Highland Lakes church of Christ

VISITING FOR THE MASTER IN 2020
It is time to reorganize our visitation program for the New Year. Members were invited to add their names to the sign-up sheet on the table at the rear of the auditorium.
This program has served our congregation well since 2007. The reorganization meeting will be held this evening after our worship hour. If you still have questions, see Cary Miller for additional information.

HELPING HANDS PANTRY
Bath soap, deodorant, tooth paste, shampoo
THANK YOU!

EATING OUT TOGETHER . . .
…on Thursday, February 13th, at ―Mama’s in Burnett at about 5:30 pm. The sign-up sheet is on the table in the back of the auditorium.

SOUP FELLOWSHIP
Our next Soup Luncheon is on Wednesday, February 19th, at 11:30 AM. This is a good time to meet and visit with our guests!

WORLD BIBLE SCHOOL WORKDAY
On Thursday, February 13th, we will have the next World Bible School workday. From about 9 AM to noon. Come and enjoy the fellowship and this good work!

REMEMBER OUR SPANISH WORK
Salvador SanTillan is ready every Sunday morning to teach a Bible class in Spanish. This is a worthy endeavor. Do you have friends who would benefit from this Spanish Bible study? Let them know about it by giving them a warm, personal invitation. Those who already come, make them feel welcome and at home in our fellowship.

PRAYER REQUESTS
Please let the secretary (Helga) know, either by a written note or an e-mail message , if you would like to have your prayer requests published in the PRAYER REQUEST list in the bulletin. Also remember to cut out that list ever so often for your own special prayer time.

A PRAYER FOR OUR NATION
Dear God, You have commanded us in Romans 13:1, Titus 3:1 and 1 Pet. 2:13, and other places, to submit to the governing authorities. And we want to do this, it is Your will. But as we look around us, we see that those authorities do so many things that are not subject to Your will and laws. We see them rebel against You and so we feel uneasy.
But You have also commanded us to pray, in 1 Timothy 2:2, for those in authority that we may live peaceful and quite lives in all godliness and holiness. So this we will do, because You have assured us in James 5:16 that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Therefore we pray that there will be an awakening in those who are our authorities toward Your laws, Your will, which is the best for mankind.
As You have blessed us with a form of government that gives us the right to vote for what is right in Your eyes and according to Your will, we will do our best to be informed and prayerfully consider and decide to do what is right in our civic duty. May God bless our efforts in all we do!
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

Gospel Chariot Fourth Quarter Update 2019

Gospel Chariot Fourth Quarter Update 2019. Please keep in your prayers all our brethren throughout Africa who are sharing the Gospel and helping the lost find their Savior thru the efforts of the Gospel Chariot. For the elders, Ken D

Hi Everyone. Hope this finds you doing well. This is the West African Fourth Quarter update and it’s a little late due to me being on the road in Africa. West Africa is on fire for The Lord and the new big gospel chariot is up and running in Liberia and over a hundred souls have been baptized into Christ. We still need to get a baptistery built in like the other chariots and will try do that as soon as possible. The exciting news is we are now starting to raise funds for a new big gospel chariot that will be based out of French speaking Benin that will focus on all the French speaking countries around Ghana. We now have more chariots in West Africa than any other region due to us wanting to be intentional in reaching Muslim populated countries. Please pray for this bold move as Africans take Africa for Jesus.

That said, we have flown a number of Key African leaders down to South Africa for a 4 day intensive 4 fields discipleship seminar where we will learn how to start cells churches in Muslim populated countries where we can’t go in with gospel chariots. We will also do that training in Uganda. Please pray for these efforts as God guides us. To Him be the Glory.

Biodun Owolabi reported the following from Nigeria on the 23rd of October: The Nigeria Gospel Chariot traversed the length and breath of South Eastern Nigeria from 1st August till the first week of October, 2019.
Between August 1st and 31st, the chariot visited 33 communities and four zones in Enugu State: Enugu, Nsukka, Eha- Amufu and Agwu. Nine souls were converted and thousands enrolled for the WBS correspondence course.

The chariot then moved on to Abia and Imo states from September 1 to October 3, 2019. The chariot worked for a couple of days at Mbala Isuochi in Abia state before moving to Imo State. The chariot visited 15 communities in Imo State where hundreds of people were enthusiastic about hearing the truth of God’s word. Five souls were converted and several prospects enrolled for WBS course.

Continue to pray for the chariot and the crew as they continue to take the saving gospel of Christ across Nigeria amidst challenges of difficult terrain, bad roads and other challenges that are peculiarly Nigerian.
To God be the Glory. In Him. Love, Brother George Funk

A PRAYER FOR OUR NATION

Dear God, You have commanded us in Romans 13:1, Titus 3:1 and 1 Pet. 2:13, and other places, to submit to the governing authorities. And we want to do this, it is Your will. But as we look around us, we see that those authorities do so many things that are not subject to Your will and laws. We see them rebel against You and so we feel uneasy.

But You have also commanded us to pray, in 1 Timothy 2:2, for those in authority that we may live peaceful and quite lives in all godliness and holiness. So this we will do, because You have assured us in James 5:16 that the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective. Therefore we pray that there will be an awakening in those who are our authorities toward Your laws, Your will, which is the best for mankind.

As You have blessed us with a form of government that gives us the right to vote for what is right in Your eyes and according to Your will, we will do our best to be informed and prayerfully consider and decide to do what is right in our civic duty. May God bless our efforts in all we do!

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

VISITING FOR THE MASTER IN 2020

It is time to reorganize our visitation program for the new year. A sign-up sheet is on the table at the rear of the auditorium.

Please consider becoming part of this ministry, which has served our congregation well since 2007. A reorganization meeting will be held after the Sunday evening service on February 9th. See Cary Miller for additional information.

HELPING HANDS PANTRY

Needs – Bath soap, deodorant, tooth paste, shampoo

Thank you

NEW ADDRESS

Phil Parmer has moved to Windchimes, room # 401.

THANK YOU NOTES

♥ We thank you all so much for the prayers, cards and well wishes after the passing of Kenneth and Kevin Herring, Leana’s brother and nephew. In Christian love, Troy and Leana Futrell

♥ Thank you for all the Prayers, Love and Support! Jeff Thuleen

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

Beautiful Footnotes

Nigeria – Report on Missionary Visit

Brother Chad Wagner, who has reported on the Nigerian work to us in person early last year, recently spent time with Mike Udam, whom we help support, in Nigeria. This is Mike’s report of Chad’s visit. Please keep the Nigerian gospel effort in your prayers. For the elders, Ken D

REPORT OF MISSIONARY VISIT OF CHAD WAGNER TO UKPAGADA 21-23RD JANUARY, 2020

The president of African Christian Schools Foundation and Missionary to Nigeria, Chad Wagner, paid a three day visit to join us in expanding the frontiers of God’s message of salvation.

The visit afforded him opportunity to speak to the entire Ukpagada village during our Tuesday’s open air preaching. Arising from the expository message he gave, a soul responded by obeying the gospel through the watery grave of baptism.

Brother Chad also had the privilege to speak to leaders of congregations in Northern Cross River state in a leadership Retreat organized by the Ukpagada church on the topic “Growing the church through Sound Doctrine”. Over a hundred church leaders were present and learnt a lot from him.

Earlier on, he had visited with the clan head of Ukpagada, Ntol Julius Igbaji Mobre, in his palace. The visit afforded him the opportunity of hearing the conversion story of the chief who is now an active Christian.

The church used the opportunity of the visit to show him the congregation at Ukpe established as a result of our evangelism effort. He encouraged the new congregation to look unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of their faith.

The church appealed to him to help raise funds to complete the mission house and also draw the attention of Healing Hands International to help provide a functional borehole for the community aside the one donated by some brethren here in Nigeria.

We had a fellowship meal together and took several pictures to keep the memories alive. As a church, we are blessed by his visit and do hope he will take out time to check on us in the near future.

Sincerely yours, Mike Udam

SOUP LUNCHEON FELLOWSHIP
Our next Soup Luncheon is on Wednesday, January 29th, at 11:30 AM. Come and enjoy this event with our guests!

EATING OUT TOGETHER . . .
…on Thursday, February 13th, at “Mama’s” in Burnett at about 5:30 pm. The sign-up sheet is on the table in the back of the auditorium.

FELLOWSHIP MEAL
. . . today, Sunday, January 26, 2020, at noon
Hosts and hostesses: Linda Lively, Linda Robertson, James & Vicky Williams.

HELPING HANDS PANTRY
Needs – Bath soap, tooth paste, shampoo
Thank you!

VISITING FOR THE MASTER IN 2020
It is time to reorganize our visitation program for the New Year. A sign-up sheet is on the table at the rear of the auditorium. Please consider becoming part of this ministry, which has served our congregation well since 2007. A reorganization meeting will be held after the Sunday evening service on February 9th. See Cary Miller for additional information.

OUTSIDE COMMUNION REQUESTS
Please let the elders or the office know if there is a need to have somebody come to your home or other place of abode (e.g. nursing home) with the Lord’s Supper.

THANK YOU
“Thanks so much for all the concern shown me during my last illness. You are wonderful Christian friends and I appreciate your love, kindness, support and generosity. – Norma Bryan

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

Nigeria Marriage Retreat – Mike Udam

Our brother, Mike Udam, whom we help support in Nigeria, recently sent a report on a recent retreat aimed at strengthening marriages among Christians there. Please pray for our Nigerian brothers and sisters as they too seek to live lives as God has desired. For the elders, Ken D

Ukpagada Couples Retreat 2019
For four years running, the church meeting at Ukpagada have been gathering couples from around the country together towards the end of the year to brainstorm on ways of making our marriages work according to the standard that God expects it to be. It is one event that has recorded so many testimonies of its huge impact on the couples that had followed regularly. Research conducted in the early 1990, by a group of family experts places the family as the main institution that God expects man not to fail and sadly 60% of 100 men interviewed showed signs of lack of capacity to “Dwell with them with understanding” 1 Peter 3:7. So it became imperative that couples come together to build capacity in how to live with each other peacefully. The retreat is usually divided into 3 parts.

First we spend time introducing our spouse in public, stating the things you know about them, their likes and dislikes. Then we receive a lecture by a seasoned family expert. Then we split to deal with issues based on gender. In between these periods, we break to eat together and have fun in the process.

This year 45 couples attended and it was colourful. Adegoroye Abiodun, the minister of the church meeting at Kado Abuja was our guest speaker. He spoke on having the mind of Christ even in our marriages. He destroyed so many preconceived positions and prejudices that have made our marriages a war room. During the split session, the men were told to learn to look inward and build their marriages. Honesty and transparency in handling family finances was emphasized. The women were told how to truly be submissive to their husbands while husbands were called upon to be assistive to their wives in the kitchen which was not the case before. The retreat came to a close with a closing prayer by the host minister Mike Udam. The saints were edified and the Lord glorified.
Sincerely yours, Mike Udam

THANK YOU NOTES
“It was a long 2019 and with your prayers and God’s grace….we got through it. We thank you from the bottom and top of our hearts for y o u r p r a y e r s a n d k i n d gestures. We look forward to a healthy 2020 for all!”
In Christian Love, Lynn and Kathy Patterson

“Prayers of thanksgiving are requested that Jeff Thuleen’s surgery had gone well. Please continue to pray for Jeff and the ongoing concerns.”
~~ The Thuleen Family

WITH SYMPATHY
Kevin Warren Herring, the nephew of Leana and Troy Futrell, passed away, at age 48, on Wednesday, January 8th, in Temple. Graveside services took place on Monday, January 13th, at Mahomet Cemetery, followed by fellowship and a celebration of Kevin’s life at the Mahomet Christian Church. Our heartfelt prayers, love and condolences go out to Leana, Troy and all the family. We are praying for God’s love and strength as this family grieves this second loss of a loved one in such a short time.

HELPING HANDS PANTRY
No special requests at this time.
Thank you!

LETTERS FOR 2019 CONTRIBUTIONS
In regard to 2019 contributions, let Bob Foster/Kynn Maxwell know if you need a letter from the church, attesting to your contribution for 2019, where you are itemizing deductions.

ELDERS 2020 BUDGET PRESENTATION
On January 19th, this evening, at the end of our 5 PM worship assembly, the elders will give a brief presentation, summarizing the 2020 budget.

HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR TASSELS LATELY?
Bertram Church of Christ Ladies Day 2020
Numbers 15:37-41
When: Saturday, January 25, 2020
Where: Bertram church of Christ,
535 N. West Street, Bertram, Texas
Time: 9AM-12PM, Lunch to Follow
Registration: 9:00-9:30 AM

SOUP LUNCHEON FELLOWSHIP
We will have a Soup Luncheon on Wednesday, January 22nd, and also on Wednesday, January 29th, at 11:30 AM. If you would like to help prepare for the Soup Fellowship of January 22nd and 29th, please review the sign-up sheet on the table in the back of the auditorium.

FELLOWSHIP MEAL
. . . On next Sunday, January 26th
Hosts and hostesses: Linda Lively, Linda Robertson, James & Vicky Williams, but are there 2 more volunteers? Please, let Helga know! Thank you!

EATING OUT TOGETHER …
…on Thursday, February 13th, at “Mama’s” in Burnett at about 5:30 pm. The sign-up sheet is on the table in the back of the auditorium.

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

Sylvester Imogoh – Report from Nigeria

This is the 2nd part of Sylvester Imogoh’s letter from last week. We are proud to help support the work in Nigeria. Please keep them all in your prayers. For the elders, Ken D

My Dear Brethren, this is a most serious need for the work of God in Nigeria for this present time. And I am appealing for your help in it.

I have plans to visit you all again. When it would be I do not yet know. I do not yet have the assurance of funds for our airfare. But my wife and I already have the visas that are valid till January 2021. But whenever we can make a visit possible, I want to sit and talk with you face to face about other areas of work, capital; projects and needs that we are looking at:

Ugbogbo Church Building Expansion Project: Our congregation has been experiencing wonderful and encouraging growth since last year. Now our weekly attendance for AM Worship averages 350. [This past Sunday, we were 404]. But this includes many children. But the children are the future of the church. Now this growth is posing serious challenges to us in the areas of accommodation. For now, less than 10 percent of our members earn any income at all. They are a bunch of needy folks- most of whom are in need of benevolences. There are widows, orphans, students, and apprentices. The plan is that we have to knock down the partition wall for the room that was serving as Children’ classroom for many years to increase the hall for worship. But that construction work requires money- for iron rods for pillars and beams, cement, sand and the services of carpenters and bricklayers.
Children Church’ Construction. Early this year, we started the construction of a structure outside and beside the church building to house the children for worship. Since last year, we have been using the front porch for their Sunday services. But that space has now become too small. [Most Sundays we have as many as 150 children, or more] That work is ongoing, but we lack the funds to continue.

These are projects that I hope IF I get to come to the US I will be discussing with brethren who may want to listen to me about my ideas and dreams for the future of the Nigerian evangelism.

THANK YOU NOTES

To the Highland Lakes church of Christ,

I want to thank all of you for making me feel welcome here. I am sad to say, I am moving back to the Cleburne area, to be closer to my father. I will miss all of you here, Doug Pearce

EATING OUT TOGETHER

This enjoyable fellowship will continue in February. As before, the group will meet on every second Thursday of the month. Thursday, February 13th, is the date to meet at “Mama’s” in Burnett at about 5:30 pm. The sign-up sheet is on the table in the back of the auditorium.

SOUP LUNCHEON MINISTRY

This ministry will start up again on Wednesday, January 22nd, at 11:30 AM.

HELPING HANDS PANTRY

Needs Plastic Bags. Thank you!

BEAUTIFUL FOOTNOTES

Sylvester Imogoh – Nigeria End of Year letter

3 John (ESV) 5 “Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are”………. 8 “Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.”

Let us be mindful in prayer of all our fellow workers for the truth whom we help support, like brother Sylvester Imogoh in Nigeria who recently sent us an end of year letter. His letter will continue next week. For the elders, Ken D

END OF THE YEAR LETTER OF THANKS AND APPEAL

Dear Brethren,

It has been another wonderful year of services to the Lord our Master in His Kingdom! The year seems to have ended too fast, because it has been full of work and fruitful activities for us. Only in eternity may we know the full impact of all the efforts that you all have been putting into the gospel work In Nigeria. For these past many years, you have faithfully supported me and the work of evangelism in Nigeria and many other parts of Africa. To me you have been perfect in your love for me and for my family and in the ways that you have faithfully financed the BCC program and other works that I am involved in. You do not let me ask. I am grateful to you and to God who made it all possible. To Him be Glory, Praise and Honor in Jesus’ name. Amen

My Dear Brethren, as the year draws close to an end in a few days, may I use this means to present to you some situations relating to our work here for your consideration and possible support in the future, please?

World Bible School Enrolment Fliers – For so many years now, you have provided funds for me to print these fliers with which we enroll more names for the Bible study program. As I told you in the past, they are not only being used for your work, but they are also used by other preachers and congregations across Nigeria who send them to other places in the US. Thus in that way alone, you are helping to facilitate the good work going on in so many parts of Nigeria. The year before last, you help us with which we printed 1000 copies of the fliers. We need to print more!

Other personal matters that I may need help for are:

• My Health issues especially the need for me to buy gym equipment to enhance my health.
• My Son’s Education in the University. You have helped me once. He is not yet graduated.
• My Wife may need to have a surgery, because she has been having issues with bleeding and now a scan has shown that a tumor is growing in her. We ask for your prayers about this.

Thank You for prayerfully considering this appeal.

Yours In Christian Love and Services, Sylvester A Imogoh — December 17, 2019