NLC News May 26 2022

Click the family photo above to read their story: "Don't Go"
Originally from Mexico, Pablo & Maricela have been pastoring a church in Orange Cove.
Now they are following God's calling to take the Gospel to Peru.
We'll meet them Sunday, June 5th, at NLC.

The semi-annual Members' Meeting will be held on Sunday, June 12, at 11:15 AM
immediately following the worship service.  All members age 16 or older may vote.  
The agenda and list of nominees is posted in the Family Center and in the church office
for your prayerful consideration prior to the meeting.

Received Last Week (5/22):..........$5,403
Received this year to date: .….$286,319
Budget to Date: …………...…......$323,737
Budget Goal: …………..…............$443,008
Needed Weekly: ……….….........…$11,192

Be faithful in the little things, and trust that God is working out his larger plans. We can't see all that God is doing in the moment, but we can obey him in the thing he's showing us to do now. "If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities." Luke 16:10

I left the pastorate in 2006 to raise funds for our seminary at Fresno Pacific University. It was a very different experience to go from preaching and caring for people to asking them for money. I understood that I needed to be generous in my own giving to the seminary before I could ask others to be generous, and so Laurie and I wrote a check. Then I started making phone calls to set up appointments with people. That wasn't easy, but I prayed before each call and asked God to give me a heart for each person. Many of them had already been giving generously to train pastors, leaders, and Christian counselors through the seminary. I soon found it was a privilege to meet them, hear their story, and ask how God might be moving them to give more. Being faithful in making those calls opened up relationships and generosity that have blessed me and so many students over the years.

During one visit in a home in Bakersfield I asked the couple if they might recommend people to me that I could call and invite to join them in giving to the seminary. I knew it was a risk for them to suggest names of friends or family to get a phone call from me. But they prayed about it and, the next morning, gave me the names of two couples I could call using their name as a reference. I called both couples and soon found myself in the home of another delightful couple. Yes, they would be happy to give to the seminary, they told me. And then they gave me the name of someone else they wanted me to call. It was a family member they wanted to see get more involved and make an investment in the broader work of the kingdom of God. And so I called that person next. He agreed to meet.

In my visit with this individual and in the second visit soon after, it was apparent that God was already at work in his life. He had a desire to invest in missions, and knew he had the capacity to make significant financial gifts as well as to contribute his leadership skills. He also knew he had much to learn, and so he agreed to accept a role on the seminary's board. Someday, we both knew, God may have bigger plans for his involvement and investment. We would leave that to God. Today, about 10 years later, that has indeed become the case. This individual has a key role at the university, guiding and guarding the mission of both the seminary and the university in training thousands of students as servant leaders for the Central Valley and beyond. We saw each other this week and smiled as we replayed how it all happened. Glory to God!

What's the next thing you need to do? Is it a small thing, like a phone call? Is there something you've sensed God wants you to do, but you just haven't done it, yet? Go ahead and do it, even if you're only doing it as an act of obedience to God. You may not see all that God intends to do through even the smallest task right now, but you can count on the fact that God has a plan. Someday, like he did for me and my friend, you may get to see the fruit of seed you're planting by your small act of obedience to God.