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Dear Church Family,
Update From WWCN For April 8th: The “Covid19” virus may be keeping us away from each other, but it is NOT keeping us from wonderful times of worship! With that in mind, as we have entered into this Holy Week, it just seems right for us to celebrate a Maundy Thursday service together. We have planned this service to live stream at 6:00 p/m, Thursday Evening, April 9th. As you know, The Lord’s Supper plays a central role on Maundy Thursday. Towards the end of our time together we will partake of communion. Just follow the prompts in the service. If you want to use the traditional elements, you may pick them up from the Church via a drive thru station located under the Church Canopy, Monday Thru Thursday from 10:00am To 3:00pm. You will find per-packaged elements in baskets for easy pickup. Just take as many as you need for your family. If you so desire, you can use elements from your home which you may already have on hand. (Bread and Juice) This Thursday, we will stream our Maundy Thursday service to both Facebook and YouTube at 6:00 PM. To access our live stream on Facebook:
To access our live stream on YouTube:
Our Easter services will be live streamed this Sunday April 12th at 9:00 and 11:00 a/m. Go to our web site, Facebook, or YouTube to connect. Cecil Wichert was taken to the hospital late Sunday evening with blood clots in both legs. He is out of surgery and in a room now. Continue to pray for him and for Betty. We have NO Covid19 folks in our church diagnosed at this time. (Keep praying for God’s protection) That is about everything I know that is happening in our midst. Stay in, stay safe and stay in the Word! Remember you are loved! Your Pastoral Staff
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Dear Church Family: You know the story of Holy week right? On that original Palm Sunday, they declared “Hosanna, Hosanna, Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.” Just five short days later, presumably some of the very same people who were shouting “Hosanna” on Sunday, were shouting “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” on Friday.
The fickleness of humanity is common when God doesn’t meet up with our expectations. The crowds were expecting Jesus to give a UFC-styled beat down on the Romans. Those folks were waiting for some Jesus miracles big time. Joining Jesus is better than winning the lottery! Life would be easy street. No worries. No sickness. No problems. What kind of holy hoopla did Jesus give them before his death on Friday? One measly miracle. One. He curses a fig tree! Wow Jesus! I hope you didn’t strain yourself this time! You see when folks are disillusioned they will do desperate, despicable, dreadful things. We can’t be hard on them. It is our story as well. We turn to God when there is something we need badly. Interest in God goes up by leaps and bounds when a major crisis strikes. Suddenly we want Jesus, in terms of this story, to ride into the city and become the kind of king We want Him to be. Lord save now! Lord pay bills now! Lord cure coronavirus now! Lord give me peace now! The Lord will answer our prayers. He will answer in the very best of ways. However, at the same time He must answer in His own way. The Messiah would undoubtedly take the seat of the king. We just had no idea that his throne would be a pagan cross. We expected Jesus to meet our needs. We just had no idea how deep His saving would go beyond the solutions for which we were asking. Holy week is a story of the mismatch between our expectations and God’s answer. Holy week teaches us that we can trust that our Hosanna cries will not go unanswered. Holy week teaches us that his saving will go beyond all that we can possibly imagine. Grace and Peace, Pastor Donny Dear Church Family:
YOU CAN smile in the storm! David placed his trust in the Lord when he was afraid; “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear”. Corrie Ten Boom said: “Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength.” As Christ led his disciples into the boat he emphasized “Let us pass over unto the other side...he was in the ship", and today Christ is in the boat of life with us. But, He has only one destination with us; to pass to the other side. The first verse of a hymn written by John Newton; titled “Begone, Unbelief”, purposes in our heart a reason to smile. Begone, unbelief, My Savior is near, And for my relief will surely appear; By prayer let me wrestle, And He will perform; With Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm. So SMILE at the storm, and pass the smile on to someone else today! Pastor Jerry Dear Church Family:
Randy Wills has written a song he'd like to share with the congregation. Randy is a member of the worship team and plays keys and synthesizer. He's written this song as a way to encourage you on your faith journey through these days. Enjoy! Grace and Peace by Randy Wills Grace and peace be with you till we meet again Grace and peace be with you Let God’s love come in And shine through your heartlight In everything you do Grace and peace be with you God will see us through Grace and peace be with you God is always here Grace and peace be with you Let him calm your fear By knowing He’s with us Through the darkest day Grace and peace be with you God will show the way Click here to listen Update From WWCN For April 6th:
The “Covid19” virus may be keeping us away from each other, but it is NOT keeping us from wonderful times of worship! With that in mind, as we enter into this Holy Week, it just seems right for us to celebrate a Maundy Thursday service together. We have planned this service to live stream at 6:00pm, Thursday Evening, April 9th. As you know, The Lord’s Supper plays a central role on Maundy Thursday. Towards the end of our time together we will partake of communion. Just follow the prompts in the service. If you want to use the traditional elements, you may pick them up from the Church via a drive thru station located under the Church Canopy, Monday Thru Thursday from 10:00am To 3:00pm. You will find per-packaged elements in baskets for easy pickup. Just take as many as you need for your family. If you so desire, you can use elements from your home which you may already have on hand. (Bread and Juice) The service will be available on the same sites as The Sunday Worship service’s are found. (Web site, Facebook, YouTube). Our Senior Adult Ministry has been doing an awesome job of staying in contact with many of our traditionally shut in folks. A big thank you to Wally Fisher and Frances Wood for their leadership! Our Easter services will be live streamed this Sunday April 12th at 9:00 and 11:00am. Go to our web site, Facebook, or YouTube to connect. Cecil Wichert was taken to the hospital late Sunday evening with blood clots in both legs. He is in surgery at this time of writing. Pray for Betty and the family as they cannot be with him. Arliss Hartmann is out of the hospital and recuperating at Aldersgate. She is doing much better, but still has a way to go. (Pray for her husband John also) We have NO Covid19 folks in our church diagnosed at this time. (Keep praying for God’s protection) A BIG shout out to our staff who continues to minister to our people during these new days of change. I could not be prouder (In a “sanctified way” of course) of our Pastoral team! A super Thank You to the Woodbridge family for helping us to worship. This is no small feat, as they are doing everything from home. (Not sure where Micah is, the last time I saw him he was running from something?!) Really good job Woodbridge family!! That is about everything I know that is happening in our midst. Stay in, stay safe and stay in the Word! Remember you are loved! Your Pastoral Staff Dear Church Family:
Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord. As many of you know I lost my husband of 52 years a little over 4 years ago now. He suffered from Arterial Dementia and Parkinson Disease. I watched this disease totally destroy a once healthy vibrant man. The last five years of his life were a living nightmare. The only way I survived all of it was to totally trust God for every day; sometimes for every moment of every day. Through all of it I learned to live in the Word, especially in the Book of Psalms. As I have begun this journey through the Coronavirus pandemic that is ravishing the world around me I once again find myself drawing strength from His Holy Promises found in the Book of Psalms. Psalm 91 is one of my favorite, so much so that I have a copy of it on my refrigerator and a reminder on my mirror in the bathroom where I can see it every day. Especially the part that tells me that I will find safety under His wings and I don’t have to fear the pestilence that stalks in the darkness or the destruction that lays waste at noon. He promises that because I have made the Lord my refuge and made the Most High my dwelling place that no evil will befall me and that no plague will come near my tent. He promises me that He will give His angels charge concerning me to guard me in all my ways! What a great promise for such a time as this! Perhaps you can make a copy of your favorite verse, claim it as His promise for you and put it on your refrigerator or on your mirror as a constant reminder that He really does shelter us under His wings! Pastor Fran Psalm 91 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper And from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by day; Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon. A thousand may fall at your side And ten thousand at your right hand, But it shall not approach you. You will only look on with your eyes And see the recompense of the wicked. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent. For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. They will bear you up in their hands, That you do not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will trample down. “Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. “He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him And let him see My salvation.” Dear Church Family:
Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for Me? -Jeremiah 32:27 There are times when you are cornered by the circumstances, and no matter which way you turn, it seems that there is no hope, no way out. When you face a situation such as this, you have just presented God with a splendid opportunity to show what He can do when you have exhausted your own resources. Well it has been said, "Man's extremity is God's opportunity...." Wait just a minute... It may well be that God has engineered the circumstances confronting you right now to show you that you need Him. It may well be that you have evaluated God by “the circumstances” rather than evaluating “the circumstances” by God. If you can stop the trend of negative desperation for a moment, and take a good look at God and His power, the circumstances will look vastly different. In Jeremiah 32:27, God asks a question of man, "Is there anything too hard for Me?" And the obvious answer is, "No!" Now, think of the desperate circumstances surrounding your life, your family, and the millions of lives around the world. May I ask that same question, "Is there anything too hard for the Lord?" Is there? As Oswald Chambers used to say, "It is time to let God engineer..." Do not measure God by the height of your circumstances; rather measure your circumstances by the height and width of His power. Pastor Dick Dear Church Family:
Here are the new links for Sunday’s message. The email sent out last week will have old links… This Sunday, we will stream our services to both Facebook and YouTube. At 9:00, we will stream to our YouTube Channel. At 11:00 we will stream to our YouTube Channel as well as our Facebook Page. Please note, the videos on YouTube and Facebook will have full music and are identical. As always, we will have our broadcast with WIBW at 10:30. If there are technical difficulties, you can tune into our YouTube channel and we will have the whole service posted by 5:00 PM. Thank you for your patience and for your grace! We’re all in this together! -Pastor Michael To access our live stream @ 11:00 on Facebook:
To access our live stream on YouTube:
Dear Church Family;
The “Covid19” virus may be keeping us away from each other, but it is NOT keeping us from wonderful times of worship! With that in mind, as we enter into this Holy Week, it just seems right for us to celebrate a Maundy Thursday service together. We have planned this service to live stream at 6:00 p/m, Thursday Evening, April 9th. As you know, The Lord’s Supper plays a central role on Maundy Thursday. Towards the end of our time together we will partake of communion. Just follow the prompts in the service. If you want to use the traditional elements, you may pick them up from the Church via a drive thru station located under the Church Canopy, Monday Thru Thursday from 10:00am To 3:00pm. You will find per-packaged elements in baskets for easy pickup. Just take as many as you need for your family. If you so desire, you can use elements from your home which you may already have on hand. (Bread and Juice) The service will be available on the same sites as The Sunday Worship service’s are found. (Web site, Facebook, YouTube). I am praying for each of you during these days of great challenge and new discoveries. May HIS Grace bless and protect you. Pastor Holmes Dear Church Family:
Devotions with Pastor Delinda: https://youtu.be/_6Yv0MriYe4 “Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.” (2 Cor. 6:1) Are you the type that typically has every little thing planned out, you have a schedule and you’re sticking to it. It’s all on a spreadsheet, mapped out and ready to go and we shall not veer from it. You like things in your house a certain way and notice when one little thing is out of place? Do you get riled up a little inside when the kids smear applesauce on the floor or table, or when the schedule at work changes, when your husband/wife loses their job, your relationship isn’t quite what it used to be and you don’t know how to fix it? When life starts spinning out of control and you feel like you don’t have a handle on anything, how do you react? I’m a bit of a control freak myself. I like things a particular way. Yes, I’m flexible and I’ll go with the flow, but there are certain things I really like to have going a certain way in my life. I learned a long time ago that I am not in control. Nothing like the mission field to show you that! I had no control over my finances, no idea where I’d live, I had no language training, I knew no one in the country, you name it and I had no idea about it. I had to let go and rely on God and control the only thing I knew I actually had control over...my attitudes and reactions to whatever came my way. I am in control of the way I react to the circumstances around me. Having kids has been another test of my control “issues”. Try as I might, I can’t stop them from licking the windows. I can't stop them from dumping EVERY SINGLE toy onto their bedroom floor and then spreading them into the living room immediately after we’ve picked them up. I can’t stop them from throwing a tantrum every time I have a Zoom meeting (but I can control the mute button on the mic.) And here we are again, I can’t control this virus, I can’t control the way others react to it. I can control my attitudes and actions surrounding it. In his book “Mornings with Oswald” Dr. Donald Minter said, “Sooner or later, every child trekking after the Serving King begins to recognize a descending amount of control over the circumstances encountered along the trek. The illusion of control, and yes, it is an illusion for those young enough to still bask in the fantasy of control, fades with each passing season. With the death of the illusion, a profound understanding begins to take shape, ushering in an ever-increasing understanding that God is a work in each and every circumstance, creating the opportunities for the grace of God to transform those touched by it, those wise enough to ‘work together with Him’ in bringing forth fruit worthy of the ‘grace’ you have been provided.” This is a season, and only a season. Let me remind you, you are in control of how you react to it. When the kids won’t do their homework, don’t understand it or are finding it hard to focus, you are in control of how you react to them. When your spouse isn’t holding up what you thought was their end of the bargain, you’re in control of how you react to it. When life slams you with more bills than you can pay, you’re in control of how you react to it. Control is an illusion. You can’t control those around you. You can’t control the current circumstances. Take advantage of this opportunity for the grace of God to transform you and work together with Him to bring forth fruit worthy of the grace He’s already given to you and give Him full control over your life! He’s got this! Keep on trekking! Let Jesus take the wheel! In His service, Pastor Delinda Update: We will continue to send the daily devotions emails in the mornings. We will be sending a separate e-mail out at 2:00 PM with any updates from the church on Mondays and Thursdays only. So be sure to check your e-mails on those days. If any of you have stories of how God has supplied your need, blessed you, or how you have ministered to those around you, please send them to the church's email and I will forward them on to Traci and Pastor Michael. We want to hear your God Stories! As we continue to live in these challenging days we still have the Hope that lies in knowing Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Continue to use every opportunity to share this Hope which can only be found in Jesus Christ with those who may not know Him! If you are experiencing a spiritual need, or just need someone to talk to, our pastoral staff is here to help. You can contact any of our pastoral staff or you can also call the church office at 273-2248. It is being answered 24/7. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. Romans 12:12 (NLT)
Patience and prayer go hand in hand. It’s hard when we don’t immediately get the answer we’re looking for, but God’s silence doesn’t equal His absence. Choosing to pray through every circumstance in life will help you develop patience. When you have patience, it shows that you trust that God is up to something—even if you can’t see it yet. This week, I encourage you to talk to someone you trust (close friend, parent, small group leader, pastor) about any tension you feel when it comes to prayer. Ask them if they’ve ever patiently prayed through a circumstance and what impact it had on their life in the long run. Pastor Michael Here are the updates for April 1st;
The “Zoom” app is working really well for small group interaction and connection. If you have not heard from your small group leader, give them a call and talk with them about it. All of our small group leaders have received information on how to host a meeting As of April 1st WWCN has no reported cases of Covid19! Let’s keep this going. Stay home and safe. These days will pass. Practice patience! We are looking at some unique ways to celebrate Easter this year, while practicing “social distancing”. We will keep you posted as these plans come together Thank you to Miss Holly, Pastor Michael& Delinda for the wonderful and creative ways they are discovering in staying connected with our children and youth! If you have a good God story, send it to Fran at the Office (she is working from home, but monitoring church communications). We all enjoy an inspiring story! If you have any news you would like to have included in our daily update, contact Pastor Fran, or one of our staff pastors. They will make sure it happens. Stay in, Stay Safe, and Stay in The Word! Your Pastoral Staff Dear Church Family:In the story of the Good Samaritan found in Luke Chapter 10, a lawyer asks Jesus two questions; “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The essence of Jesus answer was “To love your neighbor” Not satisfied with the answer, the lawyer asks a second question; “Who is my neighbor?” The story concludes with the lawyer answering his own question; “A neighbor is someone who shows mercy”.
Mercy is a love that responds to human need in an unexpected or unmerited way. It is essentially loving kindness in action. Maybe , in these days of change, we would do well to look for ways to show and give mercy to those we happen to encounter. Not because they deserve or merit it, but because it has been extended to we who are called followers of Christ. It is then we can say with The Psalmist, “Loving kindness and truth have met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (Ps 85:10) Pastor Holmes 1 Corinthians 15:58 Notice: We will now be sending the devotionals out early in the mornings for those of you that usually look at their e-mails in the mornings. We will send a separate e-mail out at 2:00 PM with any updates from the church. So be sure to check your e-mails twice a day. Be sure to check back at 2:00 PM today to get the latest updates from WWCN If any of you have stories of how God has supplied your need, blessed you, or how you have ministered to those around you, please send them to the church's email and I will forward them on to Traci and Pastor Michael. We want to hear your God Stories! As we continue to live in these challenging days we still have the Hope that lies in knowing Jesus Christ as our personal Savior. Continue to use every opportunity to share this Hope which can only be found in Jesus Christ with those who may not know Him! If you are experiencing a spiritual need, or just need someone to talk to, our pastoral staff is here to help. You can contact any of our pastoral staff or you can also call the church office at 273-2248. It is being answered 24/7. |
AuthorNotes from the Staff @The Woods Archives
January 2023
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