Sarah

Hokies for the Hungry

Get ready for Hokies for the Hungry – Thursday, Nov. 4th! (The night of the Virginia Tech/ Georgia Tech game)

This year, we  have a chance to collect thousands of cans and thousands of dollars for those in need all over the New River Valley. Over the last 14 years, the Marching Virginians (MVs) have been collecting canned goods and money for the Montgomery County Christmas Store to help needy families in the areas have a joyful, rather than a difficult, holiday season.

However, the MVs have to leave to enter the stadium to perform, lacking the manpower to finish the rest of the time.

So last year [nlcf] teamed up with the MVs to work with them.  Together we collected the MOST EVER total number of cans and dollars!!!

Please come and join us this year for this great time of service!! We’ll meet on the Marching Virginian’s practice field before the game. Find out more from your home group representative or from Mike Swann.

Today, Obey

Last night at [nlcf] Deeper, we talked about the third “I” in our mission statement: “inspire each other to change the world.” We talked about how our obedience is key to not only changing the world, but in seeing change in ourselves. Not only does our obedience lead to change, but it inspires the people around us to act as well.

I was inspired by a guy in our home group who took on the challenge to “today, obey” by reading scripture and acting on a key verse that stuck out to him each day. Because of his decision to take on that challenge, he has been acting in obedience to key verses from James. His story led me to think about my own life and what keeps me from obedience. I thought of 4 obstacles that can keep me from obedience

1. I don’t know what God wants me to do.

2. I haven’t made time to do what I know God wants me to do.

3. I don’t want someone else telling me what to do.

4. God is asking me to do something to difficult or something I don’t want to do.

You might identify with these reasons, or have reasons of your own. But here are some responses to those obstacles

1. If you don’t know what God wants you to do, start with scripture. Sometimes we think obeying God means waiting for God to tell us to build arks or part oceans… sometimes we need to start small and be faithful in those things before He gives us bigger things. Look at scripture. When it says to love your neighbor, do it! When it says forgive each other, take that challenge on today!

2. If you haven’t made time to do something you know God wants you to do, why not decide to act on it today? Sometimes we have a pretty clear thought about what God wants from us, but we just put it off. Decide not to put it off any longer. Act today. Get your friends involved by telling them what you’re doing and asking them to hold you accountable. Even if they don’t know God, they can help! And your decision to obey can be an inspiration and testimony to them.

3. If you don’t like other people telling you what to do, consider this… In Philippians 2:5-8 it says this:

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what…Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death – and the worst kind of death at that – a crucifixion.

Even Jesus humbled Himself to the will of God. If Jesus, who has equal status with God, can humble Himself to the will of another, even when it meant he had to die, and die a horrible undeserved death, can we stand in the light of that with any excuse?

4. If God is asking you to do something that feels too difficult, know this: God’s strength is sufficient for you. His power is brought to life in our weakness. Trust God’s strength, not your own.

So… if you feel that God is calling you to be obedient in something, do it today! Tell your friends about it and let them help you! Trust God’s power and strength inside of you! And see change in yourself and in the world around you as you obey!

– Sarah Holloway

Hannah’s Courage

Did you ever want something very badly that you just could not have? Something that all your friends seemed to have and they even had the audacity to make fun of you for not having it? Then imagine finally getting it, and having to give it up. For most of us, we probably remember some toy as a child or electronic gadget as a teenager…

For Hannah, our woman of courage this week, it was so much more than that. Hannah was one of the two wives of Elkanah; Peninnah was the other. Now Peninnah had many children while Hannah had none. God had closed Hannah’s womb. Even though Hannah was barren, Elkanah loved her more. This may be why Peninnah found it amusing to make Hannah’s life miserable. Peninnah would taunt her about being barren, to the point that Hannah shed tears and was unable to eat.

One year, on their way to Shiloh to worship and sacrifice to the Lord, Peninnah was especially cruel. And Hannah was feeling especially down about being barren. So after the dinner she could not eat, she went to the tabernacle to pray.

I think somehow, on the way between dinner and the tabernacle, Hannah surrendered the situation to the Lord. Maybe she began to realize, “it’s not about me, it’s all about God. And if I do ever have a son, he would belong to the Lord anyway.”  So through her anguish and tears, she made a vow to God that would take great courage to keep. She said, “O Lord Almighty, if you will look down upon my sorrow and answer my prayer and give me a son, then I will give him back to you. He will be yours for his entire lifetime…” WOW, she had come to the point of being willing to give back the one thing she desired most.

We all know it is easy to make a vow, but it takes great courage and strength of character to keep one. Giving up her only long-awaited son was a hard vow to keep, but she followed through. After 3 short years, she took her son Samuel (meaning “asked of God”) back to the tabernacle and puts him in the care God and the priest Eli. As a mother of two little ones, I cannot imagine handing my 3-year old over to a stranger. What courage it took to trust and have faith that God was going to take care of her son. And he did. Samuel became one of the greatest prophets/priests/judges that Israel had ever known.

“As Samuel grew up, the Lord was with him, and everything Samuel said was wise and helpful. All the people of Israel from one end of the land to the other knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the Lord.” 1Samuel 3:19-20

Is there something that you need to give up so God can do something better with it? Be courageous, be faith-filled, and be willing to trust your God.

– Kati Williams

REACH Bible Study

Reach, the women’s ministry at [nlcf], is doing bible study on finding your worth in Christ on Saturday mornings. It’s not too late to join! Email Sarah from more info!

506 Men’s Ministry Event

The next 506 (nlcf men’s ministry) event will take place Friday Oct. 22nd, starting at 7pm in 130 Jackson. We’ll be talking about the armor of God, specifically the aspect of Truth. Afterward, join us for some good “Armor” games! Catan! Risk! Carcassone!  Spoiler – the food is going to be amazing, as well as the fellowship.

Get Ready for the Winter Retreat!

Mark your calendars NOW for [nlcf]’s WINTER RETREAT!!

We’ll be getting away together on January 28th-30th for a time of learning, worship, and WINTER FUN!!

Deadlines:
Early bird by Sunday, Nov. 7th: Cost $110
Final deadline Sunday, Nov. 21st: Cost $125

RESERVE YOUR SPOT SOON – WE ONLY HAVE ABOUT 100 SPOTS.
The cost includes housing and food at a really awesome resort, Glade Springs Resort in West Virginia, and we’ll have the opportunity to ski at Winterplace.  It’s only about 1.5hrs from Tech.

**Sign up at church on Sundays or at your home group with a $50 deposit. (make checks payable to “NLCF”)**

Fun Stuff To Do:

  • Free Stuff: indoor pool, movie theater, basketball, fitness center, [nlcf] provided games and activities
  • Almost Free: bowling, near by shopping
  • Not-So-Free: skiing, snow boarding, snow tubing at Winterplace.

Skiing Details:
Full day lift ticket: $49.50
Night lift ticket: $36.00
Rental: $24.50

Lift, lesson, and rental between $74 and $90 (depending on ski or boarding lesson and if you just want a beginner lift ticket or full lift ticket)

Tubing:
1/2 day $25
Whole day $37

Skiers/Boarders who also want to tube: $13

General Schedule:
Friday Night: worship, teaching, hang out time
Saturday: morning devotional, rest of the day is yours to ski, tube, or just hang around the resort and do all the cool free stuff, like arcades, indoor pool, movie theater, basketball, etc.
Sunday Morning: church service then leave for bburg, or hardcore skiers can hit the slopes again

Honduras Interest Meeting #2

If you missed our first meeting, here’s another chance for you to find out more about the Honduras mission trip. We’ll be meeting in the back of Colonial Hall (Squires) around 12:30 (right after the 11:00 service ends) on October 24th. Questions? Contact Steve or Sarah.

Pink Ribbons and Polio

No doubt you have seen the pink ribbons everywhere recently. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, and this actually came about because of Nancy Brinker. But before we talk about her, I want to go back to Eleanor Goodman, the mother of Nancy and her sister, Suzy. Eleanor is this week’s “woman of courage.”

Back in the summer of 1952, the polio epidemic was spreading around the United States. Many of us do not remember this because we were not alive. Polio is a mere footnote in most history books thanks to the March of Dimes and the vaccine created by Jonas Salk. But back then, everyone knew about polio-myelitis. In 1952 in the United States, 58,000 people became sick with polio. More than 3,000 people died, and another 21,000 were left seriously disabled. So what do polio and 1952 have to do with pink ribbons and breast cancer? Eleanor Goodman.

In her recent book “Promise Me,” Nancy Brinker recalls the summer of 1952 and how her mother, Eleanor, an incredible do-gooder involved in countless charities and good works, took the opportunity to raise money for the “cause” – scientists working on the polio vaccine – and fully believed that everyone could do his/her own little part to make a difference.

Brinker describes her mother as a woman who would do all the little things for others, such as taking food to those who were sick, providing clean diapers for new mothers, and weeding a neighbor’s flowerbed. Basically Eleanor was known for doing anything she could to lighten the load of the people around her.

One day during the summer of ’52, Eleanor was driving meals around to families affected by polio. She took her two girls, Suzy (age eight) and Nancy (age five) with her in the family station wagon, and they became bored while running the meals around. After doing a bit of complaining, Eleanor stopped the station wagon and calmly ordered them out.

Standing in the blazing sun, Eleanor said this:

“People have died for this country. People have sacrificed their lives so you could live in peace and freedom, and all that’s asked of you is that you take care of it. Stewardship. That’s all. You care enough about your community to look after those who aren’t as fortunate as you. When you see someone in need, you give. When you see something wrong, you fix it. Because this is your country, it’s your community. You can’t sit around on your duff waiting for someone else to make it better. It’s up to you. If you girls devoted half the energy you use complaining and bickering to actually doing something for somebody else, I think you’d be amazed at what you can accomplish. So can I count on you? Are you willing to be good stewards for your country? Because I’ll tell you right now, you’re not getting back in that car until I hear you say it. Both of you.”

That evening, while lying in bed, Suzy came up with an idea – a neighborhood talent show where the kids would perform and the parents would buy tickets to attend – and they would donate the money to polio research. Nancy and Suzy followed through and raised $50.14 that they took to their neighborhood children’s hospital. And from that moment, the two were bound together working for a cause.

It would be 25 years years before Suzy was diagnosed with breast cancer. As Nancy stood by her side during her battle, she ended up making Suzy a promise – that she would spend her life working on finding a cure. Suzy lost her battle just 3 years later at age 36, but the Susan G. Komen foundation was born two years after, and decades later, Brinker has not only successfully raised money for cancer research, but also made it so that we spend an entire month as a country focusing on women affected by the illness. Pink ribbons everywhere.

You see, Brinker was a pioneer of the “cause-related marketing” industry by establishing the color pink as the iconic representation for breast cancer. Today, almost 300 global and national companies are Komen sponsors, providing funding to help fulfill the organization’s promise to save lives and end breast cancer forever.

Brinker may be the name now that is recognized, but she became who she was largely because of Eleanor Goodman and the summer of 1952.

Jesus spoke similarly of how we take care of others in a parable he told his followers in Matthew 25:

31” When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.34″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37″Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44″They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45″He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46”Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Jesus is challenging his followers just like Eleanor Goodman challenged her daughters to be good stewards and to care about others. Jesus goes one step further in stating that the way we treat others is equivalent to the way we treat HIM. Wow. That’s a big challenge.

When you see the pink ribbons around this month, think about Nancy and Suzy and Eleanor. And also think about Jesus. Think about how you are being a steward of your resources to help others. Become a woman of courage yourself. You never know what kind of movement you might be able to start for those in need.

– Wendy Chinn

Honduras Interest Meeting

For anyone who is interested in going on a mission trip to Danli, Honduras, we will be having an interest meeting THIS SUNDAY at 1:00p in 130 Jackson. We will give you trip details and describe what we will be doing to serve our sister church in Danli. If you have questions before then, contact Steve or Sarah.

Bible Basics Starts Next Week

Bible Basics will be held next Friday and Saturday (the 15th and 16th) from 9:30-11:00a in 130 Jackson. We will talk about the structure of the Bible, how it was put together, why we should trust it, and what to do with it. Even if you are familiar with the Bible, there is much about the background and history of the Bible that you can learn! Please email Sarah Holloway ([email protected]) if you’d like to attend.

If you are interested in Bible Basics but this time does not work for you, please let us know!