September 2, 2021 | Newsworthy @ Gracepoint Adventist Church

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Download the August Stewpot here.

Join us this Saturday, September 4, 2021
10:00 am Live In-person Service
11:30 am Adult & children's discipleship class(es)
11:30 am Second Look
 
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Rats 
 
There are rats in our neighborhood. When there is fruit on our trees they come for a visit. I have a regular battle with them. The fighting runs from about May to September. That means that it is about over for this year. I chose a different tactic this spring. I decided to eliminate their reason for visiting.  They, along with their cousins the squirrels, travel our fences gathering as much fruit as they can. This year we picked all the fruit as soon as it was ripe and tried hard to keep the wind-falls off the ground. 
 
It helped a lot. They still came, along with the birds, but they didn’t come in the same numbers or try to make homes in and around our house.  They are gone now but they will be back. 
 
With next year’s fruit, their appetites will bring them back. After all, it is a fact that you get more of what you feed. So, when the food is around for the squirrels, rats, and birds, they will beat a path to my backyard. It’s true of my habits too.  If I feed my bad habits, they get stronger. If I feed the good ones the same proves true. What does it mean to feed them? I’m so glad you asked. 
 
I can get sloppy about filtering my mental input. You know what I mean? I stop being thoughtful about what I’m reading, watching, or listening to. I allow the majority of the input for my brain to be secular and even oppositional toward what I believe. If so, I will swing away from faith.
 
A couple of thousand years ago Jesus mentioned the need for us to filter what we see. 
 
     “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.” Matthew 6:22
 
Jesus is not talking about having good vision here. He is talking about what passes through your eyes. Good or bad, it is influencing your spiritual life. 
 
An old story, probably a fable, illustrates it this way. A man who had a large number of dogs that he raced in sled races, had an amazing knack for picking which dog would win.  People of course begged him for his secret. Finally, one day nearing the end of his life he shared his secret. “The dog that I feed,” he said, “wins.”
 
The Apostle Paul describes this battle with sin as a sort of match between two men. The “old man” and the “new man.”  This metaphor is one of my favorites because it plays out in my own experience. I know who I was before Jesus, and I know who the Holy Spirit is shaping me to be. I know that I must be careful to join my efforts with that of the Spirit or I will thwart them. The new man must be fed if he is going to win this battle for my salvation.
 
I want to encourage you to be thoughtful about what you allow your mind to take in. We live in a secular world, as have all followers of God, and to intake the views of our broken planet without filtering them Biblically can align us with ideas and ways of thinking that are not Biblical or Godly. We may try to tie the things of God to the ways of our world, but they don’t work. 
 
The rats around our neighborhood will take the fruit from the tree, but they seem to be particularly interested in the stuff that falls to the ground. Maybe it’s just easier. It’s so easy for me to set my focus on the things that make me angry, feed my ego, or worse. It is harder to be vigilant about filtering things, changing the channel, searching for a balancing opinion. (Even if I must find the original sources.)
 
Feeding the new man is worth it. He only survives when I feed him, and the old me can be tough to defeat.
 
 That’s how it works for me.
 
 Walt
 
 God’s Love is supreme, His grace is the only thing that can save the planet and 
His Word is our best source for answers.
For more info/vendor forms:
tinyurl.com/gracelane2021
Gracepoint Ladies Fall Tea
October 29 at 6:30 pm
Due to the fire damage at our beloved Leoni Meadows, this year's Christian Women's Retreat will be temporarily moved to Pacific Union College.  Our retreat dates will also need to change to October 15-17 and October 22-24.  We are sorry for the changes and are thankful for your understanding. https://www.ourchristianladies.com/copy-of-registration

For those needing refunds for canceling, they will receive a check in the mail.  For others, with refunds due, refunds will be available during registration at PUC.
“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8, 9).

Donate to the Leoni Meadows Recovery Fund.
Highlights from Worship Night!
And please save the date for our next Worship Night, Saturday, November 13, 2021.

Children's Discipleship Teachers Needed!

We still need a few more teachers!
Thank you to those who have recently joined the team and to those who were there from the start!!


office@graceisthepoint | 916-624-4877
Our next host dates for The Gathering Inn:
Wednesday, September 15,
& Wednesday, October 20.  

If you have not signed up to volunteer, you may do so by emailing office@graceisthepoint.org.
Children's Storytellers!

Are you out there? We need you to volunteer to tell stories that we'll video record after church on selected Sabbaths to use in future weeks. You can use puppets if you'd like or you can use your own props.  We will prerecord and edit them for you!

Please contact Carlene at: carlene.henriques@gmail.com

Or you can contact the office.
NCC News

The NCC ABC will be making prepaid drop-off deliveries throughout Northern California during the month of September. 

Every Thursday morning, pray with people from around the NCC during the prayer call.
Exercise class is back!
Tuesdays at 9 am

Bible Study class is back!
Tuesdays at 10 am


Both of these classes will practice social distancing.

Office Hours Next Week:
Closed Monday for Labor Day
10-5 Tuesday - Thursday
10-1 - Friday


916-624-4877
office@graceisthepoint.org

 


Please be sure to welcome the following members who joined our church family in 2021:

Audrey Welty joined our church by baptism.
Amira Simpson joined our church from White Memorial SDA Church.
Kendal Cornell joined our church from Carmichael SDA Church.
Garry, Dianne, and Andrew Binder joined our church from Auburn SDA Church.
William (Bill) Mattingly joined our church by baptism.
Samone Johnson-Smith joined our church by baptism.
Genesis Ceballos joined us by baptism.
Asher Thomlinson joined us by baptism.
Martin Christiansen joined us by profession of faith.
Lisia Albuquerque joined our church from Paradise SDA Church,
Linda Cornell joined our church from Carmichael SDA Church,
Andrea Polston joined our church from Pacific Union College SDA Church,
Carrie Purkeypile joined us from Antelope Hills SDA Church,
Lisa Brostovski and Sadako Lascelles joined us from Granite Bay Hilltop SDA Church,
Rena Jones joined us from Carmichael SDA Church,
Brooke Lewis joined us from Carmichael SDA Church and
Irvin and Anita Sprenger joined us from Minot SDA Church, Minot, ND.

Welcome to Gracepoint!
We hope that you find this newsletter helpful. If you have an event or something to share, please email gpnews@graceisthepoint.org
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