Pastor Don's Message

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=40 BGCOLOR="#0099FF" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Center Bethel Church of God, Alverton, PA</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Center Bethel Church of God, Alverton, P"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Visitors Page"><U>Visitors Page</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About Us</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events News "><U>Events & News </U></A>   |   <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Library"><U>Church Library</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Camp Sonrise Mt. and Grove Manor Homes"><U>Camp Sonrise Mt. and Grove Manor Homes</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Daily Devotional"><U>Daily Devotional</U></A>   |   <A 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HREF="http://guestbooks.christiansunite.com/sign.cgi?gheicher" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://guestbooks.christiansunite.com/si"><U><I><B>Sign our Guestbook</B></I></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF WIDTH="231"><div> <A HREF="http://guestbooks.christiansunite.com/view.cgi?u=gheicher" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://guestbooks.christiansunite.com/vi"><U><I><B>View our Guestbook</B></I></U></A></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP COLSPAN=2 BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF WIDTH="344"><div> <A HREF="#worship_services" TITLE="Pastor Dons Message"><U><B>Sunday Services</B></U></A></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> <I><B><U>Sunday Services</U></B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="worship_services"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>8:00 and 10:30 am </B><B>Worship</B><B> Services</B></div> <div> Announcements</div> <div> Invocation</div> <div> Congregational Praise Hymn or Chorus</div> <div> Receive tithes and offerings</div> <div> Children's Message</div> <div> Congregational Prayer Hymn</div> <div> Prayer Requests and Prayer</div> <div> Special Music <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Comic Sans MS" >(*Choir 10:30 Service)</FONT></div> <div> Scripture Reading</div> <div> Pastor's Message</div> <div> Congregational Hymn</div> <div> Benediction</div> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="sunday_school"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>9:00 - 9:30 am  - Coffee Time</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>9:30 am Sunday School</B></div> <div> Classes for Nursery, Kindergarten, Primary and Primary 2, Jr. High, Sr. High,</div> <div> Ladies and Men's (all ages),  Three Classes for Singles and Couples (All Ages)</div> <bR> <div> <B>10:30 am Worship Service </B>(see above)</div> <bR> <div> <B> <A NAME="cgya"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></B><B>6:00 pm </B>(except Summer) <B>Jr. and Sr. SHEMA (</B>CGYA Church of God Youth Association)</div> <div> Two age groups for youth activities.</div> <bR> <div> <B>*Our Choirs:  Sr Choir</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><B> (ages 18 yrs+)</B></FONT><B>, Youth Choir</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><B> (ages 12 - 18)</B></FONT><B>, God's Choir</B><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Comic Sans MS" ><B> (ages 6 - 11)</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div>             </div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div>  <A NAME="pastor_message"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="1" ALIGN="bottom" WIDTH="1" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" ></A></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><U>IT'S THE GREAT S</U></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>“All things work out for good for those who love the Lord” -  Repeat five times.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>You may be wondering, why should I repeat it 5 times?  I read it and understood it the first time.  You probably have heard it hundreds of times, but do you really and truly believe it?  Sometimes we have to be told over and over until it sinks in.  Yet we still find it difficult to see the good when things are not going as we had planned.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In the Christmas movie “Miracle on 34th Street” Susan Walker asks Santa for a house for Christmas.  She didn’t get it on Christmas morning and she is very upset.  She tells Santa prior to Christmas that if he is the real Santa he’ll get her a house but if she doesn’t get one, then he’s just a nice old man with a beard.  As she and her family are driving back to their apartment on Christmas morning she keeps repeating “I believe, I believe, I know it’s silly but I believe.”  Suddenly she looks out of the car window and she sees her dream house all arranged by Santa.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Sometimes we have to just believe that things will work out, even if it doesn’t look like it at the time.  “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”   Romans 8:28</B></div> <div> <B>Now we have added the rest of the Scripture – “Who have been called according to his purpose.”  Now we have a specific group of people – the ones called by God – God’s children, the believers, the Christian.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>So what about those who don’t follow him?  Do they get the same benefits?  It appears that they do not because it clearly states, “for those who love the Lord.”</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>As Christians we worry and concern ourselves with so many things that we have absolutely no control over whatsoever.  What a waste of mental energy!  We have to get it in our heads that God is in control and it will all work out.  Most of the time the things we think are going to happen never do anyway.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>All things work out for good for those who love the Lord.”  It’s hard to see it sometimes but God says it is so.  When things don’t go as we had planned, let’s not say to God – “If you don’t give me my way, then you really aren’t the God you say you are.  You’re just a nice old man with a beard.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.”   James 1:2</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>“If God is for us, who can be against us?”   Romans 8:31</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>                                                                                                                            Contributed by Debbie Roeder</B></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>FOOD FOR THOUGHT….</B></div> <div> <B> If you're spiritually alive, you're going to love this!</B></div> <div> If you're spiritually dead, you won't want to read it.</div> <div> If you're spiritually curious, there is still hope…</div> <bR> <div> <B>Why Go To Church?</B></div> <div> <B> </B></div> <div> A Churchgoer wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. “I've gone for 30 years now,” he wrote, “and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. However, for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them. So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.”</div> <div>  </div> <div> This started a real controversy in the `Letters to the Editor' column much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher. “I've been married for 30 years now.  In that time, my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. However, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. However, I do know this…they all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work.  If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”</div> <div>  </div> <div> When you are DOWN to nothing…God is UP to something! Faith see the invisible, believes the incredible and received the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our spiritual nourishment!</div> <div>  </div> <div> All right, now that you're done reading, send it on! I think everyone should read this! When Satan is knocking at your door, simply say, “Jesus, could you get that for me?”</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Tahoma" ><B><U>LaLaLaLa I Can't Hear You</U></B></FONT><B><U>  </U></B><U>by Debbie Roeder</U></div> <bR> <div> This little saying is sometimes used - usually in humor - to say, "I don't want to hear what you have to say because you've already told me a hundred times and I'm sick of hearing it."  Sometimes we put our hands over our ears and say "LaLaLaLa I can't hear you."</div> <div>     </div> <div>  Does God ever keep after you about something and it seems that he is nagging you?  Do you mentally put your hands over your ears and say "LaLaLaLa I can't hear you."  How good are you at pretending that you don't hear Him speaking to you?</div> <div>     </div> <div>  Do you hear God's voice?  Does God only speak to some people and not to others?  Some would say that they have never heard Him say anything to them.  Others would say that they hear Him speaking to them all the time.  I believe that those who have a relationship with God can hear very clearly.  It's not that God doesn't speak to those who don't know Him, it's just that His voice could get fainter the longer they ignore it.  And even for the Christian - we hear it, we know it as truth, but sometimes we completely ignore it.</div> <div>      </div> <div> We get upset with our children when we tell them to do something and they act like they never heard us.  Can you imagine how God must feel when He tells His children to do something and they flat out ignore Him?  If we are calling ourselves Christians, we need to realize that He is standing beside us all the time.  We sometimes forget that.  We pretend we don't hear Him and we also think that He can't see us either!</div> <div>     </div> <div>  If He were visibly standing beside us, would we be acting any different?  Would we not be on our best behavior?  Would we not be doing and say and being the best Christian ever?</div> <div>      </div> <div> Hearing from God doesn't necessarily mean an audible voice, although it could be.  Sometimes it's very subtle - a thought, a nudge, an idea, a guilty conscience.  I almost said it's a small voice that He communicates to us through our hearts and minds.  Actually the voice is very loud and clear and it is easily heard by the Christian.</div> <div>      </div> <div> Let us all try to listen better and to be more obedient to His voice so that when we are standing in His presence, He does not say to us, "LaLaLaLa, I can't hear <U>YOU</U>.</div> <bR> <div> <I>"My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me."  </I>John 10:27</div> <bR> <div> <I>"Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart."  </I>Hebrews 3:7</div> <bR> <div> <I>"When I called, no one answered.  When I spoke, no one listened."</I>  Isaiah 66:4</div> <bR> <div> <I>"To whom can I speak and give warning?  Who will listen to me?  Their ears are closed so they cannot hear me.  The Word of the Lord is offensive to them.  They find no pleasure in it."  </I>Jeremiah 6:10</div> <bR> <div> <I>"When I called, they did not listen.  So when they called, I would not listen, says the Lord God Almighty."                                                    </I>Zachariah 7:13</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The following poem was written by Cindy Matthews</B></div> <bR> <div> You are the bread of life</div> <div> Feeding my soul with your love</div> <bR> <div> Let me fall on my knees and see your face</div> <div> Teach me how to fall on your grace</div> <bR> <div> Save your kisses for me</div> <div> Letting me see how much you do love me</div> <bR> <div> Surround me in your care</div> <div> Let me trust that you'll always be there</div> <div> Moving within me</div> <bR> <div> Let me fall on my knees</div> <div> Let me see your face</div> <div> Allow me to feel your warm embrace</div> <bR> <div> Save all your kisses for me</div> <bR> <div> It's the intimate place - I want to be</div> <div> In your arms - you holding me</div> <bR> <div> Let me understand that I'm not only man</div> <div> That I am joint heirs with you</div> <div> Sitting at our Father's right hand</div> <bR> <div> Everything under foot</div> <div> Victory was won</div> <bR> <div> When you sent your beloved son</div> <div> He walked from law to grace</div> <div> Just so I could see your face</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Center Bethel Church of God, Alverton, P"><U>Home</U></A>    <A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Visitors Page"><U>Visitors Page</U></A>    <A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events News "><U>Events & News</U></A>    <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="About Us"><U>About Us</U></A>    <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Church Library"><U>Church Library</U></A>    <A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Links"><U>Relevant Links</U></A>    <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Youth Page"><U>Youth Page</U></A>    <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Camp Sonrise Mt. and Grove Manor Homes"><U>Camp Sonrise Mountain</U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id23_grove_manor_homes.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Camp Sonrise Mt. and Grove Manor Homes"><U>Grove Manor Homes</U></A>    <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Resources"><U>When Life is Difficult</U></A>    <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Steps to Peace with God"><U>Steps to Peace with God</U></A>    <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Daily Devotional"><U>Daily Devotional</U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>