Valentine's Day With Jesus

Jesus does not send perfume

To linger in the air

Instead He sends salvation, sweet

To show how much He cares.

He doesn’t bring me candy heartsIn boxes of delight

Instead He always lets me know

I’m precious in His sight.

He doesn’t send out pretty cards

Trimmed in shades of red

Instead He gave His life for me

His precious blood was shed.

He doesn’t hand out fancy gifts

Like we would send to mother

Instead He sends a message clear

To always love each other.

He doesn’t give me teddy bears

That whimper, "please be mine"

Instead He gave His heart to me

I wear it all the time.

He doesn’t give me roses, pink

For all the world to see

Instead He gave eternal life

That’s good enough for me!

-- Marilyn Ferguson

LISTS!

It is that time of the year..no, not resolutions, but LISTS! As I have watched TV this last week, I have been bombarded by “lists” from the past year. They consist of best football teams, best sports plays, best news stories, and even best bloopers.
As you reflect back on 2010, I think it would be good to think of the areas in our lives that stood out as excellent and those that were not so excellent. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” I would challenge you to look at a couple areas of your life:
1) Obedience – As you look back, is that on the “best” list or the “bloopers”? Am I listening for His instruction, either in the Word or by His Holy Spirit? Have I done as He asks? Elizabeth Elliot said, “He is Master…it is simply up to me to obey orders as given.”
2) Unity – God has been burdening my heart to pray for unity among us all at Anoka Wesleyan Church. When it is my will and not God’s will that I am seeking, conflict will arise and god’s purpose is hindered. Jesus prayed, “May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know You sent Me.” “Best” or “blooper” list? I think the reasons are two-fold. First, we want our own way. That’s not Christ-like. He said “Not my will, but Thine be done.” Secondly, we are focused on the church and not on the lost. Nothing but love for the lost will unite the divided forces of Christ and organize us into a mighty soul-winning army!
So how does your list look?

Jesus Is The Gift

Merry Christmas to our friends! We have some awesome opportunities to share Jesus this Christmas season! He is the Ultimate Gift that has already been given to us! Join us for Christmas caroling on December 5th! Our Sunday School Christmas Program is always a special time. See you there on December 12th at 6 pm. You will be blessed by the choir's musical "O Holy Night" on Sunday morning, December 19th, at 10:45 am. And most special of all will be our time of worship on Christmas Eve at 6 pm. Invite someone to come with you!


Oh, what a miracle Christmas is! God came to us so we could come to Him! Have a most blessed Christmas.

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Jesus is the Gift

Jesus is the gift that perfectly fits every heart and it is with His love that all celebration starts. We rejoice in Him as we remember His birth and thank God for sending His only Son to earth.

His life led from a manger to a cross on a hill where He faithfully followed His Father's perfect will. He freely laid down everything so that we could live and there is no greater treasure anyone could give.

Like a scarlet ribbon His love wrapped around the cross and He offered it to us all at the greatest cost. So each time that we give we remember what He's done and honor the perfect Gift - God's one and only Son.

For God so loved the world that He gave... John 3:16

My Tribute of Thanks

"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name." Hebrews 13:15

I sometimes cannot believe we are already in November of 2010! The new year will be just around the corner before we know it! When we come to the month of November, I immediately think of Thanksgiving…a time of giving thanks!

Giving praise to the Lord is one of the best ways to express our thanks to God for His many blessings and yet, I wonder how many of us do it on a regular basis? I’m not just talking about “saying grace” before we eat…or the list of blessings you may write down during this month. I’m talking about Hebrews 13:15…continually offering praise!

Continual doesn't just mean once a year or even once a day for that matter. It implies that it is repeated without interruption. David said in Psalm 34:1, "...His praise shall continually be in my mouth." He also said, "At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments." (Psalm 119:62) When's the last time we found ourselves up at midnight thanking the Lord? Later on in that same psalm David says, "Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments." Do we stop seven times a day to praise God? Do we even stop once or twice to praise Him?

My desire for you this month is that you develop a lifestyle of praise to our Lord…realizing WHO God is and who we are not! Oh, may it be an amazing time of giving thanks to our Lord…not only in November but throughout the entire year!

I close with one of my favorite songs...”My Tribute” wriitten by Andre’ Crouch…

How can I say thanks for the things You have done for me? Things so undeserved yet you gave to prove your love for me. The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude. All that I am, and ever hope to be, I owe it all to thee. To God be the glory, to God be the glory. To God be the glory for the things He has done. With His blood He has saved me. With His power He has raised me. To God be the glory for the things He has done. Just let me live my life and let it be pleasing Lord to thee. And if I gain any praise, let it go to Calvary. With His blood He has saved me. With His power He has raised me. To God be the glory for the things He has done." Have a most blessed Thanksgiving!

Help Deploy The Truth

Through Faith comes By Hearing's Military BibleStick project, our nation's troops are hearing the word of God while (or preparing for) deployment. The Military BibleStick is a digital Audio player that is pre-loaded with dramatized recording of the entire New Testament. Chaplains from every branch of the military are flooding Faith Comes By Hearing with requests. For $25 you can purchase Military BibleStick plus Bibles for their families. Between now and Veteran's Day (November 11th), we'd like to see if we can raise some funds to purchase a few Military BibleSticks. Stop and look at the display in the sanctuary.

October is Pastor Appreciation Month! Don't forget to express your thanks to Pastors Doug, Jeff and Becky!

We're looking forward to having Rev. Dave and Brenda Babcock, Global Partners' missionaries from Austria, with us on Sunday, October 24th, at 10:45 am. We'll have a potluck dinner following the service.

We Had An Awesome August - Let's Have a Super September!

August was awesome at Anoka Wesleyan! It started off with a block party on “Minnesota Unite Nite”! We were able to meet many of our neighbors and the jumping castle/slide was a HUGE success with the kids!

The next week we had a rockin’ time at our “Crocodile Dock” Vacation Bible School!! It was so much fun to hear of the “God sightings” that took place…it was a VBS where fearless kids shined God’s light!

We collected school supplies, zippers, Advil, and several personal items which will be going to Honduras this month to help in the ministry of Pastors Oscar and Maria. They will be deeply touched with your kindness! I hope you had a chance on Sunday to see the reversible sun dresses that one lady has been making! Pray for her as she delivers them to Honduras.

And to close the month out, we had an awesome afternoon for our Sunday School picnic at Orono Park in Elk River! Wasn’t the baptism service special!

And now it is time for Super September! It is back to school for our church kids! Thanks so much for praying for them as they return...in fact, why not ask our church kids from time to time how you can specifically pray for them! And let them know you love them too! Our Kids' Klub has kicked off its "Big God" series with lots of new faces this fall! Our Youth Group is growing...and the Young Adults are having an awesome time! Don't have a church home? Come join us!

It's Time For Vacation Bible School!

August is a busy month at Anoka Wesleyan! We had our Block Party this evening and had a wonderful turnout! We had a blowup jumping toy which was a wonderful attraction for kids! And the big and little kids all enjoyed when the Anoka Police stopped by to thank us for being part of "Minnesota's Nite to Unite!"

Now we are set for Bible School starting on Sunday, August 12th. Our theme will be "Crocodile Dock" -- encouraging kids to be on the lookout for God sightings! It's for all kids from ages 3 through 99! It will be August 8th through August 12th and will be a fun week of seeing God in action! Cost is $3.00 per person. There will be a class for teens and adults. To preregister, write anokawesleyan@yahoo.com or call 763-427-1068.

And don't forget to come to our Sunday School picnic at Orono Lake in Elk River on Sunday, August 22nd at 1 pm! See you there!