NCF Update 05/10/25

Good morning church family,

May the grace and peace of the Lord be with you on this beautiful Saturday morning! Tomorrow is the Lord’s day, and I am so looking forward to being together with you. Our gathering together is truly a great privilege as we exercise the wonder of congregating together to worship, to fellowship, and to equip one another to live as citizens of Christ’s Kingdom. I hope you will make it a priority to join us tomorrow, as there is no substitute for the physical presence of Christians together.

Tomorrow is Mothers’ Day. We look forward to honoring all mothers. The way that you who have labored so faithfully at raising children has played a role in displaying the glory and goodness of God in this world. I can think of no task more worthy than raising up children in the admonition of the Lord. The only answer to darkness in this world is the light of Christ. Every child which is raised up by Christians to carry the light of the truth is another opportunity for the Holy Spirit to rise up against darkness and to put light on full display amongst people. We will have a small gift and a word of encouragement for mothers present with us. We are so very thankful for you!

Our focus passage for tomorrow is Revelation 20:1-10. This is a glorious passage for Christians as in it we see that Satan has been bound, that the church reigns with Christ, and that God will finally put down all evil and rebellion in the end. I believe we will be greatly encouraged as we look at this text together, and that through it the Lord will encourage us towards greater confidence and encouragement regarding our ministry in this world today. No doubt also, we will be greatly encouraged regarding our future.

On Sunday the 18th we will have our monthly fellowship meal. Our theme for this month is Mexican food. If you have any questions, or aren’t going to be at church but would like to sign up, please contact Pam Dihmes.

On Saturday, May 24th, Bethany is hosting the annual Bethany 66 Festival. As in other years, there will be a car show and many activities happening around our building. It would be great to have several of us there to greet people, to be ready to pray for people, and to minister to those who will be coming through our building.

On Sunday, June 1st, we will be having a worship and prayer night at the Tulakes Baptist Church building. We plan for this meeting to begin at 5:00pm, with the emphasis on corporate prayer. We firmly believe that if God has a future for our two churches together, he would like for that future to be built on prayer. The gathering we had on May 4th was meaningful and we sensed the favor of the Lord in it. I am very much looking forward to doing this again. Also, for those who have not yet seen the Tulakes building, this will be a great opportunity for you to do so.

Please continue to pray for Ann McMillan. Ann has been enduring several health challenges lately. This past week she was able to go home with her daughter and will be on dialysis. Pray that she might have strength to endure, and also that the Lord might visit her with a gift of healing.

Each one of you is loved and appreciated. May the Lord grant you rest on this Saturday, and may he prepare your heart to engage him and to minister to others tomorrow morning. See you at 9: 30am for prayer and at 10: 45am for worship.

In His steps,

Pastor Nick

Revelation 20:6 CSB — “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.”