[LSF-Announce] This Week at Refuge

[Nicole Kooistra]

Hey All,

Some words from St. Paul:

"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great
revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan,
to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made
perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my
weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:
7-10)

There has been great argument over what exactly Paul's "thorn in the flesh"
was.  The amazing thing is God's answer. We all have thorns--sickness,
physical disabilities, family problems, difficulty in school,
loneliness--anything that we really think God should just take care of,
because these things cause great pain and suffering to us. But God tells
Paul that His grace is sufficient.  "Grace" is God giving us something that
we don't deserve.  God has given us salvation, the death of His Son. So no
matter how badly those thorns hurt, one day, they won't anymore, because
Jesus did the incomprehensible--He died for our eternal salvation.  The
"thorns" will only affect us for eternity if we let them keep us from God.
Meanwhile, we can pray that God will give us the strength and the wisdom to
deal with our thorns for as long as He sees fit. He will. He's promised us
that.

Now, on to business.  Here's what's up this week at Refuge:

Tues., April 3: Pastor-led Bible study on Luke at 9:00 in the lounge.

Wed., April 4: Women's Bible study. Meet at 8:00 at the church, and from
there we'll go to an UNDISCLOSED location. Men, meet in the lounge at 8:00,
and from there you'll....oh yeah, you'll stay here:-)

Thurs., April 5: Maundy Thursday servivce is at 7:00 pm. Bible study on
Revelation at 9:00 in the lounge.  Jenna and Mitch are back! Yay!

Good Friday, April 6:  Services at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm.

Sun., April 8: EASTER!!!!!! Services this week are at slightly different
times. 7:00 is our early service, with an Easter breakfast following at
8:15.  10:30 is still on as usual, and as far as I know, there will still be
pancakes in the lounge afterward.


Take care, and God bless.

Nikki
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