online
Pastor Mark: ROAD TO RECOVERY, Part 5 - MAKING CHANGES
featuring the testimony of
Read ahead - Matthew 5:6, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Corinthians 3:12-18
NLC Kids - 10:00 A.M. - Rooms 101,103
GRAB & GO will be served as a FREE SUPPER during FAMILY FUN NIGHT
5-7 P.M. in the church parking lot/patio/lawn
New on Sunday mornings - Starting Oct. 31st
Andy Stanley's video series: What Makes you Happy?
THIS SUNDAY EVENING
Come join the fun and bless families in our community!
There are plenty of opportunities to show up and help...
Free hotdogs and Frito boats
Cotton candy and popcorn
Gleanings for the Hungry's soft-serve ice cream truck
Trunk or Treat (including Dinuba Fire and ambulance)
Music on the patio
Gospel pumpkin presentations
Kids crafts
Prayer tent
Welcome tents with NLC information
Our Vision is Already a Reality
In November 2019 our church heard and accepted a vision for New Life Community. We envisioned our church as a diverse family of faith continuously transformed by Jesus Christ, and authentically loving God, each other, and our community. Together we claimed a mission to transform lives through Jesus Christ, and so we set a 12-month goal for ourselves to shift our church more strongly and cohesively toward transformational community ministries.
That 12-month goal has stretched to 24 months as we adapted and innovated through the pandemic. The pandemic itself served to alert us to the needs of our community. We discovered that it had exacerbated the needs that were already present in our community: financial insecurity, homelessness, food insecurity, and low educational achievement. While acknowledging the tremendous pain the pandemic has had on families, its timing within the timeframe of our church's 12-month goal could not have been a better situation. Our church was poised to step into the community with the love of Christ Jesus in the very ways that were needed.
Among the five objectives we assigned ourselves to implement the vision, we retooled ourselves for transformational ministries specific to the needs of our community. To meet the financial insecurities of families in the Dinuba area we learned and launched Faith & Finances. To meet the food insecurity needs we put our kitchen to use through Grab & Go meals. And to meet the needs of the homeless we ramped up our partnership with Open Gate Ministries' shelter by leading a LIfe Skills course and launching the NLC Home Resource Center. In a recent article I listed these and all of the other outward-focused ministries we have begun at NLC during the last 24 months.
These ministries have connected us with a growing group of partners that include other outward-focused churches like our daughter church, Neighborhood, in Visalia, local parachurch organizations like Open Gate Ministries and YFC, community-benefit organizations like the Parenting Network, civic and resource agencies like Child Welfare Services through our collaboration with Care-Portal, and other local business owners and interested individuals. Even Dinuba High School partners with us by sending student interns to help with our events! The list of partners with us is almost too big to count, and it continues to grow. We are not alone, and God has brought people to NLC with the heart and skills to contribute toward the mission we have set for ourselves.
We aren't the same church we were in November 2019. The pandemic loosened some of our relationships, and life has brought other changes. Some have expressed a sense of lostness as the church has transitioned from what it was to what it is becoming. It has been challenging to find our place amidst all the changes. As new people have come and old friends have either left or not been able to participate in in-person gatherings yet, the need to introduce ourselves and form new relationships has caught some of us by surprise. And what a joyful surprise it is when we meet those who have been touched by God's grace and find in them new partners in worship and work! We are already becoming the diverse family of faith we envisioned.
These articles and this blog are intended to inform and inspire you toward our vision. I invite you to call or meet with me if you have questions or want to know how you can connect with the work of God at NLC. Like Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful and workers are needed. Ask God to show you his harvest and where and how he wants to work through you. Then contact me so we can talk about his answers and how you want to move forward as a member of NLC.
That 12-month goal has stretched to 24 months as we adapted and innovated through the pandemic. The pandemic itself served to alert us to the needs of our community. We discovered that it had exacerbated the needs that were already present in our community: financial insecurity, homelessness, food insecurity, and low educational achievement. While acknowledging the tremendous pain the pandemic has had on families, its timing within the timeframe of our church's 12-month goal could not have been a better situation. Our church was poised to step into the community with the love of Christ Jesus in the very ways that were needed.
Among the five objectives we assigned ourselves to implement the vision, we retooled ourselves for transformational ministries specific to the needs of our community. To meet the financial insecurities of families in the Dinuba area we learned and launched Faith & Finances. To meet the food insecurity needs we put our kitchen to use through Grab & Go meals. And to meet the needs of the homeless we ramped up our partnership with Open Gate Ministries' shelter by leading a LIfe Skills course and launching the NLC Home Resource Center. In a recent article I listed these and all of the other outward-focused ministries we have begun at NLC during the last 24 months.
These ministries have connected us with a growing group of partners that include other outward-focused churches like our daughter church, Neighborhood, in Visalia, local parachurch organizations like Open Gate Ministries and YFC, community-benefit organizations like the Parenting Network, civic and resource agencies like Child Welfare Services through our collaboration with Care-Portal, and other local business owners and interested individuals. Even Dinuba High School partners with us by sending student interns to help with our events! The list of partners with us is almost too big to count, and it continues to grow. We are not alone, and God has brought people to NLC with the heart and skills to contribute toward the mission we have set for ourselves.
We aren't the same church we were in November 2019. The pandemic loosened some of our relationships, and life has brought other changes. Some have expressed a sense of lostness as the church has transitioned from what it was to what it is becoming. It has been challenging to find our place amidst all the changes. As new people have come and old friends have either left or not been able to participate in in-person gatherings yet, the need to introduce ourselves and form new relationships has caught some of us by surprise. And what a joyful surprise it is when we meet those who have been touched by God's grace and find in them new partners in worship and work! We are already becoming the diverse family of faith we envisioned.
These articles and this blog are intended to inform and inspire you toward our vision. I invite you to call or meet with me if you have questions or want to know how you can connect with the work of God at NLC. Like Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful and workers are needed. Ask God to show you his harvest and where and how he wants to work through you. Then contact me so we can talk about his answers and how you want to move forward as a member of NLC.
New Men's Bible Study
Tuesdays, 6 a.m.
LIFT meets November 2
Prayer
- Robert "Bob" Heinrichs' memorial service is Friday, Nov. 29th at HopeKingsburg, at 11 a.m. Pray for Timothy and Lyubov and their family.
- Thank the Lord for the opportunity to minister to potentially hundreds of people through our Family Fun Night on Sunday, the 31st.
- Praise the Lord for rain and snow!
- Continue to pray for Bob & Sandy Sorber's grandchildren, Jesse & Liz (Abe & Holly Isaak's daughter and husband). Liz is home, but both have a lot of pain as they're recovering from broken bones and other injuries. Thank the Lord they survived and are healing.
- Glen Zimmerman's cancer proteins are going down and the fractures on his spine have healed! Continue to pray as the doctor increases his daily chemo dose that his body can handle it and continue to heal from the cancer. Pray for encouragement for him and Peggy.
- Lois Brittel is recovering from surgery in the hospital. Pray for healing, strength, and joy.
- Continue to lift people with ongoing health issues before the Lord: JR Southard, Mike Naylor, Marilyn Chappell, Brian Smith, and Galen Wiest and Travis Jost with Multiply. Travis is still recovering in Kansas.
- Pastor Marques Mentes, pastor of the Loures MB Church in Portugal and co-worker for the Gospel alongside Otto & Marjorie Ekk, will be ordained for pastoral ministry on November 7th in Portugal. Our church will be sending a letter of celebration and praying on that day.
- Ask God what he wants to give through you toward our church's missionaries and their work. We will be gathering an offering on November 21st to cover their entire year's support.
Our Giving
Received Last Week (10/24):…..$3,107
Received this year to date…… $57,363
Budget to Date: …………...…..... $68,155
Budget Goal: …………..…..........$443,008
Needed Weekly: ……….…......……$8,765
Please remember to ask God what He wants to give through you toward our November 21st Mission offering. The goal is $46,300 to cover our entire year's commitment to our missionaries.
Received this year to date…… $57,363
Budget to Date: …………...…..... $68,155
Budget Goal: …………..…..........$443,008
Needed Weekly: ……….…......……$8,765
Please remember to ask God what He wants to give through you toward our November 21st Mission offering. The goal is $46,300 to cover our entire year's commitment to our missionaries.
Update from FPU Board
The mission of Fresno Pacific University is to develop students for leadership and service through excellence in Christian higher education. Our vision is to be a vibrant, Christ-centered university that transforms California’s Central Valley and global communities through exemplary service to students of all ethnicities, cultures and faith backgrounds. In this work we are guided by the Fresno Pacific Idea, which defines FPU as a community of learners committed to a distinctive vision of Christian higher education.
The mission, vision and policies of the university are all framed through the lens of the university’s Confession of Faith, a theological position grounded in the Confession of Faith of the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (USMB), a part of which, the Pacific District Conference, governs the university through the FPU Board of Trustees.
Fresno Pacific’s success in serving all students, especially the many who come with economic challenges and are the first in their families to attend a university, is evidenced by FPU having the highest graduation rate in the Central Valley. Most graduates remain in the Central Valley, contributing to the economic advancement of the region. The university continues to be ranked at the top among regional universities in the West for upward mobility. These results are based on the instruction and support graciously provided to all students through our faculty and staff who are guided by our Confession of Faith. Faculty and staff will continue to strive to help our students be successful and look at ways to welcome students whose experiences and views differ from ours.
On October 23, 2021, the FPU Board of Trustees, as part of its regular meetings, reviewed existing university policy in light of a request by a group of students to establish an LGBTQ+ PRIDE Club. After careful consideration, the board provided discernment to the university president that establishing a LGBTQ+ PRIDE Club was not consistent with the Confession of Faith of the university or the USMB. The president therefore denies the request for establishing the club.
In doing so, the board affirms its policy on Marriage, Singleness and Family in the USMB Confession of Faith. That policy also determined the university name a “safe space person” to whom students can speak confidentially, to seek support and understanding regarding various matters pertaining to sexuality. The Campus Life team has served in this capacity and efforts will be made to more intentionally communicate the designated person(s).
Fresno Pacific University will continue to welcome all eligible students who desire a Christian education among students, faculty and staff from multiple denominations. While the university remains clear in its view of biblical standards for sexuality and marriage, also clear is the tension between this deep conviction and the desire to show compassion and care toward students that identify as LGBTQ+ or experience same-sex attraction.
In all we do at FPU, we continue to honor the dignity and worth of everyone, as people created by God, as we strive to fulfill our Christian commitment of a caring and diverse community.
The mission, vision and policies of the university are all framed through the lens of the university’s Confession of Faith, a theological position grounded in the Confession of Faith of the U.S. Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (USMB), a part of which, the Pacific District Conference, governs the university through the FPU Board of Trustees.
Fresno Pacific’s success in serving all students, especially the many who come with economic challenges and are the first in their families to attend a university, is evidenced by FPU having the highest graduation rate in the Central Valley. Most graduates remain in the Central Valley, contributing to the economic advancement of the region. The university continues to be ranked at the top among regional universities in the West for upward mobility. These results are based on the instruction and support graciously provided to all students through our faculty and staff who are guided by our Confession of Faith. Faculty and staff will continue to strive to help our students be successful and look at ways to welcome students whose experiences and views differ from ours.
On October 23, 2021, the FPU Board of Trustees, as part of its regular meetings, reviewed existing university policy in light of a request by a group of students to establish an LGBTQ+ PRIDE Club. After careful consideration, the board provided discernment to the university president that establishing a LGBTQ+ PRIDE Club was not consistent with the Confession of Faith of the university or the USMB. The president therefore denies the request for establishing the club.
In doing so, the board affirms its policy on Marriage, Singleness and Family in the USMB Confession of Faith. That policy also determined the university name a “safe space person” to whom students can speak confidentially, to seek support and understanding regarding various matters pertaining to sexuality. The Campus Life team has served in this capacity and efforts will be made to more intentionally communicate the designated person(s).
Fresno Pacific University will continue to welcome all eligible students who desire a Christian education among students, faculty and staff from multiple denominations. While the university remains clear in its view of biblical standards for sexuality and marriage, also clear is the tension between this deep conviction and the desire to show compassion and care toward students that identify as LGBTQ+ or experience same-sex attraction.
In all we do at FPU, we continue to honor the dignity and worth of everyone, as people created by God, as we strive to fulfill our Christian commitment of a caring and diverse community.
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1 Comment
thank you for the updates! praying for you all. praises and glory to Him