Many Happenings!

Am sure most of you received your church newsletter today. If not, rest easy, it will arrive. In the meantime, here are some activities that are listed in the newsletter.

First off (and I mentioned this last night) is revival. It begins tomorrow (April 29th). Services will be held at the regular time (11am and 6pm). The guest speaker is a gentleman from the Orangeburg-Calhoun Association. He is the Director of Missions. Weekly services will begin at 7pm. A meal will be provided before the service begins at 7pm. The cost of the meal is $5.00 per person and is being served between 6-6:30pm.

The National Day of Prayer is Thurs., May 3rd. The community celebration begins at 7pm at the North High School football stadium. The ROTC of the high school, the North High School Band and the Livingston Christian Academy will join together, along with those in attendance, to stand in the gap for our nation. Our country and its leaders are in need of prayer. Times are changing always and without God and prayer, things will continue on a downward spiral. Satan does not need to win the battle he is trying to win. God will prevail in the end. But it is our duty as Christians to stand up for what is right.

The XYZ/Senior Adults will meet at 6:30pm Friday, May 11th. A meal will be provided and in honor of Memorial Day, there will be a retired Lt. Colonel as the guest speaker. This will be the last XYZ meeting until Sept. 14th, 2007.

A special day for moms has been selected. Not only on an annual basis, but by the Brotherhood of our church. These thoughtful men have decided to sponsor a "Muffins for Moms" fellowship time, Sunday, May 13th (Mother's Day). This will be a time for mom's to enjoy each other's company while enjoying some light refreshments. Childcare will be provided in the education building. Moms, come join in this time of food and fellowship May 13th from 9-9:30am in the fellowship hall. You are special not only on Mother's Day, but every day!

Our Youth and Children's Minister had also been very busy planning activities and such. Parents, remember to mark your calendars so your child can participate in the fun and fellowship. Saturday, May 19th will mark the Hawaiian Theme Party being held in the gym from 7-10pm. It is also open gym day.

June 3rd-6th is the week of Vacation Bible School. Classes are available for all ages.

SummerSalt is coming up. If you are still thinking about going or are planning to attend, the deposit is $40.00. Please contact the Minister of Students ASAP so he knows if he needs to order more spots or ask for a refund of spots already reserved. The last day for deposits will be Sunday, May 20th. If you need more information or would like to discuss something about the trip, please feel free to contact the MOS. He is happy to help you!

The youth are beginning 2 new studies on Wed. evenings. They will be learning from God's word on how to deal with the issues that teens face these days. We all are aware that times have changed since we were teens, now more than ever our young people need our love and support. A solid foundation based on Christ is extremely important! They will be going to the movies on Sunday evenings during their Discipleship Training time. They will be watching clips from some of the popular movies of today and years gone by to help learn Biblical Truths. Both of the studies sound very exciting. Encourage your young person to be in attendance!

Our MOS is also in the process of updating the Youth Release and Conduct forms. He is asking that parents return these to him as soon as possible. If you haven't received one, please be sure to see him in order to get one.

There will be a Youth Committee Meeting Sunday, May 6th and a Children's Committee Meeting Sunday, May 20th.

Deacon's Meeting to be held Sunday, May 6th at 8am.

The newsletter deadline is Tues., May 15th.

Men's Breakfast is Sunday, May 20th at 8am. All men are invited to attend this time of food and fellowship in the fellowship hall.

There will be a Music Committee Meeting Sunday, May 27th.

I hope you will enjoy the beautiful weather we have been blessed with today. Take care and God bless!

Love in Christ,

Tina :-)

What is Revival?

Sunday begins the spring revival for our church. What does revival mean? These are some of the definitions I found. "A time of reawakened interest in religion". "A meeting or series of meetings for the purpose of reawakening religious faith, often characterized by impassioned preaching and public testimony".

Revival is a time of reviving the soul of a Christian. A time to draw closer to God and become awakened in faith. Everyone needs a revival. It helps to replenish the soul of things that have become displaced in the "busyness" of life. A time to stop and remember what Christ has done for us. No greater gift can be given to us than has already been given. The gift of eternity with Christ.

Services begin on Sunday (at regular times:11am and 6pm). The services for Monday-Wednesday begin at 7pm. Meals will be provided before the services at a cost of $5.00 per person. Allow God to bring revival to our church!

May 3rd is designated the "National Day of Prayer". A special service is being held at the North High football field. In case of inclement weather.......the service may be held in the high school gym. The service begins at 7pm. A lot of exciting things will be taking place during this time. Our country needs prayer. Our community, pastor, friends, family, and especially the military needs our prayers. Everyone is invited to attend! (Our pastor has an article in the Times and Democrat today regarding the "National Day of Prayer". Take a few minutes to check it out!).

The youth will be having their "Big Day Out" Sat., April 28th. They will depart from the church at 10am and will return at 5pm. $20.00 and a picnic lunch are needed.

Due to revival, craft night will not be held next Tues, May 1st. It will resume its normal time Tues., May 8th. All ladies are invited to attend.

I hope everyone will have a nice weekend. Until next time, take care and God bless!

Love in Christ,

Tina :-)

Beautiful Weather!

The sunshine has been absolutely wonderful! I hope everyone is having a good week. Mine is going pretty well. God has been blessing me in many ways lately. Not that He doesn't do so on a regular basis already, He is just blessing me even more now.

I recently was promoted to Office Manager at my job. Have been doing the work (or a majority of it over the last few years). I am thankful for this opportunity and am glad that God blessed me with the ability to do so. He has also opened a window in my life and allowed me the chance to reconnect with my ex-fiance's daughter. I have seen her a couple of times over the past few years, but recently we started emailing back and forth. We both were thinking that neither party wanted anything to do with the other. We spent 6 years thinking that the other person hated the other. Come to find out, that isn't the case at all! Praise the Lord for that! She means so much to me and I am thankful for the chance to mend past hurts.

I also recently saw a friend I haven't seen in a while and played miniature golf. We both are terrible at it, but we had lots of fun laughing and teasing each other. I even was fortunate enough to catch a cold in the process. Lucky me! :-) I am thankful that God has blessed me with his friendship. I have lots of friends to be thankful for. As well as my family (home and church).

Here are a few updates on the activities taking place in the next week or so.

Revival begins Sunday, April 29th. Morning and evening services begin at the regular times. The Monday-Wednesday services begin at 7pm. The guest speaker is the Director of Missions of the Orangeburg-Calhoun Baptist Association. Meals will be provided during the week in the fellowship hall at a cost of $5.00 per person. Invite a friend to join you in the food and fellowship and worship.

There will be a Children's Committee Meeting on Sunday, April 29th. It is being held in the gym and the meeting will start at 4pm.

The Big Day Out for youth is Sat., April 28th. The youth will be leaving the church at 10am that morning and will return at 5pm. $20.00 and a picnic lunch are needed.

I truly hope that the rest of your week goes well! Take care and God bless!

Love in Christ,

Tina :-)

Good Saturday evening to each of you! I hope your week went well. I wanted to take a few minutes to update you on some activities taking place in our church.

Tomorrow after the morning worship service, the youth will be hosting a spaghetti dinner/cake auction in the fellowship. This fund raiser is being held to help raise funds for their summer youth retreat. Parents: remember if your young person is interested in attending this function, it is imperative that he or she is in attendance tomorrow to help earn the money. A deposit of $40.00 is needed (deadline is Sunday, April 22nd). More info will be provided.

The "Big Day Out" is scheduled for Sat., April 28th. Make sure you listen up on Wednesday evenings to learn more about this activity.

Revival begins Sunday, April 29th. Sunday services will begin at the regular times. The Monday-Wed. services will begin at 7pm. The Director of Missions from the Orangeburg-Calhoun Association will be the guest speaker. Remember to be in prayer for our guest speaker and our revival.

Craft night is being held every Tuesday evening in the trailer located by Culler-McAlhany Funeral home. Crafts are being made for the Christmas bazaar in Dec. All ladies are invited/encouraged to attend. Those who are interested it is slotted from 6:30-8:30pm.

It was a sad week for those at Virginia Tech. I feel for those who lost loved ones in this tragedy. All things have a purpose. I do not know what the purpose is for this needless act, but we can rest assured that God does. I pray that those who lost loved ones will find the peace and grace needed to make it through this difficult time. I also pray that God will have mercy on the soul of the young man who committed these senseless acts of violence. It is NEVER a good way to solve problems. It always causes more hurt and grief than a person should bear. I also pray that those who were injured and even those who witnessed this, will heal and grow stronger in Christ.

I appreciate the thoughtful words of concern, encouragement and love expressed by those who have contacted me regarding why I haven't been seen at church as of late. I haven't been feeling well (stomach virus, cold, lots of things due to stress). I have missed my church family and am thankful to have such a caring one. It means the world to me.

It is also my understanding that our Minister of Music will be leaving us in June. I am very saddened by this. I do realize that God must have a bigger plan in mind for him and his wife to lay this desire to relocate on their hearts and minds. June is still a few months away, but I know they will be greatly missed. I wish them both the best of luck in their new journey!

I believe that covers all I have for now. Take care and God bless!

Love in Christ,

Tina :-)

Busy Week

Hello and good Wednesday evening to each of you! I hope your week has been going well. We have a lot of things taking place in the upcoming week. Be sure to mark them on your calendar!

Activities for Sunday, April 15th will begin with Men's breakfast beginning at 8am in the fellowship hall. Sunday School begins at 9:45 and worship at 11am. Invite another male to join you............whether it is your father, brother, uncle, friend or cousin......all men are invited to attend.

There will also be a quarterly church conference during the morning worship hour Sunday, April 15th. Also, don't forget about the upcoming fund raiser the youth will be hosting on Sunday. The menu consists of spaghetti, salad, garlic bread, tea, coffee and dessert. This fund raiser is being held to help raise money to send our youth to camp this summer. Come out and show your support for our youth! Lunch will be served immediately followhing the morning service.

The youth committee will meet this Sunday (April 15th) as well. The meeting with begin at 4pm in the gym.

Ladies: don't forget that the Beth Moore conference is this Friday and Sat. (April 13th & 14th). If you signed up to go, I am sure you will be in for a treat! I have heard lots of good things about Mrs. Moore. God has blessed her in such a wonderful way by allowing her to speak to hundreds of people about Him.

Women on Mission will meet next Wed., April 18th in the choir room at 7pm. All ladies are invited and encouraged to attend.

This Sunday will begin a new series for the morning and evening sermons. The first message is entitled "Are you Ready for Battle: Realizing Your Strengths". The evening sermon is entitled "Are You Ready for Battle: Preparing for Battle). These sermons will be based on scripture from Ephesians 6:10-17 (this covers the whole series).

Revival services will be held Sunday, April 29th. Services for that Sunday will be as normal (morning service at 11am and evening service at 6pm). The evening services for that week will begin at 7pm. Revival will end on Wed., May 2nd. Please be in prayer for our revival and allow God to speak to us during this time. The guest speaker will be the Director of Missions from the O'burg/Calhoun Association.

The XYZ will be touring Park Seed Company in Greenwood, SC on Sat., April 21st. The van will leave the church at 8am. The day will consist of a tour of Park Seed, lunch and the return trip back to North. Please remember to pray for this group as they depart on their journey. I am sure they will have lots of fun!

Ladies: don't forget about craft night each Tuesday night. It is being held in the trailer next to Culler-McAlhany funeral home from 6:30-8:30pm. Work continues on crafts being made for the upcoming Christmas bazaar this year. All proceeds will go toward the purchase of a new church bus/van.

Please be in prayer for the Annie Armstrong Easter offering. Our church goal is $2,700.00. Your total gift does to support North American Missionsaries and their ministries. As of the week of April 1st, $390.00 has been given thus far. It is important to help support our missionaries. It is also very important to remember them in prayer. It is a difficult job they have and they would not be able to do that job if it weren't for God placing the desire on the heart.

I hope the remainder of your week goes well. Take care and God bless!

Love in Christ,

Tina :-)

What Does Easter Mean to Me?

Hello! I hope everyone had a good week. I also hope that everyone took an opportunity to reflect on the events of Holy Week. All of the events that took place during this time frame lead up to the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior. This leads to my thoughts on Holy Week and what these events represent.

I do not focus on the death of our Lord. Instead I choose to focus on His resurrection. At any point during the events leading up to His death, He could have stopped and said "I am not going to die to save these self-centered, sin-loving people. But due to God's great love for His people............things went according to the plan He had set in motion. Things that were in place 33 years before Christ was crucified.

When one stops to think about all of the things that bring us to the resurrection, it often causes pause to consider what it must have been like for Him. Imagine being beaten, scoffed at and ridiculed. Only to hang on a cross for wretched souls like me. He could have come down off the cross at any given time had He so desired. However, if He had done that...........think of how much worse our outcome can be. Think of He felt hanging there, still pleading for us and seeking forgiveness for our own stupidity.

Think of how many years this earth was here before God put man and woman here. I imagine there are days when God sits on His throne in Heaven and says, "Why did I ever create these creatures called humans?". I'm sure He sits and scratches His head at times. I know I would. But that is the thing that makes God who He is and sets the record straight on who I am. On who we all are!

Christ died not only to save us from our sins, but for the sins of those that walked this earth before us and for those that will walk it even after we have passed on. We can never repay Him for the things He has done for us. And as the song says.....things so undeserved that He would give to prove His love for me (and for you).

So, let us not focus on the death part so much but the wonderful news of His resurrection! That's what Easter means to me.

The Easter Community Service will be held at North United Methodist Church. The sunrise service begins at 7am. Morning services at North FBC will start with Sunday School at 9am and worship at 10am. Invite someone to join you at church to reflect and fellowship with other believers this Easter day!
**There will be NO evening services Sunday, April 8th (Easter Sunday).**

The children will have an Easter Egg Hunt & pizza party Sat., April 7th from 1-4pm. Come out and join in the fun!

Men's breakfast and a quarterly church conference will take place next Sunday, April 15th. Breakfast begins at 8am in the fellowship hall. All men are invited and encourage to attend.

Don't forget about craft night each Tuesday from 6:30-8:30pm in the trailer beside Culler-McAlhany funeral home. Crafts are being made to raise money for a new church bus. Items will be sold at the Christmas bazaar taking place this year.

Helpers are needed the 3rd Sunday of the month in the nursing during the evening hours (5-7pm). If you are interested in helping out, please feel free to email me and I will be glad to supply the name of the contact person. Or you can contact the church office at 247-2711. My email address is: nricha4903@hotmail.com. The information is also on the back of the church bulletin.

I believe that covers most of what I have for now. I hope you have a great Saturday. Take care and God bless! Have a blessed Easter as well!!

Love in Christ,

Tina :-)