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Answering God's Call

2/10/2015

 
What a wonderful Sunday we had at Sweden! 

Our Sunday School lesson was about the Good Samaritan, a reminder of how we can show Christ to our fellow man.

Our pastor brought the morning message from Genesis 22, where God calls on Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, the child of the promise. If I was in Abraham's shoes, I would be crying out, "But God, how can you ask this after all you've promised about this boy?" And yet the Bible gives no indication that Abraham hesitated or feared at all. Instead, at every turn, when God called his name, Abraham answered, "Here I am, Lord." All Christians receive leading from the Lord. This Scripture reminds us that He doesn't always lead us to do easy things, but when we follow in faith, the blessings are immeasurable.

The evening sermon came from 2 Corinthians 12. Paul wrote that though we all are different, possessing different gifts and callings, we are all part of one body. God uses each of us to accomplish His will in many different ways. Click your way to our Sunday Services page to hear the both full sermons.You won't be sorry you did.
After the morning service we conducted a little business and had the pleasure of witnessing a young sister in Christ following God's leading. Celia Fossett, who was baptized last summer, expressed a desire to join the church. Pastor Strong opened the doors of the church to receive her as a new member. We are so thankful this young lady and are glad to count her among our number.

Of course, we have more exciting events coming up at Sweden.

Next week, February 15, we will again witness one of our own answering God's call (I'm detecting a theme here). We will hold a special service to ordain Brother Tom Johnson as our new deacon. We'll have Sunday School and church at 10:00 and 11:00 just like always. After church we'll have a fellowship dinner, followed by the ordination service at 2:00 pm.

There is something special about an ordination. I'm always honored and humbled to witness this beginning of a new chapter in the life of a man of God. I expect nothing less in this service.

Last, but certainly not least...

On Monday, March 9, we'll begin our Revival services. Things will kick off at 7:00 that night. Brother Ray Dobbs will bring the message. He'll return to preach again on Thursday, March 12. Brother Brock Mitchell will preach Tuesday, March 10 and Friday, March 13. Brother Russell McDaris will be with us Wednesday, March 11; Friday, March 14, and Sunday Morning, March 15.

We are looking forward to all of this, and we want to share it with you. Please join us for any--or all--of these services. 
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Look Here for Sweden News

2/2/2015

 
The Layman's Pen has been inactive for quite a long time. Well, no more! From now on, this will be the place to look for all the news that is the news about Sweden Church. 

And what a time to start! We have a lot of exciting things going on these days at Sweden.

Recently an anonymous donor blessed us with new hymnals--a brand new set of dark blue, hardcover Heavenly Highway Hymns. We'd love to thank the person who donated these books, but we realize that all good and perfect gifts are from God our Father. So we thank Him and trust that He will bless the heart of the giver. After all, He'll do a much better job of it than we can.

We also received a sizable monetary gift in recent weeks. Windell and Larry Heatherly donated $1,000.00 to Sweden Church in memory of their mother Beulah (Dye) Heatherly who passed last fall and was buried in the Sweden Cemetery. Mrs. Heatherly's father John Dye was an influential leader in the early life of Sweden Church. We appreciate this family and their gift.

We've been praying for several months about the need for another deacon to serve our congregation. We are happy to announce God has answered that prayer. Brother Tom Johnson volunteered to fill this position, and the congregation was glad to accept him. On Sunday, February 15, we will have a fellowship dinner after the morning service (I expect we'll all be cooking Brother Tom's favorites). Brother Tom's ordination service will be that afternoon at 2:00 pm. 

One last piece of exciting news! We're going to hold a Revival Meeting in March. Starting March 9 and lasting at least through the morning service on Sunday, March 15. We'll be holding nightly services at 7:00 pm. Brother Ray Dobbs will be preaching Monday, March 9 and Thursday, March 12. Brother Brock Mitchell will be preaching Tuesday, March 10 and Friday, March 13. Brother Russell McDarris will be preaching Wednesday, March 11 and Saturday, March 14, and Sunday morning, March 15 as well. We are praying God will move in a great way during these meetings, and we want you to come share in His blessings with us.

This Sunday morning (February, 1), Pastor Strong brought a message from Genesis 3:1-6 about "Buying High and Selling Low."  Click over to our Sunday Services page to hear how Adam and Eve, Elisha's servant Gehazi, and Judas Iscariot "sold low," and how we can avoid doing the same.

Sunday evening's service was the monthly singing. Go to the Sweden Sunday Singing page to hear all the wonderful music from that service. 
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This week during our morning service we had the pleasure of wishing happy anniversary to David and Karen Koch. The Kochs had their anniversary on January 10, but were away from home at the time, so they stood up this Sunday.
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We were also happy to celebrate Erika Strong's birthday. Erika is the daughter of our Pastor and his wife. She turned 8 years old on January 30 and was very excited to stand up and put her 8 cents in the church bank.
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    Linda Johnson

    Linda Johnson moved to Douglas County with her husband Tom 12 years ago after retiring from teaching. Following Tom's death in 2016, Linda began facilitating a grief support group called GriefShare through Sweden Church.​ She serves as the Sunday School teacher for our High School class. Her "Layman's Pen" articles are also published in the local paper, The Douglas County Herald. 

    Andrea Strong

    Andrea is Pastor Joshua Strong's wife. She also serves Sweden Church as Church Secretary, website administrator, and Sunday School teacher to the Intermediate Class.

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