NLC Connect - May 7, 2025
connect with God's Word
PC: Nori Naylor and Brad Isaak
Thank you to those who volunteered to share Jesus at the Cinco de Mayo Festival this week!
Ladies LIFT Bible study enjoyed a closing session about Joseph and a delicious brunch to follow!
Thank you to those who volunteered to share Jesus at the Cinco de Mayo Festival this week!
Ladies LIFT Bible study enjoyed a closing session about Joseph and a delicious brunch to follow!
connect your calendar
WEDNESDAY, MAY 7
Carl's Jr. fundraiser in Dinuba--mention NLC when you place your order
6:30 p.m. - Prayer Gathering - Room 113
THURSDAY, MAY 8
Carl's Jr. fundraiser in Dinuba--mention NLC when you place your order
6:00 p.m. - CELEBRATE RECOVERY small groups
SUNDAY, MAY 11 - Mother's Day
8:30 a.m. - "Salt & Light" Growth Class - Room 114/115
9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT
No Youth meeting
TUESDAY, MAY 13
6:00 a.m. - Men's Bible Study - Dining Room (final session until July)
6:30 p.m. - Healing Room Prayer Ministry - Library
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14
6:30 p.m. - Prayer Gathering - Room 113
THURSDAY, MAY 15
6:00 p.m. - CELEBRATE RECOVERY small groups - Education Center
SUNDAY, MAY 18
8:30 a.m. - "Salt & Light" Growth Class - Room 114/115
9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT
5:00 p.m. - NLC Youth & Next Gen meeting - Room 207
TUESDAY, MAY 20
6:30 p.m. - Healing Room Prayer Ministry - Library
Carl's Jr. fundraiser in Dinuba--mention NLC when you place your order
6:30 p.m. - Prayer Gathering - Room 113
THURSDAY, MAY 8
Carl's Jr. fundraiser in Dinuba--mention NLC when you place your order
6:00 p.m. - CELEBRATE RECOVERY small groups
SUNDAY, MAY 11 - Mother's Day
8:30 a.m. - "Salt & Light" Growth Class - Room 114/115
9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT
- Come meet and encourage others over coffee and snacks - Patio
- Pre-ordered chocolate-covered strawberries will be available to pick up -- thanks for supporting kids attending summer camp!
- Pick up a baby bottle for Dawnings Pregnancy Resource Center's' "Change for Life" fundraiser (through Father's Day in June) in the north foyer
- Summer camp registration forms due to Jessica Aquino or the church office
- Photo opportunity & gifts in the west foyer (before and after the service)
No Youth meeting
TUESDAY, MAY 13
6:00 a.m. - Men's Bible Study - Dining Room (final session until July)
6:30 p.m. - Healing Room Prayer Ministry - Library
WEDNESDAY, MAY 14
6:30 p.m. - Prayer Gathering - Room 113
THURSDAY, MAY 15
6:00 p.m. - CELEBRATE RECOVERY small groups - Education Center
SUNDAY, MAY 18
8:30 a.m. - "Salt & Light" Growth Class - Room 114/115
9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT
- Come meet and encourage others over coffee and snacks - Patio
5:00 p.m. - NLC Youth & Next Gen meeting - Room 207
TUESDAY, MAY 20
6:30 p.m. - Healing Room Prayer Ministry - Library
connect through giving
Received Last Week (5/4):................. $6,714
Deacon Care Fund offering:.......... $215
Received this year: ......................... $216,305
Budget to Date:............................... $265,629
Budget Goal: ................................... $383,686
Needed Weekly:................................. $10,461
Deacon Care Fund offering:.......... $215
Received this year: ......................... $216,305
Budget to Date:............................... $265,629
Budget Goal: ................................... $383,686
Needed Weekly:................................. $10,461
connect to God through prayer
- Pray for health and strength for Carolina Coralles and Glen Zimmerman.
- Pray for Nathan Willems (father of Brian Willems), who is recovering from bronchitis and pneumonia at home, and is improving with occasional oxygen use.
- Pray for Elva Cardona, recovering from surgery. Pray for Amanda Dover whose surgery is scheduled for May 29th. Pray for Hezekiah Parker, whose surgery is rescheduled for July 7.
- Pray for Anissa Almaguer to have good health as she prepares to bring new life into this world! Anissa has been doing iron transfusions to raise her hemoglobin. Pray for strength and wisdom for the doctors supervising her care.
- Pray for Irene Gonzalez, recovering from a c-section. Baby Hezekiah has been discharged. Pray for the family as they mourn the loss of Hazel.
- Pray for Sandy Sorber as she continues to recover well from surgery.
- Also remember: Marilyn Chappell and other residents in Palm Village Healthcare, Harold Kruger and others in Sierra View, and Mary Salazar.
- Pray for those who have lost loved ones.
- Please keep Joshua Aquino (recently deployed) in your prayers. Pray for strength, safety, and peace of mind during this time.
- Pray for those who are seeking employment.
- Pray for the undocumented in our community as they navigate life under this new administration.
- Pray for our missionaries: Pablo & Maricela Chavez in Peru, Cecil & Tracy Ramos in Thailand, Jonathan & Joanna Gutierrez in Portugal, and Johnny & Denise Esposito in Cambodia.
- Pray for peace as violence and war affect so many families and children in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, in the Middle East, and in parts of Africa.
Connect to God's Heart during times of Transition
When Change Comes to Church
Marjorie Ekk had an article featured this month in the Christian Leader magazine. To read the complete article please CLICK HERE.
A Willing Heart
Our church has worked hard at reaching into the community. NLC began this process some years before we returned from Portugal. We see by the people not here, that it has been a difficult transition. But it is a transition that church leaders felt God was asking them to make.
Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31). He commands us to go into our neighborhoods and bring the gospel, heal and help (Luke 10:9). Jesus promises that he will go with us and give us everything we need to accomplish this task.
I had a conversation with a person from NLC who said, “I know we have for years prayed for change, for getting into our community. But when it happened, I never thought it would feel this way. I thought community people would come and fit right into the church I have always known. I feel lost in my own church.”
I answered with a question: “Take away the faces of all the people in the church, even the pastor, and ask yourself if the church is doing what Jesus has asked the church to do. Ask if our church is being true to the Bible? If the answer is yes, then get your eyes off people and onto Jesus.”
The bottom line is: Are we willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our churches and communities? This takes a conscious and deliberate act on our part. Jesus just wants willing hearts. It is hard to say if this or that program works in attracting people to the church. Every culture is different, every community is different, every church is different. I will say from working on three different continents and with many different cultures that people notice when we are doing something “for them” to attract them to our church.
People want to see authenticity in our friendships and our programs. They want to see that they are truly welcome with the questions and issues that come with them.
At a recent women’s retreat I shared a room with eight women from our church. Over half of the women were new to our church and from a different cultural background. When asked what brought them to NLC, they answered that initially it was the friendliness of the people in the church and then the teaching.
Transformed by Jesus
Our church has struggled and experienced hard times, but growth and change are happening. We see it in the baptisms and new members. We hear it in their testimonies of broken lives being transformed by the love of Jesus and the love they have felt through the lives of the people in the church.
Our church has used programs. For example, we mapped out our town and members walked through town praying for each home. Our Home Resource Center accepts donations of furniture and household items. We then work with local organizations to supply furniture and other items for families that have nothing for the homes they are given. NLC volunteers deliver the items, set up the household for the family and pray for the family in their new home. We see this as our church’s first contact with the love of Jesus for these people.
Our children and youth programs are growing through leaders who focus on churched and unchurched children. NLC offers Celebrate Recovery, GriefShare, men’s and women’s Bible studies, faith and finance classes and Healing Room Ministries, a place where a person can receive one-on-one prayer for an issue they feel needs healing, and other programs open to all persons from church and the community.
Programs help to disciple and grow new people, but the biggest asset in the church are its members. Members who have a heart and mindset open to learn, love and accept another person, their background and their culture. John 15:35 says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
A Willing Heart
Our church has worked hard at reaching into the community. NLC began this process some years before we returned from Portugal. We see by the people not here, that it has been a difficult transition. But it is a transition that church leaders felt God was asking them to make.
Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31). He commands us to go into our neighborhoods and bring the gospel, heal and help (Luke 10:9). Jesus promises that he will go with us and give us everything we need to accomplish this task.
I had a conversation with a person from NLC who said, “I know we have for years prayed for change, for getting into our community. But when it happened, I never thought it would feel this way. I thought community people would come and fit right into the church I have always known. I feel lost in my own church.”
I answered with a question: “Take away the faces of all the people in the church, even the pastor, and ask yourself if the church is doing what Jesus has asked the church to do. Ask if our church is being true to the Bible? If the answer is yes, then get your eyes off people and onto Jesus.”
The bottom line is: Are we willing to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our churches and communities? This takes a conscious and deliberate act on our part. Jesus just wants willing hearts. It is hard to say if this or that program works in attracting people to the church. Every culture is different, every community is different, every church is different. I will say from working on three different continents and with many different cultures that people notice when we are doing something “for them” to attract them to our church.
People want to see authenticity in our friendships and our programs. They want to see that they are truly welcome with the questions and issues that come with them.
At a recent women’s retreat I shared a room with eight women from our church. Over half of the women were new to our church and from a different cultural background. When asked what brought them to NLC, they answered that initially it was the friendliness of the people in the church and then the teaching.
Transformed by Jesus
Our church has struggled and experienced hard times, but growth and change are happening. We see it in the baptisms and new members. We hear it in their testimonies of broken lives being transformed by the love of Jesus and the love they have felt through the lives of the people in the church.
Our church has used programs. For example, we mapped out our town and members walked through town praying for each home. Our Home Resource Center accepts donations of furniture and household items. We then work with local organizations to supply furniture and other items for families that have nothing for the homes they are given. NLC volunteers deliver the items, set up the household for the family and pray for the family in their new home. We see this as our church’s first contact with the love of Jesus for these people.
Our children and youth programs are growing through leaders who focus on churched and unchurched children. NLC offers Celebrate Recovery, GriefShare, men’s and women’s Bible studies, faith and finance classes and Healing Room Ministries, a place where a person can receive one-on-one prayer for an issue they feel needs healing, and other programs open to all persons from church and the community.
Programs help to disciple and grow new people, but the biggest asset in the church are its members. Members who have a heart and mindset open to learn, love and accept another person, their background and their culture. John 15:35 says, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
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