A Note from Pastor Dave

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1 NEW HORIZONS COMMUNITY CHURCH Lead Pastor Dave Souers Youth Pastor Matthew Rhynehart Children s Pastor Todd Moser todd@nhccrockford.com Office Manager Donna Felver office@nhccrockford.com Inside this issue: Outreach Missions Worship Women s Ministry 2 3 Youth 4 Children s 5 Office First Impressions 6 A Note from Pastor Dave "Where are you going to be a missionary?" It was a question that I had been asked when I was in Bible School. I had no intention of being a missionary, especially in a country that didn't speak English, since learning languages was not something I was good at. In fact, my lack of desire to serve as a missionary was one of the first major topics of conversation with Annette before we started to date. I was fine if she wanted to be a missionary, she was raised as a missionary in France after all, but I wanted no part of it. But the person that asked the question when I was in Bible School wasn't talking about going to foreign lands, but about the call of every believer to be a missionary where they live, work and play. I had never thought about life that way, and especially about my relationship with Jesus as being something that put me on mission, regardless of where I was. It began to change the way I looked at my jobs when I was in college. Working for a landscaping crew was no longer about mowing grass, and making homes look nice, but became about building relationships with the people I worked with. It allowed me to have some very interesting conversation about my faith on our to the job site. Serving people their coffee everyday at Starbucks was no longer about the coffee, but about being involved in the lives of the people that worked for me, and the people that we served. I still remember talking with one of my favorite customers as she went through her cancer treatments. She would come in and sit down by herself, and when things slowed down, I'd grab my coffee and sit with her for a while. I've been coaching various sports, at all different levels since I was 19 years old. It's never been just about the sport for me. Like my jobs, coaching has become my mission field. Like the time I stayed after practice to talk and pray with a student that just found out her parents were getting divorced. Or the many conversations I had with my Muslim players concerning what I believed, and the difference it made on my life. Or the player I sat and cried with February 2015 as he told me his dad had just died. Everything we do has an opportunity to be a mission field. As I continue to read through and study the Gospel of John, I am constantly reminded of how Jesus brought this group of twelve men around him so that they could learn from, and experience him for themselves. He was the first missionary, and he set the ultimate example for each of us. Colossians 3:17 says "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." What if each one of us began to view where we worked, lived, and played as our mission field? How would God use us? What divine appointments does he have planned for you when you allow yourself to live on mission? The year to date average church attendance - 235

2 Page 2 Outreach Show your LOVE to others! February is a great time to show your love to someone as it is the LOVE month with Valentine s Day. Little random acts of love/ kindness are a great way to spread the love of Jesus. It may be shoveling someone s sidewalk or helping them walk to their car on the ice. We can all give more love to others. Remember Jesus loves us and he died on the cross for us. That in itself is hard to grasp. So as you come and go through each day try to show the love of Jesus to someone! Amy Lyons Missions Missions. Often out of sight and out of mind. I know we remind you about them monthly but unless you REALLY have an interest in them or a heart for them it's easy not to think about them. We have a budgetary commitment for $11,200 for India, Macau, Kentucky, Campus Life, Home- Benevolence, and mission trip fund are all included. Please keep this in mind as you plan your giving for this year. Plans for the Belize trip are in progress and we are still interested in a trip to Big Laurel this year and want to hear from you if you are interested. Participation is the very best way to really appreciate what it's all about! Please consider how that might work for you! Dr. Jerry Sell

3 Page 3 Worship & Music Mercy Grace The past few weeks we have been singing a new song Mercy Reigns. I wanted to take some time and really focus on the meat of that song! You see, there is just so much truth in these lyrics, Biblical truth that is. I have felt that it is no accident that God revealed this song to me. I love the line in the Chorus that says Your hand is reaching down, to pull me from the dark. Now, I want you to really, really ponder that, and the next time you are in the church, I want you to really look at our Rescue logo on the wall for this sermon series. Is that God s hand reaching down to you? Your RES- CUE? We need to clearly see God s Mercy saving us from what we do not deserve, and God s Grace - giving us what we do not deserve, in our lives. This is why Paul called Grace a gift from God in my opinion. Ephesians 2:8 says this For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. (ESV) We don t deserve Grace, but God has given it to us, because He has mercy on us! How does He have Mercy on us? He sent Jesus to the Rescue! Read what The Word says here, For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV). So, the next time we sing Your mercy covers me and Your grace is all I need really Ken Meyer sing those out to God! What a love He has for us! Sing those lyrics with all your Heart, Mind and Soul! Amen! Women s Ministry The last month has been very emotionally draining. If not for the help and love of my family and Christian brothers and sisters it would have been very difficult to survive. God sends us special people to help us thru tough times in our lives. God works thru those special people that he sends us. That is one way we know He lives. Knowing that God lives in this world with me today helps me face tomorrow. So make sure you let God s love show thru you. You may be helping a brother or sister survive in this world today. We are hoping to show our love for all our brothers and sisters at the Valentine banquet again this year. We will try to make this an enchanting evening for everyone. Make sure you get your reservations in as soon as possible. The date for the banquet is Saturday, February 14, 2015 starting at 6pm. Dress formal or don t its up to you. We want you to be comfortable. We will supply the food and entertainment to make your evening a delight. Come join us for the fun. We are planning some other events so watch for further information. Our next meeting will be February 7pm right here at the church. All women are welcome to join us. Hope to see you there. Cheryl Howell All To The Glory of God Cheryl

4 Page 4 Youth News Matthew Rhynehart If you haven t seen the youth room lately you should stop by and take a peek. We have recently made some big changes to the format for Sunday night Voltage. In the past, we have done the worship and lesson portion of youth group in the sanctuary. With about 30 students participating on Sunday nights, this has made the sanctuary a space much too large for us. I have often felt like students were disconnected during the worship and easily distracted during the lesson. Picture it: 30 teens filling the first few rows in the sanctuary surrounded by an enormous, empty and void room. It just didn t feel right, and it certainly didn t look right. I recently read a few articles that discussed the importance of a space that is appropriate for the size of your group. The article explained that a space too big feels impersonal and causes students to feel disconnected (tell me something I don t know). On the other hand a space too small doesn t allow room for growth and can feel uncomfortable for its own reasons. These were things that I have known for a long time, but reading these articles finally gave me some motivation to create a space that was more appropriate for our group. With all of this in mind, I touched up the paint in the youth room, moved some things around, de-cluttered the room, and started playing with some different set-ups. We installed a 60 TV to serve as our projection for worship slides and teaching slides, and some shelves for components like DVD players and video games. We arranged chairs to make the room feel more like a worship/teaching space, and we set up a more acoustic style worship set. The youth room is no longer a hangout room, but our main space for Sunday nights. We have only had an opportunity to meet in there once since moving to this new format, but the response from students was very positive. Several students saw it before Sunday night, and were excited to try something new. As students arrived at youth group that night, they were excited to see something different and interested to see what is was all about. After youth group was over, some students shared, It felt just like being a camp. In my mind that s a win and a huge compliment. I am excited to see how these changes continue to impact the group. As always my goal for Sunday nights is to create an atmosphere where students can interact with each other in love and have a good time, but most importantly where they can connect with God through worship, and learn from Him through the teaching. I truly believe that these changes are going to create an atmosphere where those things can happen on an even higher level. So like I said in the beginning, if you haven t seen it check it out!

5 Children s Ministry I have never understood why a groundhog is the prognosticator of whether we have 6 more weeks of winter. I figure Spring will get here around March 20th or 21st, regardless of what the woodchuck allowed to play, and even be provided a crib to sleep in if needed. The staff will either wear lanyards or KidZone T-shirts that signal that they are indeed supposed to be in there with the kids. We will train every volunteer on the proper procedures for providing a safe, secure nursery envi- does. More important than casting a groundhog s shadow is casting a vision! ronment. I want to continue casting the vision for KidZone ministries. When a new parent walks through our doors, they will be met by a smiling, friendly greeter and guided to where the KidZone area is. As they move to the kid s area, the parent is met again by another smiling volunteer who will walk her through how to put the family s information into our check-in system. The volunteer will be very helpful and answer any questions the parent may have, and briefly explain how the checkout will work when they come to retrieve their child. All this will take place at a separate table or area from the check-in area for children already enrolled in the system. A win here is a smooth input of information and a parent who knows their child is secure and will not be dismissed to anyone other than them. In the nursery, the child will be held, rocked, read to, cared for, fed, burped, We also want to provide a nurturing environment based on the atmosphere of the room. We are intentional on providing a great place of care for babies. The win is complete when concern about the care of their child is in the safe category in the parents minds, we ve spoken some truth into the ears of these little ones, there has been no allergic reactions or health issues, and can give happy, contented kids back to their parents at the end of the service! The toddler area, once that is established, will be designed for 2 & 3 year old potty-trained children. This classroom will have an open area for play, a sitting area (with chairs and tables) for snacks and any hands-on activities. There will also be the storytelling area, complete with interactive clocks, drawers, and boxes. The children will learn that God is Todd Moser there and He wants us to know Him. The children will learn all of the wonderful things God has provided for us to see, feel, touch, hear, and taste. They will lean that God loves children. The room is set up to provoke their curiosity. A win in the toddler service is a child that is fully engaged throughout the class time and can say the main idea of the day - to their parents on the way home! It is a complete win when the decision not to come back to NHCC based on how their child liked and was treated in class time.is off the table. Join me in more dream-building next month! And come join our team and help us achieve our mission of changing our future for God s glory through leading children into a life changing and growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Pastor Todd Page 5 Children s Ministry Nursery Schedule 9:00 Worship Service Feb. 1st Peggy Yaney Feb. 8th Janice Peel Madison Meyer Feb. 15th Michelle Rhynehart Raya Beerbower Feb. 22nd Peggy Yaney Feb. 1st Beth Cruz Feb. 8th Jill Williams Abbey Sutter Feb. 15th Jenny & Claire Armstrong Feb. 22nd Jolene Rogers WonderZone Feb. 1st Chad & Brandi Bruns Feb. 8th Sue Eichenauer Feb. 15th Jenny Armstrong WonderZone Feb. 1st Ryan & Leah Thompson Feb. 8th Kim Gause Marianna Fetters Feb. 15th Amanda Triplett Feb. 22nd Tom & Amy Lyons 15th Street Garage Feb. 1st Todd Moser Feb. 8th Todd Moser Feb. 15th Todd Moser Feb. 22nd Michelle Agler Feb. 1st Todd Moser Feb. 8th Todd Moser Feb. 15th Todd Moser A/V Team Feb. 1st Claire Armstrong Feb. 8th TBD Feb. 15th Caleb Carlson Feb. 1st Claire Armstrong Feb. 8th Hannah Carlson Feb. 15th Caleb Carlson JumpStart Song Leader Feb. 1st Alicia Moser Feb. 8th Todd Moser Feb. 15th Todd Moser Feb. 22nd Shay Bolton Feb. 1st Alicia Moser Feb. 8th Alicia Moser Feb. 15th Alicia Moser Feb. 22nd Shay Bolton Todd Moser Check-In Both Services Annette Souers

6 Page 6 Office Manager Campers Fundraisers Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!! On Sunday, January 18th the campers held their monthly camper café and with your wonderful generosity we were able to put $679 into the campers fund to help offset the cost of church. Please mark your calendars for our next monthly café on Sunday, February 15th. We will be having our pasta bar. There will be pasta with red sauce (with or without meat) and pasta with a white sauce, salads and homemade desserts. This café will be a free will donation and put into the campers fund to help offset the cost of camp. Here is a list of our upcoming Camper Cafés: Sunday, Feb. 15th - Pasta Bar Camper Café Saturday, March 28th Pork Dinner before the Lion s Club Variety Show. Sunday, April 19th TBD Please mark your calendars to join us. February Birthdays!! 7th Olivia Sutter 12th Marianna Sutton Terri Samples 14th Bailey King 16th Bonnie Leistner 23rd Teresa Moser Gary Fisher 24th Dave Souers 26th Wayne Ditson 29th Kathy Ditson Sermon Topics for February Feb. 1st: John 4:1-26 A Questionable Encounter Feb. 8th: John 4:27-42 Harvest Time Feb. 15th: John 4:43-54 A Sign of Life Feb. 22nd: John 5:1-47 Don t Add Water 9:00 Worship Service Feb. 1st Jerrold & Sue Eichenauer, Ben Schleucher, Marge Sill and Chad Bruns Feb. 8th Steve & Cindy Hodge, Melissa Etzcorn, Jenny Armstrong, Bob Schumm and Bill Miller Feb. 15th Rob Hoehamer, Johnnie & Billie Tullis, Amy Carlson and Lupe Berlanga Feb. 22nd Everett Frank, Marianna Sutton, Carl & Donna Pond and Courtney Temple 10:30 Worship Service Feb. 1st Jerry & Connie Sell, Katy Sill, Anessa Abromavich, Matt & Jenna Hodge and Dennis Clay Feb. 8th Ryan & Leah Thompson, Brenda & Alivia Stover, Marge Sill, Bill Miller and Tom Lyons Feb. 15th Rob Hoehamer, Lori Routt, Johnnie & Billie Tullis and Jerry & Marge Sill Feb. 22nd Scott & Jerica Ralston, Misty Riley, Ralph & Susan Moeller and Fred Vann