NLC News February 16 2023

Several New Life Community people were recognized at the Dinuba Chamber of Commerce's annual community awards banquet. Praise the Lord for a community that sees and celebrates the life of Jesus lived through his people!

THIS WEEKEND:
THURSDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 16
5:30 p.m. CELEBRATE RECOVERY Dinner - Dining Room
6:30 p.m. CELEBRATE RECOVERY Worship / Lesson / Small Groups

• Brian Willems speaking on "Sanity"

FRIDAY-SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17-18
ACE Overcomers workshop - Please call the church office to register 591-1176

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19
8:30 a.m. ADULT GROWTH CLASSES - NLC KIDS ministry for parents in growth classes ONLY

• Video Class: 1 Peter - Room 111
• Faith & Finances - Room 114/115

9:30 a.m. CONNECTING POINT (Dining Room) and Connecting Point for Kids (Rm 101)
10:00 a.m.  WORSHIP - NURSERY - NLC KIDS CHURCH - NLC CREW

• Pastor Mark: "Time for a New Life: Marriage" - Ephesians Part II -5:22-33;  featuring a conversation with Bruce & Laurel Smith and Steven & Anatalia Sandoval

11:15 a.m. AFTER CHURCH 

• The Bible Out Loud class - Room 111 (with children's activities for participants in 101)

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21
6:00 a.m. NEW Men's Bible Study - Gospel of John, part 2 - Dining Room
6:00 p.m. CELEBRATE RECOVERY Women's Step Study - Room 114/115 (group is full)
6:30 p.m. Healing Rooms of Dinuba offers healing prayers - Church patio/library

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22
6:00 p.m. Worship Rehearsal - Gym
6:30 p.m. Prayer Gathering - Room 113

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23
5:30 p.m. CELEBRATE RECOVERY Dinner - Dining Room
6:30 p.m. CELEBRATE RECOVERY Worship / TESTIMONY NIGHT / Small Groups

NEXT SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26
Josh & Jessica Aquino will be bringing a message on the godly family from Ephesians 6:1-4
Also, a new video class will begin on the last half of the book of Romans - 8:30 a.m.

UPCOMING:
WEDNESDAY- SUNDAY, MAY 3-7 (or any of those days)
Register now for the ALL-CHURCH CAMPOUT!  Click for online registration.

Received Last Week (2/12) .…..$6,544
Received this year: ….……....$178,814
Budget to Date: …………...... $194,563
Budget Goal: ………...............$421,553
Needed Weekly: …........…..……$8,669

I could have purchased and preached a sermon series based on the current national media campaign, He Gets Us. I know some pastors who have been doing that since January.
But I didn't.
I actually like the campaign, and I was taken by the two Superbowl commercials I saw last Sunday. You can watch them all at the link above. I hope the commercials and other parts of the billion dollar campaign still unfolding draw people to see and accept and follow Jesus. That would be a good thing!

The He Gets Us campaign is the combined effort of some notable, and almost all anonymous, American Christians. David Green, owner of Hobby Lobby, has been identified with the campaign. The news media became interested  when they learned that the campaign was paying for not one, but two, Superbowl commercials at about $20 million. They wanted to know who was behind it and what they're agenda was. Maybe you've read or heard some news stories about that. Some is positive, and some is not. A lot of the news writers are wary. That's understandable. These are difficult, divisive times, and the truth is often something different than what's presented.

The He Gets Us campaign is very clear on their website about their agenda. It's literally the first thing you see on the site--"HE GETS US HAS AN AGENDA". Yup, all CAPS. It almost looks like a news headline; and not a good one.
As I've read through and learned about the agenda of the campaign, I get it. Jesus has been co-opted by religious people in America to stand for what they like and against what they don't. It's like we've been playing tug-of-war with Jesus, pulling him left toward those causes and people while others are pulling him right to defend other causes and people. Christians denominations have split over the last few years over homosexuality, all in the name of Jesus. Neither side can see how Jesus could possibly be sympathetic to the other viewpoint. I've witnessed it.
It's not just homosexuality, though. Just in the last three years Christians became divided over masks and mandates related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and over politics, political figures, and political parties and ideologies. There's also the matter of race, immigration, and a host of other matters we all know better than to bring up at a family gathering or around the table. And in the middle of it all is Jesus, pulled to this side or that, mutually claimed by those who are mutually canceling each other out. It's a problem, for sure.

The He Gets Us campaign asks, "How did the story of a man who taught and practiced unconditional love, peace, and kindness; who spent his life defending the poor and the marginalized; a man who even forgave his killers while they executed him unjustly — whose life inspired a radical movement that is still impacting the world thousands of years later — how did this man’s story become associated with hatred and oppression for so many people?"
It's a good question.
And the campaign's goal is also a good one: "To move beyond the mess of our current cultural moment to a place where all of us are invited to rediscover the love story of Jesus."
I'd like to think that's what we're about at New Life Community.
And I'd like to think that's what I've been preaching every Sunday.

So I didn't purchase the sermon series.

But you're going to hear it from me anyway, because that's what the Bible is all about. As John said (John 20:31), "These [things] are written so you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. When you put your trust in Him, you will have life that lasts forever through His name." 
God knows we need Jesus.
And thank God Jesus gets us. And saves us. And calls us to love as he loves us.