Discipleship Classes – 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Teen-Adults and Children

Family Worship Service – 11:15 AM

Coffee Klatch – Sunday, March 28, 2010

Reaching and Teaching Small Group

Wednesday, March 10^th and 24^th

7:00 – 8:00 pm

Text: Matthew 6:16-18

Join us at the church facility or call-in via the teleconference number (instructions at Information or on our website).

Staff Meeting

CRF staff meeting will be Sunday, March 14th following services.  Spouses and children are welcome.  You are on your own for lunch.

College Care Packages

We will be providing six care packages for our college students this semester.  Please bring items of encouragement (notes, cards, books, movies, food, gift cards, school supplies, and other items) to services and place in the boxes in the refreshment area.  Deadline for contributing is Sunday, March 21^st.  If you have questions please see Karen Irusta

Important Dates

Sunday, March 28^th – Palm Sunday

Thursday, April 1^st – Maundy Thursday

Sunday, April 4^th – Easter Sunday

Prayer List

See Pastor Joel for additions or changes.

Pat Corder – health issues

Jackie McCoy – health issues

Sharon Strickland - diabetes

Melanie Swift – family/health issues

Kaye Thigpen – prison and health issues

CRF Youth – please be praying for our youth

Donations

Make all donation checks payable to Christian Reconciliation Fellowship or CRF and place in the box on the Communion Table.

Christian Reconciliation Fellowship

2118 Veasley Street

Greensboro, NC 27407

Joel and Karen Irusta, congregational pastoral leaders

Phone – 336-861-5585; Cell – 336-687-3331

Email – jirusta@earthlink.net

www.ZOGRON.org

www.twitter.com/zogron

Facebook group: Christian Reconciliation Fellowship

ASH WEDNESDAY

February 17, 2010

A Study Guide

“Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return”

Lectionary Readings:

Isaiah 58:1-12

Psalm 51:1-17

2 Corinthians 5:20b – 6:10

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

Commentary (Reflections on the Revised Common Lectionary, Cycle C
by Walter Brueggemann):

These texts refuse and resist the conventional Lenten accent on pious self-denial. They have in mind not preoccupation with failure and inadequacy, but rather a future-oriented embrace of new life that God will accomplish through a daring obedience. The daring obedience of “the new fast” in Isaiah 58 is the recovery of neighborliness alongside the oppressed, the hungry, the naked, and the homeless poor.

The bid of these texts is to be reconciled, to overcome the alienations. What strikes one is that these texts are buoyant and hope-filled. Psalm 51, the most familiar of all psalmic confessions, does not grovel in guilt. By verse 10 it eagerly petitions for a new life and never doubts that God will give it. The cluster of imperatives in Psalm 51:10-12 anticipates God’s ready capacity for restoration and sustenance, and a new heart and spirit—in short, a life fully in sync with God’s good purposes.

In his somewhat self-pitying inventory, Paul pivots around the imperative “be reconciled”—be reconciled to God, with no doubt that what will surely follow is reconciliation with the neighbor. These texts turn Lent away from personal piety toward a world that may be healed. For us Lent is now set in a world of deathliness, profiled as poverty, violence, greed, and acres of inhumanity. The good news is that it need not be so! We may ponder how a reconciled, reconciling life may be lived.

Reflection:

How can I live a life of daring obedience that overcomes alienations and lives reconciliation?

Prayer:

Our Father, we have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and strength. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.  Have mercy on us, Lord.  Remove and heal our alienation from you and from one another.  In Jesus by the Holy Spirit reconcile us to you and to one another. Thank you for your eternal gift of grace.  Amen.

Discipleship Classes – 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM Teen-Adults and Children

Family Worship Service – 11:15 AM

Coffee Klatch – Sunday, February 28, 2010

OUR VISION

To be a congregation actively reaching and teaching

OUR MISSION

To reach unbelievers, immersing them into the life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; and to teach believers to put into practice everything that Jesus taught.

OUR MOTTO

“reaching and teaching”

Reaching and Teaching Small Group

Wednesday, February 10^th and 24^th

7:00 – 8:00 pm

Text: Matthew 6:9-15

Join us at the church facility or call-in via the teleconference number (instructions at Information or on our website).

Year-to-Date Financial Update

Budgeted Income:               $4000.00

Actual Income:                   $3222.50

Under Budget:                     $777.50

Inclement Weather Update

In the case of inclement weather on Sundays, the attempt will be made to let everyone know on Saturday evening if services are canceled.  At anytime if the weather and roads are bad in your area please be safe and stay home.

Black History Month

Black History Month is a national annual observance for remembrance of important people and events in the history of the African diaspora.  It is celebrated annually in the United States and Canada in February and in the United Kingdom in the month of October.  The remembrance originated in 1926 by historian Carter G. Woodson as “Negro History Week”. Woodson chose the second week of February because it marked the birthdays of two Americans who greatly influenced the lives and social condition of African Americans: former President Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglas. Woodson also founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, now the Association for the Study of African American Life and History.

2010 International Conference

GCI 2010 International Conference will be held in Orlando, FL.  The conference will run from Thursday, July 22, through Sunday, July 25.  GCI will be hosting the conference at the Hilton in the Walt Disney World Resort.  The conference will be open to all members as well as pastors and elders. The complete announcement is on the bulletin board and details will be announced as they are made available.  Begin making your plans to attend this exciting conference.

Prayer List

See Pastor Joel for additions or changes.

Jackie McCoy – health issues

Kaye Thigpen – prison and health issues

CRF Youth – please be praying for our youth

Pat Corder – health issues

Donations

Make all donation checks payable to Christian Reconciliation Fellowship or CRF and place in the box on the Communion Table.

Christian Reconciliation Fellowship

2118 Veasley Street

Greensboro, NC 27407

Joel and Karen Irusta, congregational pastoral leaders

Phone – 336-861-5585; Cell – 336-687-3331

Email – jirusta@earthlink.net

www.ZOGRON.org

www.twitter.com/zogron

Facebook group: Christian Reconciliation Fellowship

The Office of Reconciliation Ministries is part of the Worldwide Church of God. Their mission states that they exist “To share the good news that God has reconciled all mankind to Himself through Christ and that we can all get along.” Please visit their site to learn more about racism and reconciliation. Be sure to check out the Resources page.

We highly recommend a video titled Called to be Free, by Living Hope Video Ministries. It’s an awesome video about the journey of the Worldwide Church of God from legalism to grace, from heresy to orthodoxy, and from being a cult to being part of the Body of Christ. The video will inspire you and encourage you as you learn about a modern day miracle. The video is available for $4; shipping is free in the U.S. Click here to watch online for free or to order. Living Hope Video Ministries is not affiliated with the Worldwide Church of God.

The Shack by William P. Young is a powerful little novel that will enlighten you about Trinitarian theology. This novel will challenge the way you view the Christian faith. You can order The Shack from Amazon.com or through TheShack website by clicking here.

Here is a place for you to worship.  As we worship our great Triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – we deepen our immersion into their life.  We worship God the Father as Jesus revealed him – Our Father.  We worship Jesus as the Savior, Creator, and Lord of life.  We even worship the Holy Spirit as we enter into the presence of God with him and he “himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” (Romans 8).

My favorite worship comes from Job.  He lost everything – his fortune, his family, and in some way even his faith.  Job responded to life with worship.  Sometimes there is nothing we can do but worship.  We are prayed out.  Counsel doesn’t help.  So we worship.  Here’s the passage that moves us to worship (Job 2):

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
may the name of the LORD be praised.”

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Now you worship with us with your own words, words from the Bible, a song, a poem, or just a moment of silence…

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost/Spirit,

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.  Amen!

Or…

Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Sprit,

now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

A favorite of all Christians comes from Jesus himself – I call it the Perfect Prayer…

Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

on earth as in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us our sins

as we forgive those who sin against us.

Save us from the time of trial

and deliver us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours

now and for ever. Amen!

From Paul to the Thessalonians is my prayer for all of you (1 Thessalonians 3:11-13)…

Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus clear the way for us to come to you.  May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.  May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. Amen!

Now it’s your turn…let’s pray…

Second and fourth Wednesdays of each month (except holidays)

Time: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Text will be announced

Location: Church facility or teleconference

Teleconference instructions:

Call (712) 432-1690

When prompted enter  838887#.

Once connected to the live conference, every caller will be able to talk.   The following keys are available:

*3 – Exit the call

*4 – Instructions

*6 – Mute/unmute

Each meeting is also recorded and the most recent meeting is available for you to listen to:

Call: (712) 432-1285
Enter 838887# when prompted

Please be aware that long distance charges may apply when you call these numbers!

We believe:

• In one holy, loving, all-powerful, and gracious Creator God who exists in three Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• That the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God, fully authoritative for all matters of faith and practice.

• That Jesus Christ, born of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully human, is both Lord and Savior.

• That Jesus Christ suffered and died on the cross for human sin, that he was raised bodily on the third day, and that he ascended to heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father.

• That Jesus Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead and to reign over all things.

• In the Holy Spirit, who brings sinners to repentance, who gives eternal life to believers, and who lives in them to conform them to the image of Jesus Christ.

• That Christians should gather in regular fellowship and live lives of faith that make evident the good news that humans enter the kingdom of God by putting their trust in Jesus Christ.

• In the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

• That salvation comes not by works, but only by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

• In the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

• For details on what we believe click here.