Sermon Preview
Dear Brothers and Sisters in our Lord,
I trust that by now you have all enjoyed a wonderful time of giving thanks for the bounty of spiritual and material blessings that we have been granted by our Heavenly Father. I know that many of you are on the road and will be traveling home over the weekend. We pray that you will be safe on your way back, and refreshed by the days away from the weekly routine.
This coming Lord’s Day we will once again consider the remarkable story of Gideon, which we discover in Judges 6. Our sermon will come from Judges 6:25-27 where we uncover the one last thing that Gideon must do before he becomes Israel’s savior and delivers the Covenant people from the tyranny of the Midianites. As the Lord explicitly commands, Gideon must go and destroy his father’s idols. He must smash the “altar to Baal” and “cut down the Asherah that is beside it” (v. 25). And then, with these pagan deities in ruins, Gideon must reclaim that spot for Yahweh by constructing “an altar to the Lord your God” (v. 26).
As you can already anticipate, this Old Testament passage sets forth some profound challenges for us as the Lord’s New Covenant people. As we prepare for Sunday, let’s carefully study the whole scene as it is presented in 6:17-32.
On Behalf of our Church family, I want to express my appreciation for Cliff Smith who has led us in a wonderful study of Reformation Church History in our Adult Sunday School Class. We have learned so much about that event called the ‘Protestant Reformation,’ and about who we are and how we got here as Reformed Christians. Our final lesson on this subject will be this Sunday as Cliff will wrap up our fascinating look at the history of the New Testament Church.
Next Sunday, December 3, the Session will be conducting an Informational Meeting during the Sunday School hour for our Adults. We want to share some very exciting news with you, and give you a look at some of the future plans that we have been prayerfully considering. Then, on December 10 and 17, I will be teaching a two-part Sunday School lesson on the Doctrine of the Incarnation. There will be no Sunday School on December 24 or 31.
Finally, Advent begins next Sunday! Our Advent Sermon Series for this year will be entitled “Who Said What About Jesus?” The sermon texts and titles for each Sunday of Advent are:
December 3, “What Mary Said”–Luke 1:34, 38, 46-55
December 10, “What the Heavenly Host Said”–Luke 2:13-14
December 17–“What Simeon Said”–Luke 2:21-35
December 24, “What the Chief Priests and Scribes Said” –Matthew 2:4-6
December 24, Christmas Eve Service of Worship (5:00 PM), “What Herod Said”–Matthew 2:8.
May our Lord bless you with a restful holiday weekend, and I can’t wait to see you on Sunday!
All my love for each of you in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Mike
Upcoming Events:
November 26, 4 PM – Alleluia Choir Practice
November 28, 9 AM – Senior Fellows Breakfast at the Church House
November 28, 6 PM – Women’s Evening Study
November 29, 9:30 AM – Women’s Morning Study
December 3, 12:30 PM – Visitor’s Lunch at Bagdazian Home
December 3, 4:30 PM – Youth Group
December 6 – Women’s Christmas Party
December 7, 6 AM – Men’s Morning Bible Study
December 7, 11:30 AM – Women’s Lunch
December 17, 6 PM – Alleluia Choir Christmas Program
Order of Worship:
You can access this week’s Order of Worship by clicking here
The songs for this week are:
Wonderful Merciful Savior
Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Hymn 32, all 3 verses)
I Need Thee Every Hour (hymn 674, 1-3, 5)
Doxology (Hymn 731)
Announcements:
Directory Update: A periodic reminder, please check the church member directory to make sure your information is current. This is the primary way we have of keeping track of how to contact you. If any information is not up to date, or if you need help with accessing the directory, please contact Adam Turnbull at turnbullaw@gmail.com.
Special Announcement from the Session: On Sunday December 3 during the Sunday School hour at 9:15 AM, the Session will be conducting an informational meeting in the Worship Center regarding their vision for the future. We hope you will plan to attend.
Meals for the Townsley Family: Kristen will be on bed rest through the rest of her pregnancy, so meals would help them out during this time! If you would like to bring a meal, deliver a frozen meal, or provide a restaurant gift card below is the link for the meal schedule. If you would like to provide a gift card and need it delivered Ben and Jess Calvert have offered to collect and deliver the gift cards to the Townsleys on Sundays. www.TakeThemAMeal.com/AMDA6531
Thank you all for being willing to feed this sweet family! If you have any questions, please contact Erica McNeese.
Women’s Bible Studies: There are two Fall Women’s Bible Studies going on, Tuesday evenings at 6PM and Wednesday mornings at 9:30 AM. For more information about these or any other women’s ministries please contact Denise Scrip.
Alleluia Choir: The Alleluia Choir (Grades 2-6) meets every Sunday 4:00-4:50 pm upstairs in the Church House. New choristers are always welcome!
Senior Fellows: On the morning of November 28 at 9 AM the Senior Fellows will have breakfast at the Church House.
Visitors Lunch: We are now scheduling a quarterly Visitor’s Lunch at the home of Rich and Christina Bagdazian following Sunday worship. The next luncheon is Sunday December 3. All visitors to the Church are invited to attend, as well as any members who would like to join us. If you would desire to connect with others in the Church or to assist us in welcoming our visitors, we’d encourage you to plan on eating with us. Sign-up for the luncheon begins this Sunday in the narthex, and for more information you may contact Christina.
Women’s Christmas Dinner: Save the date for the Women’s Christmas Dinner at the Monte Sano Lodge on December 6 at 6 PM.
Presbytery-wide Youth Retreat: “Roots” is the Providence Presbytery’s annual winter retreat. This retreat provides Gospel-centered teaching, worship, and fellowship for the youth in our presbytery. Make plans to join us the weekend of January 19-21, 2018 at Camp ToknowHim!! Registration is open from now until December 17th. Click here for more details, including cost, agenda, and what to bring.
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Bud Lancaster, Robin Holloway, Chris Smotherman, Elizabeth Holton, Janet Chou, Ramona Edwards, Nolan Osmer, George Boyd, and Joyce Bosley
Expecting: Please pray for the Bryant family, expecting in December, the Townsley family, expecting in March, and the Staffords and the Deans, expecting in April.
Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); RUF at Alabama A&M; Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky Garcia (seminary student).