Prairieland Christian Church activities       Send a link to a friend

[FEB. 2, 2005]  HARTSBURG -- Prairieland Christian Church news:

Feb. 1-8 -- Missions trip to the Dominican Republic. Please be praying for the safety and the success of this trip. Those going are Eldon Lessen, Marti Lessen, Debby Watts, Chad Ragsdale, Larry Jones, Anthony Jones and Blanche Coers.

Friday, Feb. 4 -- Friday Night Fellowship is canceled. It will instead take place on Feb. 11.

Wednesday, Feb. 9 -- Prairie Ladies HOPE, 6:30 p.m. at the church. Marti, Blanche and Debby will have the lesson, and Peggy and Suzy are hosting.

Friday, Feb. 11 -- Friday Night Fellowship at 7.

Sunday, Feb. 13 -- Joint LTM at the church starting at 6:30.

Wednesday, Feb. 16 -- Prairie Men's Band of Brothers. Men's group starting at 7.

Friday, Feb. 18 -- Friday Night Fellowship at 7.

Sunday, Feb. 20 -- Annual "State of the Church" sermon. We will have a potluck following church. The congregational meeting scheduled for Sunday night is postponed.

Feb. 25-26 -- Scrapbooking fund-raiser (see details below).

On Feb. 27, Chad Ragsdale will be starting a new sermon series entitled "Cry Freedom." It is the longing of every human heart to be truly free and at peace with himself, the world and God. Unfortunately, freedom in this world is elusive at best. Fortunately, "it is for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Galatians 5:1). Christ has come to offer us sweet freedom. All too often, however, we are the ones who determine to put the shackles back on. For five weeks we will be exploring the different shackles that keep us from experiencing true freedom in Christ.

• Feb. 27 -- "Freed from the Bonds of Self-Righteousness"

• March 6 -- "Freed from the Bonds of Self-Sufficiency"

• March 13 -- "Freed from the Bonds of Self-Satisfaction"

• March 20 -- "Freed from the Bonds of Self-Centeredness"

• March 27 (Easter) -- "Freed from the Bonds of Self-Doubt"

In conjunction with this new sermon series, Jon Hamilton will be offering a new small group for those interested in experiencing Christ's freedom in their lives. More details to follow.

This month I'd like you to think about your mission field. That's right; you live right in the middle of a mission field. Do you know what we mean when we talk about missions? It's very simple. Missions is simply going out and being a witness for Christ. It doesn't just happen overseas. We are all missionaries. We haven't been called to be Christians. We have been called to be witnesses for Christ (Acts 1:8). We are not reaching our full potential for Christ unless we are engaged in missions.

So how can you work you own mission field? Let me give you a good place to start: word and deed. By "words" I mean being prepared to tell your faith story. It doesn't mean that you have to be a preacher or teacher or even an evangelist. You just have to know your own story about your relationship with Christ. We all have a story to tell. By "deeds" I simply mean let your light shine before men (Matthew 5:16). Sometimes the best way to be a witness is just to engage in good deeds
-- live out your faith for all to see.

Youth activities: Kyle's Korner

Feb. 6 -- Super Bowl party! Come to the church at 5:15 p.m. for food, fun and fellowship! We'll have a short devo at halftime, so with a Bible in hand and a buddy at your side, I'll see ya there! Go, Eagles!

Feb. 13 -- Youth group at church, 5:30-7 p.m.

Feb. 20 -- Youth group at church, 5:30-7 p.m.

Feb. 27 -- Surrender at LCC. Leave at 5:40 p.m., return no later than 8 p.m.

See ya Sunday!

--Kyle

Where: Prairieland Christian Church, 208 N. First St., Hartsburg.

When: Friday, Feb. 25, 5 p.m., to Saturday, Feb. 26, 7 a.m.

Come and spend the evening or night catching up on those scrapbooks and help raise money for the Dominican Republic missions trip. You can bring your sleeping bag and crash in the sanctuary if you can't stay up all night.

For $10 you get the use of one 6-foot or one round table. If you don't need that much room (and we all usually need more), you can share a table with a friend and each can pay $5. All of the fees go toward the missions trip.

To keep expenses down, you are asked to bring a snack to share and your own drinks. If you want pizza for supper, the group will be collecting money and placing an order. If you would like to bring your supper, that is fine also. An oven, microwave, coffee maker and refrigerator are available.

Hostesses: Danita Gabbrants, Close to My Heart; Lori Allen, Creative Memories; and Betty Jo Lessen, Creative Memories.

R.S.V.P. by Feb. 11 to (217) 376-3243 or partyof5@ccaonline.com.

If you know of anyone else who would like to come, please let them know about this. We look forward to seeing all of you there. 

[News release]

Be still and know      Send a link to a friend

By Chad Ragsdale

[JAN. 8, 2005]  Psalm 46:10 has always been a bit of a "life verse" for me (and I'm sure I'm not alone). It says very simply in the NIV, "Be still and know that I am God." Similarly, Psalm 62:1 says, "My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him." I thought I really had a good handle on what these verses meant until a couple of weeks ago.

A couple of weeks ago I was rocking our baby to sleep at the end of another busy day. I would love to claim "Superdad" status and say that this is a part of my new daily routine, but that would be untrue. Tara normally puts Logan to bed, but I had been recruited on this evening to give her a much-needed break.

The thing about babies is that when they get tired they get irritable -- just like daddies (so I've been told). On this particular night Logan was very tired and so very irritable, and as I was rocking him, he was screaming, crying, batting at the air with his arms and kicking his dad in the stomach with his legs.

Well, I started to get a little frustrated -- not in an angry sort of way -- more in a loving sort of way. I knew that he was tired and needed to get some sleep, but he was determined to fight against it.

So I didn't give up on him. I surrounded him with my arms, held him close, and whispered in his ear. "It's OK, baby. Daddy's here. Go to sleep."

I realized only then the true meaning of those verses. We must look a lot like that struggling baby in the eyes of God. Many times we feel a deep discomfort and uneasiness in the deepest parts of our souls, and we fight against it. We kick and we scream and we flail our arms with purposeless passion. We exhaust ourselves searching anywhere and everywhere for some comfort and peace in this world.

The whole time I imagine God is looking at us full of that sort of fatherly loving frustration, wrapping his arms around us and whispering to us in our discomfort -- "Stop your striving. Find true rest and comfort for your soul in me. Be still and know that I am God."

In Christ,
Chad Ragsdale
Prairieland Christian Church

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