Weekly Update |   September 22, 2022

Weekly Newsletter 09/22/2022

Shalom!

Dear friends, I’ll share what I’ve noticed in my own heart, and what I presume is also present in others. Every week, and even every day, we come into contact with God’s Word. It brings life, grace, and strength for a believer to live a righteous life and stretches out a saving hand to the unbeliever (1 Pet. 2:1-3; Rom. 10:17).

However, as with so many other good things in life, unfortunately we get used to things. This is when we become less sensitive to the Scriptures. This is when we, having read the Bible in the morning or listened to a sermon, go our own way and if we are honest, won’t be able to convincingly show what changed in our life based on what we read or heard. What are we to do in this situation? Answer: learn how to be a doer and not just a hearer.

This Sunday we listened to a sermon on Luke 8:15. How did this passage affect your life this week? This is why we look back to the sermon and talk about practical applications in our home groups. Here’s an example of a possible conversation in a home group about the Sunday sermon:

• – Host: We will now read the passage that we studied in the sermon, and as we read, try to remember the main point of the passage/sermon and whatever else you remember. (Someone proceeds to read the passage.)
• – Dmitriy Z: As I understood it, the topic was about the 4 types of soils/hearts and their response to the Scriptures.
• – Host: And what stood out to you?
• – Dmitriy Z: I remembered that many people are not receptive of the Word. A minority of people are those who actually bear fruit in their life.
• – Host: And what did you take away personally for yourself?
• – Dmitriy Z: I realized how big the war is for the Word in my life. The enemy of peoples’ souls is a big strategist and does much to get in the way of the Word producing fruit in my life. Now I ask myself more questions afterhearing or reading the Bible. For example: What should I change in my life based on what I heard? What does God want me to do based on what I read? What is in the way of me applying this truth? How can I remove any obstacles?
• – Host: Alright, but what in fact has changed in your behavior or actions/deeds after what you heard on Sunday?
• – Dmitriy Z: I try to “trample” my mind and heart less with worldly information. After all, when the heart is overloaded with various meaningless information, it becomes compacted and less receptive to the truth. Also, I fight for freedom from life’s worries, riches, and pleasures. Specifically for freedom, not full deliverance, since we live in this world, and we need to plan and be responsible for providing for ourselves and others in need. But often this turns into busyness which falsely promises joy but ultimately robs us of both peace and quiet.
• – Host: Thank you. I want to sum things up and apply this topic to our personal evangelism. As seen in this text, we need to pray earlier for God to prepare peoples’ hearts to accept the Word! We rely heavily on his preparatory work. Plus, we need to understand that we must be sowing everywhere, always, and much. The example of the sower is that he sowed the seed everywhere; we are not to be picky in evangelism. Finally, don’t lose hope when you are not accepted, since 2/3 of the soil was unusable for bringing fruit. Continue to faithfully “sow” the Word, even if people are rejecting the truth. God is glorified in your faithfulness!

* Beloved, this made-up discourse, I hope, will encourage you to have similar discussions not just at your home groups, but also at home, after church, in the car, etc. Let us not be forgetful hearers but rather doers. There is blessing in this!

And now some more important information about the life of the church. Many of you asked about the church office.You will find information below that we hope will help you to know how to contact the office and use its services.

The church office is open: Tuesday-Friday (8:30am-1:30pm)

For any information, questions, or requests, please contact the church secretary, Julie Sheremet, during office hours.

• Email: [email protected]
• Church phone: (916) 481-1001 
• Mobile: (253) 777-2432 

Looking for opportunities to serve? We are looking for volunteers to help in the office with some tasks during the week for ministries and events, such as:

• – Printing
• – Event registration
• – Event setup
• – Webmaster/developer (someone to keep the website updated) 
• – Graphic design

If you would like to help with anything from above, please contact the church secretary directly. 

Continue supporting the churches working among the people who have suffered from the war in Ukraine: https://gfchurch.com/ukraine/

The Scripture memory text – James 3:17-18

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. 
¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Below are the services and meetings for this weekend:

Thursday (6:30 PM) – Children’s Bible School (open to all but required for parents), followed by Bible Study (Proverbs) for the whole church at 7:30 PM.

Friday & Saturday – Family & Marriage Seminar (Friday session at 7:00 PM is open for all)

Sunday services:

• – Worship Service in Russian at 9:00 AM
• – Worship Service in English at 11:15 AM

Upcoming Events:

• – October 1 (9:00 AM) – Women’s Prayer Breakfast
• – October 9 (10:00 AM) – Church Day (combined service, followed by lunch and other activities)
• – October 28-29 – PCSBA convention in our church (in the form of a bible conference on the Epistle to the Colossians)

On behalf of the elders of GFC

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