Newsletter of the Archer United Methodist Church December, 2018- Volume 12

Steps to a life of Faith in the new Year

The Bible says in Romans 10:17, that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It
goes without doubt that faith depends on God’s Word and God’s Will. Faith is first a lifestyle- In 1
Samuel 17:37, David said “the Lord who delivered him out of the paw of the lion and bear, will deliv-
er him out of the hand of Goliath.” David had a covenant with God. He was anointed by Samuel, and
was faithful in small things of God, thus, he trusted God to defeat Goliath. We need more faith next
year than this year because of challenges. Secondly, we need to live by every word that comes out of
God’s mouth in order to be overcomers- If we eat three times a day, why not read the bible three times
a day? How many hours do we read the bible, as well as pray in a day? We must make a decision to
feed our spirits more than our flesh. Thirdly, we need to study and correctly divide the word of truth-
2 Timothy 2:15 encourages us to diligently study God’s word in order to interpret correctly. Fourthly,
we must meditate on the word of God day and night- In Joshua 1:7-8, we realized that God asked
Joshua to meditate on His word, not to allow it to depart from his mouth in order to yield good suc-
cess. God also wants us to worship Him in Spirit and in truth-Our lives must be a life of worship as
we watch and pray for the second coming of the Lord. God wants us to go and make disciples of all
nations, and He promises to be with us to the end of the age. Sixth, we need to separate ourselves from
the world. Like fish stays in the sea and not get salty, we need to be in the world and not of the world,
through the sanctifying power of Christ. It is better to live alone in faith, than with a group of faithless
people. It is the responsibility of the body of Christ to exercise our authority in Christ. God wants us
to fight the good fight of faith-Satan hates God and us. Let us use our bible knowledge, pray and over-
come the enemy by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony. Next, we need to walk by
faith and not by sight- we do not live our lives according to the dictates of the flesh. We have a new
spirit, but the same flesh. We should not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
our mind, in order to prove what is good and perfect will of God (Romans 12:2). We must walk in the
spirit always, not looking at the circumstances. The storms may roar, and the sea may be rough, but
the challenges may be the stepping stones to our next level of promotion. The bible says that, those
who are born of God do not practice sin. Let us learn to walk in love- Gal 5:6 says that, “In Jesus
Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love. We
should allow God to avenge on our behalf when treated badly. Finally, we must follow Jesus
Christ. If we take these twelve steps, our faith would grow and our prayers would be answered speed-
ily. The leadership of Archer and Primghar churches wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new
year. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds you with His righteousness.
Amen!!!

DECEMBER
GREETERS LITURGISTS FELLOWSHIP
2nd Dean & Lissa J ohnson Steve Landhuis Tom & Glenna Farnsworth
9th Stan & Betty Wilkens Linda Porter Jim & Pam Thornton
16th Steve & Ashli Landhuis Richard Ludeke Wayne & Sheryl Storm
23rd Alvin & Sadie Stor m Jane Schwartz Bill & Karen Engeltjes
30th Wayne & Sher yl Stor m Sean Lane Dudley & Carol McDowell
 SUN MON TUES WED THURS FRI SAT
1
2:00 pm
Peterson UMC
DECEMBER USHERS Christmas Tea

Stan & Jane Schwartz

2 3 4 5 6 7 8
9:30 am UCP 9:00 am
Women’s Bible WWW Schedule 2:00 pm Pastor Cookie Walk
9:00am UCP Study 5:45 Dinner at Pearl Valley for VBS at
Worship— 5:15 pm Bible 6:15 Classes Care Center Primghar
Communion Study at UCP Community
10:30am Arch- 6:30 pm Bldg.
er Worship– LoveINC
Communion

9 10 11 12 13 14 15
9:00am WWW 9:30 am UCP Noon UCW Potluck
Christmas Women’s Bible 6:30 pm
Program Study Last WWW for LoveINC
10:30am Arch- 5:15 pm Bible 2018
er Worship Study at UCP
7:00 pm Christmas
Tea-Archer

16 17 18 19 20 21 22
9:00am UCP 9:30 am UCP
Worship Women’s Bible No WWW No LoveInc
10:30am Arch- Study
er Worship 5:15 pm Bible
Board meeting Study at UCP
following wor-
ship

23 24 25 26 27 28 29
5:15 pm UCP
9:00am UCP Christmas Eve Church Office No WWW
Worship Worship Closed
10:30am Arch- 6:30pm
er Worship Archer
Christmas Eve
Worship
Church Office
Closed
30 31
10:00 am Joint
Worship at
Archer