Weekly Newsletter 02/03/2022

February 3rd, 2022
by Dmitriy Zherebnenkov

Shalom friends!

A few important reminders regarding witnessing or evangelizing for every believer… We have already talked that we’ll be raising each other’s temperature and reverence towards evangelism, and today we will try to do just that in connection to last Sunday’s sermon. We talked about friendship and influence. There is an influence of the world on us, and from this we need to run away. But there’s also an influence that we, moved by God’s grace, have on each other and the people around us. We will talk specifically about this right now. A few important, practical elements that will help us be more effective in evangelism at home and in the city:

Pray more, critique less. Speaking about the church. It’s not a secret that there are weak points in a church and places where we need to grow, but unfortunately, many believers don’t realize the difference between constructive criticism, which is shared with specific and responsible people in the church, and criticism that believers share with outsiders and kids, and in this way close their doors for them to be in the church. Instead of this, learn to pray more for the church and for specific weak points. We are sure that God will answer and bless the church through your prayers. Next time a desire springs up for you to criticize, instead pray for this critical point.
Invite people to church. The church – the pillar and ground of truth! This is a place where people hear the Gospel! We purposefully, in sermons, songs, and conversations bring up the Gospel!
Serve the guests that visit the church. Beloved, God truly blesses us with guests every Sunday, and many of them are ending up in a church for the first time. For them to speak to a believer is already something unique. But if you invite them to your home, if you exchange phone numbers, if you reach out to them on a weekday, or if you help fulfill their needs, you will not only by word, but also by deed, show the Gospel! Specifically this makes the church pleasant, pretty, and attractive.
Love other believers. John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Beloved, when the surrounding people will see genuine love for each other between believers, they will truly desire, at a minimum, to learn more about what drives these people.
Time! What if you dedicate exactly one hour a week? What if during this hour you will search for people in your contacts and call them and pray for them? Or maybe during this hour you will go to a public place and will attempt to start a conversation with someone to share with them what Christ has done in your life.
Potentially you will set yourself a goal – attempt to share the Gospel with someone once a week. The goal is simple – to introduce people to Jesus Christ. Their reaction and answer are not in your hands. This is not our responsibility. God Himself will use Scripture to transform their inner being.
And most importantly – be passionate about God, the Gospel, and salvation yourselves! When you delight in fellowship with God, you will speak about this everywhere!

Announcements

As previously, due to the restrictions and orders from the health department, we remind you:

Keep social distancing and wearing masks in public places
Wash and sanitize hands more often
If you have flu-like symptoms, were in contact with a person with COVID, or are in the “high-risk” group, then we ask you to stay home

Scripture To Memorize

Acts 17:24-31*

²⁴The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,²⁵nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. ²⁶And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,²⁷that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, ²⁸for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ ²⁹Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. ³⁰The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, ³¹ because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

Upcoming Services and Meetings

Today, Thursday (6:30 PM) – Children’s Bible School (open to all but required for parents), followed by Bible Study (Proverbs) for the whole church at 7:30 PM.
Saturday (9:00 AM) – Women’s prayer breakfast.

Sunday services