Family Ministries Meal

This week we will enjoy 'breakfast for supper' during our Family Ministries Meal.

Menu will be, pancakes, sausage and fruit.  Meal begins at 5:30 PM, Ministries for the entire family begin at 6:30 PM. We hope you will come, with a purpose in the midst of a busy week to set aside some time just for the Lord. To give of your self to seek Him and grow in Him together as a family.

Traits of a Good Worship Leader

A worship leader is a vital part of the worship service. Church is all about God, our response to His goodness, a desire to grow through His Word, receive and exchange His love with fellow Christians and seek those who are lost to come and find salvation.  The person standing up front, leading worship plays an important role in the church service. Tjey influence the atmosphere of the beginning of the service, helps us prepare our hearts to heart the message of the Word, and leads us in songs that express our love and praise to the Lord.  

Our church is blessed to have wonderful leaders who volunteer to lead worship. We are also in the process of seeking a permanent worship leader. Please be encouraged to pray for God to bring the right person to us.

Here is an article about some of the traits of a good worship leader.  In light of our search, it is interesting to read these. 

1. The worship leader enjoys what he’s doing. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve watched as a worship leader drudged his way through the task. When the leader loves to worship, on the other hand, I love worshiping along with him.
2. He smiles. This trait goes along with the previous one. When you love honoring God, your face shows it.
3. He makes the Word of God central in worship. Perhaps he reads the Word, or maybe he quotes it as a transition. The songs themselves also echo the Word of God, and the leader helps me prepare to hear the Word.
4. He leads well, but without show. I’m not even sure how to describe this trait, but I know it when I don’t see it. Showmanship and God-centered worship are contradictory.
5. He chooses songs that are singable. I’m not a musician, so I tread softly here—but I think that some songs that work well for a praise team don’t always work well for a congregation.
6. He teaches me songs I might not know. He’s aware that some in the congregation don’t know every song he chooses, so he helps us hear them and sing them. This one’s especially important to me when I can see the lyrics on a screen but don’t know the melody.
7. He builds prayer into the worship time. The combination of singing God’s praises and speaking to Him in prayer is a powerful one for me.
8. He leads with excellence. You can usually tell when the preparation for leading others to worship is lacking.

Living Out the Sermon

Last Sunday the sermon topic focused on being a doer of the Word, not simply a hearer.  

Some examples to help us  evaluate ourselves are as follows:

A Controlled Mouth

One of the ways you can know that you are a doer of the word is you have a controlled mouth.”

A Caring Heart

Another way to know that you are a doer of The Word is that you have a caring heart. “Religion that our God and Father accepts as faultless is this. To look after orphans and widows in their distress.”  

We should try to help the helpless. to try to have a social concern, a caring heart.

A Clean Mind

“To keep oneself from being polluted by the world.“ Spiritual integrity. That is genuine Christianity.

James is saying that the blessing of the Bible only comes when we start living it.

Gideon Speaker Sharing This Sunday

The Gideons International is an Association of Christian business and professional men and their wives dedicated to telling people about Jesus through associating together for service, sharing personal testimony, and by providing Bibles and New Testaments. While we are often recognized for our work with hotels, we also place and distribute Scriptures in strategic locations so they are available to those who want them, as well as to those who may not know they need them.

The Work of the Gideons:
People are often led to faith in Christ by the profound truths discovered in His Word. By reading and studying the Bible, these individuals grow in their walk and, eventually, share their testimony with others. For this reason, we focus on distributing complete Bibles, New Testaments, or portions thereof. We print in over 95 languages and take copies of God’s Word to the world by either personally handing them to individuals or by placing them in select public locations.

We believe distributing copies of God’s Word plants powerful seeds God can use according to His own timing (I Corinthians 3:6), allows many to read the truth for themselves (John 8:32), provides a lasting witness (Hebrews 4:12), and makes it easier for those we reach to boldly spread the Good News (II Timothy 2:2).

Be encouraged to come Sunday to hear a local Gideon share about the impact of placing God's Word in our community. 

How To Be Blessed By the Bible

Some highlights from Sunday's Sermon.  The Bible is a book of blessing, but we to be blessed, we have a part to do!

The Bible is a book of blessing and its promises comfort, give strength, hope, wisdom, joy, power, and purpose. But just because you have a Bible doesn’t mean you’re going to get the benefit from it. The Apostle James, gives us three steps on how to be blessed by the Bible.

1.  WE MUST RECEIVE GOD’S WORD IF I’M GOING TO BE BLESSED BY IT

Circle the word “accept”.  This word in Greek is a hospitality term which literally means “to welcome” ‘come on in’. If we’re going to be blessed by the word of God, first we must welcome the word into our lives. We must be receptive.

James says we must receive the word of God with the right attitude and he gives us four attitudes you need to be blessed by God’s word. They are hearing-aides.

1.  Be careful. 

Give it your full attention. Be alert. Don’t miss it. 

2.Be calm  

” A relaxed attitude increases receptivity. If you’re relaxed, people can communicate with you more. We don’t hear much when we’re angry, upset, bitter or resentful. Bitterness is a barrier, an emotional block that keeps us from hearing God’s word. 

3. Be clean.

Before you can plant the seed you need to do a little weeding

4. ‘Be compliant’

Be teachable, yielding, humble, be willing to be changed. 

God says if you want to be blessed, first you have to receive it, be receptive with these four hearing aids. Reception is not enough. James says we not only need to receive the word of God, but we need to;

2.  REFLECT ON THE WORD OF GOD

James uses an illustration here. He says God’s word is like a mirror. The purpose of a mirror is to evaluate us. We use them to evaluate ourselves. God says a mirror reflects what we’re like on the outside. God’s word reflects what we’re like on the inside.

There are two ways you can look at a mirror. You can gaze at it or you can glance at it.Many people try to have a quiet time that way. They don’t want to gaze at God’s word for any length of time so they just glance at it. They just give God five minutes. God says that He wants us to gaze at the word, to investigate it, to look at it intently and in detail.

3.  I MUST RESPOND TO THE WORD OF GOD

We must do something about it, act on it, live it, practice it. vs. 22 “Do not merely listen to what the word says and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Practice it. What good is a mirror if you look at it and don’t do anything about it? 

 The test of maturity is not knowledge. The test of maturity is character. A lot of people have great Bible knowledge but they are spiritual midgets. We need to practice it, apply it and put it in our lives.

Family Meal This Week

The Family Meal Menu this will be:

Baked Ziti or Spaghetti
Green Beans
Salad
Garlic Bread
Dessert

Meal begins at 5:30 PM, ministries for the entire family begin at 6:30 PM.

Children's Ministry Day

Children's Ministry Day was Saturday. Our children were encouraged to invite a friend to come to church for a time of games and fun. The children helped prepare a lunch for our widows. It was a beautiful time of caring and sharing God's love.

Arrangements

The arrangements have been made for Mrs. Genevieve.

The viewing will be tomorrow (Saturday) from 2;00 - 3:00 PM at the church with the funeral following at 3:00 PM.  

Instead of lunch at the church, it is requested that food be brought to Genevieve house where the family is gathering.  Many people are coming in from out of town and leaving that day and this will ensure a smooth transition.  

Thank you again for your love and support. 

Homegoing

One of our dear ladies, Mrs. Genevieve T. went home to be with the Lord yesterday.  This sweet lady always had a smile and kind word for you.  She loved the Lord, loved her family and was a true blessing to be around.

We do rejoice that she is with the Lord and times like this remind us of the power of the promises in God's Word.  We are also mindful of the grief and loss her family is feeling and the absence her presence will bring to our church. Your continued prayers are so much appreciated.  

As arrangements become available, they will be shared.  Thank you for your love, support and prayers for the family during this time. 

Family Ministries Meal

This week our family ministries meal will be:

Baked Ham
Sweet Potato Casserole
Peas
Creamed Corn
Dessert

Meal begins at 5:30 PM, ministries for the entire family begin at 6:30 PM.  Hope you will make Family Ministries a part of your week!

Praying For Children's Ministry Day

Each February, thousands of children across North America participate in ministry projects on the same day: Children's Ministry Day. From feeding hungry people to visiting shut-ins, girls and boys follow God's command to "put your love into action" (1 John 3:18).

Church groups create projects that meet needs in their own communities. WMU created Children's Ministry Day to move children out of their churches and into their communities to do missions. The first Children's Ministry Day was in 2008. Since then, thousands of people have taken part in Children's Ministry Day! 

Praying for Children's Ministry Day

• Make praying for Children's Ministry Day part of your personal and your church prayer plan.
• Set aside time daily or weekly during your personal prayer time to pray specifically for the people who are planning Children's Ministry Day. Include the leaders in your church and other individuals or organizations you are working with on your list. Add to the list as the planning progress and more people get involved.
• Also, pray for the children who will be involved. Begin praying that each child in your church will be able to participate. Pray that children outside of your church will come and participate. And pray for the people you will be ministering to.

Our church project spans generations.  Imagine a room full of preschoolers through women in their 80s. Imagine fun and games mixed with ministry. Imagine a multigenerational morning celebrating Focus on WMU association-wide. 

While it might sound unwieldy to have all age levels together for 1 large event, everyone will enjoy eating a lunch before the children lead in prayer for those on the missionary prayer calendar.

This is the theme of our Children's Ministry Day, bridging generations and opening up this time to community children to share the Gospel with.  Please pray for each person involved to know, grow and share the Good News of the Gospel. 

Children's Ministry Day

Children to Meet Needs Through Love Your Neighbor

Saturday, February 18, 2017

Boys and girls of Antioch will discover that they can encourage local residents and help build the kingdom of God when they participate in Children’s Ministry Day 2017 on Saturday, February 18.

The Children’s Ministry Day 2017 theme is “Love Your Neighbor.” By participating in Children's Ministry Day, it will give children an opportunity to give everything to God as they reach out to people in their neighborhood and community. On this day, boys and girls from thousands of churches across North America will collectively minister and witness in their communities as they positively impact the lives of others.

Children of Antioch will be inviting community children to join for a day of fun and service as they provide a lunch for our S.T.A.R.S. (widows ministry group).

Children's Ministry Day is a great way to get the children in your church motivated and engaged in mission action in their own community. What better way to get them motivated than to help them to see that they are joining thousands of other children across North America to minister to people with the love of Jesus?

Imagine the impact the church of Jesus Christ could have in North America if children everywhere lead their entire church family to minister in their communities!

Ladies Valentine Fellowship

Our monthly ladies fellowship was a wonderful time filled with food, fun, fellowship and encouragement.  We celebrated Valentine's Day early with lots of sharing about our own Valentine memories. 

Our devotion was shared by Vickie from the Pregnancy Care Center and encouraged us to look at others with God's love and vision for others. 

We left blessed and encouraged!