Love God, Love Others, Serve the World
This non-denominational bible study brings together women from across our valley and churches. Join us this fall as we participate together in the study of “Seamless: Understanding the Bible as One Complete Story” by Angie Smith.
Study meets every Monday September 10-October 29 from 9-11 a.m. at Memorial Hall in Hotchkiss. Cost is $20.
Please contact Heather Angelovich (970-985-8283) or Cindy Felix (cfelix@live.com) from PFC for more information.
Please join us at Quaker Ridge Camp on September 14-16 for the annual Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting Women’s Retreat. The theme this year is “Celebrate Life” with guest speaker Lori Wolfe.
Jesus captured Lori’s heart as a young teen. Since that time He has given her an incredible desire to be used to spur others on to walk more intimately with the Lord. Lori and her husband, Rich, live in Colorado Springs, have been married several decades, and have three adult children and two adorable granddaughters. They served as missionaries in the Philippines for several years. Presently, she is a middle and high school English and Bible teacher. Meeting with women over coffee and playing pickle ball are two of her favorite hobbies.
Registrations for this year’s retreat are due by September 1st. Please pick up a copy of the brochure at church, or view it here:
Make check payable to: Friends Women
Complete both sides of registration section (save the other sections for retreat details). Mail with full or half payment to:
Carol Boll
3351 W. Aqueduct, Littleton, CO 80123
(303) 794-5123
For further information, contact
Esther Kinser
(970) 270-3127
estherkinser@gmail.com
Fx Camp will be held on July 16th-21st. The theme this year is CSI (Christ Scene Investigation). The cost is $365 for returning campers and $265 for first time campers. BUT, PFC is a great supporter of camp, so PFC members pay $85 for returning campers and $30 for first time campers. Camp is for kids entering 4th grade through High School
REGISTRATION is open and is first come/first serve : https://www.rmymyouth.com/
Want to know what camp is like? Check out the promo video:
Please contact Mike or Kerry Smith with any questions and to let them know that your child will be attending camp. As always, we will coordinate rides to/from camp. PFC also uses camp as a ministry outreach. If your child has a friend interested that does not attend a regular church, invite them to Camp. PFC will contribute financially to help.
LETS GO TO CAMP!
The focal point of the Protestant Reformation was the Bible being translated and made available in the common languages of the people. People began to read the Bible, and when they did these things happened: 1) Individuals were transformed; 2) The Church began to be changed, putting off corruption; 3) The state was gradually reformed. The fruit of the Reformation was revival of individuals, restoration of the church, and reformation of all society.
God uses individuals to change nations and the course of history. Some of those people God used in the Protestant Reformation included Martin Luther, John Calvin, William Tyndale, and John Knox.
God used a flawed, rough, and at times, a harsh man to launch a gigantic revolution. Martin Luther stood up against the whole force of the religious establishment. “His profound experience of forgiveness in Christ gave him the courage to stand alone against the entire weight of established and entrenched religious deception and blow it to the winds.”[iii]
Many things affected Luther’s development. He committed to become a monk after a narrow escape from lightning – he prayed, “If I survive this storm, I will become a monk!”
While at a monastery he read a tract by John Huss, which deeply touched him: “I wondered why a man who could write so Christianly and powerfully had been burned…. I shut the book and turned away with a wounded heart.”[iv]
On a trip to Rome in 1510, he went through every pilgrim devotion possibly — from viewing relics to climbing the stone steps of the Santa Scala on his bare knees. “He earned so many indulgences that he almost wished his parents dead so he could deliver them from purgatory.” But he had no peace. The immorality and corruption he saw horrified him. He described the papal court as “an abomination,” writing that it was “served at supper by six naked girls.”[v]
His fellow monks gave him a Latin Bible that he diligently searched for truth. He came to be convinced that “salvation was a new relationship to God based not on any work of merit on man’s part, but on absolute trust in the divine promises.”[vi]
This and other truths were contained in Luther’s “95 Theses” that he nailed to the church door at Wittenburg on October 31, 1517. His writings that followed addressed many scriptural truths (such as the priesthood of all believers) and ways to reform the corruption in the church and state (including cutting Papal taxes, reducing bulky government, closing brothels, and reforming university education).
“I am,” he pleaded, “but a mere man, and not God; I shall therefore defend myself as Christ did, who said, ‘If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil’. . . . For this reason, by the mercy of God I conjure you, most serene Emperor, and you, most illustrious electors and princes, and all men of every degree, to prove from the writings of the prophets and apostles that I have erred.”
“As soon as I am convinced of this, I will retract every error, and will be the first to lay hold of my books, and throw them into the fire. . . . I cannot submit my faith either to the Pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other.”
“Unless, therefore, I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture, or by the clear reasoning, unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless my conscience is thus bound by the Word of God, I cannot and will not retract; for it is unsafe and injurious to act against one’s own conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other: may God help me! Amen.”[viii]
Luther was condemned to death by the state, but since he was promised safe passage beforehand he was allowed to leave. On the road he was abducted by the friendly King Fredrick the Wise who hid him in his castle in Wartburg. Here, he finished much writing, including Scripture translation.
Through his belief in Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) and his translation of the Bible (in 1534 in German), he helped establish truth amidst the common people — the truth of justification by faith and the place of the Bible in the life of the Christian.
*This article was excerpted from Biblical Revival and the Transformation of Nations. It can be ordered here.
See Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell, America’s Providential History, Charlottesville, Vir.: Providence Foundation, 2010, pp. 43-44 for more.
[ii] See Foxes Book of Martyrs, Fair Sunshine by Jock Purves, and By Their Blood, Christian Martyrs of the 20th Century by James and Marti Hefley for the stories of some who were persecuted and killed.
[iv] Martin Luther and the Reformation by Beard, quoted in Pratney, p. 37.
[viii] From History of the Christian Church by Henry C. Sheldon, quoted in Rosalie Slater, Teaching and Learning America’s Christian History, San Francisco: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1980, p. 169.
Please join us at Quaker Ridge Camp on September 15-17 for the annual Rocky Mountain Yearly Meeting Women’s Retreat. The theme this year is “God’s Promise of Restoration” with guest speaker Carey Scott.
Carey is an author, speaker, and life coach, honest about her walk with the Lord… stumbles, fumbles and all. Her passion is reminding women of their immeasurable worth, something the world is quick to discount. She speaks to women’s groups and writes about the issues that matter most to the hearts of women. Carey lives in Northern Colorado with her husband and two kids. She tries to be domestic, and appreciates the grace when she’s not. You can learn more about Carey by visiting her web page at careyscott.org
Registrations for this year’s retreat are due by September 1st. Please pick up a copy of the brochure at church, or view it here:
Make check payable to: Friends Women
Complete both sides of registration section (save the other sections for retreat details). Mail with full or half payment to:
Carol Boll
3351 W. Aqueduct, Littleton, CO 80123
(303) 794-5123
cmboll@comcast.net
For further information, call 2017 Retreat Coordinator
Esther Kinser
(970) 270-3127
estherkinser@gmail.com
A long time ago, there was a man named Solomon, who built a beautiful temple, but before long, the people of Judah turned away from God and began to worship foreign gods and idols. One day, God allowed the Babylonians to attack Judah and destroy the whole city, including God’s temple. The people of Judah remained in captivity until one day, God raised up a man named Haggai to call the people to get back to work, saying, “The time is now.”
Starting July 9, 2017 at 9:00am!
July 9, 2017
God’s number one characteristic throughout the Bible is mercy. His mercy heals broken hearts, reconciles relationships, restores forgotten dreams, and refreshes tired souls. It’s the cure to every insecurity, worry, and fear. This series teaches us how to experience God’s healing mercy, and then offer that same mercy to others around us.
Ed Note: This recipe and Bible Lesson is in memory of Carolyn Weyers, a dedicated Sunday School teacher who taught at PFC for many years. This is a very fun recipe, rich with symbolism, to make with elementary or older aged children.
My daughter Mary made these cookies in Mrs. Weyer’s 3-4 grade class about 13 years ago.
1c. whole pecans
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
pinch salt
1c. sugar
zipper baggie
wooden spoon
tape
Bible
Preheat oven to 300.
You can explain what you are doing and tell the bible passage or take time to read the scripture references. (Great practice in looking up verses for older children.) Links are provided for convenience.
Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden
spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He
was beaten by the Roman soldiers.
Read John 19:1-3
Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.
Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross he was given vinegar to
drink.
Read John 19:28-30
Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His
life to give us life.
Read John 10:10-11
Sprinkle a little salt into each child’s hand. Let them taste it and brush
the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by
Jesus’ followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.
Read Luke 23:27
So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1c. sugar. Explain that
the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He
wants us to know and belong to Him.
Read Ps. 34:8 and John 3:16
Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are
formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God’ s eyes of
those whose
sins have been cleansed by Jesus.
Read Isa. 1:18 and John 3:1-3.
Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons (you don’t want them too big or it
won’t work, so I’m told) onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that
each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus’ body was laid.
Read Matt. 27:57-60.
Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give
each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus’ tomb
was sealed.
Read Matt. 27:65-66. GO TO BED!
Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.
Jesus’ followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.
Read John 16:20 and 22.
On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.
Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow! On the
first Easter Jesus’ followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.
Read Matt. 28:1-9
Alternatively, the cookies can be left on a very very low temp..like 250 degrees. and be ready
in a couple of hours…when surface of cookie looks dry and cracked….they
are ready to eat!!!!!
These cookies are quite sweet but tasty!
