News & Views December 1

DECEMBER MEMORY VERSE
"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Isaiah 9:6
 
DECEMBER 5th WORSHIP and COMMUNION SERVICE
Life Lesson Classes

Adult Class - "What Makes You Happy?" - 8:30 A.M. - Room 111
Adult "Welcome" Class (Book of Luke) - 8:45 A.M. - Rooms 114-115
 
Connecting Point
9:30 A.M. - Dining Room
 
Worship and Communion
10:00 A.M. -  Family Center Gym/Online
Pastor Mark: ADVENT 2--Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Jesus
 Read ahead - John 1:6-9, 19-36
Communion is open to anyone who trusts and follows Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
 
NLC Kids
10:00 A.M. - Rooms 101,103
COMMUNION

Holiday Happenings

Consistent through December:
  • Sunday Life Lesson Classes, Connecting Point, and Worship
  • Tuesday Men's Bible Study - 6-7 A.M. - Dining Room
  • Wednesday Prayer Gatherings - 6:30-7:30 P.M. - Dining Room
  • NEW! Thursday Choir Rehearsal - 6:30 P.M. - Gym
Special Events/Meetings:
  • Reedley Electric Parade - December 3rd - 7 P.M.
  • Dinuba Christmas Parade - December 4th - 5:30 P.M.
  • LIFT Women's Bible Study - December 7th - 10-11:30 A.M. - Room 114-115
  • NEW! Women's Ministries Wreath-making - December 7th - 6 P.M.
  • Life Skills - December 9th - 7 P.M.
  • Breakfast with the Grinch (w/ Dinuba Chamber of Commerce) - December 11th - 8-11 A.M.
  • School Christmas Toy/Food Distribution - December 17th - 3-5 P.M.
    • Jefferson Elementary - Talk to Cece Olea
    • Grandview Elementary - Talk to Laurel Braun
    • Monson/Sultana - Talk to Cece Olea
  • Grab & Go Meals after worship - December 19th - 11:00 A.M.
  • NLC Christmas Eve "Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Jesus" - December 24th - 5 P.M. - Gym
    • Christmas Choir will be singing
    • Christmas gift sacks ("toots") will be handed out
Please bring unwrapped toys to the church before December 17th
Jefferson School
Pick a gift tag from the tree in the gym and purchase gifts for our adopted school. Put the gift tag on the unwrapped present and bring it to the church's Family Center or Office.
Fifty children have been selected by the school staff. Their parents will be coming to Jefferson School between 3-5 PM on December 17th to select presents and pick up food boxes.
Please let Cece know you can be there to assist.
Monson/Sultana School
Bring unwrapped toys to the gift barrel at church. Talk to Cece about helping deliver the gifts.
Grandview School
Bring unwrapped toys to the gift barrel at church.
Talk to Laurel Smith about helping deliver the gifts and food boxes on December 17th.
This event by the Chamber of Commerce in our Family Center will also be
collecting toys and proceeds toward our toy drive. Come help or join in the fun!
"Let Me Tell You About My Jesus"
Christmas Even Service
Dec. 24th - 5 pm - NLC Family Center

Homecoming

New Life Community has the rare privilege of welcoming a missionary couple home this month. Otto and Marjorie Ekk left as missionaries from our church to Portugal over 30 years ago! They were sent off and supported with our prayers, teams from our church have traveled to Portugal to help them and learn from them, and they have returned over the years to share the progress of their work with us. Our church and individual members have supported them and their ministry financially, including our recent mission offering. Now they are coming home.

Otto and Marjorie arrive in a couple of weeks, just in time to celebrate Christmas with family and with our church family. Otto will be preaching in January as part of their final months in ministry throughout North America. After the holidays they'll be travelling across the United States and Canada to share the results of their decades-long ministry in Portugal, and to keep churches like ours connected to the ministry continuing there. By the end of May they will be officially retired from the mission agency, Multiply, and will make Dinuba their home.

I call it a "rare privilege" to welcome home the Ekks from the foreign mission field because it's been about 40 years since we last welcomed home such a family. Ivan and Jean Wohlgemuth and their children Sandra and Terry left our church in 1963 to spend 20 years sharing the gospel and planting churches in Japan. Jean gave me a copy of her book, Memories: A Collection of Blessings, that tells the story. As you can tell by the subtitle of the book, the investment of all those years into the lives of people in Japan was and remains a blessing for the Wohlgemuths.  

One of the things Marjorie shared with me when they visited Dinuba this summer was the joy she felt seeing New Life Community display a missionary spirit here at home. There was no doubt she was reminding me that we are all missionaries, not just those like her and Otto and the Wohlgemuths who leave home to share the gospel in other places. We are called as missionaries to share the gospel in Dinuba and the surrounding area where God has placed us.

I anticipate that having Otto and Marjorie home in Dinuba will provide a boost to our efforts at increasing transformational ministries into our community. Their ministry included an office hub where local business people rented space and interacted with the mission team members. Their ministry included a second-hand store and appliance repair where local people could shop and engage with members of the ministry team. Their ministry included other enterprises and entrepreneurial ventures that created many opportunities to engage with the community around them and bear witness to Jesus. We need to be ready to learn from them as they return home to us. I have a hunch their retirement won't be spent in rocking chairs!

Whether you've known the Ekks for years or will be meeting them for the first time, be part of the "welcome home team". Introduce yourself. Learn to know them. Listen to the ways they've seen God work in their own lives as well as others. Make the most of this rare privilege!
PRAYER
  • Praise God for sending his Son Jesus as our Savior and Lord! Ask God to prepare you for Jesus' return, that he'll help you live a sober, righteous, and godly life as you eagerly await his coming again. (Titus 2:11-14)
  • Give thanks to God for the work of our missionaries. (Isaiah 52:7, Luke 2:8-18)
  • Pray for the local children and families who will be receiving gifts and food boxes this Christmas.
  • Pray for the Good News Club at Jefferson Elementary. Their last session will be Wednesday, December 8th, until the New Year begins. 45 children attended this week, with 24 either accepting Jesus for the first time or recommitting themselves as followers of Jesus!
  • Praise the Lord that Dress-A-Girl ministry is sending along a suitcase full of dresses to Peru with Pablo & Maricela Chavez, Multiply missionaries who will be going to Peru for 2 weeks in December. They will move permanently to Peru in June.
  • Rising prices of food and fuel are having an impact on families in Dinuba and the region. Pray for the prosperity of our community and ask God to give you a heart to help as he has provided for your own needs. 
  • Pray God's comfort for Lori and John Saubert. Lori's mother passed away in this week.
  • Pray for those with recent health changes: Barbara Friesen was hospitalized a second time but is back in PV healthcare, Lois Brittel will be continuing her recovery at Sierra View in Reedley, Chris Holmen hopes to return to his apartment after being hospitalized and recovering in PV healthcare, JR Southard is home healing from spine surgery but with considerable pain, and Lyubov Heinrich's mother is in the hospital with COVID/pneumonia and is improving.
  • Remember also these with ongoing health concerns: Marilyn Chappell, Glen Zimmerman, Kelly Friesen's sister-in-law, Brian Smith, and Galen Wiest
  • Pray as the new Celebrate Recovery leadership team forms in the next few weeks.
  • Pray that the message of salvation will come through clearly in our worship services and classes, and that people will put their trust in Jesus this Christmas season.

Giving Report

Received Last Week (11/28):.......$13,635
Received this year to date:.......$121,723
Missions Giving to date:...............$27,823
Budget to Date: …………...….......$110,752
Budget Goal: …………..….............$443,008
Needed Weekly: …….….…....….....…$8,519

"A big THANK YOU to those who gave so generously to the Mission Offering!
Gifts are still coming in, and our regular budget giving will continue to meet our goal
of supporting our missionaries throughout the year".
Chuck Boldwyn, Treasurer

Mark Isaac

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