Looking Ahead To 2015

Dear Church Family,

With Christmas quickly approaching, we wanted to prepare you for a few events that are just around the corner in the new year.

CrossWay Association Marriage Retreat
Hosted at New Covenant Bible Church | Feb. 27-28

We have the privilege of hosting a marriage retreat for all the churches of our association. It will take place the last weekend of February on the theme of God’s Wisdom | Our Marriages. Teaching will come from a variety of churches, including our own Dan Leeper and Frank & Barbi Chihowski.

Wisdom is not something we download all at once. It is a path we learn to walk step-by-step. It's like a tree that grows strong over a long period of time – you can't trace it's growth in a moment, but you can see it when it's been faithfully cultivated through the seasons of life.

We are meeting together to cultivate wisdom for our marriages. This is a retreat, not a conference. It's a time to get away with your spouse, in fellowship with other couples who are resting & rejoicing in Christ together, to think, to pray, to listen, and to grow in wisdom.

God will be present to meet us and to pour out on us "the wisdom that comes down from above" (James 3:17). His gracious gift of wisdom will be a tree of life from which we can derive nourishment and refreshment for our married lives (Prov. 3:18). And as we share in the fruit of that tree together, we will rejoice in the blessing of God's presence knitting our churches together in a deeper and more compelling partnership in the gospel.

We will need plenty of help to host this retreat. If you’d like to help serve, please contact Rhonda Brase at rhondahelpme@comcast.net. Registration is now open. You may sign-up at a table in the foyer. Cost is $50 per couple.

New Covenant Institute of Disciple-Makers

Beginning Tuesday, January 13, Marv Newell will be hosting the class Perspectives On The World Christian Movement. That class will run every Tuesday through May 5 from 6:30-9:30pm. Go to perspectives.org for more information.

Beginning Wednesday, Jan. 14, the following training opportunities will be offered on Wednesday nights:

• Porterbrook Course | God’s Community – led by David Sunday; contact Dan Huff for registration information.
• The Gospel Project | The God Who Speaks

Beginning Sunday, Feb. 1, the following training opportunities will be offered on Sunday mornings:

• God at Work | A course on Vocation & Work by Gene Veith
• The Gospel Project | God’s Story, Part Two (Christ-centered Biblical Overview)

First Quarter Membership Meeting
Jan. 25 at 5:00 PM

More details will be coming at the beginning of January, but please mark your calendars now for our winter membership meeting. We will meet to conduct official church business from 5:00-5:30, followed by worship, the Lord’s Supper, and the commissioning of the members of New City Church of Elgin in a 5:30 PM evening service. Refreshments will follow in the Gymnasium.

Youth Winter Retreat
Feb. 20-21 at Lake Geneva Youth Camp. More details coming.

Let us enter this new year with confidence in our Shepherd’s faithful care & guidance.

Hoping in God,

Pastor David Sunday