Good News Fellowship Church

A word we hear repeatedly these days is the word “narrative”, defined as a spoken or written account of connected events. In other words a story. The fact that a good story either heard or read is almost always engaging presents an important consideration. This morning as we hear another in our series of “faith stories” we hope you are encouraged and ready to explore the value of “narrative” in the Christian context. We look forward to hearing Bob Van Aertselaer's faith story this morning, in our series on 'The Power of Love'.

This morning, as we continue with our topic: 'The Power of Love', we will hear from Pastor Don Draayer. Forgetting is an all-too-common reality of human life. Some of what we forget doesn’t matter. Other things we should never forget. God provides helps for us to deal with our forgetfulness in matters that he views of utmost importance; some things he simply doesn’t want us to forget. And he uses very mundane objects to aid our memories of who he is and how he cares for us.

This morning is a Faith Stories service. We are privileged to hear from Susan Slatcher and Jeremy Wells about how “The Power of Praise” has impacted their lives and their faith.

Leshia Verkerk is with us this morning to teach us about our theme, “The Power of Praise”. She will help us continue to explore the importance of psalms and songs of praise to God, not just reading or using them when we feel like it, but as a way to remind and recall to ourselves of God’s past faithfulness, especially when we may be dealing with hardships in our own lives.

We will hear from Paul Unger and Chris Lorenz as they share their Faith Stories in the context of our series theme, 'Offer what you can, Ask for what you need.'

Continuing with our theme of “Offer what you can, Ask for what you need” Jayne Vander Zaag will look at two stories in the Bible featuring widows to help us explore how culture and how we view ourselves impacts our ability to offer what we can, and ask for what we need.

This morning, we welcome back our friend, Brad Woods, who will present to us a collection of stories about angels, presents and babies that are either true, sort of true or not true at all. But each one sheds a unique light on Advent, Epiphany and Christmas and as a result helps us see the truth, beauty and power of the season through a new and creative lens.

Today is the first Sunday of Advent and we will light the Hope candle in preparation for Christmas. We will also be celebrating the dedication of Mira Bulala. Evert Busink, retired CRC Pastor, will be here to conduct the dedication and share a sermon with us.

We will hear from Cathie Van Benthem and Cynthia Plett as they share, as part of their faith stories, some of their experiences with living out their spiritual gifts. What impact has this had on their lives and those who have been touched by them? There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion following their story presentations.

This morning, as we continue to reflect on “Spiritual Gifts in Practice”, we are invited to consider our need for a renaissance of wonder in a world plagued by disenchantment. In his time of disenchantment, Job was told to “stop and consider the wondrous works of God”. How do we remain open to the gift of wonder and model that for our children?

It's a Kidventure Sunday! We're excited to be led by the Kidventure kids and leaders through games, songs, and fun activities. What would the body be like without ears? Or the rainbow without the colour blue? Today Corrie will talk about unity in the church and why God likes it best when we serve him together. "All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful!” 1 Corinthians 12

"As a follow up to last Sunday's topic, this morning John and Linda Parsons will share, as part of their faith story, some of their experiences using the various spiritual gifts. Come prepared to express your thoughts and ask your questions. They will take time to comment."

We are excited to have John Parsons speak to us this morning about Spiritual Gifts. As we continue our series, we look forward to centering ourselves in God's teaching about His gifts and we are grateful that John will be sharing that with us.

Our meditation this morning is on the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13, Mark 4, Luke 8). This message was originally given by Ray Vander Zaag at the funeral of his father, a potato farmer, as a reflection on the gift and challenge of his father's life. So while it is a testimony given at the end of a life, the themes of seed and soil also relate to us at GNF and our September theme of New Growth New Beginnings. How are we called to produce an abundant harvest in our life and that of the community around us?

September often feels like more of a new starting point than New Year's Day. In Winnipeg especially, there is a significant delineation of the seasons. People often go from 'vacation' mode back into work mode. School starts up again. The days start to get shorter. There seems to be a marked shift in focus for most people in September. With that in mind, for the next three weeks, we will be thinking on the theme of New Growth / New Beginnings. This morning, Cathie Chapman and Krista dela Rosa will be sharing their faith stories with us, reflecting on how these themes have shown up in their lives and in their new roles as Church Life and Leadership Coordinators here at GNF.

We'll be listening and sharing around the theme of Justice (today is designated "Day of Justice" by our congregation, the Christian Reformed Church of North America) with guest speaker, Brad Woods. Brad is friend of GNF who has previously visited us in past summers and is an amazing storyteller from, Guelph, Ontario.

Stories are powerful. We all love stories, especially ones that give us an “inside look” into someone else’s life. As children of God, we each have a powerful story to tell. Our "Faith Story Sundays" are about sharing how we experience Jesus and the difference he’s made in our lives and, we hope, they can help others discover how they, too, can know God personally. This morning we look forward to hearing from Sam Wells and Daryl Hiebert as they share on the topic of forgiveness, reconciliation, and the abounding grace of God in our lives.

This Sunday at GNF we will have a large group discussion time, led by Krista dela Rosa, and will explore the fact that we all have an innate desire for justice – we want others to experience consequences for their bad behavior. However, as we will hear in a video of Wilma Derksen, whose daughter Candace was abducted and murdered in 1984, for those of us who are Christians, we understand that we are called beyond the black and white of justice to love and mercy as well. If you are interested in watching the video you can here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=U7Byq9sW_XU

We begin a new series on forgiveness and reconciliation as we rotate through the five different service styles once more. Being reconciled to God is huge, it's the reason I came to Winnipeg. It is the reason I preach the good news. That ALL have been reconciled to God is a huge and exciting story. I often feel as though we Christians in North America don't really fully appreciate the significance of this reality. Most of you know how we were reconciled to God but do you truly know and understand what we have gained? It's a whole new life, a different way of thinking and living and loving. What we have gained trumps everything. It is the reason that I came here and it's the reason I am convicted to continue this work elsewhere. I will miss lots of things and people here at GNF but what I gain as one reconciled trumps that too.

Last week we began a series of five Sundays devoted to the theme of "Foreigners." This Sunday we continue the theme with two videos and a large group discussion time. We'll receive information on current immigration trends and hear from Jenny Yang, the Vice President of Advocacy and Policy at World Relief. Then we will join in discussion led by Bob Van Aertselaer as we explore why God has a heart for the stranger; the foreigner, how Jesus demonstrated this love in every day actions, and how we can embrace and welcome those who are "other" to us. Video Credit Thanks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GveyU8GvxXA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd4IEuPvQw8