Pics from the Christmas Party / Announcements

Thanks so much to David & Betsy for hosting the Christmas party. It was such a fun evening and the food was delicious! Our next class social is New Year's Eve!! If you are interested in hosting, please let me know!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

*BHBC Night @ Chili's - Monday, Dec. 14 - stop by the church office to get the flyer to present to your server so BHBC will receive 10% from your bill

*No Preschool or Children's activites on Wed. nights until Jan. 6

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Thank you so much for your generosity in donating to Fostering Hope. The gifts will be purchased on Tuesday and will be available for delivery Wednesday. If you are delivering please connect with your family before Sunday.

Tacky Christmas Sweater Party - Friday night @ the home of David & Betsy. 6:30-9:30
Don't forget to bring a white elephant gift (have fun with this!).

Sunday night will be the adult choir musical, "I'll Be Home For Christmas", after the musical there will be a fellowship.

The Lord delights in those who fear Him! Psalm 147:11

Our discussion on Sunday about the fear of the Lord reminided me of something Beth Moore wrote. She was describing a healthy fear of the Lord vs. an unhealthy fear. This explanation is the best I've read so I thought I'd share it with you!

"A healthy fear of God draws us toward Him. An unhealthy fear of God draws us away from Him. A healthy fear bows to His holiness and obeys His precepts but all the while is compelled like a magnet to the source of its fascination. It seeks Him like hidden treasure. It stretches and strains to peer into His perfections. It longs to approach the One who dwells in unapproachable light. To know the unknowable till faith turns to sight. To be ruined for every other contesting love.
Unhealthy fear runs from God and recoils at the thought of trusting Him. It associates Him more with pain than praise. It sees Him as an angry god to appease rather than a wise and holy Father we need to obey but whom we can also trust..."

I hope you all have a great week! Remember - the LORD delights in You!!!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Nov. 9 - BHBC night at Chili's
Nov. 15 - Sunday School in the FLC - "Wholehearted Marriage Seminar" 9:00-noon.
Nov. 15 - Ladies Care Group night
Nov. 17 - BHBC Women's Ministry night
Nov. 20 - Parent's Night Out- Date Night!

Preparing the Manna Bags

Serving Intentionally...

THANK YOU Neighbors for your overwhelming response to the Manna Bag project. Delivery went so well and the people we met were so grateful. Please pray for a lady who is due w/ her first child any minute. The little girl will be named Jasmine.
If you haven't read the book "Same Kind of Different As Me", I strongly recommend that you read it... your perspective on the homeless situation will be changed forever. Check out this video... www.samekindofdifferentasme.com/video.aspx

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Nov. 8 - Mens Small Group Night
-David's group - 6:30 -8:30
-James' group - 5:00-6:00

Nov. 15 - Wholehearted Marriage Seminar - NO regular Sunday School
9:00 - Noon @ the BH South Campus. Registration is $15 p/couple. Childcare is provided at the church. Registration deadline is Nov. 8 - Call the church asap if you didn't sign up this morning

Nov. 15 - Ladies Small Group Night

Nov. 17 - Churchwide Women's Ministry Event - Home For the Holidays - 6:30

Nov. 20 - Parent's Night Out - 6:30 - 9:30 - Date Night!!!

It's hard to believe that we've reached the end of our 40 Days of Love study. It went by so fast! Thank you Jim for filling in for Todd today!

Small groups are off to a great start and we are blessed to have James & Shanna and David & Betsy for our leaders. Thank you all so much for your willingness to serve!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Pizza & Game Night @ The Simpson home - Friday night 6:30-9:30

*Fall Festival - Saturday Oct. 31 5:30 - 7:30 Thank you to those who signed up to help work our booth!

*Missions Night - Sunday Nov. 1 - The response to the Manna Bags was amazing. Thank you for your generosity.

*Churchwide Women's Ministry Kick-off - Tuesday night Oct. 20 - 7:00 in the FLC - bring a dessert to share

Dedicated to Building Authentic Relationships & Serving Intentionally

I'm so glad that we are off to a good start fulfilling our class mission statement. The men's small groups met last night and ladies will meet next week. This is a wonderful opportunity to build authentic relationships within our class.

The second part of our mission statement is to "serve intentionally". Starting Nov. 1 you will have an opportunity to do that. On that Sunday afternoon we will go to Mahon Library to distribute "Manna Bags" to the homeless people that gather there when it's almost dark. We are asking each family to provide a blanket and one of the canvas shopping bags that United sells. Also you will have a chance to sign up to bring nonperishable food items that will be placed in the bags. Jessica will have the sign-up sheet this Sunday. The other opportunity that you will have to serve intentionally will begin in December. Our church always reaches out to families from Wester Elementary for Christmas and of course our class will adopt a family or two. This year we will maintain contact with the family and build a relationship with them. Each month we will ask them how we can bless them that month and then as a class we will meet their need. Much prayer has been put into planning these ministry opportunities and I thank Jessica & Kevin for their leadership in this area. Please pray about how you and your family will be involved!


ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Ladies Bible Study - Wednesday morning 9:30 - 11:30 - Childcare is available. Call the church to make a reservation.

*Parent's Night Out / Class Social - Friday Oct. 23 - sign up for childcare this Sunday. Pizza & Game Night at the Simpson's. Each couple needs to bring $7 towards the cost of ordering pizza.

*Ladies Care Groups: - Sunday Oct. 18

*Fall Festival - Oct. 31 - 5:30-7:30 - sign up for times to work our class booth this Sunday

Class Picnic

Forgiveness...

I don't know about you but I thought Sunday's lesson was very powerful! I'm sure we'll all get an opportunity to practice it this week! By the way, if you are ever looking for a great book to read, I highly recommend The Shack. It really gives you a new perspective on forgiveness and GOD.

Thanks to those who came out for the Neighborhood Block Party. It was good to prayer walk and then meet as families and visit. Thanks also to Kevin & Jessica for their work on our class missions project. For those that missed the picnic, they will fill you in Sunday morning on how we will reach out to our Neighbors in the 79414 area.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Ladies Bible Study begins Wednesday morning @ 9:30.

Church Business Meeting - Oct. 11 5:00 - voting on the remodeling process

Men's Caregroup night is this Sunday, Oct. 11. Your leader will contact you.

Ladies Caregroup night is Oct. 18.

The next class social is October 23. Thanks to Jessica & Kevin for volunteering to host. They will have a game night at their home. Each couple will need to bring $7 towards the cost of ordering pizza.

Love Means Not Having Halitosis....

After Bro. Jerry's sermon we all know a lot more about bad breath and what causes it. So...how's your breath? More importantly we got a big reminder about the power of our words. This study has been so good...we have 3 more weeks to learn all we can about loving each other.

The Ladies Care Group kick-off was a blast...sorry I forgot to take pictures. I even had my camera sitting out!!! Hope the five ladies that lasted until the end of Liverpool get a good night's rest tonight!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Oct. 4 - Neighborhood Block Party - Meet at the church at 5:00. We will get an update on our class missions project from Jessica & Kevin then prayer walk as a class. After prayer walking we will go to the park for a picnic supper. More info to come Sunday morning

*Oct. 11 - Church Business Meeting - 5:00 - vote on the remodeling process at church

*Oct. 11 - Men's Small Group night

*Oct. 18 - Ladies Care Group night

What a morning!

Super lesson - lots of visitors - what an exciting day!

Thanks to Matt & Kasey for planning the social Friday night. Geocaching was a blast! Matt's team won - I think the shirts were the advantage!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

*Men's Care Group - tonight - 7pm at the St. Clair's home.

*Ladies Care Group - next week - more details to come

*Family Night Block Party - October 4th - 5 pm - Prayer Walk / details on our Mission project / Picnic

Hope everyone has a great week!

40 Days of Love...

Sunday morning was a great beginning to the new series our church is going through. In the video on Sunday, Rick Warren asked us to make a committment to attend Sunday School & Church every week for the next 5 weeks so that we don't miss a single lesson on truly learning how to love others. This is the mission of our class so let's all make it a priority!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

*Tshirts are here! If you have yours already - wear them Friday night! If you missed out on ordering and would like a shirt we have 2 extras: 1 L and 1 XL. They are $10 each.

*Based on the survey's we will not have breakfast every week in class but will have it on the first Sunday of the month. The list is posted on the side in case you forget when you signed up!

*SEPTEMBER 18: Class Social: Geocaching Scavenger Hunt hosted by the Hearn's. Meet at the church at 6:30 and bring your supper. We'll eat while Matt & Kasey explain the rules then the fun will begin! If you have any small trinkets around the house bring them to swap out on the hunt. (very small - they need to fit in a film canister). Childcare is provided from 6:30-9:30. Contact Janyth at the church to sign up.

*SEPTEMBER 20: Men who are interested in being a part of a smaller group in order to build deeper relationships and grow spiritually will meet Sunday night @ 7:00 at the St. Clair's home to watch the Cowboy game.

*SEPTEMBER 27: Ladies small group night - more details to come!

How do you love your neighbor?

Good question! In Bro. Jerry's sermon this morning he continued his series on the 4 neighbors who lowered the paralytic man thru the roof so he could be healed by Jesus.
He talked about real love and mentioned 4 very practical things to consider:

1. Love is a choice not a feeling.
2. Love is an action.
3. Love is a skill that must be developed.
4. Love is a habit.

Sounds like a great way to love your neighbor!
Hope everyone has a great Labor Day! See you next week for the big 40 Days of Love kick-off!!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

*ALL PRO DAD - begins this Saturday at 8:30. Dads bring your kids to Chick-fil-a at the mall for breakfast. Special Guest: Steve Winger, the Juggler for Jesus. This is a great opportunity for dads & kids to spend some extra time together. All Pro Dad is a national organization started by Tony Dungy. They meet once a month.

*CLASS T-SHIRTS - if you want to order shirts please contact Jennifer asap!

*CHURCH BLOCK PARTY: Sunday Sept. 13 6:00 - 8:00 Wear your class shirt and be available to welcome people you don't recognize while you're having fun with your family. There will be all kinds of games, hot dogs, cotton candy, Sheridan's ice-cream, train rides, etc... You don't want to miss it! If you prayer walk please stop by the church to pick up some flyers to put on the doors on your block.

encourage each other daily...

Hebrews 3:13 - that's the verse Todd ended his lesson with this morning. and it's an important part of loving your neighbor. I encourage you to find a neighbor (in our class or out) and make a point to really encourage them this week!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*414 Church Fellowship - Tonight - Prayer walk at 5 and BBQ meal at 6. Bring sides or desserts.
*OCC Video will be shown tonight at 7 pm downstairs on Main St.
*40 Days of Love study begins Sept. 13
*Parkridge 16th Annual Celebration Dinner - Tuesday Sept. 15 @ 6:30
Guest Speaker: Coach Bill McCartney
for reservations visit www.parkridge.org/reservations.asp


NEXT SUNDAY:
Fellowship breakfast and THOU SHALT LAUGH video. Don't miss it!

Welcome to the Neighborhood!

What great morning! I hope you are excited about the future of our class and the purpose that God has for us. Thanks for filling out the short surveys. It was awesome to see how much everyone is willing to "pick up their corner" as Jerry said this morning and get involved. For those that weren't there today we'll have the surveys available next week. We will get the results to you as soon as possible. The Neighborhood Watch programs will begin at the end of September.

It was good to have Scott & Mandi visiting with us for the first time...hope to see you again soon!

I can't tell you how much Mark and I are looking forward to this year. We believe that God is at work and we are praying that our class will truly take on the aspects of a neighborhood and not only take care of each other but the neighborhood around our church. Like Dr. Jeremiah said in our lesson this morning...as the time for Jesus' return draws closer, we need each other more and more.

Hope everyone has a great week!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*Fantasy Football - if you are interested in playing - contact David Mitchell david.mitchell@susser.com The draft is Thursday!
*414 Fellowship Meal - Sunday Aug. 30 6pm
*40 Days of Love begins Sept. 13

a new beginning

It's almost here! August 23rd kicks off the new Sunday School year. Hope to see everyone back after the summer break. Exciting things are happening in our class!