Toledo First Headline News - November 8, 2018

Theological Hmm: It is the confidence that God has pardoned us that enables believers to grow in grace. - John Cobb Jr.

Coming soon:

  • PATHFINDER SABBATH AND PINEWOOD DERBY NOV 10 This week is Pathfinder Day at Toledo First. Guest speaker will be Pastor Edward Marton, Ohio Conference Youth Director. Join us for Fellowship Potluck after worship. Ohio and southern Michigan Pathfinders will attend classes in the afternoon, then supper for Pathfinders will be at 5:30pm. Vespers follows and to round out the day, the Pinewood Derby will be held starting about 7pm
  • YOUTH MINISTRY MEETING NOV 10 Ruben and Magaly Lopez are Pathfinder and youth leaders in their Adventist church in Columbus but their daughter, Raquel, attends UT so they find themselves in Toledo at least once a month. While they're here, they would be happy to help. So they are asking available youth leaders, parents, and teens to join them after worship in the sanctuary for a brief meeting. I told them that's a busy day but that I'd get the word out. So if you're able to stay after worship NOV 10, please do or join them for fellowship lunch
  • GEOSCIENCE RESEARCH INSTITUTE If you've never heard of the Geoscience Research Institute, here's their website https://www.grisda.org Established in 1958, this organization is sponsored by the Seventh-day Adventist Church with a mission to discover and share an understanding of nature and its relationship with the Biblical revelation of the Creator God. It has all kinds of resources and articles related to intelligent design and evolution and dinosaurs and many other interesting subjects. I enjoy reading their quarterly email update. You can subscribe here if you want as well
  • SIX WEEK GROUPS DYK the church was organized for outreach using small groups? Acts 2:42 NLT says, "ALL the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and...to prayer." Will you? You could start the week of WED NOV 7 (and continue 11/14; 11/28; 12/5; 12/12; 12/19) for prayer, reading, and sharing in your home or somewhere else. You could begin with Searching for the God of Grace or Perfect Grace! (both avail in church office while supplies last). The possibilities are endless but time is not. So how will you plan to participate in Jesus' great commission? Please let us know if you are starting a group. Will be happy to help advertise for you!
  • TEEN SIX WEEK GROUP Our church was founded by teenagers who prayed and read their Bibles and shared what they found. Who is gonna follow their lead?
  • YOUNG ADULT SIX WEEK GROUP Would a willing 20 something to 30 something year old start a six week group? Would someone else welcome them into their home for six Fridays or Saturdays in NOV and DEC? Let me know!
  • PANERA BREAD AVAILABLE FRIDAY @ 9:00 - 10:00am. Come through east canopy doors
  • LITTLE MINNOW AWARDS These are small tokens of recognition for servant leadership you've seen in the lives of someone else at TF. We will give those nominated their certificate and thank them in church NOV 24. Send your suggestions to Dee at the church office dee@toledofirstadventist.org or call 419.882.6200
  • OPEN TABLE TRAININGS CONTINUE NOV 17. Please pray for our Open Table volunteers
  • WOMEN'S PRAYER GROUP with Arsenia Uckele begins NOV 10 after church (and continues weekly after church). You may contact her at 978-424-5783 or arsenia@hotmail.com for more info
  • SHOE DRIVE Elle Rhee, sophomore class president at Northview High School (Sylvania) is collecting gently used shoes for a non-profit organization that sends them to developing countries and has invited us to partner with her. So bring your gently used shoes and let's fill another collection bin in our church foyer
  • PERFECT GRACE! NOV 16-18 Tom Hughes will be here NOV 16-18 to talk about his new book Perfect Grace! – It’s All About Jesus. So make plans now to spend a rewarding Friday evening vespers NOV 16 @ 7:30pm, SAT NOV 17 @ 11am and 7:30pm, and SUN NOV 18 @ 10am. Free pancake breakfast @ 9-9:30am precedes the final presentation at 10am. $5 copies of his book ARE available in the church office
  • ENTRANCE TO TF CHURCH BIBLE STUDY CONTINUES SAT NOV 17 @ 5pm in the church office (and 12/1, 12/8, 12/15, 1/12, 1/26)
  • CONTINUING EDUCATION DEC 1 Might you be available to stay after church and Marilu's Friendship Dinner DEC 1 at 2pm for a presentation about church growth and membership retention? It's been well received at Northwood and I think it could be useful for us at TF too. I see it as continuing education for elders / deacons / teachers / point persons but would be helpful for all followers of Jesus
  • ADRA (ADVENTIST DEVELOPMENT AND RELIEF AGENCY) LIFE SAVER CHRISTMAS KITS are designed to meet the specific challenges faced by families and communities. One $30 kit might include emergency food rations, drought resistant seeds, or farming tools. Another could include a micro finance loan to start a business, small business training, or educational opportunities for children. Every DEC we collect an additional love offering in the foyer at church to share the gift of Jesus with others. So get ready to receive some weekly reminders in the form of Life Savers on your way out of church and plan to set aside a little something to contribute if you can. All the additional offerings collected after church in the foyer will be given to ADRA for them to purchase Life Saver Christmas Kits
  • CHRISTMAS EVE We have been invited to host this year’s multi-church community Christmas Eve program (5-6pm). So people from Washington Church, Missionary Alliance, Grace Church, and other local congregations in Toledo will be joining us in TF on MON DEC 24 from 5-6pm for a beautiful candle lit Christmas Eve service. Stay tuned for more details and if you're in town, don't miss this! It's gonna be special
  • YOUR HEALTH YOUR CHOICE JAN 18-19, 2019 Toledo First welcomes back friend and former member (when he lived locally) Dr.Charles David. He is coming to share how his medical missionary work around the world (I recently woke him up in Bangkok) has been received and some practical ways we can improve our health in the new year. So make plans now to spend a rewarding Friday evening vespers JAN 18 @ 7:30pm and SAT JAN 19 @ 11am and 7:30pm
  • PANCAKE BREAKFAST / CHURCH BUSINESS MEETING SUN JAN 20 Pancakes served @ 9-9:30am; Church Business Meeting follows at 10am
  • VALENTINES FOR TOLEDO FEB 16 Save the date and time 7-8:30pm for a very special concert and evangelistic outreach effort benefiting another local non-profit organization here in Toledo. Join us!
  • ISRAEL TRIP FEB 9-17, 2019 Nine days where Jesus walked! Round-trip airfare from Chicago to Tel Aviv. All taxes included. Buffet style breakfast and dinner daily at hotels. Double occupancy rooms. Fish lunch by the Sea of Galilee. Touring via luxury motor coach with fluent English speaking tour guide. All entrance fees to park and visiting sites. Price: $2,280. Financial assistance is available from church. Not included: Travel insurance highly recommended. Tips for guide and driver
  • JESUS MOVIES What's your fave? Shadowlands; The Shack; Cutback; Soul Surfer; Grace UnPlugged; End of the Spear; The Mission; Beautifully Broken; Running for Grace; Steve McQueen: American Icon; The Resurrection of Gavin Stone; Expelled - No Intelligence Allowed; Is Genesis History?; God's Not Dead; Fireproof; War Room; The Case for Christ; The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry; Amazing Grace; Once I Was a Beehive; I Can Only Imagine
  • ONLINE BIBLE STUDIES The Discover Bible Study series is online. Anyone can enroll and complete them in the privacy and comfort of their own home minus all the USPS mailings. Good for friends and family interested in becoming acquainted with the Bible and finding answers for facing the issues and challenges you deal with every day. Remember and refer others to this website: biblestudies.com
  • PRAYERS AND PRAISES Because we need to be praising God with our lips (Psalm 63:3), here's another alternative...email CathieH directly at heathcs@sbcglobal.net with your praise. Yes, it can be anonymous, if you prefer. Just specify in your email you don't want your name mentioned. You can still write your prayers & praises and put them in the box at the foot of the cross in the foyer at the courtyard exit doors. Cards and pencils are provided
  • BEST COMMENTARIES ON DANIEL AND REVELATION Want a chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse practical but thorough commentary on the book of Daniel or Revelation from an Adventist viewpoint? Here's what I use and recommend Daniel: Wisdom to the Wise and Revelation of Jesus Christ
  • NEW SERMONS Please see church website for sermon archives and more info at tfsda.org
    • NOV 10 - Pathfinder Sabbath (Pastor Ed preaching)
    • NOV 17 - Perfect Grace! (Tom Hughes preaching)
    • NOV 24 - Thankfully Alive (Pastor Mike preaching from Luke 20:27-40)
    • DEC 1 - Piously Pretending (Pastor Mike preaching from Luke 20:41-47)
  • OUR WELCOME We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, y no habla ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying newborns, skinny as a rail, or could afford to lose a few pounds. We welcome you if you sing like Andrea Bocelli or can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re just browsing, just woke up, or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s baptism. We welcome service dogs and their handlers. We welcome Muslims, Jews, politicians, and sinners like us. We extend a special welcome to those who are over 60 but not grown up yet, and to teenagers who are growing up too fast. We welcome soccer moms, NASCAR dads, starving artists, tree-huggers, latte-sippers, vegetarians, junk- food eaters. We welcome those who are in recovery or still addicted. We welcome you if you’re having problems, or you’re down in the dumps, or you don’t like “organized religion;” we’ve been there too. If you blew all your offering money at the casino, you’re welcome here. We offer a special welcome to those who think the earth is flat, who work hard, don’t work, can’t spell, or come because grandma is in town and wanted to go to church. We welcome those who are inked, pierced, or both. We offer a special welcome to those who could use a prayer right now, had religion shoved down your throat as a kid, or got lost in traffic and wound up here by mistake. We welcome tourists, seekers, doubters, bleeding hearts...and you.
  • OUR STORY Our church website at the very bottom of the home page has an excellent downloadable resource featuring our story and explanation of our unique Christian Adventist emphasis. It's called the Toledo First Assimilation Manual and if you've never read it, I would encourage you to do so. And don't forget, God loves you like crazy. And so do we (2 Corinthians 5:13-14 NLT)!

Love ye,