News & Announcements for Sunday, June 7, 2026
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:30-10:30. We look forward to seeing you!
MIDWEEK PRAYER – WEDNESDAYS @ Noon
Please join us on Wednesdays at noon for a time of prayer in the sanctuary as we bring our needs before our loving God.
WOMEN’S BOOK CLUB – THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 10:00 AM
The Northminster Book Club will meet on Thursday, June 18 at 10:00 a.m. at the church. We will be discussing two books this month. This month we will discuss Theo of Golden. If you have not had a chance to read it, you have more time to do so. As always, if you don’t get a chance to read the book, come anyway. Feel free to bring a friend and a snack to share with the group!!
MISSION FOCUS FOR MAY: DAYSTAR JUNIOR SCHOOL
Our mission focus for the month of May is Daystar Junior School in Uganda. Opened in 2015, this school is for children ages 3 to 15 years and is located in the slum areas of Kirombe Uganda, East Africa. Donations from Northminster have helped to expand their kitchen, purchase uniforms for the students, wood for new desks, and build a 3-floor classroom building.
We are currently raising donations to help Daystar purchase more land for approximately $160,000 USD. An anonymous donor has offered to match all donations made to Northminster through July 4th. Our goal is to raise $80,000. You may make a donation to this special ministry by specifying Daystar on your check memo line.
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JUNE 2026 PASTOR’S CORNER — OVERWHELMED
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” – Isaiah 30:15
The situation in Isaiah 30 is about as bad as it can get. The Assyrian Empire is growing and expanding, and Israel and Judah stand between it and Egypt. Basically, Israel found itself between a rock (Assyria) and a hard place (Egypt). The threat wasn’t imaginary, nor was it implied — it was very literal, and very visceral, and completely overwhelming. Both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah knew that, without help, they didn’t stand a chance. There’s a lot of politics and a lot of history in this story, but for the sake of this article, the point is that both Israel and Judah found themselves facing a massively overwhelming force they were utterly incapable of dealing with themselves. It was the working definition of a doomsday scenario.
We often find ourselves facing our own doomsday scenarios. There is a lot to be afraid of in our world and our lives, and many of those threats are absolutely overwhelming. Some of them are more literal, like when you lose a job, your marriage starts to fall apart, or a natural disaster threatens. Others are more imaginary, such as how political candidates predict the end of life as you know it if their opponent wins. Perhaps it is the ambiguity of those predictions make the threats more frightening. Whether real or imagined, literal or figurative, the end result is the same: we find ourselves facing a massively overwhelming situation we know we are utterly incapable of dealing with ourselves.
During one poignant scene in Batman Begins, a young Bruce Wayne falls down a well into a cave. As we see his father rappelling down the well to rescue Bruce, he says, “Why do we fall down, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” That mentality is deeply embedded in our culture. The only one who is going to save you, is you. You need to fix your problem, you need to pick yourself back up, you need to do the hard work, you need to find someone or some thing to help you out of your situation. After all, we all know that God helps those who help themselves… which, if you take a moment to think about it, is kind of ridiculous. If I’ve already helped myself, then what do I need God to do?
Israel and Judah faced an overwhelming force they were incapable of dealing with themselves, so what did they do? They tried to deal with it themselves. They tried to figure it out using their own wisdom and strength. They tried asking Egypt for help. They made plans to flee. They tried ignoring the obvious evidence in front of them, thinking (hoping) Assyria would just ignore them. They paid lip service to trusting God (see Isaiah 7:10-12), but only trusted in themselves. Much of Isaiah is calling Israel out for this. As Isaiah says, “‘Woe to the obstinate children,’ declares the LORD, ‘to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin; who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh’s protection, to Egypt’s shade for refuge.’” (Is. 30:1-2) Their failure was not that they tried to make an alliance with Egypt, or that they developed plans for how to deal with the “Assyrian problem.” Their sin was that they didn’t turn to the Lord first. They didn’t ask Him what they should do. They didn’t seek His direction. They didn’t turn to the One who is their refuge and their strength (Psalm 46:1).
The means of our deliverance, as verse 15 states (quoted at the beginning), is through repentance and rest, through quietness and trust. It is by turning to the Lord at the beginning of our woes, not waiting until the end of our rope. Time and again we are told to let the Lord fight our battles. Notice what happens every time Israel went into battle: God overwhelmingly stacks the deck against Israel. Even when Israel showed up with military might and power, God had them send soldiers home, and not just some, but almost all (see Judges 7), so that no one would question who it was who delivered them. Yahweh is our deliverer, in Him is our salvation and strength. If we will let him. If we will receive the salvation He offers.
The doomsday scenarios that lie before you are probably very real, and I have no doubt they are overwhelming. Most everyone around you will tell you that you would be foolish to trust in the Lord. But trusting in the Lord doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use your wisdom, or that you shouldn’t seek help from others. It does mean asking God what you should do first, letting the Holy Spirit guide you in the steps you should take, and trusting that however God chooses to deliver you, even if it doesn’t make sense in the moment, is the right and the best way. There is no problem too big for God to handle, no threat so overwhelming that He can not handle it. And He wants us to bring it all to Him in prayer, trusting that because we know He loves us, He will deliver us… in His way, and His time. Be still and know that He is God. Be still and know that He will fight the battle for you. Repent of your distrust, and rest in His salvation.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. — Proverbs 3:5-7
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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JUNE 2026 MILLS’ MUSINGS — FLAG BIRTHDAY
I’ve been a fan of Flag Day for quite a while, although probably not for any reason you’d expect.
Flag Day, in case you haven’t thought about if for a while, is June 14. On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, passed a resolution stating that “the flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternate red and white,” and that “the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.” The flag was quickly designed and produced. It took a bit longer for Flag Day to become a holiday.
That process began with Bernard J. Cigrand, a Wisconsin schoolteacher. In 1885, he encouraged his students to celebrate June 14 as “Flag Birthday.” He then wrote an article for a Chicago newspaper in which he urged all Americans to set aside this date to celebrate the flag. Three years later, William T. Kerr joined Cigrand’s cause and founded the American Flag Day Association of Western Pennsylvania. In 1916 President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed June 14 as the official date for Flag Day. Finally, in 1949, almost 200 years after the flag was authorized, the U.S. Congress officially established the date as National Flag Day, although it never has made Flag Day an official federal holiday.
So, what’s the big deal about picking a day to celebrate the flag? Well, my personal appreciation has more to do with family than with country. June 14 is Marge’s birthday (a day she shares with a current U.S. president). So when I see U.S. flags flying in more places than I do most other days, I’m reminded that I’ve once again forgotten about her birthday. Conveniently, the flags also remind me that exactly two weeks later, I will have forgotten our anniversary. (I told you probably wouldn’t expect the reason I appreciate the holiday!)
But, truth be told, there are other, more widely shared reasons for my appreciation. Among these, the most important is that our nation’s flag isn’t just a piece of colored cloth. It’s also a sign or a symbol. A sign, says Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) “can be said to be anything … by means of which some other thing is known.” Much more recently, Paul Tillich (1886-1965) wrote, “symbols participate in the reality which they represent.”
Although widely separated by time and theological perspective, both Aquinas and Tillich recognize that a sign points beyond itself; that a symbol is more than just a tangible object. In that sense, seeing a flag on a building or a battlefield can be compared to seeing a cross atop a church. The flag brings to mind ideals and events that characterize our country. The cross reminds us of God’s eternal plan for our redemption.
This summer, as we approach the 250th birthday of our nation, it may be time for our country’s flag to be shown more respect than it’s received in recent decades. Honoring the flag doesn’t mean America is perfect any more than seeing a cross on the steeple of a church means that all the church’s members are perfect. Like the cross, the flag reminds us who we are, how we got here, and what we’re striving to become.
I think that’s worth a day of celebration.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, May 31, 2026
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:30-10:30. We look forward to seeing you!
MIDWEEK PRAYER – WEDNESDAYS @ Noon
Please join us on Wednesdays at noon for a time of prayer in the sanctuary as we bring our needs before our loving God.
HELPING HANDS OFFERING – NEXT SUNDAY, MAY 31
Each 5th Sunday, any undesignated offerings placed in the collection plates go to Helping Hands, a ministry of churches in the Madison Heights-Elon area of Amherst County to help residents in need. It is administered through Madison Heights Baptist Church.
MISSION FOCUS FOR MAY: DAYSTAR JUNIOR SCHOOL
Our mission focus for the month of May is Daystar Junior School in Uganda. Opened in 2015, this school is for children ages 3 to 15 years and is located in the slum areas of Kirombe Uganda, East Africa. Donations from Northminster have helped to expand their kitchen, purchase uniforms for the students, wood for new desks, and build a 3-floor classroom building.
We are currently raising donations to help Daystar purchase more land for approximately $160,000 USD. An anonymous donor has offered to match all donations made to Northminster through July 4th. Our goal is to raise $80,000. You may make a donation to this special ministry by specifying Daystar on your check memo line.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, May 24, 2026
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:30-10:30. We look forward to seeing you!
MIDWEEK PRAYER – WEDNESDAYS @ Noon
Please join us on Wednesdays at noon for a time of prayer in the sanctuary as we bring our needs before our loving God.
HELPING HANDS OFFERING – NEXT SUNDAY, MAY 31
Each 5th Sunday, any undesignated offerings placed in the collection plates go to Helping Hands, a ministry of churches in the Madison Heights-Elon area of Amherst County to help residents in need. It is administered through Madison Heights Baptist Church.
MISSION FOCUS FOR MAY: DAYSTAR JUNIOR SCHOOL
Our mission focus for the month of May is Daystar Junior School in Uganda. Opened in 2015, this school is for children ages 3 to 15 years and is located in the slum areas of Kirombe Uganda, East Africa. Donations from Northminster have helped to expand their kitchen, purchase uniforms for the students, wood for new desks, and build a 3-floor classroom building.
We are currently raising donations to help Daystar purchase more land for approximately $160,000 USD. An anonymous donor has offered to match all donations made to Northminster through July 4th. Our goal is to raise $80,000. You may make a donation to this special ministry by specifying Daystar on your check memo line.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, May 17, 2026
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:30-10:30. We look forward to seeing you!
MIDWEEK PRAYER – WEDNESDAYS @ Noon
Please join us on Wednesdays at noon for a time of prayer in the sanctuary as we bring our needs before our loving God.
DOWNLOAD THE CHURCH CENTER APP
Search for “Church Center” in your favorite app store on your phone to download our app! In the app are the church calendar, small group and volunteer opportunities, the online church directory, and more.
MISSION FOCUS FOR MAY: DAYSTAR JUNIOR SCHOOL
Our mission focus for the month of May is Daystar Junior School in Uganda. Opened in 2015, this school is for children ages 3 to 15 years and is located in the slum areas of Kirombe Uganda, East Africa. Donations from Northminster have helped to expand their kitchen, purchase uniforms for the students, wood for new desks, and build a 3-floor classroom building.
We are currently raising donations to help Daystar purchase more land for approximately $160,000 USD. An anonymous donor has offered to match all donations made to Northminster through July 4th. Our goal is to raise $80,000. You may make a donation to this special ministry by specifying Daystar on your check memo line. Learn more by clicking here.
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News & Announcements for Sunday, May 10, 2026
JOIN US FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL
If you’re looking for an opportunity to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ, we encourage you to join us Sunday mornings for a intergenerational Sunday school class, from 9:30-10:30. We look forward to seeing you!
MIDWEEK PRAYER – WEDNESDAYS @ Noon
Please join us on Wednesdays at noon for a time of prayer in the sanctuary as we bring our needs before our loving God.
WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY – TUESDAY, MAY 12, 3:30PM
Women’s Bible Study will be meeting on Tuesday, May 12 from 3:30 to 5:30 in the afternoon. We are using the book, “Sermon on the Mount” by Jan Wilkin. Homework for Week 6 is, Secret Righteousness, pages 96 – 113. Grab your book, your Bible and a snack that you can share with the group and come on over for an amazing Bible study. Come, even if you don’t get your homework completed. As always, bring a friend. Any questions, talk to Karey or Sharon.
WOMEN’S BOOK CLUB – THURSDAY, MAY 14, 10:00 AM
The Northminster Book Club will meet on Thursday, April 16 at 10:00 a.m. at the church. We will be discussing two books this month. Very few people had finished this month’s book, which was The Shell Seekers, so we will discuss that book first and then discuss our newest book, Theo of Golden. As always, if you don’t get a chance to read the book, come anyway. Feel free to bring a friend and a snack to share with the group!!
MISSION FOCUS FOR MAY: DAYSTAR JUNIOR SCHOOL
Our mission focus for the month of May is Daystar Junior School in Uganda. Opened in 2015, this school is for children ages 3 to 15 years and is located in the slum areas of Kirombe Uganda, East Africa. Donations from Northminster have helped to purchase uniforms for the students, wood for new desks, and build a 3-floor classroom building. You may make a donation to this special ministry by specifying Daystar on your check memo line.
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MAY 2026 MILLS’ MUSINGS — HAPPY ASCENSION DAY TO YOU
Author’s note: For most of the 1990s, I wrote a monthly devotional called Settings, taking my title from Colossians 3:2, “Set your mind on things above.” In May 1995, I wrote the following reflection, which I’m still rather fond of. (Actually, what follows is about half of what I first wrote, but I think this condensed and gently edited version still conveys the spirit and intent of the original.)
Tim turns five this month. His birthday falls on Ascension Day.
Ascending to the ranks of the five-year-olds is a significant milestone, for it means that this fall Tim starts kindergarten. No longer will he be numbered among the preschoolers.
Perhaps the major practical effect on Marge and me (after, of course, preparing for and cleaning up after the requisite celebration) is that we will no longer be Tim’s principal instructors. Certainly, we will remain involved in both the formal and informal aspects of his ongoing education. But it would be foolish to deny that this part of our interactions with him will change.
Although the transition was not unexpected, its abruptness and irrevocability have caught me somewhat off guard. And perhaps it was my sudden recognition of this inevitable alteration to our relationship that led me to reflect on the confluence of Tim’s fifth birthday with that day the Christian calendar marks as Ascension Day.
As Luke describes Jesus’ ascension, “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:10). Jesus’ sudden departure seemed to leave his disciples stunned. Jesus no longer would be physically present with his spiritual children. Instead, his presence now would be mediated through the Holy Spirit. Historically, the Christian Church has used Ascension Day to articulate and celebrate that change.
Ascension Day is the sixth Thursday (the 40th day) after Easter. However, at least in my experience, most Protestants tend to overlook this important celebration. Perhaps as a result, the theological significance of the Ascension seems to receive correspondingly little attention in our daily Christian lives. That is an unfortunate oversight, for, as John Leith notes:
“The ascension means that the earthly ministry of Jesus has ended … that the incarnate life of Jesus Christ is taken into the very being of God; that the ministry of Jesus Christ, formerly limited by space and time, is now universal by the power of the Spirit of God, that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of God; that he makes continual intercession for us and has opened for us the way to the presence of God; and that he has been given all authority in heaven and earth. … a new epoch in human history has begun with the sending of the Spirit and the mission of the church.”
To consider even briefly the implications of Leith’s observations is to gain a glimpse of the ascended Christ’s pervasive presence in our lives. For some 30 years God’s only Son had so emptied himself of his heavenly prerogatives that he was confined within space and time, ministering to individuals, the twelve, or perhaps several hundred people on any given day. Since his ascension, Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, now ministers at every moment to all of his disciples.
Jesus’ ascension marked a new phase in his eternal ministry, with corresponding changes required of his disciples. Similarly, Tim’s fifth birthday marks a transitional moment – in his life and in mine. Both events, which occurred at specific moments in time yet are celebrated simultaneously this year, have implications that will continue to unfold far into the future.
So, although I suspect it will never become a terribly catchy jingle, I find myself inclined to sing “Happy Ascension Day to you.”
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EPC WORLD OUTREACH SUPPORTING MISSIONARIES DURING THE CURRENT GLOBAL CONFLICT
Several years ago, the “4 D’s”—Danie, Delia, Danie and Dastan– were at Northminster to share with us their EPC ministry in Central Asia. Perhaps you will remember them. Certainly, our thoughts are with them and all the other missionaries who are serving for the cause of Christ in all parts of the world.
This week the EPC website (https://www.epcwo.org/globalconflict) had a message regarding how some of our EPC missionaries (more than 12 affected families) are responding to their call to serve as war continues in the Middle East, Central Asia and Ukraine. The article tells us that the EPC’s Risk and Crisis Management Team is in daily contact with every affected family. While some experience almost normal weeks, there are others who are sheltering in place. However, the team reports, “Even in the midst of danger there is a sense of peace and confidence in the Lord.”
The question facing us now is how we can help and offer our support to those who are so far away. The website article tells us, “Even when stress is manageable today, there are long-term effects.” It is a significant challenge of changes which may be required to relocate families, school transitions for their children, and counseling if needed. The Disaster Relief Fund is critically low with only $5,000 remaining. And, “Yes.” Monetary donations are always acceptable!
However, our most vital source of help lies in our prayers, in our praise and in our thanksgiving to God that these faithful saints who are giving more than anyone of us can ever imagine. The EPC suggests for us “to pray for PROTECTION, WISDOM AND PEACE, to pray over these dear folks using Psalm 91, Psalm 121, and Psalm 27. Pray that God would dispel both the physical darkness of war and the spiritual darkness in human hearts!” No matter the time, no matter the place, no matter the problem, God never gives us a busy signal. Prayer transcends the miles! Prayer unifies us together as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. God is good!
– Your Missions Committee
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MAY 2026 PASTOR’S CORNER — RESURRECTION STORIES
“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.” (Acts 10:39-42)
The season of Easter is 50 days and runs from Easter Sunday through Pentecost. In much the same way that the season of Epiphany provides an intentional period of time to allow the wonder of the Incarnation to settle on our souls, the season of Easter provides the same for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. These events (the birth and resurrection of Jesus) are momentous enough that they warrant their own particular days, but it takes time to begin to realize how truly transformative they were — for ourselves and for the world.
It can be easy for us to rocket past the stories of the appearances of Jesus after the Resurrection. Each Gospel only gives a chapter or two to them (Mark skips them altogether, mentioning only the empty tomb). But that brevity does not reduce their importance. All of the Apostles place a lot of stress on the fact that they were eyewitnesses to the Resurrection. John uses the word “see” eleven times in chapter 20 of his gospel. In every one of his sermons in the book of Acts, Peter speaks of having seen Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 15:3, Paul says that the bodily appearance of Jesus to the Apostles is of “first importance,” and goes on to list those appearances. Adding them up, well over 500 people bore first-hand witness to the resurrection of Jesus.
This is important because it means that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is true. Jesus was fully and truly dead, placed in a sealed tomb for 3 days, and then that stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty. He was not only seen alive, but he was touched and embraced by hundreds of people. It only takes three eye witnesses to attest legally to the truth of something, and here we have over 500 who saw him and dozens who touched him. This is why Paul says that the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is “of first importance,” and this is why the Apostles repeatedly state that they saw Jesus alive after His resurrection.
If the resurrection is physically true, then it is the proof that what Jesus said He came to do is spiritually true. The resurrection is the proof that Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross was effective, which means that all of our sins have been paid for. The resurrection is the proof that Jesus defeated the power of death and mortality. The resurrection is the proof that because He went from death to life, we too shall move from death to life. The resurrection is the proof that not only do have hope in this life, but also in the life to come. Because He lives, we too shall live. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then “your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1 Corinthians 15:17-19)
But, the resurrection stories make clear that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. The stories are true. That’s why the Apostles were so excited to tell everyone they could about Jesus. That’s why 2,000 years later we’re still telling everyone we can about Jesus. In the New Testament we find the Apostle’s resurrection stories about Jesus. What is your resurrection story? How have you seen Him in your life? How has He moved you from death into life? In what ways has His resurrection given you strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow? Take some time to reflect on those questions, and go tell someone about Him. The news is good, because the news is true: The tomb is empty, our Savior lives, and because He lives, we too are able to live!
The best stories, though, aren’t just the ones we tell, they’re the stories we live. In Matthew 7, the difference between the wise and foolish builders is whether they followed Jesus obediently. Jesus’ brother James writes, “What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?” (James 2:14) Paul picks up the idea of moving from death to life and says, “In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.” (Romans 6:11-12) Tell the story of the resurrected Jesus with what you say, but even more with how you live.
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. — John 20:30-31
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison
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