Coming Sunday, July 25, 2010

“Our Body, God’s Temple”

By Pastor Mike Mitchum

Scripture passage: Ephesians 2:19-22

Missed a Sunday sermon? Not a problem…download it!

• "One Cannot Serve God and Money" July 18, 2010
  "One Cannot Serve God and Money" by Pastor Mike Mitchum […]
• "Athens and Idols" July 11, 2010
  "Athens & Idols" by Pastor Mike Mitchum […]
• "Myths People Believe About Miracles" July 4, 2010
  "Myths People Believe About Miracles" by Russell Disilvestro […]

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With the office move there is also a mailing address change for all correspondence and checks sent to Cordova Neighborhood Church. Please change the church address to 10604 Coloma Road when you send anything to the church office. If you send checks via the internet, you also need to change the address on your bill pay to 10604 Coloma Road.

By Pastor Bill Gaube

Ever heard the old saying “Patience is a virtue desired by many but possessed by few”? Well, I’ve been discovering its truth as I attempt to help my wife during her hip surgery recovery. Patience is tried by:

• schedule changes, (well, change in general)
• by waiting helplessly
• by challenging red tape
• by the lack of communication within organizations
• personalities, even of the ones you love

Love is an all encompassing word and sometimes kind of fuzzy. Paul gives a description in I Corinthians 13:4-6 of what love looks like. Guess what; the first thing he says is that “love is patient!” Nothing fuzzy about that. I can hear some of you repeating the scripture “tribulation worketh patience.” True, but it also says in Galations 5:20 that patience is one of the fruits of the spirit.

I’ve been learning to put these together. Dealing with problems is like cultivating a fruit tree. Yet in the end fruit comes from a tree’s inner process in a most natural and beautiful way. As I’m buried in endless little disturbances, I need to:

• confess to God that I can’t handle them
• acknowledge that any fruit of patience comes from His supernatural work
• relax and accept from Him as he gives.

A paraphrase of Theologian Helmut Thelicke puts it well: To not become a miserable creature in old age, learn the quiet, confident joy in Him who carries out His purposes, in Him who makes the trees grow…

God is faithful! Certainly that is the testimony of Elise and me. We still don’t know how God is going to “work all this together for His good,” but we are discovering that His spirit works in us in mysterious ways to produce His patience in our lives.

PEP CLUB ACTIVITIES FOR AUGUST

BREAKFAST CLUB, every Thursday at 10:00 AM

The every Thursday format gives opportunity for more to be involved. We meet at the Waffle Shop, corner Zinfandel and Folsom Blvd. Order what you like and enjoy the fellowship. We’d love to have all those 55+ join us.

SUNDAY, August 1, 2:OO PM, we’re going to see “CRAZY FOR YOU” by Geore & Ira Gershwin at the Jill Solberg Performing Arts Theater at Folsom High School. Call Reva at 635-4748 to see if any tickets are available.

SUNDAY, August 22 we will be going to eat together after the second service. We are going to Cattlemens Restaurant, 12409 Folsom Blvd., Rancho Cordova, CA. Rusty Bloomquist is our host.

By Pastor Mike Mitchum

Next to the Coliseum in Rome stands Constantine’s arch. Robin and I were able to see it this summer in our travels. The following is an excerpt explaining its importance:

“The Arch of Constantine was erected to commemorate Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 AD. This event is a highly important one for Christian history.

According to contemporary historians, the night before the battle Constantine had a vision. He saw the symbol of chi-rho (the first letters of “Christ” in Greek) – or the cross in some accounts – in the sky with the words, “By this sign, conquer.”

Facing an army larger than his own, Constantine was happy to try anything. He had his soldiers carry the Christian symbol into battle, and he was victorious. So Constantine adopted Christianity for himself and declared the religion officially tolerated throughout the Roman Empire.

With Constantine’s conversion, Christian persecution ended and the development of Christendom began. Thus, the event celebrated by the Arch of Constantine was a major turning point in the history of the western world”.

Back in the first century, the Apostle Paul had been imprisoned in Rome. He was chained to guards night and day. Paul was a preacher of the gospel, so these soldiers got an earful! As the following verse tells us, he had converted people even in Caesar’s household.

“Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me send greetings. All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household. ” (Philippians 4:21–22, NIV)

The gospel message would continue to be spoken by these people and their descendents until, finally, the message reach Caesar’s (Constantine’s) ears. I believe his conversion is a direct result of Paul’s imprisonment years before.

Perhaps someone you care about needs the Lord. Don’t stop telling of his love. Don’t stop praying for the Lord to change her heart. You might not be around to see it, but your words may bring a major turning point in someone’s life.

By Pastor Bryce Cooley

June and July have been interesting and full to say the least! With two weeks of Summer Camp and one week of fireworks booth, I have been running around non-stop. Two weeks later I am finally recovering.

Summer Camp was an amazing experience for both student and counselors. There were about 400 students at each camp, a great worship band (Between the Trees) and very energetic and engaging speakers. Each night our students were challenged to go deeper with God and were challenged in their current outlooks on God, Faith and Life. Cabin discussions were honest and encouraging. I couldn’t have asked for more out of camp this year. I know for those Seniors who went for their last year as a camper this was a high note to end on! For those who went for their first time the future looks bright!

Fireworks Booth. For those of you who did not hear, on July 2nd in the early morning someone stole all our fireworks. This started off as a bad day but over the next week showed itself as an opportunity for God to provide. Though we would have preferred not dealing with this situation we have seen God come through in this situation through many avenues. Our church and community both showed up with donations and prayers which was a huge encouragement to us. Phantom Fireworks and our Insurance company are both trying to work with us in order to make sure we end up somewhere in the black. Considering Phantom does not offer theft insurance for store containers on site, this is a huge blessing. All in all I have seen a situation that was bad turn into an opportunity to see God do great things. That you for all involved.

Upcoming Events Now that we are back from camp and settled in we are working on our schedule for the end of summer and spring. Please continue to check link name for updates.

On a personal note. For those of you who have not heard, I am now engaged to my long time girlfriend Bethany Broughton. Our wedding is set for December 18, 2010. We are doing everything in our power to get as many people — Family, Friends and Church family — involved as possible. We would appreciate your support in prayer. If you are interested, you can check out our website at http://www.bryceandbethany.net

By Pastor Susan Wright

The topics are varied and groups will meet on Sundays and mid-week. Some of the class offerings are on marriage, finance, church history, 40 Days of Love and Becoming a Godly Wife. Signups will begin mid-August. Check next month’s CrossRoads and the Sunday bulletins for more information.

If you have questions, ideas or want to volunteer as a teacher or host home, contact Susan Wright: susan@cnchurch.org or 635-5992 x14.