One of the most significant chapters in all the Bible: Isaiah 53

Timeless Truth. As fresh today as ever.
Open your soul today to the wonder of a Suffering God.

And close to home on the global front:

Basque missionaries Jeff and Mary Shadowen will join us for our Holiday Dinner on Saturday, December 8 @ 5:00. With them will be Jaime and Loly Ardiaca, Spanish pastors in Basque Country. THAT THEY WILL BE HERE IS AMAZING! After dinner, they will share the joys and challenges of ministry to the Basque, our wonderful “adopted” friends of the past two summers. We will learn more about the special plans for outreach next summer IN Basque Country and how we might help lead the charge for a bicycle tour of praying and loving in Jesus’ power and for His glory.

After this presentation, many of us hope to go Christmas caroling to shut-ins in the neighborhood. So, a big night with a feast, a word from the Lord, and singing His Christmas glory! Perfect night to invite friends and family. Let’s fill the place!

Welcoming New International Students: We are looking for Christian individuals and families to welcome newly-arriving international students. Most will begin arriving around January 4th or after. New student orientation will be on January 8 and 9. You could help in any of the following ways.

• Hosting a student in your home for a few days.
• Providing transportation from the bus, plane or train.
• Providing baked goods for the orientation on January 8 & 9.
• Hosting a student for a meal.
• Preparing a meal with your small group for International Talk Time (ITT) for the second semester.

If you are interested and would like more information, please contact John and Linda Berger, serving with International Students, Inc., at 309.664.0377 or jwberger@ilstu.edu. Training is required for 1st time participants. Training and resource information will be provided on several different dates (you only need attend one).

News & Announcements

• PRAYER GATHERING WEDNESDAY @ 7:00 (AT THE CHURCH)
  “Go where your best prayers take you.” ~ Frederich Buechner
  (If you will pray from home for our weekly requests, please send an email to Pastor Dave.)
• Advocate/Bromenn Prayer Partner for November: Surgical Unit … 35-bed unit on 6 West cares for orthopedic and general surgery patients.
• Need two homes to host Shadowens and Ardiacas for the night of December 8. No meals necessary. Spanish language acuity helpful with Ardiacas.
• Kids learning this verse today. How about you?
  Keep your tongue from evil. ~Psalm 34:13
  (Need a shot of joy? Ask Kelly how you can serve the kids’ ministry. The timing is perfect!”
• In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
  Thus begins a literary saga of immense proportions and immeasurable influence. On December 1, a day-long conference on the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien will be held @ IWU. Pastor Dave is one of the speakers. See poster in foyer for more details… and don’t leave the path!

Another gem from Isaiah 49

“Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.
With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,
and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD;
those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”

Here’s a bold statement:

If we could plumb the depths of Isaiah 49 and begin to apply the realities of God’s immanence in our lives, we would be transformed in at least these three life-giving, joy-releasing ways:

• Bitterness over past hurts would be replaced by the peace of knowing that God will make things right; “recompense” is His rightful province and promise; forgiveness is His liberating reality
• Boredom and/or drudgery in the present would give way to the invigoration of knowing that He is building His Eternal Kingdom – even now – and is calling His people to live the vibrant life of redemption, moment-by-moment. Seemingly small and insignificant things take on huge proportions when done for His Glory, because He inhabits the hearts of his people, in the NOW!
• Anxiety about the future would lose its paralyzing grip. The triumph of God as expressed in this chapter assures us that He both knows the future and leads us into it as our Faithful Guide, Provider and Protector. All of the Bible teaches this; Isaiah 49 shouts it! This doesn’t mean that there will be no suffering – we are promised quite the opposite – but that the blessing of His ultimate victory as King will actually give that suffering a context for praise.

Now, take these three deep, deep precepts and place them in the palms of Jesus, the palms pierced by the nails of crucifixion. Does God mean what He says when He promises us that we are engraved on His palms? That, my friends, is Love that shouts “I love you!” to ears that will hear. Are you listening?

News & Announcements

• PRAYER GATHERING WEDNESDAY @ 7:00 (AT THE CHURCH)
  “Go where your best prayers take you.” ~ Frederich Buechner
  (If you will pray from home for our weekly requests, please send an email to Pastor Dave.)
• Advocate/Bromenn Prayer Partner for October: Surgical Unit .. 35-bed unit on 6 West cares for orthopedic and general surgery patients.
• Kids learning this verse today. How about you?
  Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” ~Matthew 19:14
• In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
  Thus begins a literary saga of immense proportions and immeasurable influence. On December 1, a day-long conference on the life and works of J.R.R. Tolkien will be held @ IWU. Pastor Dave is one of the speakers. See poster in foyer for more details… and don’t leave the path!

A gem from Isaiah 49

Don’t you think this verse makes a great inspirational basis for a song of praise?
Maybe the Lord will move someone here to compose such a song.

Here’s a bold statement:

If we could plumb the depths of Isaiah 49 and begin to apply the realities of God’s immanence in our lives, we would be transformed in at least these three life-giving, joy-releasing ways:

• Bitterness over past hurts would be replaced by the peace of knowing that God will make things right; “recompense” is His rightful province and promise; forgiveness is His liberating reality
• Boredom and/or drudgery in the present would give way to the invigoration of knowing that He is building His Eternal Kingdom – even now – and is calling His people to live the vibrant life of redemption, moment-by-moment. Seemingly small and insignificant things take on huge proportions when done for His Glory, because He inhabits the hearts of his people, in the NOW!
• Anxiety about the future would lose its paralyzing grip. The triumph of God as expressed in this chapter assures us that He both knows the future and leads us into it as our Faithful Guide, Provider and Protector. All of the Bible teaches this; Isaiah 49 shouts it! This doesn’t mean that there will be no suffering – we are promised quite the opposite – but that the blessing of His ultimate victory as King will actually give that suffering a context for praise.

Now, take these three deep, deep precepts and place them in the palms of Jesus, the palms pierced by the nails of crucifixion. Does God mean what He says when He promises us that we are engraved on His palms? That, my friends, is Love that shouts “I love you!” to ears that will hear. Are you listening?

News & Announcements

• PRAYER GATHERING WEDNESDAY @ 7:00 (AT THE CHURCH)
  “Go where your best prayers take you.” Frederich Buechner
  (If you will pray from home for our weekly requests, please send an email to Pastor Dave.)
• Advocate/Bromenn Prayer Partner for October: Surgical Unit … 35-bed unit on 6 West cares for orthopedic and general surgery patients.
• Our kids’ ministry is growing and Kelly needs more folks to help, beginning in December. How about you?
  Thus says the Lord GOD…and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders. Isaiah 49:22
• Run! Walk! Or otherwise get there and back!
  Sunday morning, November 11, an intrepid train of Jakesters will make their way to Uptown Normal to the CVS store to pick up items for Clare House. Learn the details and sign up today! See Tab with ??