By Pastor Mike Mitchum

In October, Robin and I will be hosting the “Pastor’s Class” in our home. It is designed for people who are making CNC their home church and would like to know more about our ministries, beliefs and future plans. I will share my vision for the Church. The class is always a highlight for Robin and me. We enjoy getting to know new friends and sharing the story of CNC.

It all begins on Wednesday, October 6th. We will meet on five consecutive Wednesday nights. Here’s what one who attends can look forward to:

• Arrive at 6pm for dinner. Robin and I provide dinner so you don’t have to bother!
• Meet some who have been in the Church for a time and others that are brand new to the family!
• At 6:45pm we will sit and discuss the topic for the night. These include: My vision for CNC, the history of CNC, what we believe, discovering your spiritual gift, and how we support our missionaries.
• Over the course of the class, you will meet each staff person at the Church. They will explain what they do to minister to the congregation.

I hope, if you have not attended this class before that you will consider signing up in the lobby on Sunday mornings in September. We limit the class to fifteen attenders, but if more sign up we will just plan another class! Please come, Robin and I are looking forward to getting to know you better!

Saturday, December 11

CNC Christmas Celebration sponsored by Children’s Ministry

Mark you calendars now for an evening of fun, games, music, food, family, and friends!

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 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.

You’re invited, Sunday, July 11

after each service to our open house

Come see what’s new!

New Office Building

Rudat Hall Sound System

New Adult Classrooms

By Lori Storey

I am so excited about Vacation Bible School! This year’s program, Saddle Ridge Ranch, is full of great Bible lessons, exciting activities, and amazing opportunities to share the love of Jesus with the children. I am thrilled that all the children from the Big Kids Club will be attending, many of whom do not attend church regularly. What a great way to get these kids excited about God’s Word!

You’ve heard the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Likewise, it takes a church to produce a successful VBS. Volunteers are needed in all areas listed below. Which sounds like the best fit for you?

• Prayer Team – Prays for all aspects of VBS.
• Promotion Team – Invites the church and community to participate in VBS. Promotional flyers are available. Just ask Lori!
• Telephone Team – Calls church members and prospects to personally invite them to VBS.
• Decorating Team – Decorates the Sanctuary, Rudat Hall, and the classrooms with a ranch theme. Also assists in removing decorations immediately following Friday’s closing rally.
• Records Team – Registers children before and during VBS, collects important information on all participants for follow-up, and keeps daily attendance and decision records.
• Worship Team – Leads the Worship Rally each day using the VBS curriculum.
• Classroom Leader – Teaches a Bible lesson each morning from the VBS curriculum.
• Classroom Helper – Provides support to the Classroom Leader and helps get the kids in the right place at the right time.
• Missions Team – Teaches a missions related lesson each morning from the VBS curriculum.
• Snack Team – Coordinates preparation and serving of theme-related snacks (recipe cards provided with VBS curriculum).
• Craft Team – Leads the children in creating theme-related crafts each day (craft packs will be supplied).
• Security Team – Monitors the parking and other outdoor areas.
• Follow-up Team – Leads the follow-up events, visits prospects, mails follow-up letters, and sorts or stores supplies.

Vacation Bible School depends on the willingness of our church members to give their time and energy toward making it a success. I know this is going to be a very fun week not just for the kids, but for the volunteers as well. Contact me and let me know which area you can put your gifts and talents to wonderful use. This will be a week to remember!

Saddle Ridge Ranch VBS
July 26 – 30 
9am – Noon 
Preschool (age 2 ½) through 5th grade 
$25 per child

Lori Storey 
Children’s Ministry Director 
lori@cnchurch.org 
363-1188 
Or find me at the VBS table in Rudat Hall after both services

Friday evening, July 2nd, CNC women’s ministry will be having a cookout to go along with the BKC carnival, water volleyball and fireworks. Please help support women’s ministry in one of several ways . . .

• Buy your hot dog or hamburger meal from our stand.
• Volunteer: set-up, cooking, serving, cashier, clean-up.
• Spread the word and bring guests.

The money we earn will go into our fund for future events like the Christmas party, Missionary Tea, Mother’s Day gift, and annual Retreat. To sign-up or to get your questions answered, call Susan Wright at 949-0724.

Are you able to help with the carnival?

Areas of needed assistance…

Game booth attendants — Waterslide supervision — Dunk tank participants

A few borrowed pop-up tents — Closing duties (simply carrying items indoors)

If you’re interested in having fun and can help, please call Miss Angie

at the Big Kids Club 439-5307. Thank you!

Then on Saturday, July 3rd, 8:00 to 11:00 a.m., come join us for the parade or buy breakfast or novelty items at the Big Kids Club corner store – located in the CNC small parking lot.

Pick up a book and join us!

• June – Sarah, a novel by Mark Halter
• July – Healing Waters by Margaret Burn
• August – Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• September – Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
• October – Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman
• November – Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• December – The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck.

The Circle of Friends meets the second Tuesday of each month at 2pm at Starbucks in Gold River. All interested are invited to attend.

By Pastor Mike Mitchum

On the Sunday after Easter I will be beginning a new sermon series. I am calling it, “Believing Jesus for Miracles.” I will be teaching about the seven miracles that Jesus performed in the Gospel of John.

I have chosen to preach about these miracles because I believe God still does miracles today. I must admit, however, that I do not expect Him to do miraculous things today. I need a reminder of how He has worked in the past so that I can have more faith that He will work in the present. I suspect I am not alone.

It is my hope and prayer, that, as we examine some of the miracles Jesus performed when He was alive, we will be reminded of the truth of the following verses:

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21 (NIV)

He is able to do more “than all we ask or imagine.” Imagine that! I guess that is the point, isn’t it?

I am looking forward to us learning together and experiencing a growing faith in our powerful God. I hope you will join me in imagining what God can do.

By Pastor Susan Wright

Tuesday, April 12, this small group will start the 9-week class. This coed group will meet at CNC at 1:30 for 90 minutes.

The book is $12.00. I found a good deal on the books and currently they are $2 off the listed price. Each chapter includes review, reflection questions, applicable Scriptures, and a prayer.

Lisa Copen, the author and founder/director of Rest Ministries restministries.org, has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for 18 years. Later Copen found out she also has fibromyalgia. Copen understands the wide-range of thoughts and feelings that can plague the emotional and spiritual aspects of a person. These thoughts and feelings can be made worse by the comments or lack of understanding of others – if we let them.

Copen says,

“This book isn’t about the many people who just don’t “get it” and how to change them. You and I both know it’s impossible for our loved ones to step inside our skin and feel the debilitating pain and tornado of emotions . . . This book’s purpose is to examine our own desires and then transform them so we can move forward in our spiritual growth instead of withering under the burden of unmet expectations.”

RSVP today. Sign up in Rudat Hall, indicate your intention to attend on your communication slip or contact Susan at 635-5992 or susan@cnchurch.org.

Tickets on Sale!

Saturday, March 20 is Movie Night at CNC! Visit the Concession Stand for dinner at 5:00. At 6:00, we’ll move into the Sanctuary to watch

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs!

Tickets are now on sale and must be purchased in advance, by Wednesday, March 17. Look for the Movie Night table in Rudat Hall after both Sunday Services or visit the church office during business hours. Ticket price is $5 for adults, $3 for children 12 and under, with a maximum family cost of $20. Ticket price includes dinner, popcorn, and a movie.

Volunteers are needed to help prepare and serve food. If you can help, please contact Lori Storey at 363-1188 or lori@cnchurch.org. All funds raised will help keep the cost of Vacation Bible School to a minimum. Thank you for supporting Children’s Ministry!

CAMA President, Phil Skellie, led a survey team to Haiti on Feb.12-14. The team was made up of a CAMA consultant (Drew Bishop), a representative of the C&MA Haitian Association (Rev. Adner Joseph), an Alliance missionary from the Dominican Republic (Rev. Bruce Dyke) and a layperson from the Dominican C&MA Church (Gerald). 5 churches linked to Haitian Association pastors were surveyed. One, about an hour east of Port-au-Prince (PAP), was not damaged. Another in the Carrefour suburb of PAP (attendance appox. 250 ) had visible structural damage, but was still standing. Thirty-two families in this congregation lost their homes; seven members were killed. When Pastor Joseph spoke at this church on Sunday—the last day of a nationwide, three day government decreed prayer and fast—fifteen people responded for salvation, including a neighbor who had resisted the Gospel for 20 years. Earthquakes focus the mind and heart marvelously.

The Gode church (attendance appox. 150) and school, west of PAP and closer to the epicenter, was destoryed. Thirty-seven homes were destroyed and 4 people died. A church in the mountains above Leogane (attendance appox. 300 ), the epicenter of the quake, was flattened. The earthquake took place at 4:55pm, just prior to the congregation gathering for a meeting at about 5:30. No one was killed, but the majority of the congregation lost their homes and were without a nearby source of clean water.

A church on the main street of Leogane (attendance appox. 60), the epicenter of the quake, was reduced to rubble. Every member lost their home and a mother and daughter were killed.

CAMA will be working with the Haitian Association to assist in rebuilding damaged churches and the homes of both church members and the unchurched in the community. We will use the churches as bases for both evangelism and community development, the latter involving food-for-work and income generation projects, clean water, and other needs which the communiites identify.

The magnitude of the disaster is overwhelming. CAMA is determined to “Start somewhere and do something”, focusing on small groups that we can assist and moving them on from there. Your partnership in prayer, overwhelming generosity (over $915,000 to date) and a willingness to work are tremendous encouragements as we respond. Short-term teams will be needed as soon as we have appointed a Haitian liaison who will be on the ground to give direction to the teams. Thank you for your willingness to do hands on work and your patience in waiting until we have sufficient infrastructure on the ground to insure the effectiveness of short-term teams.

By Kate Stillman

Are you wondering why CNC is celebrating Passover? Why should I celebrate Passover? What is Passover? Well, I would like to invite you to come find out on Thursday, April 1. As some of you know, my husband Mark is Jewish and this heritage is very important to our family, and we try to raise our children in some of these important traditions and continue to remind them what it means to be a chosen people. The Passover is my favorite Jewish observance. I find it amazing to walk through the Seder and know that the Lord was preparing his people for the coming of his Son for thousands of years, and the persistence of the Lord in pursuing his children.

The Feast of the Passover was the Last Supper that Jesus (or Yeshua) attended before his crucifixion. It was the elements of the Passover Seder that Jesus used to teach and prepare the disciple for his impending death and resurrection including the washing of hands (or feet), the drinking of wine, and the breaking of bread. The traditional Passover Seder is the remembrance of the miracles God preformed in saving the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Through this retelling of this story in the Seder, the Lord revealed his plans for the ultimate miracle in his Son Jesus. As Christians, we can take this time to remember the miracles God has performed to provide for his people; Jesus’ sacrifice to save us from the slavery of sin; and His promise of life eternal.

This season, as we at CNC are celebrating the Passover and remembering our Messiah, Jews all over the world will be celebrating the Passover in anticipation of his coming. It is a time to celebrate how blessed we are as Christians to know our Messiah, and also look forward to his coming again!

If you would like to attend the Passover Seder, or volunteer your help for the feast, please call or email me, Kate Stillman, at 916-492-8991 or kate.stillman@mac.com.

The Seder will begin at 6:00 pm in Rudat Hall on Thursday, April 1, 2010. There will also be a sign up sheet in Rudat Hall each Sunday leading up to Passover. There is no cost to attend the Seder, although there is a suggested donation of $5 per person/$20 per family (4 or more).

CNC has a great schedule of events for World Focus Week featuring Bob and Brenda Boston starting February 6. But there’s no need to limit yourselves to only those times. See some of the ministries they have been involved in by checking out this video. At only a minute and a half long, it’s just enough to whet your appetite for more of Paraquay. Funny, there just happens to be another video of Paraquay and some of our missionaries here.

By Lori Storey

Saturday, March 20 is Movie Night at CNC!  Visit the Concession Stand for dinner from 5:00 – 6:00 then enjoy a family-friendly movie on the big screen starting at 6:00.  Tickets will be sold in advance.  All funds raised will go toward Vacation Bible School.  Stay tuned for details!

By Pastor Susan Wright

People have a love hate relationship with New Year’s Resolutions. It’s easy to write down how you’ll finally accomplish those goals or become a better you. The most popular resolutions are. . . Lose weight. . . Spend more time with family and friends. . . Get financially fit. . .Learn something new. Christians would add incorporate more Biblical practices into daily life.

The hard part is starting and then sticking to the resolution long enough to make a difference. CNC can’t help you with the first resolution (lose weight), but can help with the others.

The answer is small groups! Join a small group today in order to spend more time with family and friends, learn something new and see how you can incorporate more Biblical practices into your daily life.

Below are two new small groups being offered in early 2010. Elsewhere in this newsletter is information on The Smart Step-Mom Group (run by Michelle White).

Getting Financially Fit: Sunday, February 14 – Sunday, March 14, 9:30 am

Sydney Cooley, CNC’s bookkeeper, is leading a small group on “Taming the Money Monster.” The objectives for this class include:

1. 1. Why we get into debt and how to avoid more,
   2. How to get out of debt,
   3. How to use credit.
   4. Biblical perspective on credit and debt. and
   5. How to be practical.

Contact today Sydney (635-5992, Sydney@cnchurch.org) with your RSVP so she can order enough books in time for you to read the first chapter before February 14. The book, Taming the Money Monster by Ron Blue, is about $8.00, depending on the sale Sydney finds.

There is homework for the first class. First, read chapter one from Taming the Money Monster. Secondly, read The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn. This small book is given (free) to all who attend The Pastor’s Class. If you don’t have a book, contact Sydney today for your free copy.

The Power of a Praying Woman: Sunday, January 10 – Sunday, March 14, 11 a.m.

I am leading women through a 10-week video curriculum on this topic of prayer, power and women. The video curriculum workbook will be a valuable resource for learning about the topic before the class because it has five day’s worth of interaction with that week’s message, Scripture and prayer for each week. The first five lessons will cover the following:

• • Praying to become all God made me to be
  • Praying for a life-transforming walk with God
  • Praying to be free of the past
  • Praying to put my life in right order
  • Praying to surrender control of my life to God

RSVP today: Susan@cnchurch.org or 635-5992. The Power of a Praying Woman video curriculum workbook is normally $14.95. Susan has three workbooks for sale at $10.17 each.

More small groups will be offered in 2010. Read CrossRoads and bulletins for the pertinent information. But here’s a teaser list of what will be offered:

• • 40 Days of Purpose
  • Boundaries
  • a marriage class

Contact me today if you have a question, an idea, will host a group in your home or will lead a group (susan@cnchurch.org or 635-5992).