Join a Life Group for 2012

If you are not part of a Life Group, the start of the New Year is a great time to join. Life Group’s meet at a variety of times and places (see a list of the groups on pg. 3 in the right hand margin) to discuss the sermon, pray, and spend time together. Life Group’s are designed to facilitate fellowship, support, and mutual accountability, along with a sense of belonging, which is one of New Life’s Core Values.

As the body of Christ, we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit working in and through each one of us to grow and mature. To use the imagery of Paul, the hand needs the foot and the eye needs the ear (see 1 Cor. 12:12-21). We need each other. We wither in isolation. The Westminster Confession of Faith, in the chapter on the communion of saints (something we frequently profess in the Apostles’ Creed as an article of our faith), speaks of sharing in each other’s gifts and graces and our obligation to perform the duties conducive to the good of our brothers and sisters. Being part of a Life Group is one way this finds expression. Prayerfully consider joining this year. You will be blessed and you will be a blessing.

For a list of the Life Group currently being offered click HERE.

Support Muncie Mission ‘Walk a Mile’ Feb. 11

“Walk A Mile In My Shoes” is a fundraising event to support Muncie Mission. The walk takes place on Feb. 11 at 9am. If you are interested in supporting this event, please check out www.munciemission.org or pick up a flyer at church.

New Life Missions Conference: Feb. 3-6

Join New Life at our annual Missions Conference as we hear reports from missionaries heading across the globe. We have a number of events happening the weekend of Feb. 3-5.

Friday Night, 6:30pm at the church—Family Dinner. An international meal will be catered and we’ll hear reports from different missionaries. To help cover the cost of food we ask for a donation of $3 a person, max $10 for a family.

Saturday Morning, 10am at the church—Ladies Tea and Coffee. Ladies will hear from female missionaries and students.

Saturday Evening at Pastor Brian Allred’s home, 6pm—Men, Meat and Missions. Men will enjoy meat and hearing updates from male missionaries and students.

Saturday Evening, 6pm at the church—Kids  Secret Church. Children ages 4 years-old through 5th grade are invited to learn about the secret church. The evening includes worshipping in a secret church, smuggling Bibles and trying foods and crafts from countries that are hostile to the Gospel.

All these events include food and supplies, so please RSVP to the church office!

AWANA CANCELLED Tonight (1/25)

Due to the weather conditions AWANA will not meet tonight (1/25). We look forward to seeing all the kids next week, be safe and keep warm!

Kids Hope Still Needs 15 Mentors!

Kids Hope is still in need of 15 mentors. Kids Hope Ministry is an outreach to Yorktown schools to pair up one caring adult with a child. It only requires one hour a week normally around the lunch hour. Mentors don’t have to prepare lessons, just show up and play games, help with school work, listen and love on their child. If you have any interest in helping out with this ministry, please contact the church office.

New Sermon Series: God’s People for God’s World

Pastor Bob will begin a new sermon series on God’s call to His church to be an outreach-minded, missions-oriented body. The series will be called “God’s People for God’s World” and will begin on New Year’s Day. We realize many people will probably be gone that day, but what better time to begin a new sermon series than on the day that celebrates the beginning of a new year?

Here is the schedule for the series:

Jan. 1 – The mission of the church

Jan. 8 – Service to our community

Jan. 15 – Church planting (guest preacher Dan Herron, Central Indiana Presbytery church planter in Bloomington)

Jan. 22 – Evangelism

Jan. 29 – Hospitality

Feb. 5 – Foreign missions

Feb. 12 – Mercy to the poor

You can listen to the previous sermons in the series HERE.

New Life T-shirts For Christmas Gifts

New Life T-shirts are available for purchase in the church office. The shirts cost $10 and all proceeds go toward sending the youth to camp and on mission trips. If you would like a T-shirt, you can stop by the church office and leave your money in the envelope provided. Checks may be made out to New Life. Get them quick before your size is gone! See Jessy or Adam if you have any questions.

‘Growing Together’ Campaign: Now What?

It was a great joy a few Sundays ago to be able to baptize Luke Bryan. It was also a privilege several weeks ago to welcome into membership George and Nancy Saunders, as well as Steve and Mary Ann Stroeh. And it will be a delight in the coming weeks to welcome Courtney Brobst and Abbie Gonzalez into membership, to baptize Caroline Schumacher (daughter of Corey and Stephanie), and to welcome Maggie Spiegel to the Lord’s Table.

There’s only one problem – so many of you who are part of this congregation will not be able to witness these happy events, because they are likely to take place during a service you don’t attend. This highlights once again the importance of expanding our sanctuary space here at New Life.

On Sept. 18, we started the “Growing Together” building campaign to raise money for this project. Our goal is to raise $320,000 in pledges, and, as of Nov. 23, we have received $253,258.37, which is 79 percent of our goal. This falls short of what we had hoped for, but I can’t help but feel greatly encouraged and thankful for the amount that has been raised. Given the state of our economy, the large number of people in our congregation who do not have much expendable income, and the relatively short duration of the campaign (just about two months so far), I’d say it’s pretty impressive to have raised more than $250,000.

So, on behalf of the elders, deacons and members of the building and finance teams, I extend a sincere “thank you” to all of you who have responded so generously to this campaign. And of course we ultimately give God all the glory, who has responded to our prayers and shown himself kind and gracious to His people.

At the same time, we are clearly not finished yet. More money needs to be raised. In fact, we need exactly $66,741. And we cannot move ahead with our plans for construction until that amount is raised. And once we reach that goal, we will have to wait probably an additional six months before construction can begin, because of time required to process local and state permits.

So, there are two things that need to be said. First, even though we are yet to reach our goal, we are asking those who have already pledged to begin fulfilling your pledges right away (the campaign officially lasts from November 2011 through November 2014). Your pledges will go directly into a building fund until we are ready to move ahead.

Secondly, we also ask those of you who have not turned in a pledge card to  consider how you might help. Perhaps you have been busy and haven’t really considered yet what you can give. Or maybe you think that the amount you can give is too small and not worth pledging. Be assured that everything counts, and that no contribution is too small. And be assured that late pledges are better than no pledges at all. We need your help, so please consider what you can give. Be reminded that you can give by pledge card (which are available in the foyer and breezeway), or on-line at www.newlife-pc.org/growingtogether.

If you have decided that you are unable to pledge right now, we want you to know that we understand that finances are tight and that not everyone is able to contribute. That’s OK. It would help us, however, if you would nonetheless submit a pledge card indicating that your pledge is zero. Be assured that no one will know about this except the treasurer who is tracking the pledges. We are not trying to single out those who can’t give; we just want to know who has decided not to give and who might still be deliberating.

If you have chosen not to give because you object to our plans, we would love the opportunity to address your questions or concerns. Please don’t hesitate to talk to a pastor, elder or member of the building teams.

Thank you again for your support and for your prayers.

For more information on the Pledge Campaign click HERE

 

 

What’s Your Perspective? A Report from BSU’s Cru Leader

Article by Corey Schumacher

Corey is the Missional Team Leader of Cru on Ball State’s campus. Cru, formally known as Campus Crusade for Christ, is a Christian organization that seeks to share the gospel with college students and train other Christian students to do the same.

What’s your perspective?

This is a question that the Cru movement has been asking Ball State students over the past three weeks as a part of our fall outreach.  While the final week was the actual outreach, weeks one and two were spent in intercessory prayer on behalf of the campus, and training the movement to engage in outreach using a Cru-published evangelism tool called “perspective” cards (not unlike a deck of playing cards). The movement boldly initiated spiritual conversations with non-Christians in order to get their perspective on the nature of God, the meaning and purpose of life, and other related questions.  Then, after listening to their perspective, we kindly ask for an opportunity to share ours, which gives us the opportunity to share the gospel with them. Over the course of one week, hundreds of students were invited into a spiritual conversation, talking about life’s most important questions.

Sadly, most students give little to no thoughtful reflection on these questions. One student named Scott told me “I don’t really have a perspective.” Despite this reality, the Lord uses outreaches like these on a number of levels.  Consider how many students are thinking about spiritual realties this week as a direct result of those conversations.  Consider that more than 160 students received training to use this tool in order to initiate spiritual conversations with strangers, many of whom have never taken such bold steps to publicly identify themselves with the name of Jesus through this outreach.  What about all those people who in the future will come to know Christ as their savior as Cru students graduate from BSU with training and power to initiate gospel conversations around the world? And we can’t forget about Nicki, a Chinese international student who placed her trust in Christ after going through the “perspectives” cards with some of our students.

What’s even more amazing is that while weeks one and two were meant to be preparatory for our final stage of the outreach, the Lord decided to use those two weeks to do more in our midst than we could have ever imagined! Having just arrived home from our annual Fall Retreat, and beginning our prayer week, nearly half a dozen students placed their trust in Christ, all because of prayer! One of those freshman who placed his faith in Christ at Fall Retreat, attended a seminar on evangelism that same day and during prayer week already shared his new-found faith with two students on campus, all the while calling our men to step up to the plate and do the same! That same week, while a group of Cru students were praying fervently for our campus, a Japanese international student interrupted the prayer meeting saying, “I want to know who this Jesus is.”

This is just the tip of the iceberg! Though 300 staff and students attended our fall retreat, more than a dozen students have received Christ, many others have altered their future career plans in order to serve the Lord in ministry, we simply cannot put a number on all that the Lord has done this fall. But one thing we do know, the Lord is working, and in surprising ways.

For more information on the ministry of Cru at Ball State click HERE.

Annual Muncie Mission Christmas Gift Project

Once again, New Life has the wonderful opportunity to help the Muncie Mission by purchasing Christmas gifts for their residents. We have committed to providing three gifts each for ten men plus 40 packages of men’s briefs. Please check the tag display located in the foyer to find out how you can serve God by serving the men of the Muncie Mission this Christmas. If you have any questions, please contact the church office.

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