(Photo Courtesy Tom Hughes)
Theological Hmm: There is no such thing as divine grace plus human something. - John Fowler
Coming soon:
- FRIENDSHIP DINNER DEC 1 We invite you to stay this week 12/1 for Friendship Lunch with Marilu and her team. This is a catered / provided meal. You do not have to bring a dish to pass but you're welcome to invite a friend!
- OPEN TABLE TRAININGS CONTINUE DEC 1 at 2pm (and continue 12/8; 12/15). Please pray for our Open Table volunteers
- LEADERSHIP TRAINING DEC 1 Might you be available to stay after church and Marilu's Friendship Dinner for a presentation DEC 1 at 2pm 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 leadership education for elders / deacons / teachers / point persons but would be helpful for all followers of Jesus. Attached are some questions you could think about prior to Cavin's presentation we will be discussing after
- ENTRANCE TO TF CHURCH BIBLE STUDY CONTINUES SAT DEC 1 @ 5pm in the church office (and 12/8, 12/15, 1/12, 1/26)
- WOMEN'S PRAYER GROUP meets with Arsenia Uckele after church. You may contact her at 978-424-5783 or arseniaf@hotmail.com for more info
- ADOPT A GRANDPARENT If you or your family is interested in this ordinary outreach, please sign up at the bulletin board to fulfill a Christmas wish for a resident at Genesis HealthCare. Gifts are due at church on Sabbath, DEC 15
- YOUTH GROUP GOING TO HANDBELL CONCERT DEC 2 at 7pm in the Olivet Lutheran Church in Sylvania. Concert begins at 7pm but plan to arrive by 6:30 to get good seats. Or carpool from church leaving at 6:20pm. After the concert, meet back at our church for some hot chocolate and cookies. Dress is nice slacks, sweaters, dress, etc
- MONTHLY PRAYER CALL DEC 3 the first MON of each month open to everyone sponsored by Ohio Conference. They will keep the call to an hour and pray together changing the focus of prayer every few minutes. So stay tuned for the number to call and put MON DEC 3, from 8pm - 9pm (EST) on your calendar. Here is the number to call: (866) 232-6629 when prompted, please enter conference code: 7403974665 followed by the # sign
- MEMORIAL DEC 9 There will be a memorial on SUN DEC 9 at 3pm at the Tecumseh SDA Church for Jack Kovalski’s mother who passed away in Tennessee on NOV 4. Our sincere sympathy to Jack & Leslie and their family
- TJA CHRISTMAS PROGRAM DEC 13 Toledo Junior Academy’s Christmas program is on THUR DEC 13, at 6:30pm. Support our students / school
- SHOE DRIVE EXTENDED Thanks to your help, Elle Rhee, sophomore class president at Northview High School (Sylvania) will continue collecting gently used shoes during the entire month of December and give them to a non-profit organization that sends them to developing countries. So continue to bring your gently used shoes and let's fill another collection bin in our church foyer! Click here to watch the 13ABC News story
- SPANISH ADVENTIST GROUP OF TOLEDO weekly meetings in the Fellowship Hall continue each Sabbath from 9am - 12:15pm. The kitchen should be closed and noise kept to a minimum. When we have dinners, tables will be set up AFTER 12:30pm, when both church services have ended. Potlucks just got a little more variety! Here's their new website
- PLEASE DO NOT SALT the new concrete in our church courtyard when it snows. It could cause damage. The courtyard will be heated to melt snow and ice from beneath
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CAMPANAS CRISTALIS bell choir will be performing at the following locations around Toledo. Way to go! Join them!
- MON DEC 3 @ 5pm at Flower Hospital in The Atrium of the Medical Office Building
- THUR DEC 20 @ 6pm at The Imagination Station Lobby
- SABBATH DEC 22 @ 11am during worship in TF Church
- MON DEC 24 @ 5pm during Community Christmas Eve hosted by TF Church
- 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 continue the week of WED DEC 5 (and 12/12; 12/19) for prayer, reading, and sharing in your home or somewhere else. You could discuss 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!
- NEW SIX WEEK GROUP 10am-12noon for Bible Study with Regina Davis—at church and continues Sundays same time. Everyone is invited
- 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!
- JESUS MOVIES What's your fave? The Conscientious Objector (2004), The Ultimate Gift; 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
- 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 by clicking here and filling out the form asking to be included in their quarterly e-newsletter - 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
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NEW SERMONS Please see church website for sermon archives and more info at tfsda.org
- DEC 1 - God of the Living (Pastor Mike preaching from Luke 20:27-40)
- DEC 8 - Piously Pretending (Pastor Mike preaching from Luke 20:41-47)
- DEC 15 - Humbly Giving (Pastor Mike preaching from Luke 21:1-4)
- DEC 22 - Jeconiah's Curse vs. Jesus' Birth (Pastor Mike preaching from Jeremiah 22:30; Matthew 1:12)
- 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,
