Opportunities and Challenges

The fall always generates new schedules largely because of school for the kids. Vacations are generally over, and the routine begins for all of us. This is usually the time when people get back into the routine of church. That also means the church begins many of its programs, such as AWANA, MOPS, and new Bible studies.

To help generate a renewed schedule in church, this Sunday is National Back to Church Sunday. We ask everyone to make every effort to be in church this Sunday, September 12, and bring a friend. This is a great opportunity.

The immediate challenge is one of a financial nature. We sent a notice to everyone asking for an extra financial gift by this coming Sunday. The spring and summer have been taxing on the church budget. Giving has been down to the point of putting some of our ministries in jeopardy.

We need your prayers and gifts concerning this matter. This is your church; we are frugal in the use of church finances. But in these desperate times in our world, the church needs to be stronger than ever in proclaiming the message of Jesus.

Please take advantage of the opportunities and help shoulder the challenges here at Hannaford Street.

Dick Crosby, Senior Pastor

I hope that everyone in America would understand that this nation was established primarily for religious freedom. We have been blessed for over 250 years to be able to worship without government interference. That liberty is celebrated on the fourth day of July each year.

This year that date falls on a Sunday. We will celebrate our freedom in a variety of ways.

• Morning begins at 9:00 a.m. with a full breakfast. People whose last names begin with A-M are asked to bring a fruit dish; N-Z are asked to bring a breakfast meat dish. In addition, pancakes will be served.
• Some patriotic venues will be presented to remember our
  great country.
• ONLY ONE service will be held this Sunday! Both first and second services will meet at 10:00 a.m.
• Scott Yebba will bring a message that promises to challenge.
• It should be a packed house with excitement and
  great preaching.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday as we celebrate our religious freedom. If you are unable to attend on Sunday, please plan to come Thursday evening at 6:30.
 
Dick Crosby

Getting Caught in the Current

We live in a fluid world, although the word change outside of politics is not a theme used readily for advertising. Many people fear change, yet our culture is constantly changing.

We are exposed to many new products and recreational adventures because of an unquenchable human appetite for happiness. It is a satisfaction that is never met by change of scenery, partners, increased income, or any other external alteration.

Real satisfaction and peace in a world of shifting values without Christ is a hopeless journey. This is a truth that Christians understand, yet fewer are actually endorsing in their lifestyles. We get caught up in the vortex of human pursuit for happiness which we think is only found in the next new thing.

This Sunday I will touch on this troubling issue. The current habits of Christians are to convince themselves that they maintain a strong relationship with God on a flex schedule. Lord, I will read your Word when I have time, I will attend church when it fits my schedule, and I will serve others when convenient. We discount the seriousness of God concerning our spiritual relationship with Him.

I am deeply concerned over Christians buying into the general disrespect for God. My dear people, don’t believe that you can make it through life easily with a part-time relationship with your Savior.

Pastor Dick Crosby

Church

What would happen if there was no church? What would happen if the church ceased to exist?

If you are not sure how to answer these two questions, you need to come to church as we explore this matter. We place the church right behind the Pillar of the Bible and the Pillar of God, not because we need to sustain a job, but because it is so important to believers. Jesus started the church; He must have had a good reason for its existence.

In order for you to be able to defend your belief in the church, come and learn the truth about it. The church is more important than many Christians realize.

Do Your Friend a Favor

Invite a friend to come to church with you this week. Easter is a day that many people think is important, and many are open to coming to church. You will both enjoy the service and some things that are planned here at Hannaford. It will be well worth your time. In fact you will do a disservice to your friend IF you don’t extend an invitation to come with you to church. April 4 should be the best day our church has experienced in a long time!

In addition to our annual breakfast served between 9:30am to 10:30am, there will be some very special music. For the first time in a very long time a 25-30 member choir will be singing.

Easter is a time of the year in which people give serious thought to the meaning of true Christianity. I will preach a message that revolves around this question, What keeps you alive? You might be surprised; it’s not something you hear very often. So do your friend a favor, ask him/her to come to church with you this Sunday.

Pastor Dick Crosby

Sunday's New Pillar of Faith—God

We are beginning another pillar this Sunday in the Pillars of Faith. Our new subject is God! This week I will teach from a verse that only has ten words; it is a verse that you may know quite well. However, I think God has given me some insights into this verse about Him that you may have never noticed.

I am excited about the message and believe you will have something to take home which will be beneficial in your Christian walk. If you couple this with your personal Bible study, I think you will begin to experience a newer relationship with God.

Our Christian walk should always be about Life Change. Don’t miss this week; it is hard to imagine anything that would be more important than to worship with us and be encouraged by this message.

Pastor Dick Crosby

Internet Safety Workshop

Teens and their parents are invited to a workshop on the topic of Internet Safety taking place on Wednesday, March 24, at HSBC (830 N. Hannaford, Helena). The workshop is scheduled during youth group, 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

Kevin Damuth will be teaching this workshop. He works for the FBI investigating internet crime and gives presentations on internet safety in schools. Since most, if not all students, use the internet on a daily basis, we believe this workshop will give them practical help in using e-mail, myspace, facebook, and other internet sources in a safe way. Parents will also gain helpful information about internet safety.

Pastor Gezer

Easter is coming on April 4th this year, and we are excited to remember Christ’s death, His burial, and celebrate His resurrection! This year Worship Ministry is forming a worship choir called Harmony to participate in the Easter services, and we need you! The name “Harmony” comes from Psalm 133... “How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!” This is a multi-generational choir, and all are welcome. If you are 14 or 114, this opportunity to serve in worship is for you! Our first rehearsal will be Sunday, March 14th, from 4:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. in the Worship Center. Please call Jonathan at the church office (449-2273) or e-mail (jonathanw@hannaford.org) for more information or to confirm your attendance at rehearsal. (If you will need childcare, please let us know.)
Jonathan Wimp

Life Change, Week 2

We hope to see you Sunday for week 2 in our Pillars of the Faith series. Ray Fuller will be teaching on how the Bible came together? Sermon Central is now up and running on our website, www.hannaford.org. Listed below are links available from Sermon Central.

• Weekly Online Questionnaire
• Weekly Sermon Notes and Small Group Study Guide

• Life Change Blog (answers to weekly sermon questions)
• Facebook Page: Life Change At Hannaford Street Bible Church
• Weekly Sermon Podcasts

Life Change

You are invited to come Sunday for the first message in our Pillars of the Faith series. It will focus on the Bible, Where Did the Bible Come From, Anyway?. Books, notebooks, family bags, and notes will be available this Sunday to further enhance your study outside of Sunday morning.

Questions asked on Sunday, January 31, 2010, have been answered on http://lifechangeathsbc.blogspot.com/. A weekly online questionnaire will be available through our website, http://www.hannaford.org/.  In addition, weekly messages are available at our Media Center, http://www.hannaford.org/messages.php.

Food for Thought and Health

Trust is a small word to spell, but a huge word to put into action. It means to put your faith in the ability of a person, a thing, or an organization to act on your behalf.

Some people's motto is "Trust no one, question everything." Caution can be a commendable attribute that can prevent accidents, mistakes, and traps. The Bible says to walk circumspectly in Ephesians 5:15. That means to take one step at a time, looking where you are going, to be careful.

We trust all sorts of things don't we? Without question we trust a chair to keep us from falling to the floor. We trust the food we eat to be safe; few people have food tasters. Many people trust the government to protect them and, in many cases, to provide for them. We all exercise trust in a variety of things or people.

What about God? Do we trust Him? We do for salvation because there is nothing we can do but trust Him to provide eternal life. But what about obedience to giving? God said, "Test me and see if I will not provide when you give." Mal. 3:10-11.

Nearly every January many Christians fail to trust God, but instead put off giving to God to pay Christmas bills. God did not put conditions on the trust me or test me in Malachi 3 when it came to the finances He allows us to have. It is not trust when we only give to God when extra money is available. In this case we don't really need to trust Him.

We rob ourselves of so many blessings when we fail to trust God in this area. We say this, not to increase church income, but to challenge your faith in one of the most difficult areas of one's life--money.

Food for thought and health!

Pastor Dick Crosby

Exciting Testimony on January 24

One of our church family, Fred Habel, will share his testimony concerning his remarkable recovery from a health issue in which God did some amazing miracles. You will not want to miss this. Bring a visitor to hear about this miraculous way God worked.

Pastor Dick Crosby

Third Annual Christmas Photos

Sunday, November 8, is Hannaford's Annual Christmas Photo day. Pictures will be taken in the Fellowship Room from 8:00 a.m. until noon. Have your family wear their Christmas best! You will receive a FREE 8x10 picture. Your photo will also be used for the next Hannaford phone directory.

Scott Yebba

What Can One Person Do?

A Troubling World
When you watch the world news, it is easy to conclude that we live in unsettled times. This is especially true for people who are old enough to have seen the world years ago. While we do live in exciting times loaded with many opportunities, we see some dark clouds as well. In America we face a troubled financial front, a shrinking job market, sicknesses, and terrorism. The Bible is clear in the book of Timothy that dangerous times will come in the last days.

The Reality of Anxiety
It is easy to become anxious about these and other matters. This is especially true for people who have difficulty sleeping. It is easy to think about trying troubles as you are tossing in bed. It is also true if you get sick or extremely tired. Yes, troubling times can produce anxiety.

The Power of One
So what might we do? Is there a solution? As Christians we know that the Lord will take care of us, but how does that happen?

During times of trouble reading the Psalms is very helpful. But, perhaps, more helpful is prayer. Developing the habit of sincere, prolonged prayer is so helpful. It is the power of One.

James 5 tells us that Elijah prayed that it would not rain, and God stopped the rain for 3 years and 6 months. Men like Moses and Daniel, through prayer, saw God work in outstanding ways. An answer to a troubling world and anxiety is prayer. This is one reason we have been preaching about prayer for the past several weeks.

What can one person do? Pray! We always have that resource so use it, develop it, and expand its use.

Dick Crosby, Senior Pastor

Harvest Festival Update

This Saturday, October 31, we are having our annual Harvest Festival. The goal of this activity is to provide a safe place with a positive atmosphere for children. We also want to use this ministry to reach out to our community and show the love of Jesus Christ. The evening includes games and food.

This year we are including hot dogs and chips. The Harvest Festival runs from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. We are still in need of candy and could always use more volunteers. Please pray for this year's activity.

Pastor John

Time Change

Don't forget to change your clocks this Saturday night. We gain an hour as we move our clocks back. If you forget, you will arrive early at church Sunday and will be be guaranteed a great seat. See you Sunday.

Crippled, But How Did It Happen?

Never does the human soul appear so strong and noble as when it forgoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury. E. H. Chapin

We have been studying the Lord’s Prayer in our Sunday services. It is really a model prayer or a form to follow when we pray, given to us by the Master Teacher, Jesus. To follow this model for prayer requires the strenuous task of rearranging how many of us practice prayer. Personally, as I have studied this prayer model, I have had to restructure much of what I normally think and say in my prayers.

The next portion of the prayer deals with forgiving others. This is difficult because of our own human nature, the philosophy of our culture, and a desire to be the judge rather than allowing God to do that task. I have labored with a matter that happened years ago that hurt me and my family. But to hang on to such a matter is to mistrust God and continue to suffer internally, missing a sense of contentment that leads to deeper happiness.

Psychologists are studying what makes people happy. "Materialism is toxic for happiness," says University of Illinois psychologist Ed Diener. Even rich materialists aren’t as happy as those who care less about getting and spending. The article also quoted University of Michigan psychologist Christopher Peterson, who indicated forgiveness is the trait most strongly linked to happiness. Peterson said, "It’s the queen of all virtues, and probably the hardest to come by."

This Sunday we want to view the benefits of this part of the prayer. Jesus knew how much we would all need to comprehend this truth to climb over this barrier and experience greater joy.

Dick Crosby, Senior Pastor

Mizpah Update

We have finished an exciting summer at Mizpah and look forward to a great winter. I appreciate the many people of Hannaford who have given of their time to make improvements and cover some of the maintenance needs of the camp. This summer we were able to make improvements on three of the cabins, work on the boardwalk, and stain the cabins. We also had a lot of clean up that was done.

There were four camps and several retreats over the last four months. Hannaford’s Junior Camp (grades 4-7) had 28 campers and 11 staff. We had a great camp and an enjoyable time of learning about God and His Word.

Besides the winter events, we have a large winter project in the works. In the last couple of days we have made progress in the engineering for the septic and water system at Mizpah. We are working with an engineer out of Great Falls, and we trust that we will have everything permitted by next spring. Our goal is to work at installation next spring and summer.

Please pray for the ministry of Mizpah. We look forward to God’s continued work through this ministry.

Pastor John

Jesus Didn't Go to Church. Why Should I?

You rarely or never hear this logic because the church was not birthed until after Jesus left the earth. As silly as such an excuse would be, some reasoning for not attending church is just as illogical.

So what is the big deal about going to church? After all isn't it is just some human institution? No, the church was and is God’s idea! In fact Jesus did some pre-church teaching about that. It then became part of His plan for man (Matthew 16:18; 18:15-17).

God knew that humans need an accountability structure. In a bulk of the Old Testament the Lord established a system called the Law, given to Moses. That system had over 3,000 laws by which the followers of God were expected to follow. God knows that if we are left to our own self-imposed disciplines, we will slide to comfortable levels far below what the Lord would want of us.

Some people meet in homes for Bible study and call it a church. That does not constitute a church unless expected guidelines for a church found in the Bible are met. These are quite specific and really outline a structure of disciplines. Group Bible study can be very productive, and I encourage it. However, it is not a substitute for church in the light of what Scripture spells out.

Even more serious are the excuses of home repair, family recreation day, company came over, or I just don’t get much out of church. These statements are often given to explain why one fails to bring their family to church. These will be shaky foundations to stand upon when we face Christ on the final Day of Judgment.

Church is not man’s idea; and it is not always comfortable or entertaining, but God knows all believers need it. And if the institution of the church was in place when Jesus was on earth, HE would have been consistently in church. Can we get by with less? You will have to answer that question yourself.

The new Worship Pastor is here and will lead worship this Sunday. Please be here to welcome Jonathan and Julia Wimp and their new baby, Nelly. We expect Jonathan to add a new and exciting dimension to Hannaford.

Dick Crosby, Senior Pastor

Making Educational Choices for Your Children

We believe that God has given the responsibility for the education of children to parents. As a church, we desire to come alongside parents and support you as you prayerfully and diligently seek God’s will for your family.

Those of you who choose to work in the public schools or to send your children to the public schools, I support your decision. You have a great mission field before you, and I pray God uses you to do great things to further His kingdom.

Those of you who have chosen to home school your children, I have great admiration for you and the awesome task you have taken on. We have many families in our church who have chosen this option and do a very good job of it.

If you have been in our church for any length of time, you know that, as a church, we support Christian education. We started Rocky Mountain Christian High School (later became Helena Christian High School) because we believed and still believe our community needed a Christian school. If you have chosen that option for your family, we realize the sacrifices you make to send your children to a Christian school. We support you in your decision.

Last week’s message was given by one who believes in Christians being a light in the public school and appeared to promote one method of education over the other two choices. It is not our desire or job as a church to tell parents what God’s will is for their families, but rather to preach the truth of God’s Word and to let the Holy Spirit work in your lives and lead you to make godly choices.

Some have asked me where I stand on Christian education. I would think anyone who has heard my sermons over the years would know that answer. Anyone who knows my educational background should know that I have both a master’s degree and a doctorate in Christian education. Of further importance, I have started two Christian schools and been heavily involved in starting a third school. I served as a consultant for several Christian schools in Minnesota. I support Christian education, but will not condemn Christians who are teaching in public schools or send their children to public schools.

We all need prayer and mutual support as we raise our children.

Dick Crosby, Senior Pastor