Welcome to Northminster

We are a biblically-based Presbyterian church seeking to experience and share God’s love to transform our homes, community and the world. We hope you will join us.
 

Join us this Sunday!

We have Sunday school for all ages at 9:00, and the worship service is at 10:30am. We look forward to seeing you! 
 
 
 

Upcoming Events

The Latest from our blogs…

Pastor’s Corner – December 2019

“Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!” — Psalm 90:13

The Christian calendar begins, not with January 1st, but instead with the first Sunday in Advent.  It’s an interesting decision that the early church fathers made in doing this.  Interesting  because the Christian year begins not with resolutions and activity, but with waiting.  Advent is an intentional season of preparation and pause, a time to reflect and prepare for the celebration of the coming of the Lord’s Messiah, Jesus Christ.  There is great wisdom in this decision, particularly for our current times.  We live in a culture of hurry and rush and activity, the last thing we want or like to do is wait for anything.

By starting the year with a season of waiting, we are invited to settle into a different rhythm of life and living, a rhythm that is ultimately about trust.  Trusting in the God who created Time, trusting in the One who has set His plans in motion and will see them through, trusting that there is One who knows and understands more than we do, trusting that He is good and that He is love.

So the Christian calendar begins with a reminder that there is a holiness and a righteousness in waiting.  But there is a hard-ness and challenge in waiting as well.  The Psalmists cry out, with great regularity, “How long, O Lord?”  Even as they wait on the Lord, they express their frustration, their discontent.  And in that we are shown that there is such a thing as a holy discontent.

But as much as we are waiting to celebrate the birth of our Savior, the season of Advent points to an even more significant event, an event most of us usually forget is yet to and actually is going to happen.  The Hebrews waited over 500 years for the Messiah to come the first time.  We’ve been waiting nearly 2,000 years for him to return.  May our lives be lived with the faith that comes from knowing our Savior’s return is imminent, with the hope that comes from knowing that what is broken will soon be made right, and with the love for those who don’t yet know that their Messiah has already come once and will come again.

“He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” — Revelation 22:20

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison


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Neighbors Helping Neighbors Community Meal – November 26, 4:30-7pm

Neighbors Helping Neighbors will start having a FREE evening meal (5:00-7:00) on Tuesdays beginning in November.  They are looking for volunteers.  We would bring the food already prepared and then warm it up upon arrival.  Jimmy Price has opened his building located on route 29, near Dixie Airport Road, for this purpose.  We (MOE committee) invited Garry Friend to speak at Northminster and explain in detail what would be expected of an organization willing to help. 

We have agreed to serve one meal, on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, November 26.   We will serve about 50 people – about the size of a church covered-dish meal.  This may be the only Thanksgiving dinner for our guests.  

NHN provides plates, napkins, cups and eating utensil and they clean up.   

The menu is listed here: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy, rolls and butter, cranberry salad, pie and whipped cream, coffee, sweet tea, and water. 

We need people to serve, greet, cook, pray, and help with a little clean up.  (Donations are helpful as well.)
 
Update from Sunday, November 24 Bulletin:
Thank you to everyone helping with the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Evening Meal on Tuesday, November 26th
Just a few last minute items:
If you are making food be sure to deliver to Jimmy Price’s building no later then 4:30 (4:15 would be better). We start serving at 5:00 p.m.
If you are dropping off your food at NEPC or are unsure of the location and want car pool please let me know or see Vonnie.
Find your NEPC tee shirt and wear so our guest will know who to ask for help or seconds.
Please be in prayer for those coming for dinner.
Thank you
 
Update from Sunday, November 17 Bulletin:
MEAL FOR NHN ON TUES NOV 26:
Northminster is serving a meal on Tuesday, November 26 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. We need to be at the Jimmy Price’s building around 4:30 p.m. to pray and see where we will be serving. Please wear your NEPC tee shirt. See Judy Reyburn if you need one.
  • We still need volunteers to serve the meal
  • Kitchen volunteers to dish up the plates
  • Cooks
      • 2 more turkeys
      • Rolls and butter
      • Drinks (sweet tea, lemonade, water)
      • Pie and whipped cream
      • Cranberry salad
  • Light clean-up
 

Please contact Judy Reyburn if you can help prepare and serve food, or if you can prepare food but cannot attend the meal.  

Missions, Evangelism, Outreach Committee


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Operation Christmas Child 2019 is Underway!

The Sunday School classes will be taking up items for our shoeboxes through Sunday, November 17.  We will put together as many shoeboxes as we can during SS on November 17.  However, we will continue to put boxes together during that week should we have more items come in later.
 
Operation Christmas Child suggests that we have one WOW item per box such as a doll, a stuffed animal, an outfit of clothes, a small musical instrument, or a backpack.  Our boxes are divided by gender and the following age groups:  2 – 4, 5 – 9, 10 – 14.
 
Some suggested items are: combs, hairbrushes, chapstick, bandages, toothbrush, watch, packaged soap, washcloth, stick deodorant, reusable plastic containers (cups, plates, bowls), blunt edged utensils, blanket, nail clipper, finger nail file, shirts/pants, loose fitting sundress, underwear, shoes, socks, flip-flops, hat, scarf, mittens, sunglasses, tote bag/purse, hair bows, pencils, manual pencil sharpener, colored pencils, pencil case, crayons, markers, pens, ruler, scissors, coloring pads/books, picture books, notebooks, glue sticks, tape, water color set, play doh with plastic cookie cutters, sewing kit, stickers, chalkboard and chalk, jump rope, foam ball, finger puppets, slinky, etch a sketch, yo-yo, marbles, costume jewelry, small Frisbee, small kite, solar powered calculator, puzzles, binoculars, plastic tools, plastic dinosaurs, small cars/trucks/boats, flashlight (if battery powered – an extra set of batteries), and compact mirror.
 
The things that are not allowed in the shoeboxes are as follows:  candy, toothpaste, gum, used or damaged items, war-related items such as toy guns, knives, or military figures, chocolate or food, seeds, fruit rolls or other fruit snacks, drink mixes (powdered or liquid), liquids or lotions, medications or vitamins, breakable items such as snow globes, or glass containers, and aerosol cans.
Please bring any donations to church by Sunday, November 17. There will be a collection bin in the church foyer for your donations. If you choose to pack your own shoebox, please bring it to church that Sunday morning as well.
 
If you have any questions, please contact Sharon Bryant.

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Pastor’s Corner – November 2019

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Col. 2:6–7)
 
“Continue to live in him, rooted and built up, strengthened in the faith as you were taught”
 
Each year, as part of my benefits package, I am given two weeks of study leave.  This isn’t two extra weeks of vacation; it’s an intentional time for pastors to do exactly what Paul says in this verse, to be ‘rooted and built up [in Christ], strengthened in the faith.”  Just as we need exercise to keep our bodies healthy, we also need to be intentional in strengthening our faith. That is what study leave is meant to provide.  I spent the time reading several books about pastoring in our current cultural reality, meeting with a spiritual director for my own spiritual growth and well-being, and sketching out a sermon plan for next year.  Thank you for letting me have the time away, and I look forward to sharing with you what God has been sharing with me!
 
“Overflowing with Thankfulness”
 
Thank you, also, for the wonderful cards and expressions of appreciation you all shared this past weekend.  What an unexpected surprise to receive upon my return from study leave!  One of my greatest joys is being able to tell others about what a blessing you all are to my family and me and how thankful we are to get to serve alongside you.  So many pastors serve places that are hard and challenging, but serving Northminster is a joy and delight.  We truly are “overflowing with thankfulness” for each one of you.

 

For what are you “overflowing with thankfulness”?  In the midst of the craziness of the holiday season, it can be easy to forget to reflect on that question.  I encourage you to be intentional in taking time to reflect on the things for which you are thankful.  Yes, expressing gratitude in the moment when we’ve received a gift is somewhat easy, but to “overflow with thankfulness” requires intentional thought and perhaps even prayer.  How different might our thanksgiving celebrations be if we take as much time to reflect on all that we have to be thankful for as we do cleaning, cooking and preparing for those celebrations?

 

Blessings,

Rev. David Garrison


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Pastor’s Corner – October 2019

Here’s something I’ve been thinking about lately:
 
What difference does Jesus make in your life?
 
Not long ago, I came across an interview with a pastor who said that it wouldn’t affect her faith in the least if there were definitive proof that Jesus Christ never existed or wasn’t resurrected from the dead and certainly wasn’t God. In fact, this pastor argued, such belief takes greater faith than holding to the orthodox beliefs about Jesus (that he is fully God and the second member of the Trinity, born of a virgin, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, was raised from the dead on the third day and is now seated at God’s right hand, to name a few). The Apostle Paul has some pretty strong words for such a view:
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor. 15:13–14, 17–19)
 
Everything we believe and are as Christians hinges on the resurrection of Christ — in this life and the life to come. For a long time, much of Christian hope and faith was placed in the promise of eternal life with God in Heaven. Over the past century or so, however, that focus has shifted toward the benefits of believing in Christ in this present life. That, in my opinion, has been a necessary correction. However, now it seems even that is fading away. It seems to me that there are a lot of people who claim to believe in Jesus, but for whom Jesus makes no practical difference in their daily lives whatsoever. I wonder if in losing our focus on the former (our hope for eternal life), we started to lose our focus on the latter (the change in our daily lives).
 
But think about what Jesus said about why he came: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” (John 10:10) Our faith in Christ brings us “real and eternal life.” It’s absolutely about the life to come. The greatest hope of our eternal life is that we will see God face-to-face. Holding to that hope, through Christ we are able to have “more and better life than we’ve ever dreamed of” in this present life. How I live my life today is formed and shaped by the sure knowledge that one day, because of Christ, I will see God face-to-face.
 
There’s an old saying that someone is “so heavenly minded, they’re no early good.” We’ve all known people like that. But that’s not how it actually works. If I’m focusing on eternity rightly, then the present is molded and shaped by it. It is that sure and certain hope that enables me to live sacrificially and fully for Christ today. The saying should more be like, “I’m only earthly good because I’m so heavenly minded.”
 
It is my prayer that, because we know we will one day see Him face-to-face, we would all know Jesus so fully and deeply that we can’t imagine living a day or a moment without Him.
 
Blessings,
Rev. David Garrison

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