$ 8,462 $ 24,175 $ 48,800 $ 150

Offering Sept. To Date Sept. Budget Building Fund

September 13, 2021 Number 36 Volume 11

Lifelines SUNDAY WORSHIP

9am & 10:30am

www.nlchristian.org New Life Facebook Page

Mike Thomas, Worship Minister News from New Life Christian Church

I watched the services last Sunday via the live-stream and was grateful to be able to do so. It is a poor second to actually being there but when being there is not possible it does provide a wel-

comed alternative. Every time I miss worship, the scripture, Hebrews 10:25 comes to mind: “Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s com-

ing is getting closer.” (Contemporary English Version). Worship is more than completing a check list of rules God has given us to do on Sunday mornings. God knows there is power and encour-

agement when His people gather to worship.

When I was in elementary school, I got to go to Church camp for the first time. Each day closed with the campers and the faculty meeting around a big campfire to sing and have a final devotional thought before we went to our cabins. One of the favorite illustrations that devotional leaders enjoyed doing was to take a stick and rake out a coal

from the fire as he or she began their talk. By the end of the talk the coal had stopped glowing and was obviously losing its ability to bring heat or light. The speaker would then push the dying coal back into the fire where in mo-ments it was glowing red hot again. Of course, that was a metaphor of our lives without the benefit of others. By ourselves we tend to lose energy and intensity but in the presence of others the energy and intensity is not just main-

tained but often enhanced by the association with others. That is the way that the church is supposed to work. To be what God wants us to be, we need to be with others who share our faith. It will help us to burn brighter and with greater intensity than if we go it alone.

I am always humbled by how people pick up and keep things going. I think it is easy to fall into the trap of thinking

that one is indispensable. It is obvious that no one around here is indispensable. Mike Thomas has been terrific ever since he arrived here. I know worship is always in good hands. And what can I say about Gary Serago? I wish I had time to share with you how Gary came into the life of this congregation. It is truly one of the “God stories” that I

talk about from time to time. I have a lot of good friends in ministry but no one better than Gary. He has a servant’s heart that has been demonstrated to us time and again. When I asked him on Wednesday last week if he could preach for me on Sunday, his response was, “It would be an honor.” That is Gary. And I could not ask for a better co

-worker than my wife Connie. She is always willing to pitch-in and help in whatever way she can, especially if it involves a microphone. So, while I hate missing worship it is never because I fear it will not be done well.

I was told that we had a good response in signing up for the food pack. It will take place on Friday, October 1, be-ginning at 8:30am. We should be done by noon. The assembly lines will be set up in our foyer. Our plan is to pack

30,000 meals. Each package contains enough ingredients that when reconstituted with water, will feed six people. So, we are not creating 30,000 packages, we are creating 5,000 packages each of which contains six meals. We are doing this in partnership with IDES which will see that the completed packages are delivered to Haiti. If you have

never seen this done, I have put on our website a link to a video showing the process; click on “Announcements,” and scroll down to the section titled, “Food Pack for Haiti” There you will find the video.

Worship Attendance First Service: 105

Second Service: 107

Total: 212

Streaming Views: 165

New Life Christian Church

4701 E CR 462 Wildwood, FL 34785

352-261-5333

Offering September 12, 2021

Matt Malott

OUR MISSION: Connecting Seniors with Christ

Matt Malott, Senior Minister

New Life Play List for 9/19

Open The Eyes Of My Heart

Fairest

To God Be The Glory - Orchestra Feature

10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)

This Is How It Feels To Be Free

Well it was great to see a lot of

new faces again this week. I am

also glad to see so many of you

participating in worship. You have

no idea how happy it makes me to

see many people singing, and

seeking God during the entire worship service.

The spirit of the Lord is evident at our church.

Didn’t Gary Serago do a great job? I have

never heard him speak, but it was powerful,

and I know people were touched. I pray that

people see me as a person who is genuine

and not just pushing a clock to get my quota in.

This Sunday will be a great day in worship.

We will have the choir and some special

guests. Jack Turner of the Sunday 4 will be

singing the solo on our choir special this week

“This Is How It Feels To Be Free.” What a pow-

erful song about how God can set you free of

the chains of sin that bind us. We will also

have an orchestra feature on “To God Be The

Glory,” and we will have a few new folks with

us there too. We will also have a few friends

in our band as well. It will be a full regiment

this weekend.

God is doing great things. I am glad that even

though things are a little topsy turvy right now,

He is still at work and people are seeing it. I

know people are being cautious and using

common sense to make decisions.

Be with us however you feel comfortable.

Blessings,

Mike

Mike Thomas

Wow, what a week! Covid is trying to get us down but we’re fighting it and watching God at work! Matt tested positive and couldn’t do the memorial

service for Rose Marie last Thursday, so our beloved Connie Malott stepped in and did an amazing job! With Matt still in quarantine Sunday, Gary Serago brought us an excellent, Spirit filled message about “The Words Written in Red.”

Gary Arnold tested positive for Covid last week and was hospitalized - he’s much better but quarantined and couldn’t play Sunday so Ethan stepped in to play the drums – thank you Ethan for filling in again this Sunday. Attendance was down but as we stressed last week, each individual needs to make the health decision that they are most comfortable with.

The Debt Reduction amount is now over $137,000 dollars and we continue to receive contributions. Great job church! We recently established an ac-count with Edward Jones to accommodate those who have requested to donate stocks to the church. The contributor pays no capital gains on the stock and the church pays no brokerage fees. It’s a win, win! If you are interested, please contact the church office or our treasurer Glen Freeman.

The exciting news I had to share from the results of the Elder’s meeting is that we will soon have an ad-dition out front that we think will draw more atten-tion to our beautiful campus and hopefully bring more people inside. We signed a contract and put a deposit on a new monument sign structure which will replace the one we have now at the roadside. It will have an LED screen on both sides which will allow us to promote special services, programs, and Bible studies. The proposed drawing is beautiful, and we will share it with you soon. Hope to see you Sunday. Please call on us if you have a need. Remember, we are here for you!

David Wheeler & NLCC Elder Board

Michelle and I would like to thank the New Life Church family for the prayers, cards, meals and

visits, and especially for all the preparation and work that went into the memorial service for Rose Marie.

The love that was shown to us and all in attendance had a big impact on this community. All this week people have been talking about how friendly and loving our church was to them. Thank you and thank God for that love.

David and Michelle

Pray for each other so that you may be

healed.

Next Luncheon

September 26th

McAlister’s Deli in Brownwood

3630 Kiessel Rd

Sign up at the Activities Counter

On the bottom right of the News Letter and the front of the bulletin, you will find a QR code that links directly to the New Life Church Website. For more information on QR codes, go to the website and scroll down to "Tech Tips" on the Announcements page.

QR Code to Access New Life Website

Men’s Breakfast Tuesday, Sept. 21st, 8:00 am

Sign up in the Foyer

followed by Men’s Bible Study, 8:45 am

Hands Helping Hands

Resumes meeting

October 5th @ 10:30am

Monthly meetings take place

The 1st & 3rd Tuesdays

Sign up in the Foyer - All are Welcome!

Sundays, 10:30am Sunday Morning Bible Study Led by Jeff Buford Mondays, 6:00-7:30pm Sept. 13- Oct 4 Starting Point Bible Study, Led by Lyle Pettigrew Tuesdays, 8:30am Men’s Bible Study Led by Anthony Amalfitano & Chuck Costolo Tuesday, Sept. 28 - 10:30am Living with Loss Grief Support Ministry, Led by Norma Bryant Tuesdays, Sept. 7 - Oct 26 - 1:00-3:00pm Precepts Bible Study - 1st Peter, Led by Susan Pettigrew & Amy Thomas Wednesday, Ladies Bible Study, resumes Sept 22nd Led by Pam Perine & Jenifer Roth Wednesdays - 4:00pm Orchestra Practice Wednesdays - 5:30pm Choir Practice Thursdays - 6:30pm Survey of the Bible Led by Phil Cahoon

6:00pm=======