The "F" of our LIFE group acronym is "Find Your Purpose." An important part of finding our purpose is discovering, affirming and using our spiritual gifts. The Bible tells us that we each have God-given gifts that are to be used in our work and service. When we act out of our own unique gifts, we are more likely to be effective in what we do, and are more likely to enjoy it! For the next four weeks, we will be talking about spiritual gifts in our LIFE groups. We'll learn more about what they are, take some time for each of us to learn what our unique gifts might be, and explore some ways we might put our gifts into practice. Be sure to join us, and invite a friend!
Community Worship Gathering This Sunday, January 25 at 6:00 pm at Hope.Gate.Way. ~ 185 High Street
We hope you will join us for this month's Community Worship Gathering, this Sunday evening at 6:00 pm. We've just begun renovations in our new space called Hope.Gate.Way. (185 High Street), but our contractor says we will be able to meet there! We'll have coffee and snacks ready at 5:30 pm, with worship beginning at 6:00. Come and bring friends!
Our Community Worship Gathering is your opportunity to gather with the full New Light community. Maybe there are people who are part of another LIFE Group whom you haven't seen for a while, so come and let's be together as a community.
This month we'll think about how we can be instruments of God's love, hope, peace, healing, compassion, and justice in the world. Mahatma Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." What does that mean for us? What does it mean for our life together as a community in this city which God loves? What does it mean as we strive to be global citizens in a world filled with suffering?
“Over half of all schools worldwide lack safe water and sanitation, jeopardizing the health and education of millions of schoolchildren. Most of the 115 million children currently out of school are girls. Many are denied their place in the classroom by lack of access to decent toilets at school, or the daily chore of walking miles to collect water.” - UNICEF, 2005
In the next week we will be finishing up with the Advent Conspiracy and sending our donations off to the Humble United Methodist School in Uganda.
We are collecting money to help to install a water system at Humble United Methodist School in Uganda. This school provides food, shelter, and education to about 250 children, most of whom are orphans due to the AIDS crisis or civil war. Currently the school lacks a system that provides a consistent supply of clean water for sanitation and cooking.
Did you know?
More than 150 million school-age children are severely affected by waterborne parasites like roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm. These children commonly carry up to 1000 parasites at a time, causing anemia, stunted growth, and other debilitating conditions.
Children who suffer from constant water-related illnesses carry the disadvantages into school. Poor health directly reduces cognitive potential and indirectly undermines schooling through absenteeism, attention deficits, and early drop-out.
Nearly 90 percent of all diseases in the world are caused by unsafe drinking water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene. Every year, there are 4 billion cases of diarrhea as a direct result of drinking contaminated water; this results in more than 2.2 million deaths each year—the equivalent of 20 jumbo jets crashing every day.
We can do a small part to help these kids get the safe, reliable water they need to stay healthy and get an education. To find out more visit Living Water International. Please give donations to Allen, Sara, or Erica by February 1st.
Allen and Sara will be hosting a super bowl party at their home on Sheffield Street on February 1st at 6pm. Come watch the big game on the big screen...and if you are not interested in football, come anyway, enjoy the food, company and some fun games.
We will be ordering pizza, bring your favorite Super Bowl snack or drink to share.
Also, we will be collecting food for the Sacred Heart food pantry, and money for the Wayside Soup Kitchen, as part of the Souper Bowl of Caring.
The Souper Bowl of Caring is national movement of thousands of congregations, schools, community organizations and compassionate individuals caring for others on Super Bowl weekend. Souper Bowl of Caring equips and mobilizes youth to positively impact their communities by collecting money or food on or near Super Bowl weekend. 100% of the collections are donated directly to the charity of each group's choice.
Last year 5.6 million dollars, and 4.7 million pounds of food were donated to local hunger relief agencies all over the country from this event.
