Message from Anthony
The Truth About Worship: Part 2 – Worship Is All About The Power Of The Lord
Worship is universal, eternal, and inevitable. No matter who you are, what time period you find yourself in, or to which end of the religious spectrum you align, you will worship. For those of us who worship the Lord, it is important to learn from those who’ve come before, so that we can apply those principles to the future. To this, I would offer our second truth about worship: that worship is all about the power of the Lord.
We serve a God who can create with a word. He can form something from nothing just because He wills it to be so. He has made both the living and the inanimate that we see all around us, and He can do so much more. He heals sickness, speaks peace to our hearts when we are troubled, and loves like we can only imagine. He sees all, knows all, and can do all things. As Christ said – “with God all things are possible.” (See Matthew 19:26) There can be no doubt that we serve a powerful God.
So who are we, that we might come before Him, as powerless as we are and worship? Why does God desire our worship when He has the entirety of Creation and beyond as His domain? (See Colossians 1:16) The simple answer is love. God loves us with an unending love, an unconditional love, and a love that displays a strength more than any physical prowess can hope to match.
God’s love has the power to change everything. As the author of 1 Chronicles (traditionally believed to be Ezra) writes: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” (See 1 Chronicles 29:11).
God saved us from complete hopelessness and slavery to sin through the love He displayed as Christ Jesus. He demonstrated His power over sin and even death as He declared the debt paid with Jesus’ blood, and the power of death vanquished through Jesus’ triumphant resurrection from the tomb. And God’s power does not end there. Christ promised yet another display of God’s power to His disciples before ascending into heaven – a power that wouldn’t exist only above us as the Father, or beside us as Christ Jesus, but within us so that we might carry it wherever we go. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
And it is because of this Spirit and its power manifested as love that we sing, and we worship, and we devote ourselves to the Lord daily. He is with us, He is within us, and His love gives us a peace and power we’ve never known. “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
So proclaim it boldly, as so many worshipers have before us. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.” (Psalm 28:7) “The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” (Exodus 15:2)
There IS power in the name of Jesus. There is wonder-working power in His blood. There is power over sin, death, and the trappings of this fallen world. When we place our trust in Him and we keep our eyes on Him, He works through us and within us to change the world around us. We need no better reason to worship.
Meadowbrook Youth Group “Time Change” for the School Year
The kids will begin to meet on Thursday evenings, from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m., back at Meadowbrook. Come and check out our new TEEN Room downstairs, across the hall from the kitchen/fellowship hall!!! The room has been renovated and is ready to be enjoyed. There will be lots of fun, fellowship, and games, all while growing closer to God and each other!
Please see Anthony if you have any questions.
Sisters in Service Mission: We exist to honor God by ministering to those who are in need and encouraging one another to the praise of His Glory.
All ladies are welcome to join the SIS meetings to fellowship in His word with each other and support people in need in the community. This is an example of what we have done to support the community:
- Assembled Blessing Bags and donated them to Lighthouse to give to homeless men and women
- Gifting children through Rochester Neighborhood House with Christmas Gifts, and Easter Baskets assembled by SIS.
- In partnership with Sisters of the Cloth, we made fleece blankets and hats for St. Joseph Hospital, we made weighted shawls for Medi-Lodge residents and Comfy Heart pillows for Beaumont and Ascension Crittenden Hospitals for Breast Cancer and Cardiac patients
- Treated the residents of HAVEN to a home cooked Taco meal at their shelter
SIS Meetings: SIS meets either on the 4th Monday of the month from 6:30 – 8pm or the 4th Saturday of the month from 10 – 11:30am. We’ll share the actual meeting dates soon.
Ladies – plan now to attend the first meeting of the new SIS year on Monday, September 27 at 6:30 pm.
Garage Sale: We are so thankful to everyone for helping to make this year’s Church “garage” sale a huge success. Thank you for donating your household items. We raised $1,956 this year! We will be able to do a lot of good in the community this year!
There is so much we can do and we ask for your prayers as we plan our new year and make decisions on which organizations and people to support in the community.
If you have any questions about SIS, please contact one of the SIS Officers:
President: Cathy Podvin
Treasurer: Debbie Stallings
Secretary: Lynn Ross
Hospitality: Karen Robinson
Missions Update – September 2021
IDES – International Disaster Emergency Services
IDES Mission Statement – “IDES exists to meet physical and spiritual needs of suffering people throughout the world in the name of Jesus Christ.”
- HAITI Update: as of Thursday, August 19, 2021 – IDES partners in Haiti are doing an incredible job of assessing the earthquake damage and coordinating their needs with us. They are beginning to provide emergency relief and making plans for the future. IDES has already sent significant emergency funding for immediate needs and is continuing to make funds available as plans are developing.
- MCC Missions Team will be checking on physical “in person” volunteer opportunities available for our church to participate in, such as meal packing, shed building, etc..
- The MCC Missions Team met 9/1/21 and decided unanimously to use contingency funds to provide “one time” extra support to Ninos de Mexico and IDES. The decision was based on immediate needs for these two missions we support.
- Excerpt from the Nino de Mexico request: “After a year and a half of attending classes virtually, the kids are gearing up to return to their classrooms! They are extremely excited as they look forward to seeing friends and teachers again. They did well during this difficult last year, but they are really, really, ready to get back to school. Needless to say, the house parents are ready for this as well! Your help is needed today! New uniforms will be needed for all of our kids and that is going to take a lot of time and money. The new school year starts on August 30th, and that day is going to be here quickly. Each child will need three uniforms, tennis shoes, dress shoes, a backpack, and other school supplies. Right now we are serving 119 children and we are estimating that the average cost per child will be $250.00. That is a grand total of $29,750! Your help is really needed!” MCC will be sending $500 to help offset these expenses.
- MCC will also be sending an additional $500 to IDES for Hurricane IDA support.
- Thank you to our Meadowbrook family for the generous Faith Promise offering that helped make these two extra donations possible!
Looking for a way to serve at MCC and love like Jesus?
- We need a few handy people to help get our playscape back in shape for the kids. Contact Dan Bright to lend a hand!
- Make cookies, brownies, bread (banana, zucchini, etc.) to support our “Fellowship in the Foyer” right after church. See Joe or Mimi Romaella to help with this ministry!
- Volunteer at Youth Group! Speak to Anthony Knotts to help out!
- Join Sisters in Service as they start up in the fall to serve our community!
- Join the Praise team or Sound Booth Crew — sing or play an instrument!
- Serve Jesus! All helping hands are welcome. Please see one of our Elders or Deacons to get plugged in. We are all members of Christ’s body. AMEN!
1Peter4:10: “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
September
Birthdays:
Ron Meegan – September 5
Phil Johnson – September 7
Jaysun Thomas – September 23
Anniversaries:
Mike & Linda Tingley – September 10
Hector & Laura Urteaga – September 12
Tim & Carol Howell – September 12
Pat & Nona Wundrach – September 26
