“Greetings from all of us at Immanuel”
This week's message was supposed to be on Psalm 37 and the question was going to be, "What is God's will for my life?" However, I felt the Spirit leading me in a different direction than I had planned, so today we will be looking at Psalm 44:17-26 instead, and asking the question, "How should we deal with our grief?"
Grief is a part of life in this fallen world. Scripture never talks about hardships as being something we might experience, but rather that we will experience grief and sorrow in this world. So, it is important that we should consider the question, “How are we to deal with our grief?”, when we find ourselves grieving. Though we are at times not good at dealing with our grief, this morning scripture gives us the gift of lament to bring our grief before our faithful God and find healing and redemption.
The Approach to God
Pre-Service Music
*Song Holy, Holy, Holy -Heber
Prayer of Confession
Words of Assurance and Law of God
Kids
The Word of God
*Song Lifesong/Singing in the Victory -Hall/Austin Stone
Scripture: Psalm 44:17-26
Message “What are we to do with our grief?”
Pastor Matt
Prayer for Blessing
The Response to the Word
Sacrament of Baptism Braylon and Elijah Alford
Mission of the Month Presentation
*Song Great Things -Wickham/Myrin
*Benediction
Postlude
Offering
The ongoing ministry of the church relies on the generous giving of its members. At this time, we will not be passing the offering plates during the service. Please place your offering in the basket provided.
*Songs used by permission of CCLI #95502
ANNOUNCEMENTS
September Calling Team: Please call Mike J or Carrie B with any special concerns or requests.
September Mission of the Month: No Senior Without Christmas. This year, in order to meet increased demand, TRIAD will fill 400 boxes with household supplies, non-perishable food, and holiday cheer. The boxes are delivered to needy, older adults living in the tri-county region of Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton counties. Each box is delivered by uniformed public safety personnel, including law enforcement and fire personnel.
CONNECT Kickoff: Join us from 5:30-7:00 pm on Wednesday, September 15, for a family dinner and kids activities. This will be our last summer CONNECT, and our kickoff to our Weekly Fall CONNECT program that begins on Wednesday, September 22! The theme for September through December will be Bible Superheroes!
Thank You for All of Your Prayers: I had another great check-up. Thank you also for caring, and for being our forever friends. ~ Sandi Shults
A Grand Thank You: For the cards, calls, and prayers during my time of healing. Also, a big thank you to the small group that visited me on my birthday, how awesome!, and a special thank you to Julie Lewis for being with me through my chemo treatments. Please continue to pray for me as I have come to many changes this year. God bless you all~ Kathy Glisson
CWS CROP Hunger Walk: Did you know that 1.1 billion people in developing countries live on an income of $1 a day or less, and that every day, more than 16,000 children die from hunger related causes? That is about 1 child every 5 seconds. The CROP Hunger Walk will be our Mission of the Month for October again here at ICRC, and we will be walking together as a church on Sunday, October 10th, so let’s start thinking about this mission today and be praying about how we can stand with Church World Services, and impoverished people around the world, to envision a way to reach a better future.
Audio/Visual Improvements Project: A correction from last week’s bulletin, there is no deadline to donate to this project. You may give at any time by placing a check in an envelope titled "AV gift" and return it to the office via the offering plate or through the mail. Thank you kindly for your consideration.
Your Leaders are so thankful for your fervent prayers:
Staff: Pastor Matt L, Joey S, Stacia W
Consistory: Carrie B, Sandy C, Eric C, Sue F, Rick H, Marcia J, Mike J, Julie L, and our ministry teams
Prayers for RCA Missionaries- Yakuv Gurung, Asia
Yakuv Gurung is called to train and raise local leaders and church planters to reach the Nepali-speaking people in Nepal and in the U.S. Yakuv works with RCA partner Jibit Asha International (JAI) and local planters in Nepal to make strategies to reach their communities. The goal is to plant 50 churches in the next five years in Nepal and to form a Reformed network of churches affiliated with the RCA in the U.S. Please pray for the church planters to reach unreached people, and that they will get the resources that they need for this ministry.
To hear more prayer requests from ICRC, please call 321-2495, extension 191, or if you have a personal prayer request, please contact Marcia J. You may also submit a prayer request on our website at www.icrclansing.org.
Friends with Health Concerns
Shelby A, Mark and June B, John B, Joe C
Howard C, Sandy F, John F, Carol G,
Kathy G, Roland H, and other Parkinson’s sufferers,
Lon H, Marcia N, and Sandi S
for continued healing.