Suppers for Eight...
 A new fellowship group is beginning at Faith Church! See the sign up sheet on the vestibule for our new Groups. The first meal is January 18^th at 6:30 p.m. After you sign up you will be contacted with more information regarding the home you will be assigned to and then the hostess will contact you to bring either an appetizer, salad, dessert or bread item. The home hosting the meal will provide the main dish. If you would like to attend or host a “Suppers for Eight” please sign up as soon as possible. Any questions should be directed to Kathy Scholten. (Adults only please.)

Has the thought of service crossed your mind?
Have you ever asked yourself how you could help out around the church and reach out to others? Here is your chance! There are four new sign up sheets for 2008 on the vestibule bulletin board. If you are interested in being a door greeter, hosting our first Sunday evening Fellowship Time, hosting a Visitor Fellowship Meal or hosting our fourth Sunday Congregational dinner please see the sign up sheets on the vestibule bulletin board. Consider signing up with a friend to make it more fun and to get to know another family in the church! The duties for each area of service are listed on the sign up sheet.

What is a MESS Hall? 
 So we started a youth group. What are they doing and what does MESS mean? We are gathering our teenagers 2 or 3 times a month to teach the Word, train in godliness and encourage our young people to serve. MESS means mutual encouragement society, sanctioned. That means that we gather together to grow in grace and practice godliness.
We even have a mission statement. “As members of MESS, being of one mind in Christ, we will exhort and edify one another in love, pray for and serve others, forgiving and keeping peace, helping to bear others burdens, and bringing the gospel to others; so that we may glorify our Lord and Savior and continue to grow in knowledge, grace and godliness.”
 Once a month we gather at the Scholten home for teaching, music, snacks and fellowship. Once or twice a month we have an activity or a service project. So far we have raked leaves at the church and for some members of the church. We are planning on serving at the Haven of Rest in January. We have a sledding party tentatively planned for January 1^st, a Snow Camp opportunity, and an Indelible Grace concert at Malone College planned.
We have studied the book of Haggai and also how to proclaim the gospel. We are inviting friends from outside of our church to join us as well. Pray for us as we grow together in serving and loving our Lord and one another.
 Pastor Mark

Jan. 1:               Sledding if weather permits...to be announced.

Jan. 5:               Haven of Rest Service Project.

Jan. 10:             Meet at Pastor Scholten’s home.

Jan. 24:             Meet at Pastor Scholten’s home. 

Dear Congregation:

Somehow I thought I would have written this about a month ago after we got settled in. Guess what? We’re still not settled in – well, not completely. While I have kept you somewhat up to speed with a few posts to the prayer chain, I wanted to get a note into the newsletter to reach all the congregation.

We had a good trip out to Arizona, and the movers and are second car arrived pretty much when expected. Immediately we began the awesome task of unpacking and placement of our greatly reduced possessions. While the bulk is done, there are many loose ends. We have enjoyed our new home, the wonderful weather, visit with some family members, and some wonderful SW/Mexican food. We’ve also enjoyed worshiping with friends at Calvin OPC as well as visiting a few (3 so far) of the PCA churches in the Valley.

But most of all I want to say “Thank you” to Faith Presbyterian Church. Thank you for the years we had together in worship and ministry and fellowship. Thanks to the officers for your commitment, faithfulness, and encouragement during this time. Thanks to all who grieved, rejoiced, and were just there for my family over the past several years. Thank you for the many ways you literally helped us make this transition and move with so many lingering details to manage.

And, if is not too presumptuous, I would even want to say thanks for your finding and welcoming Pastor Scholten and his family, and the good beginning I witnessed before leaving the area. I hope and pray that he will enjoy in some measure the rich blessings I had during the almost four decades God granted me the privilege to be your pastor. Few things will bring more joy than to see FPC grow in faith and usefulness to the Kingdom of God.

Finally, but most of all, I thank the God of all grace, by whom alone all these good things have come to pass, and glorify our precious Savior Jesus Christ, in whom alone we have life eternal. May I let the words of the Apostle Paul express my final thanks.

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus (Phil. 1:3-6).
Carl Bogue

Understanding Our Great Salvation:
Our Salvation Is Safe in God’s Hands
Can we lose our salvation? If salvation is entirely in the hands of God and we can add nothing to it, if salvation is based on Christ and him crucified plus nothing, if salvation is offered to us whole and complete on the basis of the work of Christ on the cross, then our salvation is not in our hands. We cannot lose it. John 10:27-29 "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish; and no one shall snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. ”Who are the sheep that have eternal life, that shall never perish, and that cannot be snatched out of the Father’s hand? They are the people of God, those whom God has chosen to save with an everlasting salvation. Christ knows them and they follow him. Those who by a true and saving faith trust in Jesus Christ as he is offered in the gospel will follow him and show their love by keeping his commandments. That is the obedience of faith.

Many things that we trust in this life can disappoint us. We place trust in the schools to educate our children, but they can fail to teach even the basics. We trust in the stock market to multiply our retirement nest egg, but stocks can lose value. We trust in our cars to bring us to work each day, but batteries can run out of juice. But Jesus Christ and the salvation offered in his name is one thing we can trust and never be disappointed. Our salvation is safe in the hands of the Father and the Son. When we believe we receive eternal life.

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 13-14)

Jesus has prayed for you as a believer in Christ. What has he prayed? “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” (John 17:24)

What about those who appear to be believers but fall away from and reject the faith? There are many that profess faith in Christ but do not follow Christ unto the end.

Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”

1 John 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.

Those who walk away from Christ never really belonged to or trusted in Christ. What a great comfort it is to know that our salvation is eternally safe in the hands of the God of our salvation. Here is a word of advice. Don’t try to take your salvation out of God’s hands and into your own. You remember the boldest of the disciples, Peter. He had such a zeal for Jesus. At times he was commended for his bold faith. When Jesus asked His disciples the question, ‘Who am I?’ Peter boldly proclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” (Matthew 16:16) Jesus commended Peter, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 16:17)

On the night that Jesus was betrayed Jesus told his disciples that they would all fall away on account of him. Peter replied in great pride and confidence, “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will.” (Matthew 26:33)

He was taking salvation into his own hands, he had faith in his faith and not in his Lord. In fact he was contradicting the Lord Jesus by his very words. And that night Peter did deny that he even knew Jesus three times.

As Peter matured in the faith, he put less and less trust in himself, and more and more in the power of God. We read of this in 1 Peter 1:3-6: 1 Peter 1:3-6

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Your great salvation is safe and secure in the hands of your God.

Men’s Bible Study and Breakfast

Due to a scheduling conflict on January 26^th, the Men’s Bible Study and Breakfast for January has been moved up one week to January 19^th at 8:00 a.m.

Why is Doctrine Important?

"We are living at a time when people are saying, "Doctrine does not matter. We must be tolerant to all and big-hearted enough to let all speak their minds and to hold their own opinions." Consequently, there is much confusion in the religious world. Doctrine matters greatly, for what a man believes will determine how he behaves. Let a man deviate from the faith delivered unto saints, and it will not be long before that man, morally and spiritually, strays in his ways. In the course of my ministry I have had appointments with a number of people whose lives have been marred and broken at one point or another. I have discovered that many of these, earlier in their lives, possessed an evangelical faith. They believe in the authority and inspiration of the Word of God, but at some point departed from that faith and soon lowered their standard of living and their lives caved in. When we turn aside from the doctrine of the sovereignty of God, we are soon left with no anchor and with very little assurance. We begin to question the purpose of things and lose the true perspective of life. If we turn aside from the doctrine of the Lordship of Christ, it will not be long before we compromise our position as Christians and begin to live worldly lives. When the doctrine of sin is lost sight of, we begin to excuse ourselves for some of the things we do, and our ethical and moral standards are lowered. When the reality of the doctrine of hell is passed over and the doctrine of universalism is substituted, we miss the true meaning of Christ's death and lose any compassion we may have had for the dying souls of men. When we neglect the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, then we begin to work in the energy of the flesh and our power in service is lost. When we fail to recognize the doctrine of the meaning and functions of the church, we become sectarian and treat it as if it were a religious club. When we treat scantily the doctrine of prayer, we go to battle without any weapons, thus losing the fight against the adversary of our souls. And when we do not study the doctrine of sanctification we become content with second-rate, mediocre, Christian living. So I may go on. We cannot gather grapes of thorns, nor figs of thistles, and we cannot expect our lives to be right if our doctrine is wrong."

John Bird, Faith that Works