Church of the Blue Ridge
Spreading God’s Love, Serving the Rockfish Valley
JOY
“Do not be afraid, for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11
Dear Church of the Blue Ridge Family:
A WARM CHRISTMAS GREETING!
The comforting words written above were needed that night. “They were greatly afraid” – the dark, the glory of the Lord, and the greeting of the heavenly host… all these things caused questions.
In this joyous season, days are still filled with questions! Your pastors’ earnest prayer is that the same divine words spoken by the angel of the Lord will capture your heart: “Do not be afraid!” Jesus has come in His love, power, and peace to answer the questions. Jesus, the Son of God, coming to this earth to save all who would believe. Peace and abundant life with God in exchange for death and sin; love, hope and comfort of the Holy Spirit in exchange for loneliness, lack and despair. Jesus Christ, your Prince of Peace, attends to you at this time with great joy!
May your days be filled with His joy!
Merry Christmas!!!
Jim Hardwick, Whitney Critzer, and Danny McAllister
and Happy New Year 2010
Read Through The Bible In 2010 During 2009, adults were encouraged to read through the entire Bible in one year. It is time to celebrate! Look in the CBR foyer for the sign-up sheet for those that completed the Read-Through-The-Bible challenge and thereby earned a steak dinner. You’ll be hearing more about the dinner arrangements soon.
Our challenge for the coming New Year 2010 will expand the reading to every age group. We want to encourage every person in the Church of the Blue Ridge to be involved in reading or having the Bible read to him or her. Please consider the following:
Ages 1-9 should read, or have parents read to them, The New Testament Picture Bible by Iva Hoth, published by David C. Cook. We will purchase a supply of these Bibles and make them available for $8.00 each. Youngsters in this age bracket will be awarded a monthly reward for keeping up with the readings. (We will provide a schedule for readings).
Ages 10-15 will read through the New Testament, Psalms, and Proverbs. Our recommendation would be to use the New International Version of the New Testament. Monthly rewards will be given for each reader in this group who has kept up with his or her readings. (We will provide a schedule for readings.)
Ages 16 and up will read the entire Bible in one year. We are encouraging older teens and adults to read one of the Chronological Bibles. This edition arranges the Scripture in chronological order as it occurred in history. The Chronological Bible is a very exciting way to read through the Word! We will have a supply of these Bibles which can be purchased for $15.00. The reward for adults will again be a steak dinner and fellowship at the end of the year 2010.
Afton Christian Training School (ACTS 29) Starting on Tuesday, January 5, 2010, the new quarter of ACTS 29 begins. This term we will be studying Biblical Prophecies of the End Time. In theological language, this study is referred to as Eschatology. We will be dealing with topics such as the Rapture, events leading up to the end, world events, and much more. We will be using material from the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew, I & II Thessalonians and Revelation.
For the winter quarter we will be offering only the one study on end time matters. Our intention is to have both a morning and evening class. The morning class begins at 11:00am; the evening class starts at 7:00pm. Hopefully, one of these times will fit your schedule! Call Jim to enroll (540-910-2156 or 434-361-0110).
The Prayer Net As we look into 2010 we certainly see a lot of challenges ahead and many opinions as to the best way to meet those problems. The church has often quoted that familiar passage from II Chronicles 7:14 - "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land”. Perhaps we have quoted it more often than we have done it. We are establishing “The Prayer Net” to encourage and lead all who would like to unite to concentrate on earth-shaking prayer.
The Prayer Net will:
- Give weekly information through emails about various prayer needs to focus on.
- Be a covering for protection from the enemy.
- Hold us together, for unity in prayer has great power.
- Be a net for fishing to bring the lost to Christ.
The weekly prayer notes will come out on Fridays by email, if you send me your email address, (wcritzer@ntelos.net) and it will be distributed on Sundays for those who do not have internet.
Afton Christian School Afton Christian School has had a good first half of the school year. The students and teachers are doing a wonderful job. We still have openings for more students. January is a good time to make a change if you are going to change your choice of school. The hope for America rests in the top priority of praying and secondly in maintaining Christian education. Public education has focused on changing the values of its students rather than offering quality education that is Biblically-based. Please pray for us, continue to support us and encourage parents to “do the right thing”. The best investment a person can make is to invest in a child’s education, one that is based on a Biblical worldview.
Daycare The daycare continues in its thirteenth year under the leadership of Vanessa Layne. They accept infants through 3 year olds and they have several openings now if you know someone that might be interested.
Sunday School Sunday School is Sunday morning at 9:30 for children and adults. Louis DeLaura will be teaching the adult class, focusing on the book of Hebrews.
