Children’s Ministry Day

Recently our children participated in Children’s Ministry Day – a time for children to be an active part of ministering in the community.  Our mission was to prepare baskets of goodies to deliver to our local fire station.  The children told the firefighters how much they appreciated their service to the community and expressed it through their gifts.

Here are the baskets they prepared:

Prayer Requests

Please be in prayer for Robert S. who will be undergoing back surgery today.  Robert has been struggling with intense back pain recently and our prayer is for a successful surgery to bring help and healing to this area.

Other prayer needs include:

• Hazel H.'s son in law who took a fall and is hemorrhaging. 
• Mrs. Hazel's nephew had lung surgery recently and is now battling infection
• Caroline Mc. is up north helping her father with some hand surgery and other health issues.
• Don G. is suffering with some back issues which the doctors are trying to determine

Please be mindful of these and the many others that need to be lifted up to our Heavenly Father.

Real Men's Event

The purpose of the Real Men's Day at Skeeter Ranch is to provide men an opportunity to be encouraged by enjoying God's great creation together in a God-honoring way and to endeavor to reach those who only know of our Great God by his creation, the great outdoors.

General Admission is $20 for adults and
$15 for guys 13 and under.

This includes:
Pulled BBQ Pork and Hotdog Lunch,
Plus
Golf: Closest to the pin / Longest Drive
Archery
Pellet Gun Shoot
Cast Master: Distance/Accuracy
Airsoft
Turkey Shoot
Baseball Fast Throw
Football Challenge
Greased Pig
30ft. Rock Climbing Wall
Target Shoot
Zip Line

Quail Hunt Demonstrations
Shooting Instructors
Click here for additional events

This Week

Happy Monday!  As we begin a new week, here is a reminder that there is something for everyone to be involved in at Antioch!

 

Tuesday - men meet for prayer and Bible study at 6:00 AM at the church

Wednesday - ladies meet for prayer at 9:30 AM

Wednesday - youth meet for Bible study and adults will have prayer meeting at 7:00 PM

Thursday - Widows will meet at 10:30 AM - bring a brown bag lunch!

Saturday - Real Men's event at Skeeter Ranch - all day

Prayer and fellowship with one another are vital for a healthy church.  Please pray about and follow through with the opportunities He gives for us to function as His body. 

Here are some prayer needs this week:

• Don S. is at home under hospice care
• Janet W.'s mother is in the hospital receiving treatment for several blood clots
• Latain S's daughter is facing surgery this week
• Robert S. will undergo back surgery this week
• Rex and Dianne Mc. have family members and neighbors with serious prayer needs

“Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s not go to Church, let’s be the Church.”

What's In Your Ingredient List?

A woman purchased a bottle of blueberry pomegranate juice which was reported to offer health benefits and great taste.  She looked through the variety of juices, saw the picture on the bottle of the blueberry and pomegranate and the label which said "all natural 100% juice.  Arriving home, she took a longer look at the ingredient list.  The ingredients included a variety of different juices, sugar and additives.  The blueberry and pomegranate amounts turned out to be very small.  She felt deceived.

An actual report states that this is common:

"A new consumer guide published on NaturalNews.com reveals that some pomegranate juice products sold in grocery stores are actually made with sugar water and "junk juice" blends. While pictures on the front of the juice products show pomegranates and blueberries, the juice inside the bottle is often little more than apple and grape juice..."

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/022026.html#ixzz1mZkuOUWp

What if we as Christians had an ingredient list?  What if we portrayed a picture of being 100% Jesus filled to the world?  If they searched our characteristics, would they find "fillers" of other things?  Would Jesus be at the top of the ingredient list, or would He be just added in? 

Are we "Jesus Flavored or Jesus Filled"?  Do we put Him first and purpose to show Him to the world around us?  When we are 'bumped", what comes out of us? 

We will never attain perfection in this world, but should strive to grow spiritually and grow more in holiness and less in the nature of the world.  Sunday's sermons have been on Spiritual Maturity and how to grow in the Lord.  Subjects such as Faith and Hope have been shared.  This week's topic will be Love - Agape Love - love like Jesus.  We could all use a dose of that in our lives!  Hope you'll purpose to come , hear and grow this Sunday!

Prayer Needs and Update

Our prayer chain has been busy so far this week!  Here are some updates and needs for prayer.

• Clyde and Norine B. both had heart caths, and both had stints put in.  They stayed overnight at the hospital and are expected to come home today. (What a Valentine's Day for them huh?  That is true love - sticking together through thick and thin)
• Felton and Mary Lou's daughter Mary Kay has a friend who has been diagnosed with cancer.  Also their daughter Suzie's son is in the service stationed in Thailand.  A bombing occurred over there and they are waiting to hear word from him.  Please pray for his safety.
• Don S. was taken to the hospital last night and was sent home under Hospice care.  Please keep the family in your prayers during this difficult time.

Prayer Need

Please be in prayer for Clyde and Norine B.  Tuesday morning, they will both be undergoing heart catherizations and if any issues are found during the test, they will be corrected right away.  They could use the prayer and support of their church family!

Real Men's Event

Faith That Puts You To Work

We were challenged last Sunday to grow towards a faith that puts us to work.  Here are a few highlights.

What is the standard against which our spiritual vital signs are measured.  How are we doing in the area of spiritual maturity or growth?

Determine "what has gotten into us".  When we become Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us.  He teaches us in the ways of the Lord to become more like Jesus.  He fills us and equips us as new creations made in Christ's righteousness.

Closely look at what is coming out of us.  As the Holy Spirit dwells within us, His goal is to transform us to speak, act and think like Jesus.  What has gotten into us, has to come out of us.   We need an outward manifestaion of the inward work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The way we live should look more and more like Jesus and less like the world as we mature.

There is a gap between what God wants us to do and who we really are.  We are a work in progress.  God knows and desires our best, following Him is for our best.

God expects us to live like a Christian.  He has given us His righteousness.  The evidemce is made clear by:

• what we do and what we don't do
• what is in us that comes out
• when we're 'bumped', what comes out

May we examine and test ourselves and commit to grow daily in the Lord and in His likeness.

WMU Mission Project

Each 2nd Thursday of the month (for February, it will be tomorrow), the ladies will be working on a mission project.  The current project is to sew and stuff 'witnessing dolls' to be given to children.  Each doll helps tell the gospel story and the plan of salvation.  Prayers for these children are offered as the dolls are being made - a labor of love!

These dolls will be distributed to local fire and police departments and our local domestic violence shelter along with being sent to missionaries.

Ladies are welcome to attend the Women On Mission meeting each 2nd Thursday.  Some topics shared will be:

• pray for and give to missions
• do missions
• learn about missions
• grow spiritually towards a mission lifestyle
• participate in the work of the church

Women's Prayer Meeting

Our ladies have been meeting for a time of prayer each Wednesday morning at 9:30 PM.  Ladies, if you are available at this time of the day, you are welcome to join in!  If this time doesn't work for you, please make a point to pray for our families, our church, our community and our nation. 

 "Four things let us ever keep in mind: God hears prayer, God heeds prayer, God answers prayer, and God delivers by prayer." E. M. Bounds

Experiencing God Study

Remember that the Experiencing God study will not move forward this week due to the special service held Sunday night.  Stay on Unit 4 this week. Review or catch up on the daily devotions!

Here is a post from the Day By Day Devotional:

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Hebrews 12:1)

Sin is our most persistent, determined, and pernicious enemy. Sin seeks to rob us of every good thing God has designed for us. Paul tells us that sin brings death (Rom. 7:11). Yet it is very subtle. Sin creeps into our lives when and where we least expect it. It packages itself so attractively that we are lulled into thinking that it cannot really harm us (2 Cor. 11:14–15).

Sin stealthily and relentlessly entangles our lives. We will never be able to run the race marked out for us as long as we are entrapped in sin. We free ourselves from sin’s only if we recognize it for what it is. If we call sin a “mistake,” a “bad habit,” or a “weakness,” we will never escape its grasp. We must not blame our sins on others. We must not allow pride to convince us it is too humiliating to admit the sin in our lives. Sin can blind us to its presence. It does not always command our attention but rather, it subtly and pervasively robs us of the spiritual power and victory that could be ours. The good news is that there is no extent to which sin can entangle us that God’s grace does not abound still more to free us (Rom. 5:20).

Has sin robbed your joy? Has it prevented you from being the best husband, wife, son, daughter, or friend you could be? Is it keeping you from spiritual maturity? If you have become entangled with sin, God can release you immediately, no matter how desperately entangled you may have become!

Meat For the Week

Last Sunday's sermon was a pretty tough one!  But as we heard God's Word, we were made aware of our need to be dilgent and strong, putting our focus on the Lord and being aware of the spiritual battles we face each day.

The question was asked during Sunday's sermon, "If Satan were to blow you out of the water - ruin your testimony, marriage, etc., how would he do it?" 

As Christians, we are in a battle.  We are also more vulnerable than we think and can be careless when learning from others about keeping our defenses up.

Ephesians 6:10 encourages us in this battle.

1.  Call to arms:  We are commanded to be strong in the Lord.  In this war, we are not the source of our own power.  We are channels of God's power, but not the Source.  Our strength is inadequate, we must trust in God's might.

To gain strength in Him, we should be getting stronger and gain strength.  We do this, not by sitting back and soaking up, but by going to the frontlines of ministry - service.  We were saved to serve!  This gets us out of our comfort zone and puts our strength to the test. 

We are equipped to do 'hard things'.  When we encounter and move to do things beyond our strength, God equips us.  If we only do 'what we can do', we don't gain this strength.

2.  There is a contender to defeat.  We face an enemy who seeks to destroy us in every area.  Be alert!

3.  There is a command to stand.  This is an action word - to put on, dress out - NOW!  There is a sense of urgency, to be filled with God's strength.  This comes by consistent devotion to God. 

In the daily  battle for life, are we being used more by the devil than God?  May our choices reflect allegiance to the Lord and reject a worldly lifestyle.  May we be channels of God's power and purpose, not an obstacle that hinders His plan.

A Story of Life