Due to scheduling conflicts concering the bounce-house and other items for our block party, the date for our Friendship Day and Block Party has been changed from August 30th to August 23rd.  Please, mark your calenders for this important date change.

Our local association of churches (Buckeye-Central Erie Association) is holding an evangelism event in Mansfield, Plymouth, and Fredericktown on July 25th.  We are currently looking for volunteers to help with this outreach event, so don’t be shy to speak up!

Please see Pastor Patrick about signing up for this event, and encourage your friends and family to get involved, as well!

In Acts 1:8, Christ gave his disciples a commission to reach Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. 

Notice where he started?  Jerusalem…right where they lived.

Jesus Christ give us the same commission, that is to reach those where we live (Jerusalem), those in our greater community, such as our state (Judea), those who live in neighboring areas (Samaria) and those who live internationally (the ends of the earth).  Given that we are called to the same ministry of reconciliation as those first disciples, where should we start?  That’s right…our Jerusalem…right where we live.

This summer we are kicking off a new evangelism program at Harvest Fellowship.  Sure, we will continue to give to both North American Missions and International Missions, as well as State Mission Offerings; however, we are also going to focus more than ever on reaching “Our Jerusalem”.  We are going to seek to reach out to our friends, our families, our co-workers, and our neighbors, because we want them to know the joy that comes form a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Will you join us in reaching out to “Our Jerusalem”?

We all know the story of the conversion of the Apostle Paul – how he was a rabid persecuter of those who followed the Way (Christianity), until his fateful encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.  However, who we often forget about is the simple disciple named Ananias, whom God chose to be the instrument of Saul’s healing and the one to lay hands on Saul, sahring the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Where would we be without Ananias and his faithful obediance?  For starters, we would not have the Apostle Paul.  Sure, God could have reached Paul with another person, but he chose to reach him with Ananias.  Without Paul, we miss a huge chunk of the New Testament writings, as well as our model for effective  missions and church planting.  We have all of this because God chose to use Paul as an instrument.  But, before God used Paul, He used Ananias to reach Paul.

Most of us will never be anything like an Apostle Paul – planting churches across the globe, writing treatise on theology, or preaching to the most influential people of our day.  However, ANY one of us can be like Ananias.  If we are just faithful to share the gospel with those wohme God places before us, who knows if God will chose to use one of us to reach the next Paul?  Obedience is everything!

As most of you know, Thursday, October 30th is the designated night for trick-or-treating in Lexington and Mansfield.  From 5:30-7:30, we will be having an open house at the church with snacks and hot cider for anyone wanting to skip the cold.  Bring the kids by and have a great time with us.  Please no scary costumes.

Praise God!  We had the privilege of witnessing four baptisms at Harvest Fellowship last Sunday.  The four who were baptised were: Raina Deschner, Adam Deschner, Ryan Deschner, and Taryn Plant.

Baptism is an ordinance of the church, given to us by Jesus Christ.  It is a symbolic act of obedience that reminds us of not only Jesus’ baptism, but also His death, burial and ressurection.  It also symbolizes our death to sin and our new life in Christ (Romans 6:4).

It is not a requirement for salvation, which is a free gift of God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ, rather it is one of teh first acts of obedience that a Christian should undertake, after accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

I am pleased to announce that we will have a new  and improved parking lot at Harvest Fellowship within the next couple of weeks.  A local businessman is donating all of the supplies and materials!  I will fill you in on more details in the coming weeks, and will share the businessman’s name with you, if he will give me permission to do so.  Praise God, for He is good!

Please join us as we study the book of acts over the next couple of months.  We will be seeking God’s guidance as we study how Christ grew his in it’s formative years, and how he would have us follow His example!

This last Sunday, we looked at Jesus’ vision for His church, as outlined in Acts 1:1-8, as well as the strategy that he has given us to be successful witnesses for Him.  I urge you to read the rest of Acts chapter one, so that you be prepared for this Sunday’s message.  May we all be good students of the Word, so that we might be equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:14-17).

As we have recently finished studying the book of Romans, during our Sunday morning worship, I thought this would be the perfect time to discuss the real freedom that we have in Christ!

Jesus paid the unltimate price for our sins, so that we might have true freedom: freedom from sin, death, and ourselves.  He also wants us to have the freedom that a relationship with him brings to us.  God doesn’t want us to participate in “religion”, he wants a personal “relationship”.  This is why Paul write to us in Romans 14 about accepting those who do not worship God like we do.

A relationship with God is not about rules and regualtions, it is about experiencing Him in a real and life changing way.  The “rules” that God wants us to follow are the laws of liberty and love.  Jesus told us that the greatest commandment is to love God, and that the second greatest commandment is to love others; He told us that if we follow these two laws, then we will follow all of God’s other commands as well.  He wants us to experience true grace and love, without judgeing one another on how or when we worship.

So, don’t be quick to judge others on their worship style, the day on which they choose to worship, or how they dress for worship.  Instead embrace each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, as we all seek to share God’s word with our communities!