The Upward Call of God in Christ Jesus: Intimacy
Happy Valentine’s Day.
For many, this is that once-a-year time to give flowers, chocolate and various other gifts to our spouse or close friend. Many see these as objects of their expression of intimacy.
So what does intimacy look like? What about the church? Can we have intimacy with God?
Someone wrote: “Intimacy is not something that just happens between two people; it is a way of being alive. At every moment, we are choosing either to reveal ourselves or protect ourselves, to value ourselves or to diminish ourselves, to tell the truth or to hide.
To dive into life or to avoid it. Intimacy is making the choice to be connected to, rather than isolated from, our deepest truth at that moment.”
While this is written largely from a human relationship point of view, let’s take a moment to ask God to be the ‘other person’ in our intimacy. Find that ‘being alive’ in your intimacy with God.
God is calling us – perhaps over and over – to come to Him, to rest in His care, to be enthralled by His beauty, to trust Him, to enjoy His peace. He wants us to see His best, His fullness, the prize that awaits us in His eternal home for us.
For further study, please check these verses:
Hebrews 4:1-13 –
Psalm 37:7 –
Matthew 11:28 –
1 Peter 1:13 –
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity...it makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
This Week
Monday, Feb. 15
Family Day Holiday
Church office is closed
Tuesday, Feb. 16
9:00 am Daybreak Women’s Study
7:00 pm Youth Study
Wednesday, Feb. 17
10:00 am Keenagers Study online
4:00 pm AWANA
Thursday, Feb. 18
6:30 pm Deeper Life School of Theology
7:00 pm Evening Edition Women’s Study
Friday, Feb. 19
6:30 pm Deeper Life School of Theology
Saturday, Feb. 20
8:30 am Deeper Life School of Theology
Sunday, Feb. 21
9:30 am Online Sunday School
10:00 am Online Worship Service
10:00 am In person Worship Service. Must be pre-registered.
6:00 pm Faith on Fire – Night in Worship
JOURNEY UPDATES
COMMUNION SERVICE – Today, February 14, we celebrate communion in our service. Participate in the Lord’s Supper at home. Please have bread and juice ready.
FEBRUARY 15 - FAMILY DAY HOLIDAY Church office will be closed.
WORSHIP SERVICES We are excited to announce that we will be moving to two services on February 21. Please pre-register starting Wednesday for either the 9:15 am or 11:15 am service. Discovery Island will be available for age 3 to gr 6. Please note we have limited space for children and pre-registration is REQUIRED.
ONLINE Sunday School Feb. 21 can be viewed at 8:30 am on Facebook or Youtube. Live Stream service will be available at 9:15 am. For more information please visit our website or watch for your weekly Newsletter. If you do not receive our weekly newsletter you can sign up on our website
WINTER WARM UP FOR THE SOUL – Thank you to everyone who participated in our gift card drive this past week for the unsheltered in Spruce Grove. We are thrilled to have collected 130 $10 gift cards which will help provide hope for the homeless in the coming weeks & months. Thank you for your generosity!
KEENAGERS (55+) “Christ is Superior – a Study in Hebrews”. Join us on Wednesday at 10:00 am on Pastor Art’s personal Facebook page or at 1:00 pm on our Keenagers Facebook Group as we stay connected through the Word of God.
BIBLE SCHOOL- DEEPER LIFE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY February 18 – 20 “Biblical Sexuality in the 21st Century” by Rev. Jayson Graves. This month you can come as an observer to the classes for free. Contact Pastor Coreen Frey if you wish to sign up.
FAITH ON FIRE – A NIGHT IN WORSHIP Sunday February 21 at 6:00 pm. Join us for an evening of unbroken modern worship praise and prayer.
IF GATHERING March 5-6: SGAC Women's Ministries is hosting this livestream event with both in person and online options for you to attend. Join this gathering of women (ages 14+) across denominations, generations & countries for amazing teaching & worship as we focus on the theme: EVEN IF the worst happens, we won't lose hope. Cost is $5 - registration deadline is noon on Tuesday, March 2. Click here to register.
Please keep your eye out for weekly updates. Sign up for the newsletter if you haven’t already at https://www.sgac.net/newsletter
WE ARE ON INSTAGRAM! Follow us at sga.church!
Giving Update
Giving – Week of February 1 - 7 ,2021
General Fund Giving $ 19,199
General Fund Budget $ 22,602
Future Dev. Fund $ 2,995
Giving – July 1, to January 31, 2021
General Fund
General Fund Giving - YTD $ 629,603
Budgeted Need - YTD $ 700,662
Global Advance Giving $ 83,004
Canadian Ministries Giving $ 15,091
Future Dev Fund $ 356,068
Please note the following options for giving:
ONLINE GIVING
Whether it is a one-time gift or you would like to schedule a recurring donation, you can give online to Spruce Grove Alliance Church. This option allows you to give using a Visa debit card or the traditional Visa or MasterCard credit cards.
PRE-AUTHORIZED GIVING
Pick up a pre-authorized debit agreement form from our church office or download one here. You can fill it out and then with a voided cheque - you can either scan it and email it to the office, or drop it off during regular office hours.
INTERAC/DEBIT
During office hours, you can drop by and use the INTERAC/DEBIT machine at the Welcome Centre, then fill out your donation envelope as normal including your name, address, giving number and insert your debit receipt so we can disburse funds as directed in the Box on the counter.
E-TRANSFER
Use E-Transfer to give at SGAC, using www.sgac/Give . Please include your offering envelope number and contact information. The money is deposited directly into the church account and does not require a security question. Please also include your envelope # if you have one and your phone number in the note section.
IN PERSON
During office hours, you can stop by the church office and drop off your donation in a sealed envelope. Mark it Finance / Confidential
By MAIL / CHEQUE
Mail your donation to:
Spruce Grove Alliance Church
Attn: Finance
250 Century Road
Spruce Grove, AB T7X 1W6
Thank you for your generosity in giving to SGAC.
Questions: Please contact the church office at 780 962 4700 or by email corina.langdon@sgac.net. You may also visit our website at www.sgac/Give
PRAYER
Please pray for:
- Our Christian Workers: Darren & Naomi serve as part of the C&MA Gateway Ministry and are part of SGAC’s cluster group..
- Pastoral Team Staff Member: Pastor of Outreach, Men & Missions —Pastor Joel Marquez. Joel is married to Lolet.
- Our Support Staff Team Member: Joanne Fehr. Joanne is married to Bruce and they have 2 adult children.
- Our Elders Team Member: Tim Wiebe. Tim is married to Julie and they have 3 children.
FAMILY MATTERS
- We want to pray for you. Please send your requests to prayer@sgac.net