Christmas

People have asked Patti and me how we celebrate the Christmas Season (the birth of Jesus Christ) and why. In the following article, I hope to share with you the "Reason for the Season" and why we, "The Marengo Home Fellowship" celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Luke 2:1-19

And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.

This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.

So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this [will be] the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger."

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!" So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, "Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us."

And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen [Him], they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard [it] marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things and pondered [them] in her heart.

I would like to talk more about verse 11. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

If you haven't listened to the song "Mary did you Know", I would like to ask you to now as I will be referring to some of the verses in it.
"Mary did you know that your son would save our sons and daughters?

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

A Savior. What is Jesus actually saving us from? Why do we need a Savior? Why did God step out of heaven into history? Why, why, why?

Psa 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, [And] all the nations that forget God.

Psa 55:15 Let death seize them; Let them go down alive into hell, For wickedness [is] in their dwellings [and] among them.

Mat 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Hell...... "the unquenchable fire" and "where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched."

Mat 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

God, "after He hath killed, hath power to cast into hell," is assigned as a reason why He should be feared with the fear that keeps from evil doing, Luk 12:5; the parallel passage to this in Mat 10:28 declares, not the casting in, but the doom which follows, namely, the destruction (not the loss of being, but of well-being) of "both soul and body."

Before I talk about the need of the Savior and the reason Jesus was born, I would like to share more about Him through the song, "Mary Did You Know?"

"Did you know that your son will one day walk on water?"

Mat 14:21-30 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children. Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind [was] boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"

"Mary did you know that your baby boy, would give sight to a blind man?"

Jhn 9:1-11 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; [the] night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." When He had said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. And He said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which is translated, Sent). So he went and washed, and came back seeing. Therefore the neighbors and those who previously had seen that he was blind said, "Is not this he who sat and begged?" Some said, "This is he." Others [said], "He is like him." He said, "I am [he]." Therefore they said to him, "How were your eyes opened?" He answered and said, "A Man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to the pool of Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed, and I received sight."


"Mary did you know that your baby boy, would calm a storm with his hand?"

Mat 8:23-27 "Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to [Him] and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!" But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

"When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of GOD."

Jhn 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

Jhn 1:10-14 "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

The above verses tell us who Jesus Christ is. " The Word became flesh and dwelt among us." Not who he was, but who he is. GOD.

While Jesus was on earth, during His ministry he taught us why we are separated from God, which is sin and what we must do to be saved. Saved from Hell, which is the punishment for sin.

Jhn 3:17,18 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

If we believe we are not condemned: but if we don't, we are condemned already."

We need a Savior.

If you died today, which 150,000+ people will, will God consider you to be a "good" person? Good enough to get into Heaven? Try this quick, self-scoring test... it's free to take and you'll get these questions answered for good. Go to http://marengohomefellowship.blogspot.com/ and you will find the 8 question test.

Patti and I are sharing this with you because we love you and want to have a friendship with you in Jesus Christ, our Savior which was born.........

For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.


Are you celebrating Christmas because Jesus Christ is your Savior?

The Reason, for the Season.

"but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. This [is] a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. For to this [end] we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is [the] Savior of all men, especially of those who believe." 1Ti 4:8-10 NKJV

Jesus died for all men, but.......especially for those who believe.... We must, must repent and turn from our sins to have Jesus be our Savior.

Do you celebrate the birth of Christ because He is your Savior?

What is on my mind today? For those who do not know whether or not they would go to heaven if they died today, that they would consider this. Take a simple test.

Take the quick 8-question test found on the right side of the page. Why? Because we love you!

Christmas

Pilate therefore said to Him,

"Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say [rightly] that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

Jhn 18:37

Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving was approaching and I was praying about and considering it, the greatest thing that I am thankful for kept coming back to my mind. It is found in the Gospel of John.

Jhn 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Need a friend? You don't need to be alone. Patti and I are here for you. Please give us a call at 715-681-0487 or leave a comment.

Crushing cans for "Save Coins for Urdu Bibles".

The language of Urdu is a Pakistani language. We are currently working with Nadeem Massey which is a Pakistani National. For more information on our work in Pakistan you could leave a comment and we will get together with you concerning this exciting opportunity to get the bible into Pakistan.

Please go to our photo album and you will see albums with some information on this work in Pakistan.

Are you a good person?

Do you ever wonder if you would go to Heaven if you would you die today? You or I aren't promised tomorrow. Look at the right and take "The Quick 8 Question Test".

Are you struggling? Are you saying, "God, what do I do?!"

Please don't throw your baby away. Send us a personal message.

We want you to know that you and your baby are loved by an awesome God. We would hope to be an expression of the Love of the Father, Jesus Christ to you and all involved.

In these final days may we “Declare His glory…His wonders among all peoples” (Psalm 96:3), and may many souls repent and surrender to Jesus Christ unto eternal salvation! " Jim Tetlow"

We believe that we as Christians are examples of the love of God in this world. It is this (agape) love that we desire to possess and without which we have no right to call ourselves Christians (I John 4:16-17).

It's been a while

I am still in Marengo. Just been spending a lot of time on Face Book. Please see my badge in the upper right side of this page. Would love for you to join us there. Send us an invite on FB.

I will be starting to share back here as the Lord leads. Looking forward to meeting you and praying with you and for you and your family, and friends.

Personal Prayer Request

I hope everyone is in a good place and blessed in Jesus.

I just want to let you know that I will not be at the Ashland County Fairgrounds on Saturdays for noon prayer until further notice. Tomorrow, the 11th I will be meeting two men from Calvary Northland Christian Fellowship in Iron River Wisconsin for breakfast. These two men have a heart for evangelism. We will be meeting and praying to see what we will be doing in the weeks to come concerning this heart call. I would like to ask you to pray about this time that we will have together.

Please watch and pray with us as we come together to serve the Lord in Ashland and Bayfield counties. We sure appreciate your prayers. We are very excited about this opportunity. I have been sharing that the Lord is stirring my heart for evangelism up here in the North Woods of Wisconsin. Jesus has answered my prayer in a very exciting way by not just stirring my heart, but by introducing me to these two guys with the same heart. I know God is going to use us to do His work up here. Thank you for praying with me the past few months.

The 17th Patti and I will be going to Milwaukee Wisconsin and coming home the 20th. Please keep this in prayer also. One thing we will be doing is fellow shipping with Calvary Chapel Milwaukee. It is their church picnic and baptism day. I am watching and praying for opportunities to share Jesus Christ with people at the park while we have the BBQ and baptisms. Please join me in prayer for this opportunity also.

I will share more concerning these things as things happen. Lord bless you and again, thank you for being a part of our prayer team.

Daily Promises
Blue Letter Bible
July 9, 2009

But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. (John 14:26)

Jesus promised us the Holy Spirit. He describes Him as the Counsellor or Paraclete (the One that comes alongside to encourage). The Holy Spirit is sent from the Father (in Jesus' name) and one of His ministry is to teach us all things and to remind us of what Christ has told us.

Daily Promises
Blue Letter Bible
July 4, 2009

The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. (Psalms 121:7)

While tragedy may beset us while we travail in this present age, our assurance is firm: our great God and Father shall prevent our downfall until that glorious day when we shall stand evermore in victory ultimate in the name of Christ Jesus our Lord. Praise Him till He returns and then praise Him throughout eternity!

Daily Promises
Blue Letter Bible
June 30, 2009

As far as the east is from the west, [so] far hath he removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12)

My prayer: Father, I stand in complete amazement of Your unrelenting love for Your children. Thank You for the blood of Your Son and the eternal grace that You pour out upon us. It seems so unbelievable that You choose to remove and forget our many transgressions against you. Yet You do just that! Make us worthy of Your remarkable mercy and grace

June 28th. 10:30 am

On Sunday, June 28th, The Marengo Home Fellowship will be at Long Lake fellow shipping with Calvary North Christian Fellowship. There will be Baptisms after the service followed by a pot luck.

Bring a dish to pass along with some paper plates and utensils.

After the pot luck there will be swimming and possibly some boat rides.

Long Lake is just east of Iron River a few miles north of Highway 2. Take either East Long Lake Road or West Long Lake Road off of Highway 2 and follow the balloons.

A time with Pakistan

CC Milwaukee's assistant Pastor Terry and his wife Kalpana, who is originally from India stayed with us for two blessed days. While they where here, we had a 45 minute skype video conference with Nadeem and Farah Massey as both Terry and Kalpana can speak Nadeem and Farah's native Urdu. It was a blessing to have them meet Nadeem and Farah as now CC Milwaukee will now be praying for Nadeem's work in Pakistan. I do encourage you to use a head set to hear the video. Be Blessed!

Prayer

I will be going to the Ashland County Fairgrounds in June on the Following Saturdays from 12 noon to 1pm.
June the 20th and the 27th. Rain or shine! Check out the photo album to the right and look at the "Prayer for Ashland County" album.

I would like to ask you to please pray for me as I am going to go to the Ashland County Fair Grounds to pray to the Living God, Jesus Christ. I will be praying for Marengo, Ashland, Sanborn, Mellen, Highbridge and North York. These are cities and towns in Ashland County, Wisconsin.

The Lord is making it very clear these past weeks and months that He is wanting us to serve Him in this immediate area of Ashland and Bayfield Counties here in Wisconsin.

I would like to invite anyone who is called to pray for these towns and communities to join me at the fair grounds around noon. Do you have a heart stirring and yearning to see Jesus' love and compassion seen in your immediate family? Your community? Let's get together to pray and seek Jesus Christ to hear what He is saying to us. What does He want to do in our families and communities?

Lord bless you and stir you to seek HIm.

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

Matthew 11:29, KJV.

After prayer at the fair grounds, you are welcome to come to our home. We can fire up the grill so please bring enough meat for your family and maybe a dish to pass.

After, we can have some Acts 2 fellowship here. We would love to get to know you.

No Fellowship the 13th of June

Patti and I will be in Michigan this weekend. We will be spending time with Patti's Niece. While we are there we will be meeting a couple in her church Saturday afternoon and her Pastor and his wife for dinner the same night.

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and go about the Lord's business in Michigan.

Looking forward to next weekend for fellowship as we will have very special guests from Milwaukee Wiscosnin. I will share more later about them when we find out for sure if they will be here or not.

Be blessed.

If you need to contact us please call 715-681-0487.

We will be persecuted.

Daily Promises
Blue Letter Bible
June 6, 2009

"Blessed [are] they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

(Matthew 5:10)

May all believers take great heart in this amazing promise of joy and glory! Just as our Lord was persecuted, so we will be persecuted. It is a guarantee! However, we suffer with the knowledge of the beautiful hope of inheriting the kingdom of heaven and residing with our heavenly Father in all His glory. To consider His greatness only causes us to sing of His righteousness!

Brielle Murray

I have added a link to the right titled Brielle Murray. Brielle is the niece of a very dear brother and sister in the Lord. Please lift up this special family with us in prayer to the living God, Jesus Christ.

Prayer

I will be going to the Fairgrounds in June on the Following Saturdays from 12 noon to 1pm.
June 6th, the 20th and the 27th. Rain or shine! Check out the photo album to the right and look at the "Prayer for Ashland County" album.

I would like to ask you to please pray for me as I am going to go to the Ashland County Fair Grounds to pray to the Living God, Jesus Christ. I will be praying for Marengo, Ashland, Sanborn, Mellen, Highbridge and North York. These are cities and towns in Ashland County, Wisconsin.

The Lord is making it very clear these past weeks and months that He is wanting us to serve Him in this immediate area of Ashland and Bayfield Counties here in Wisconsin.

I would like to invite anyone who is called to pray for these towns and communities to join me at the fair grounds around noon. Do you have a heart stirring and yearning to see Jesus' love and compassion seen in your immediate family? Your community? Let's get together to pray and seek Jesus Christ to hear what He is saying to us. What does He want to do in our families and communities?

Lord bless you and stir you to seek HIm.

"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."

Matthew 11:29, KJV.

After prayer at the fair grounds, you are welcome to come to our home. We can fire up the grill so please bring enough meat for your family and maybe a dish to pass.

After, we can have some Acts 2 fellowship here. We would love to get to know you.

http://deathisnotdying.com/

Please read the story and watch the video. The link is to the right.

Rachel's story is not unlike what thousands of women around the world have experienced. A diagnosis that changes a woman's life and inevitably takes from her what we consider to be most precious.

After four and a half years of vigilantly fighting breast cancer, the 37 year old wife and mother of two was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

But for Rachel the essence of life is found in her relationship with God through Jesus. And that's why Rachel is convinced that death is not dying.

Children and their Father.

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26)

One of the most intimate relationships God created can be found between a parent and a child. Parents naturally find satisfaction and enjoyment in nurturing and loving their children daily. As believers, we have the incredible privilege to share that same cherished relationship with our Creator. He is our loving Father who tends to our every need and longs for us to be near Him. This remarkable privilege is only attainable by faith in Jesus Christ who destroyed the separation between man and God with His blood. Through the beautiful gift of Christ, we are given the excellent honour of the title, "the sons of God," and given a place in the heavenlies.

There is a new baby!!

I would like to share an email we just received from Nadeem Massey. Nadeem is a Pakistani National and we have been representing him here in the USA for almost a year now and have become really close with him and his wife Farah. So close in fact, that they call us Mama and Baba. They consider us their spiritual parents. Here is the email and by the way, you can see more of their pictures in our photo album to the right. You can also learn more about them by going to their link to the right also.

Dear Mama and Baba
Blessings, Praise the Lord, Rachael was born at 1:45pm. She is healthy and cute. her weight was 6.5 pounds. She is beautiful little doll with dark black hair. I shall send you one photo tomorrow and write a letter to all friends to thank them for praying for Farah.

Farah is also fine, Glory to God. It was a natural delivery and Lord really blessed Farah and Rachael. I am very much tired now as I could not sleep well last night and today I was busy whole day. Going to bed just now. Thank you for your prayers and Love, I just wanted to inform you about Rachael.

Love and Blessings
Your son in Christ
Nadeem Massey

World Missionary Press

Patti and I have just returned from New Paris Indiana. We went down April 22nd and came back April 25th. The purpose of our trip was to visit World Missionary Press. (WMP) Please see our Photo Album to the right for more pictures of the trip.
http://www.wmpress.org/index.shtml

We were so blessed as we worked with the staff producing booklets with the Gospel message printed on them. We were also asked to share in Chapel, the work of a Pakistani National named Nadeem and his wife Farah.

WMP and Patti and I serve together in Pakistan with Nadeem Massey. WMP asked us to share Nadeem with the staff and team of WMP which labors to print Gospel booklets and sends them to Pakistan along with hundreds of other countries around the world.

Patti and I are representatives for Nadeem in Pakistan through Saving Grace World Missions. (SGWM).
http://sgwm.com/missionaries.php?id=160

One of our callings is to raise awareness of Nadeem's work in Pakistan as the Lord uses him and his wife Farah to reach the Pakistanis with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a blessing it has been to be true to our calling. I would like to invite you to learn more about WMP, SGWM, ourselves and Nadeem by checking out the web sites I have provided in this blog. Nadeem's is http://sgwm.com/missionaries.php?id=225

If the Lord stirs you to serve with us and Nadeem in Pakistan, please contact us. We are looking for 4 areas on Nadeem's support team.

1. Prayer team.
2. Representatives.
3. Moral support and
4. Financial support.

If you would like to be involved with any of the above, on this very exciting team, contact us and we will labor with you in Pakistan.

May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you as you reach out to the "ends of the world" with the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Charlie

What's Happening at the Marengo Home Fellowship

This page will be updated as needed. If we need to cancel a fellowship you will find it here. As for now, fellowships are every Saturday starting at 3pm.

Please bring your own meat and we will barbaque it on our grill. Ladies, you can also bring a dish to pass. That would be great!!

Around 5, I would like to start the Bible Study/Prayer time which will last about one hour.

Families with children, please come as a family and feel free to stay as long as you would like for fellowship after the Bible Study as this is when true friendships are built and when we can dig deeper into the Word.

Promises from the Word of God.

And this is the promise that He hath promised us, [even] eternal life.
(1 John 2:25)

God has promised us life after death—life forever with Him. Amen!

Promises from the Word of God.

For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks. (Psalms 18:27)

Humble are the people of God and they will be saved! Humble are they that trust upon Christ for they have given up hope in their own worth, power, and strength to sustain themselves. All will be saved who reject themselves and trust upon the life, death, resurrection, ascension, and diety of Christ Jesus. They shall taste the life everlasting!

We're starting a new Bible Study

We want to be the first to welcome you to God’s family. The decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior is the most important decision you will ever make. If you accepted Jesus Christ with your whole heart, then He has come into your life. God has forgiven you of all your sins – Past, present, and future. He has also given you eternal life with Him. No longer do you need to fear death. We know what a big decision you have just made and want to help you in any way we can.

This study is designed to get you started in your relationship with Jesus Christ. If you need a Bible, we have one for you. Just ask and we will provide. This study has 12 Bible studies that will help you get started in your relationship with God. These studies will help you answer some of the questions you may have: Can I be 100% sure that I’m going to heaven? What is prayer and how does it work? Is the Bible really God’s word and how does it impact my life? If I’m a Christian, why do I still struggle with sin? These questions and many others will be answered as you go through these studies. You may have a lot of questions but don’t worry. We are here to assist you in any way we can.

Our desire is that you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. This occurs through time spent with the Lord in prayer, reading the Bible, and fellowship with other believers. Thought the Christian life is wonderful, it can be difficult at times. Some of your old habits may not just suddenly disappear. Understand that though God has saved you, He is just beginning the process of changing you through the power of the Holy Spirit who resides within you. Don’t be discouraged if you continue to struggle in certain areas. God loves you and will begin to change you if your are willing. Remember our bad habits didn’t just start overnight and they will not just disappear overnight. God is faithful and He will complete the work within you as you keep your eyes on Him and allow Him to change you from the inside out.

These will be the twelve studies that we will be teaching.

1. Assurance of Salvation
2. Assurance of Answered Prayer
3. Assurance of Victory
4. Assurance of Forgiveness
5. Assurance of Guidance
6. Putting Christ First
7. His Strength
8. God’s Word
9. Love
10. The Church
11. Good Works
12. Witnessing

We will be starting this study here at our home very soon. If you are interested in studying with us, please leave a comment here and we will give you more information on the time and place.

If you would like us to come to your place and share this, we would be happy to. We believe strongly that we need to be in the Word so we will do it when and where if it is wanted.

So, again from Patti and I, welcome to the family of God. We are excited that you have chosen to follow Jesus Christ. We pray that you begin to grow each day and everyday in your faith. Please don’t forget we are here to help you as much as we can. If there is anything we can do, please let us know.

Charlie and Patti,
The Marengo Home Fellowship

Child Dedicaton

Baby Dedications
What We Believe
Let the little children come to me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. -Jesus, Son of God

CHILDREN ARE A HERITAGE
The Bible says that children are a heritage and a reward from the Lord (see Psalm 127:3). God has given Christian parents the tremendous responsibility of raising their children in the ways of the Lord (see Ephesians 6:4). He entrusts parents with the responsibility of establishing a foundation built upon Jesus Christ early in the lives of their children.

WHY CHILDREN SHOULD BE DEDICATED
Baby dedications are actually family dedications. The entire family needs to be lifted up in prayer so that family members will be empowered to keep their responsibilities. The Bible gives us an example of dedicating a child to the Lord through the account of Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:11, 26-28. Unable to have children, Hannah wept before the Lord because of her condition. As she was weeping, she made a vow to God and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a man child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life…” (1 Samuel 1:11). God honored Hannah’s request and gave her a son, Samuel. Hannah kept her vow and dedicated (which means “to set apart”) Samuel to the Lord.

REQUIREMENTS FOR DEDICATION
To dedicate a child to the Lord is to make a vow to submit your child completely to the will of God and raise that child in the ways of the Lord. Parents who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will be unable to submit their children to God’s will and His ways, because they themselves do not know the ways of the Lord. As a result, we must decline any requests to involve an unbelieving parent in the dedication of a child. We view this as an act of protection rather than rejection, as we cannot encourage someone to make a vow to God that we know he or she cannot keep. The Bible says, “It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vow” Proverbs 20:25 NIV). The Bible records instances where God dealt severely with those who broke their vows to Him (for example, read Acts 5:1-11). A believing parent may dedicate a child independently of an unbelieving spouse. Single parents who dedicate their children may not have boyfriends or girlfriends present with them on the platform.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A CHIRSTIAN PARENT
Christian parents are to do all they can to “set apart” their child of God until that child can make his or her own choice regarding a relationship with Jesus Christ. By dedicating a child to the Lord, parents make a vow to raise their child in God’s ways and not their own. They commit themselves to this promise and must do all they can to keep it. The responsibilities God has entrusted to Christian parents include continuously praying for their children (see Job 1:5), instructing them in the way of the Lord (see Proverbs 22: 6), setting a godly example (see Proverbs 20:7), and disciplining them as Scripture commands (see Proverbs 29:15, 17; 13; 24). These responsibilities can only be fulfilled in Christ’s strength. As a parent, your devotion to God-or lack of it- will make a resounding impression on the next generation. May your legacy be a godly legacy.


Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version [NKJV], copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version ®. NIV ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

We are starting a new Bible Study.

Have you recently made a decision to learn of and follow Jesus Christ?

We want to be the first to welcome you to God’s family. The decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior is the most important decision you will ever make. If you accepted Jesus Christ with your whole heart, then He has come into your life. God has forgiven you of all your sins – Past, present, and future. He has also given you eternal life with Him. No longer do you need to fear death. We know what a big decision you have just made and want to help you in any way we can.

This study is designed to get you started in your relationship with Jesus Christ. If you need a Bible, we have one for you. Just ask and we will provide. This study has 12 Bible studies that will help you get started in your relationship with God. These studies will help you answer some of the questions you may have: Can I be 100% sure that I’m going to heaven? What is prayer and how does it work? Is the Bible really God’s word and how does it impact my life? If I’m a Christian, why do I still struggle with sin? These questions and many others will be answered as you go through these studies. You may have a lot of questions but don’t worry. We are here to assist you in any way we can.

Our desire is that you grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. This occurs through time spent with the Lord in prayer, reading the Bible, and fellowship with other believers. Thought the Christian life is wonderful, it can be difficult at times. Some of your old habits may not just suddenly disappear. Understand that though God has saved you, He is just beginning the process of changing you through the power of the Holy Spirit who resides within you. Don’t be discouraged if you continue to struggle in certain areas. God loves you and will begin to change you if your are willing. Remember our bad habits didn’t just start overnight and they will not just disappear overnight. God is faithful and He will complete the work within you as you keep your eyes on Him and allow Him to change you from the inside out.

These will be the twelve studies that we will be teaching.

1. Assurance of Salvation
2. Assurance of Answered Prayer
3. Assurance of Victory
4. Assurance of Forgiveness
5. Assurance of Guidance
6. Putting Christ First
7. His Strength
8. God’s Word
9. Love
10. The Church
11. Good Works
12. Witnessing

We will be starting this study here at our home very soon. If you are interested in studying with us, please leave a comment here and we will give you more information on the time and place.

If you would like us to come to your place and share this, we would be happy to. We believe strongly that we need to be in the Word so we will do it when and where if it is wanted.

So, again from Patti and I, welcome to the family of God. We are excited that you have chosen to follow Jesus Christ. We pray that you begin to grow each day and everyday in your faith. Please don’t forget we are here to help you as much as we can. If there is anything we can do, please let us know.

Charlie and Patti,
The Marengo Home Fellowship

Prayer request,

Charles and Marie are friends of ours from Indonesia.

Dear Prayer Partners,

We need your immediate prayer. On Wednesday at 10:00 am our time (which will be 7:00pm Tuesday night your time) we will have our court date to finalize Samuels adoption. There is a great amount of corruption in this country, therefore things such as this need to be covered in much prayer. We ask for your prayers that the law officials will not try to find any reason to ask for bribes and make things so as to get us into a difficult financial position. Please pray that God will pave the way and guide the heart of the judge. Thanks for your time to pray!

Serving Him, The Hutapea Family (Charles, Marie, Joshua, Bethanie & Baby Samuel)

I would like to ask you to watch and pray with Patti and I as we lift up the Taposa people to Jesus Christ this week.
We are asking that the Lord would stir His people to be involved in His work. We are asking that His people which He is calling to be involved would contact us for more information.

For more pictures you can go to our Face Book.

We are asking Jesus to fully support the clinic which FRUITS/SGWM has built in the village of the Taposa. We have A Certified Doctor, Nurse and Lab Tech. that needs to be funded. These are Nationals from Uganda and Kenya .

We also need funding to purchase medicines to treat the Taposa, Taus and surrounding villages.
.
We pray the Lord's blessings on you and your families this week.

Prayer request,

As strong as I feel in the Lord, last night was bad... Feelings flooded my mind as I tried to go to sleep of worry and helplessness. I tried to give myself injection of new medicine dr. prescribed and it burned so bad I was unable to give it all and had to quit. Satan was taunting me with doom and what if's. I went to Gary and Sharon for counsel and prayer this morning. I feel much better. Please pray for me.

Anna F. Simic

Prayer request. January 14th, 2009

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Grab Your Tissues For This One...
Below is footage from Melody and Madison
(Conjoined Twins) funeral.
Thank you for all your prayers for
Jason and Vanessa Delgado (their parents)!



1 Peter 1:3-9
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
posted by fish with trish

Prayer request, Please Pray with us for Wess, Julie and family

Julie Trout said...
Uncle Charlie and Aunt Pattie...

If you could please pray for Grandpa Doug....we would appreciate it so much.

Had a crazy 48 hours in Duluth after learning that Doug's cancer has now spread to his brain. The doctors have him on medication to bring down the swelling on his brain...and are hoping that radio laser surgery can be done in Duluth before this next week is over.

Thanks for not only praying for Doug and Carol, but for keeping Wes, myself, and our children in your prayers...this has been so hard on the kids watching Grandpa get sicker every day.

You'll have to check out my photos for project 365 on my blog....I woke up feeling sort of 'dreadful' on Saturday morning in Duluth...but when I looked out the window and saw the sunrise, I felt God was here with us at 'my lake' and would hold us up whatever the day would bring! Only one word can describe how I felt....awesome!

Thank you for all of your love, prayers, support, and words of encouragement...it means more to us than words can even express!

Love you!

The Authority of Scripture

Philippians 1:3-6

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now," 

This week I would like to ask you to lift up the Taus children. The Taus are a village which is located in The South Sudan Africa. Saving Grace World Mission/FRUITS are working in this village as well as the Taposa and the Nyangatom people.

Patti and I are currently serving as Saving Grace World Missions USA Representatives for these people and have a real heart for these people. 

This week, The Director of FRUITS, who is a Sudanese named James Nyika, will be taking the Kenyan teachers back up to the Taus People from Eldoret, Kenya. 

Please pray for safe travel for the team from Kenya to the Taus and for some of the team which is going another two days beyond, to the Nyangatom.

For more information on this work, please visit Charlie and Patti to the right, under "getting to know us".

Now,.....How can we pray for you? Please leave a comment and all who visit this blog, who pray in the name of Jesus Christ, will lift you up to the Living God.

prayer requests

I just received this email from Barnes Community Church concerning the prayer request for bart. I want to thank you for praying but, as you can see, we still need to pray for Bart and his family.

I just received a message from Bart regarding his brother Ted.

Bart made it to Rochester today.    There is no hope of recovery for his brother, they have taken him off life supports.

 

Please continue praying for Bart and his family.

 

Thanks,    Nancy

Prayer Requests

Philippians 1:3-6

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now," 

I would like to encourage you to post your prayer requests and praise reports by adding your comments to this page. I would like to pray with you and rejoice with you.

Let's lift one another up to the Living God, Jesus Christ in Prayer.

Today, I have received the following  URGENT PRAYER REQUEST from Barnes Community Church. Please.....pray with us.

I just had a phone call from Bart Mueller, he is enroute back to Owatonna, Minnesota.    His brother took a very bad fall and is in the hospital with serious head injuries.    The Doctors at Mayo are not anticipating a good recovery and as far as Bart knows they have taken him off of Life Supports.

Please pray for Laurie (his wife) and the family during this time and also safe travel for Bart.

Thanks,    Nancy

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I woke this morning with Acts 17:28 on my mind and would like to share it with you.

" in Him we live and move and have our being,".

I Pray that we all can say that in the year 2009. Be Blessed and encouraged in Jesus Christ and we so long to have fellowship with His people here in Marengo, Wisconsin and to the "ends of the earth."