March 2     11:45a      Building Committee Meeting

March 2       5:00p      Potluck and Q & A Session

March 2       6:00p      Trinity College Symphonic Concert

March 7       8:00p      H.S. 5th Quarter

March 9       6:00p      Grudem Study Group #1

March 15     8:00a      Church Work Day

March 16     3:30p      Elder Board Meeting

March 16     6:00p      Grudem Study Group #2

March 21     7:00p      Good Friday Service

March 23     7:00a      Day Break Service

March 23     8:00a      Easter Brunch

March 23     9:00a      Easter Service

March 30   12:00p      Teacher Inservice

Now playing: the Rated-PG, animated movie “Hoodwinked.” Come to the Family Center on Friday, February 29th, at 6:30pm. Also featuring fresh, hot, buttery, theater popcorn. Invite friends, family and neighbors.

For more movie info. please visit http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0002493.cfm

Trinity College
Symphonic Concert         

Special Note
from the
Elder Board                 

Elder Board meetings will be posted on the church calendar from now on. If you would like to attend an Elders Meeting, please let Pastor Bob or Craig Alexander know at least 5 days before the scheduled meeting so that you can be included in the agenda.

Please also note that there will be an Italian potluck and Q & A session open to the whole congregation on Sunday, March 2nd, at 5pm.

Church Work Day               

To all those who can walk, talk and have two hands—It’s time for another church work day on Saturday, March 15th, 8am—1pm. We’ll be deep cleaning the church restrooms and facilities. Open to men, ladies and youth.

Building
Committee Meeting               

The Building Committee has scheduled a meeting on Sunday, March 2nd, in the Fireside Room following the Sunday School hour. The purpose of this meeting is to get congregational input to assist in formulating its 1st phase remodel recommendation to the Elder Board. Elements and options to be discussed include reconfiguration of the Family Center restrooms, restroom and kitchen plumbing and electrical upgrades, kitchen refresh, and Fireside Room decor items. Please come and be a part of this process. You may also contact individual committee members: David Arneson, Arnie Ehlers, Gary Meier, Bill Runion, Steve Shaffer, and Tom Walters.

Grudem Study   Groups

Grudem Study group #1 will be meeting on Sunday, March 9th, at 6pm. Grudem Study group #2 will be meeting on Sunday, March 16th, at 6pm.

SCRIP                     

SERVING HAM FOR EASTER DINNER?  Order scrip for a Honeybaked Ham this Sunday & you will have your gift certificate the following Sunday in time to pay for it.

Women's
Retreat                      

I was very encouraged by the reception our CUBE training had last week.  It was a vivid picture of missions coming home to TACC.  Of course, the viability (read: cultural relevance) of using the CUBE with a variety of groups isn’t as wide in Orange as it is in China and India.  We know, however, that the gospel is good for everyone.  Our assignment was to do something evangelistic during our mission week: begin a relationship with a non-Christian, share a portion of the gospel or share the CUBE, invite a friend to your home or to a church service. 

Missions and evangelism are both incremental – jumping in fully clothed isn’t usually recommended – although sometimes it does work.  We usually get accustomed to the water, wear the proper swimming attire and wait for the warm summer months.  In our missions program we first encourage service in the church, then sharing your faith in Orange, then a trip to Mexico or the inner city and after that making the more extensive over-the-salt-water trip.  So it is with evangelism in Orange; it works best in relationships that are developed over time.

I’ve put together an outline that might be helpful for you.  Evangelism should be the most natural thing for believers; but frankly, most of us are frightened and seldom, if ever, share our faith.  The following steps have worked for me and have given me the opportunity to explain the gospel to many of my friends. 

1) Make friends – everywhere you go.  Get to know non-Christians.  They are made in the image of God – and usually are pretty nice people.  You can do this by joining a service club (Rotary, PTA, etc.), getting involved in your kid’s sports team (coach, cookie person, sideline cheerleading), or by being a good neighbor (borrowing an egg from time to time is a great excuse to start a friendship).  We need to be looking for entry points in other’s lives – all the time – in a multitude of ways – creatively – intentionally – lovingly.

2) Begin conversations about spiritual things.  It is best to do this early in the friendship.  Simply ask your new friend if they attend a church or if they are interested in spiritual things.  Lifeway research’s statistics on this are very eye-opening.  Most non-Christians are far more open to discussing God than we are.  Our fears are most unfounded; and what if you are met with resistance?  At least you tried, and resistance, more often than not, is a sign of spiritual discontent.  Everyone who tells me that they do not talk about religion or politics and don’t want me to introduce the topic almost always bring up the topic themselves.

3) Listen to their point of view and ask questions.  Every other religious belief system ends in hopelessness and despair when taken to their logical conclusions.  Only Christianity adequately answers the questions of suffering, justice, beauty and morality.   Ask questions, be sincerely interested and don’t criticize.  Ask probing, non-threatening questions.  It is alright to affirm parts of their belief system.  By the common grace of God every religious belief system has something good about it.  We must earn the right to be heard.  Never talk down to someone with a differing belief system.  They are wrong, but you will never convince them of this if they are not convinced you personally like them. 

4) Share your experience with Christ.  Talk about forgiveness, contentment, joy, friends, purpose and heaven.

5) Share all and/or parts of the gospel.  These include: God exists, He is Creator, He has requirements for living, a relationship with God is a possibility, Jesus’ death and resurrection, heaven, necessity of repentance, sinful state of the world and our sin, the fact that there is only one God, the Bible’s authenticity as an authoritative book, reasons for suffering and God’s antidote, etc.

6) Deepen the friendship.  This might include the hospitality of your home. 

7) Invite your friends to a church outreach activity: in September we had four Sundays especially focused on bringing friends.  We will do the same in 2008.

8) Invite your new friends to a church worship service.  The New Testament speaks of non-believers coming to worship and being convicted of their sin and repenting.  The gospel is always presented on Sunday mornings at TACC.  The simple preaching of the gospel is the power of God to save.

9) Ask them if they are ready to trust Christ for forgiveness.

We have heard it said (and possibly said it ourselves) over and over again, “There’s just not enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.”  Frustrating; exhausting; however, have you considered that, just possibly, the problem is that we want to do some things that we should not be doing?  Jesus got everything done and He lived for only 33 years.  His will was so entwined with the Father’s that he accomplished all the Father’s will.  I think the difficulty is that some of those things we want to do may not be on the Father’s agenda.  There are no shortcuts to the process of defining, cutting and shaping our lives to reach the point of doing His will and only His will, but there are some crucial Scriptures that help.  I have frequently turned to Matthew 28:16-20 and Matthew 22:34-40 as watershed teachings that sum up the whole picture.  This might be a good time to read them and ask the question, “What does this mean for me, today?” 

Women's Ministries          

Retreat: Get ready for a great time of being knit together in Christ at the Lighthouse in Big Bear April 11th—13th. Registration is now open. Visit the Flower Cart and pick up a brochure. Payment is due at time of registration. Cost is $100 by Easter Sunday, March 23rd, and $110 after that.

Youth
Ministry         

H.S. 5th Quarter: Join us on Friday, March 7th, from 8-11pm.

Easter Break: No youth group on March 25th & 26th.

Children's 
Ministries               

Teacher Inservice: Sunday, March 30th, at 12 noon. Please reserve this date for teaching training with a free lunch. All Sunday school teachers and teen aids are urged to attend.

Family Movie Night!  February 29th (Leap night!) come to the Family Center to enjoy a movie & theater popcorn. Our feature presentation is the animated, PG-rated movie “Hoodwinked”. The movie begins at 6:30pm.
For more info. please visit http://www.pluggedinonline.com/movies/movies/a0002493.cfm

As we read the eighth, ninth and tenth chapters of Acts, we realize how inclusive the gospel message is meant to be.  Not race, nor physical defect, nor distance, should put anyone beyond the gospel of salvation.  Missions is not a program in a church.  It is the priority of God, and we have the privilege to participate in this priority through the faithful missionaries we support.

A recent note from John and Deanna Hayes in London tells us— “we are learning about our community, particularly our Bangladeshi Muslim neighbors.  The ground is quite hard, but we are hopeful that God’s Spirit will move.  This is certainly a ministry that will need to be bathed in prayer.  We are so grateful to you for your faithful prayers, care and support.”  Let’s not let them down.

Eunice Castle, our representative in Russia, finds constant challenge in her role as Board Member and Treasurer of Hinkson Christian Academy.  This is the sixteenth year for Hinkson, a K thru 12th grade Christian school with an enrollment of over 200 students.  “My support of the school in this capacity helps a number of Christian workers stay ‘on the field’ here in Russia.  And ‘staying on the field’ has become very tenuous due to changes in the visa laws placing restrictions on foreigners living in Russia.  Those who have one-year, multi-entry visas (as most missionaries have), will only be allowed in Russia for 90 days out of every six months.  Please pray with us, that the doors would remain open for missionaries to serve here.  Pray for guidance in the process of looking for a new school director.  Pray for staffing issues.  A computer coordinator is needed.  Pray for my sister, Elizabeth, who is recovering from a stroke.”

Be upholding Dale and Suzann Beverly as they work with the African students at the university near their home in Kansas.  Many of these students will be an important force for good as they return to the African continent where we see so much strife and unrest.

Peter and Jennifer Joneleit, who serve with the Proclaim Ministry in Greater Europe, are home on furlough from Germany.  They request our continued prayer support as they seek to determine exactly what arena of service the Lord has for them to participate in as they move into the coming years of ministry.  They are well adjusted to the culture of the European Continent and the many diverse ways to reach the varied age groups of this area.  However, they are yet unclear as to which avenue the Lord has laid out for them.  Call Jennifer’s mother, Judy Vipperman, at 637-9214 if you would like to see Peter and Jennifer.

Our deep, heartfelt thanks to our India and China teams for all of their hard work in making this year’s mission conference such a meaningful success.  It was a real delight to hear from our missionary from Mexico, Martha Garcia, tell how her son had used his EvangeCube to witness to his unbelieving friend.  Have you used your EvangeCube yet?  Be sure you share your experience with your small group.