The Peace can be Yours!
By Pastor Bob Collinge
“Let not your heart be troubled!”
This is what Jesus told His disciples just before He was to leave
them. (John 14:1) Jesus did
not leave His disciples alone, nor does He ever leave us alone.
Just after He spoke this line He told them that the Holy Spirit
would be with them always.
Don’t be afraid, it is all ok.
The shepherds heard something similar from the angel on the night
Jesus was born. “Fear not!”
the angel told them.
The angel announced the birth of the savior!
Jesus is born! They
need not fear any longer!
Fear what? They need not
fear the wrath of God! The
savior was here! We are not
alone any longer.
II Peter 3:9 tells us “The Lord
is….not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
God does not want anyone to end up in Hell.
“Have I any pleasure
at all that the wicked should die?” God says in Ezekiel 18:23.
God wants everyone to be saved.
But, some refuse the peace of God by refusing His son.
The angel also told the shepherds “Peace on Earth, good will
toward men.” That peace,
which comes from God, is between God and man.
It is not between man and man.
There will be no world peace until after the Tribulation period.
The Bible tells us that there will be wars and rumors of wars,
not peace. It is a nice
thought but it won’t happen.
The peace that the angel was talking about was what every person
can feel about their future.
We can feel peace knowing that we are forgiven and will not have
to feel the wrath of God.
We are saved! (Romans 10:9)
God does not send anyone to Hell.
He allows them to go based on their choices made in life.
The choice is yours.
Choose Jesus! It is His
birthday we are celebrating.
He was born for you.
“A
Festival of Carols”
The Christian Faith Church
proudly presents the Voices of Faith Choir and Friends singing “A
Festival of Carols”, a Christmas cantata written by Joseph Martin.
Under the direction of Andrew Hayden, the choir will be
performing portions of twenty-one carols intertwined with wonderful
scriptures telling the Christmas story and the birth of our Lord.
The cantata will take place on Friday, December 18th, at
7:00pm in the town hall.
Plan now to attend this very festive occasion and see and hear the
result of all the rehearsals that the choir has endured.
They will tell you it has been well worth it, as it is always a
blessing to be able to sing unto the Lord, especially at this time of
year.
We are pleased this year to have extra voices join the Voices of Faith
for this year’s cantata.
Brian Riley, of Newfields, will be joining Walter Manley and Bobby
Collinge in the bass section.
Sam Lloyd, of Winnacunnet High School,
and Jacob Randlett, of
Exeter
High School will be
joining Pastor Bob Collinge as tenors.
Joining Barbara Hayden and Emily Belanger in the alto section
will be Mary Belanger, of Newfields, and our pianist, Sherryann Manley
of Candia.
Maureen Randlett has joined us in the soprano row.
She will be singing with Bobbi Hayden, Emma Hayden, Charlene
Casey, Diana Collinge, and 1st-year choir member, Melanie Belanger.
This year’s cantata is filled with wonderful arrangements of many of our
favorite Christmas songs.
There are many solos, duets, and descants that add tremendously to the
arrangement. We hope that
you will join us for this wonderful evening of music.
Refreshments will follow the cantata.
“Please Don’t Send Me to Africa”
Scott Wesley Brown wrote a song with the above
title. The chorus goes like
this:
Please don't send me to Africa I don't think I've got
what it takes
I'm just a man I'm not a Tarzan, don't like lions, gorillas or snakes
I'll serve you here in suburbia In my comfortable middle class life
But please don't send me to the ends of the earth
Where the natives are restless at night
Now, that is a catchy set of lyrics, but think about what the
song is saying. The writer
seems to be sincere in all that he wants to do for the Lord... except
for going on a mission trip to Africa.
I bet we have all had things that God has asked us to do, that we
didn’t really want to do.
Going to
Africa on a mission trip is a very frightening thing to do
for most people. God never
gives us more than we can handle, and we need to trust in Him.
For some people, delivering a basket of Christmas cookies to a
stranger in need might be just as frightening as going to
Africa. None
the less, if God is doing the asking, you can be sure that He knows what
the plan is, and how you will handle it.
Trust that God knows what He is doing and that it is His will,
not yours.
We as Christians may be
the only bible, the only glimpse of God that someone may ever see or
hear. It is our command
from God, our mission, to spread that Word, and that glimpse…whether to
our neighbor, a stranger, or the natives of Africa. Do
not be afraid, whatever call you get from Him.
He has it all in control.
This season of Advent, let us all do as God commands.
Busy month for ‘Christian Faith
Church’
Sunday, December 13th,
@2:30pm
Hymn/carol/cantata singing at Clipper Home in
Portsmouth
Friday, December 18th,
@7:00pm
Voices of
Faith Cantata “Festival of Carols” at Town Hall
Sunday December 20th,
@3:30pm
CFC annual
Christmas party at Town Hall
Thursday, December 24th,
@7:00pm
Christmas Eve
Candlelight Service at Town Hall
Friday, December 25th,
all day long
Merry
Christmas everyone, Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Thursday, December 31st
CFC New
Year’s Eve party, Luau theme at Pastor’s home.
“The Season of Advent”
This year’s Advent season started early, with the
first Sunday of Advent being in November.
Advent is the season that starts four Sundays before Christmas,
and is used to prepare us to celebrate the birth of our Lord.
One custom of Advent is the lighting of special candles each
Sunday and on Christmas Eve.
There are readings that go along with the candles, which are
named for different people or things.
This year we are highlighting the pinnacles of the history of
Christ with the candle lighting.
The candles this year are named the following:
Nov. 29th
- The Candle of Prophecy
Dec. 6th
- The Candle of
Epiphany
Dec. 13th
– The Crucifixion Candle
Dec. 20th
– The Resurrection Candle
Dec. 24th
– The Christ Candle
May the Blessings of the season be upon everyone!
Christmas Eve Candlelight Service
The Christian Faith
Church will be celebrating
on Christmas Eve with a candlelight worship service at the town hall at
7:00pm. We will have
special music, scripture, the lighting of the last Advent candle, and
the candlelight alone to end the service.
The candle
reminds us of many things, but at Christmas time it reminds us mostly of
the Star in the sky that guided everyone to where the Christ child lay.
We are still that light today.
Jesus told us that a candle hidden under a bushel cannot be seen.
We are to take our light and show it to everyone we know.
Isaiah 40:5 tells us “And the
glory of the LORD shall
be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the
LORD hath spoken it.”
Luke 2:9
says “And, lo, the angel of the Lord came
upon them, and the glory of the
Lord shone round about them:” On the night that Christ was born
God revealed His son, His glory, to the world.
It is now up to us to let our lights shine for Him.
Gardening in December?
Absolutely!
(Bible Studies)
Jesus said, "I am the true
vine, and my Father is the gardener."
John 15:1 (NIV) "I
am the vine; you are the branches.
If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit;
apart from Me you can do nothing." John 15:5 (NIV)
Do you like to read books on how to do something better?
Cooking, gardening, hobbies, etc?
There are gazillion "self-help" (The Idiot's Guide to.....) books
out there, but did you know that the #1 all-time best seller is the
Bible!
So why aren't more people knowledgeable about what's in the
Bible? Why do Bibles sit
gathering dust? People give
many reasons for not wanting to study the Bible - some logical, some
illogical. Time seems to be
high up on the list - or rather, the lack of it.
Why is that? Could
it really be because we feel we don't know where to start or how to
study (or how to pronounce all those names!)?
This is the reason joining a Bible Study group is such a big
help. We go because we
"yearn to learn" - from God's word, through discussion and sharing, and
the insights of others.
There are no "rules" as to when to join a group.
Jump right in at any point.
Of course, by now you're wondering how all this relates to
gardening.
God calls Christians to plant and water the seed (His Word)
in all seasons.
But how do we know what the seeds are we need to plant and water
if we don't read, study and meditate on His Word for guidance and
direction?
When it comes to God's gardening/harvest, there is no "season".
God's harvest will continue every second of every day of every
week, month, and year until Christ returns to meet us "in the air".
Then it will be too late for non-believers.
(Which one are you?)
As believers in Christ's atonement for our sins, we are His
branches. Without Christ,
it's not possible for us to be fruitful,
opening this gift and seeking to understand what it's all about
and how to use it. They
often feel intimidated by it.
It requires some assembly, and its instructions are hard to
comprehend some times....."
We invite you to join us as we unwrap the
life-changing gift of God's Word through Bible Study.
Merry Christmas!
The Lion and the Lamb
Bible Studies
"UNWRAP the
GIFT"
A glimpse from the study of the
books of Ruth & Esther
"REDEMPTION and RESTORATION:
REVERSING LIFE'S GREATEST LOSSES"
Did you know there are only two books in the Bible bearing
women's names - Ruth & Esther? Did you know that the "lineage of David"
is carried through Ruth?
(Matthew 1:5) There's an interesting paragraph in the beginning of the
study guide for "Ruth & Esther".
It starts out, "A word of warning...." and continues: "By itself,
Bible Study will not transform your life.
It will not give you power, peace, joy, comfort, hope, and a
number of other gifts GOD longs for you to unwrap and enjoy."
Wow! Bold
statement!!!
What's really important are the words written after that
statement. "Through Bible
study, you will grow in your understanding of the Lord, His kingdom and
your place in it, but you must be sure to rely on the Holy Spirit to
guide your study and your application of the Bible's truths.
He, Jesus promised, was sent to teach us 'all things' (John
14:26; cf. I Corinthians 2:13).
Bathe your study time in prayer, asking the Spirit of God to
illuminate the text, enlighten your mind, humble your will, and comfort
your heart. He will never
let you down."
Read what it says in the front of our Monday evening Bible Study
guide to Ruth & Esther:
"One of the most precious gifts God has
given us is His Word, the Bible.
Wrapped in the glory and sacrifice of His Son and delivered by
the power and ministry of His Spirit, it is a treasured gift - the gift
that keeps on giving, because the giver it reveals is inexhaustible in
His love and grace.
Tragically, though, fewer and fewer people are to bring others to
Christ. But, we do not do
the harvesting. That alone
is for God to do.
Come and join one of Christian Faith
Church's Bible Studies and
start studying the best book GOD ever created!
Sunday
morning - 10:30 am @ Town Hall
"What to Do When You Don't Know What to Do"
A study on the book of James by Dr. David Jeremiah
Monday
evening - 7:00 pm @ Doris Goerner’s
"Redemption and Restoration: Reversing Life's Greatest Losses"
A study on the books of "Ruth & Esther" by Jack Hayford
Friday
evening - 7:00 pm @ Pastor Collinge’s
"The Handwriting on the Wall: Secrets from the Prophecies of
Daniel" Vol. II
A study on the book of Daniel by Dr. David Jeremiah
“A sower went out to sow his seed:…
The seed is the word of God”
Luke 8:5a & 11b
Would you like The Messenger of Faith in a hard copy? You have three options:
1) For a printable pamphlet format click
here
2) To receive it by mail just drop an email to
Pastor Bob Collinge
3) Recommended
- Join us for Worship service Sunday mornings at 9am at the Newfields'
Town Hall and pick one up.
For easy directions go here
