College and Singles Weekly Update: November 17th-24th
Sunday Night Worship:
Worship services on Sunday Nights at 6:00 pm.
Join us this fall for worship and the word.
Building Community Night this Sunday following our evening service!! We will also participate in the Lord’s Supper during the evening service. Pastor Philip will be preaching.
SINGLES GROUP:
- BFG (Bible Fellowship Group) Sunday Morning 10:30 AM, RM 202
- Sunday Worship: 9:00 AM
The Men will be starting a men’s leadership study on how to be a Godly leader in a four-part series starting on Nov 15. This study is designed to help men grow in their ability to be Godly leaders in the church, their work/school, their families/relationships/friendships, and in the community.
Location: Philip Brown’s house
Time: 6
Contact Pastor Philip if you have any questions: pbrown@naobc.org
The women will be starting a study on Hospitality on Nov. 18. This study by Carolyn Lacy is designed for the ordinary person and gives 7 ways to “welcome like Jesus”. The book called Extroidianry Hospitality can be purchased at Amazon here.
Location: Abigail Johnson’s Apartment – 1848 Frankfort Ave.
Time: 6:30
Contact Melanie Cox if you have any questions: melc14@hotmail.com
COLLEGE GROUP:
- BFG (Bible Fellowship Groups) Sunday Morning 9:00 AM, RM 202
- Sunday Worship: 10:30 AM
Serving During the Break:
Well, College Night was a hit! What a great time of fellowship we enjoyed coming out of the Covid shutdown. Now it is time to do something that many of you have desired to do while on break and even next semester. You want to serve!!
The college group will be doing some service projects during the winter break.
Our first service project is TONIGHT (Nov 17th).
Location: At church
Time: 6:30 PM
We are planning to do these every other week till we start back Wednesday nights at the end of January. Our plan is to do 2 service projects that are around the church and then do 2 projects that serve the community. We are also looking to partner with some other BFGs. Times and dates for the other 3 are going to be posted soon.
Our Week in the Word segment this week is a repeat from many months ago. Dr. Howell, one of the college BFG leaders wrote this timely message that is good to be reminded of in seasons of disappointment or frustration.
Psalm 112
Psalm 112 is an excellent example of a wisdom psalm. It begins with the concept of blessedness (cf. Ps 1), fear of the Lord (cf. Prov 1:7; 9:10), and delighting in God’s commandments (cf. Ps 1 again). Verses 2-5 describe this wise person as mighty, upright, and prosperous (though not in a prosperity gospel kind of way). Verses 6-9 provide the ground for why the wise person is this way; “for…his heart is firm (v. 7b)…his heart is steady (v. 8a). Finally, verse 10 describes the wicked who will ultimately perish, a common theme in Proverbs and other related wisdom literature.
As we consider this overall concept of “wisdom,” I want to focus on Psalm 112:7 this week; “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.”
Many of us shudder at the thought of bad news. We don’t want to hear that things are not going well or that some kind of difficulty has just been announced. It seems in our world today that everywhere we turn, we are getting bad news. We have largely become a pessimistic society that loves to dwell in the mire of bad news.
Psalm 112:7 teaches us that the blessed person, i.e. the person who flourishes in this harsh world, is not afraid of bad news.
It’s not that this wise person is oblivious to it or just ignores it. No, the wise person takes bad news into account, considers it, and then lives in light of it. However, this wise person is not afraid of it. Why? The next line answers this question; “his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.” I would argue that the logic of this verse goes like this: The blessed/wise person is not afraid of bad news because his heart is firm by trusting in the Lord. In other words, the wise person shores up his or her confidence in the power of God such that no bad news can derail the firmness of his or her heart. “A mighty fortress is our God; a bulwark never failing!!!”
Indeed, bad news comes to us all, but the wise/blessed person has no need to fear because our God is a great King who gives strength to his people to endure every hardship. This kind of confidence in the power of God through Christ will give us firm hearts such that when bad news comes, we can rest securely in the arms of our Father rather than spiraling into despair.
As you walk your daily life this week, dwell on the goodness and kindness of God to you in Christ Jesus such that your confidence in his power to save bolsters your spiritual vitality.
Do not fear the bad news; rather, receive it in the confidence of a firm heart, trusting in the Lord.
