Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
First, thanks for your flexibility and your willingness to change spaces for worship this past Sunday. It was great to worship the Lord with you in a space that we use only for special occasions.
Second, we continue to have a lot of announcements. For example, did you know that on October 15, we will be learning how to use a simple approach to share our faith. The faith that we have is not for us to keep to ourselves. We are to let people around us know of the hope that is found in following Jesus; the joy and peace found in His kingdom; the love and grace that they too can experience because of what God has done. But perhaps you don’t know where to begin. Please sign up for the training on Oct. 15 via the following link. We need a headcount so that we can get a second facilitator if more than 25 people sign up. Anyone in the church is welcome; the training will be held in English. https://forms.office.com/r/v0GZLpBq7E
Another thing to note is that the Children’s and Youth ministries both have times this weekend to get to know what is going on. There are open houses and teacher meetings happening on Friday Night and Sunday during lunch. Check out the specific tabs in the announcements for more information.
On Sept. 29, next Friday, we will get to hear from a couple of missionaries whom our church supports. The sharing will be online, via Zoom, at 7:30. It will be done in English. Please be on time next week (I’ll send the link in next week’s update!) so that you can join the meeting and learn about what God is doing.
We also are still collecting new or used electronics to be donated to Let the Needy Smile, a ministry in Uganda headed by Pastor Benjamin Owino. Collections will continue through October 8. More information can be found in the Church Announcement tab in our bulletin, on the second page.
On October 5, if you have the time, I’d love for you to be able to attend a conference at Gordon-Conwell. The speaker is Rebecca McLaughlin. The conference is called “A Place to Stand: Church Engaging Culture.” It is from 9 am to 3 pm. It costs $20 and includes lunch. I’m sure it will be an excellent conference. Here is a link to sign-up: https://www.gordonconwell.edu/event/a-place-to-stand-church-engaging-culture/
Also, please continue to pray for the nation of Ukraine. Pray that the war would end. Here is a suggested list of prayers if you are at a loss for words in how to pray: https://send.org/story/hh_pray_for_ukraine. Thank you for kneeling on behalf of the people of Ukraine and Russia, and taking a stand (or a knee in prayer) against the forces of darkness in this present age.
This Week (Sept. 22 - Sept. 28, 2023):
1. Tonight, Sept. 22, 2023, the Living Stones Friday Night Bible Study is meeting from 7:30-9:30 to study how to live a life set apart but not alone. Join in person in Room A-216 or online via the following link at 7:30 pm:
https://zoom.us/j/685376249?pwd=cWtyUk1pckJiRHJxZVZCSGdJZWw2UT09
Meeting ID: 685 376 249
Password: 840840
Join by phone: +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
2. The Living Stones Sunday School and Grace Ambassadors Sunday School are meeting this Sunday. The Grace Ambassadors will begin a discussion of “The Pilgrim’s Progress” in the Community Hall (A-202). The Living Stones will be studying the Theology and Practice of Evangelism in the Koinonia Room (A-216). They will use the following link for those who wish to join online:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/491248585?pwd=RnpLcnpjQ01nTGZLSmhaZ3l4L3dKQT09
Meeting ID: 491 248 585
Password: 403767
Join by phone: +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)
3. This Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, at 11:25 am, Pastor Nathan will be preaching. Pray for him! Join us for worship at CBCGL!
Text: Mark 6:30-44
Title: More than Enough
Live stream via Youtube: https://www.cbcgl.org/live-stream/
4. Each Wednesday, such as this week (Sept. 27) at 7:45 pm, you are invited, encouraged, and requested to join our weekly prayer meeting. We will not grow in Christ without growing in our dependence on God through prayer. The link is found below in the section on prayer.
Administration / Events
1. We have a missions update (so check out the missions tab from the bulletin)! You can provide support for COCM (in England), for James Liang (at UConn), or Rob and Lisa MacEwan equipping church leaders and making disciples in the Netherlands.
2. We are once again collecting new or used electronics to support the work of Benjamin Owino and Let the Needy Smile (in Uganda). Collections are from Sept. 3 to Oct. 8. For more information, check out the church announcement tab in the bulletin (Second Page).
3. Did you know that our buildings have been named/renamed? Check out the church announcement tab in the bulletin for more information.
4. On October 15, from 1:30 to 4 pm, CrossPoint Community will host a training facilitated by the Gideon’s International called “Conversations: A Simple Approach to Sharing the Gospel.” We will meet in Room A-213 for a time of learning and discussion. We do need you to sign-up (just so that we can ask for an additional facilitator if we have more than 25 people signed up). It would be great if every participant in CrossPoint Community could join. Here is the link to sign-up: https://forms.office.com/r/v0GZLpBq7E
5. Sunday Lunch Service is available at CBCGL with $5 lunchboxes. To place an order, please use the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/nCwQnMruKv Orders are preferred to be placed as soon as you know, but need to be placed by Saturday night so that the kitchen can prepare the correct amount of food. Note: The selection which states “Number of Meals” refers to the cooked food/lunch box/Chinese food option.
6. All other announcements can be found here (in our CrossPoint Community bulletin).
For Prayer:
From Bishop J.C. Ryle – “To be prayerless is to be Christless, Godless, and in the high road to destruction…It will always be found that when prayers are few, grace, strength, peace, and hope are small.” Please join our Wednesday night prayer meeting (7:45 – 9:15 pm) even if you can’t participate the whole time.
https://zoom.us/j/758587937?pwd=aS9sZUdxcm1janNNM2I2aXJ6Smx2QT09
Meeting ID: 758 587 937
Password: 030086
Join by phone: +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
We’d be glad to pray for you. If you need prayer, you can submit your prayer request via the following link: https://www.cbcgl.org/pray/
In Christ, your servant, SDG,
Rev. Dr. Nathan Willems
Associate Pastor of CrossPoint Community – A Ministry of CBCGL