Fifth Sunday
September 30, 2012
The Fifth Sunday
is different. This time, we saw videos
of the baptismal service that was held Saturday at Red Fox Farm. Pastor Jan baptized Gabriel and Madison Shore,
with the help of their Sunday School teacher, Denise Malony. She also baptized Joanna Tilley, with the
help of her husband Mark. The baptisms
took place in Mountain Run, much as Jesus’ baptism took place in the Jordan
River. Afterward, everyone went to the
Malony’s deck for a time of fellowship and refreshments. A cake was served in honor of the spiritual
birthday of those who were baptized as a public expression of an inner work of
God’s grace.
The Alabaster
Offering was received, and Gabriel and Madison helped empty individual
Alabaster boxes as the congregation came forward to bring their offerings. A video was shown which used Lego buildings
to represent the buildings that have been built with Alabaster funds over the
years: homes for pastors and missionaries, clinics and schools, and places of
worship in many lands. Since 1949,
$100,000,000 has been given by Nazarenes worldwide for this purpose.
Bulah Farmer and
Dolores Charnock told a little about missions and explained the reading program
whereby people can learn about what is going on in Nazarene missions around the
world. Dolores provided an incentive for
those who read all 6 of this year's books—they can choose a gift from her
basket of goodies.
And, we learned
the first memory verse from the denomination-wide Engage the Word program, Genesis 9:12. This is a 40-day program of Bible reading and
memorization sponsored by the denomination, in partnership with the American
Bible Society. It can be done as a
family as well as individually. The
purpose is to encourage people to get in the habit of reading the scriptures
every day, and this journey will show the scarlet thread of salvation that runs
through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
If you are interested, you can sign up to have the daily readings sent
to your e-mail inbox or your phone by registering at engagetheword.nazarene.org,
or picking up the brochure on the back table at the church
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