Hillview Family and Friends!
Children’s Ministry will be with the Ministry leader during worship time starting in the fall. Pray with us in our transition. Sis Debbie.
Youth ministry will meet in the fellowship hall at 9:30 am. Youth Ministry will be meeting every 2nd Sunday of the month at 9:30 am.
Please add pocket change in the “Stones of Truth” jar in the foyer. All monies collected will go to offset cost to the Branson 2025 trip.
If you want to volunteer to be on the calling team, please contact LaTanya Dunn.
We will need volunteers to help with cleaning the Sanctuary, Foyer, and vacuuming. Contact LaTanya Dunn hillviewchurchofgod@gmail.com
Happy Birthday and Wedding Anniversary to all family and friends celebrating in the month of November.
Pastor Dexter will be having a 6 week study “Horizontal Jesus” by Tony Evans. If anyone is interested, contact Pastor Dexter White.
Nov 16th 9am-3pm & 17th 12:30pm-3pm, Fall Craft Bazaar at Hillview. All proceeds go to Branson 25. See Flyer.
Nov 16th-Management Board meeting 9am at Hillview.
November 17- Christmas Craft sale.
Nov 24th– Thanksgiving potluck dinner after service.
Nov 28th– Thanksgiving Day
Nov 30th– Women’s Prayer Breakfast at 10 am in the fellowship hall
Dec 1st– First Sunday of Advent. Please Let Sis. LaTanya Dunn know if you would like to participate in the Advent reading.
December 14- Cookie exchange.
Dec 14th Church Clean Up- 8am-12pm.
Dec 21st Board Management Meeting 9am.
Dec 22nd Christ Birthday Offering.
Dec 24th Christmas Eve.
Dec 24 Candlelight Service at Hillview.
Dec 25th Christmas Day.
Dec 31st New Years Eve.
Jan 1st New Years Day.
If anyone is interested in being part of the Management Board, Please contact Pastor Dexter.
Offering Envelopes are located on the wall outside of the sound booth.
Church of God News
One definition of “to encourage” is to inspire with courage, spirit, or hope. The word exhort is a synonym for the word encourage. To exhort is defined as to stimulate, excite, or to urge on.
Why is it important for us to encourage one another? What is the mental state of the person that needs to be encouraged?
I received a liberal arts degree from KU in 1976. I had to take two years of a foreign language. I wish I had taken Spanish, but I took French. When I opened the textbook, the only English in the book was the page numbers. I knew I was in trouble. I even got a tutor to help me pass the class. My teacher was young, she may have been a student herself, but she knew French. She was a source of encouragement to me because on all the papers I turned in she wrote these words on the top of the page, tres bien which means in French very good, very well, or excellent. I thought she did that for all the students, but I found out she didn’t, only the ones that needed to be encouraged.
When you are on the mountaintop emotionally and spiritually, you don’t need to be encouraged. It is when you are in the valley of despair that you need encouragement.
“When we live a life modeled on Jesus Christ, not only do we receive all we need to have an abundant life, but we also provide to others what they need to do the same. By living as a horizontal Jesus in our words and actions, we become a vessel through whom God provides encouragement.”1
I’m sure we’ve all experienced times of discouragement. You probably don’t think about those times often. In our study we were asked to list two incidents of discouragement we had experienced.
- My first discouragement was the death of our first child.
- My second discouragement happened when I was young in the ministry. I was sent to Manhattan, Ks. To provide pulpit support for a small church. It was supposed to be for 1 Sunday, but they kept asking me to return. I would pack my young family up and we would drive to Manhattan and be on time for church. I say that because the members usually were late. I brought to that congregation some structure and boundaries. I was excited about the possibility of becoming their pastor. I offended one of the key members of the church. I wanted to start up the Sunday School and stipulated the teachers must be saved. The member I offended had a daughter that was a teacher in the public schools, attended church but was not saved, so she would not be able to teach Sunday School. My disappointment was I was told not to return. It wasn’t a congregation decision; it was that member’s decision, and the congregation remained silent.
If you are bitten by a poisonous snake, you need an antidote to counteract the poison in your body. The antidote for discouragement is hope. “Hope is delivered through a vial containing the ingredient known as encouragement.”2
To be an encourager doesn’t take a lot. When I’ve needed some encouragement, Karen knows when I’m down in spirit and what she can do to encourage me. On several occasions she has been known to whip up some oatmeal raisin cookies and a cup of hot tea and brought them to me with a smile. How can you be discouraged with homemade oatmeal raisin cookies, tea, and a smile?
Our relationship with God gives us the ability to be an encourager to one another. Within our church community as we get to know each other over time we pick up on ways to encourage one another. We never arrive at a point in our lives where we no longer need the prayers of the saints, and we never arrive at a point in our lives where we won’t benefit from words of encouragement.
No matter how many friends we have or how loving our family is, we still need to be encouraged. “So never pull back when the Lord places it on your heart to provide an encouraging note, text, card, or meal. He can use that to lift someone up when they’re discouraged.”3
1 Thessalonians 5:11
11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Several years ago, I was introduced to Team Hoyt. Team Hoyt was comprised of Dick Hoyt the father, and Rick Hoyt the son who had cerebral palsy. Together they participated in the Boston marathon and Ironman Triathlons. In the ironman competitions Dick pulled Rick in a boat during swims, carried him in a seat in front of a bicycle, and pushed him in a wheelchair as he ran. You can imagine they were not the fastest in the competitions. In the video I’ve watched they would arrive sometimes hours after everyone else in the dark. There was always a crowd of supporters there to cheer them on as they crossed the finish line. That’s encouragement!
We need to be encouragers or cheerleaders for one another. Cheerleaders cheer to encourage the team and the fans whether your team is winning or not. Aaron, my second son, was blessed to attend a private high school on a scholarship. He played football and participated on the track team. Karen and I would go to his games to support him. Being a private school meant most of the time their football team was undermanned, 30 players versus 70 players. A lot of the time the cheer leaders were trying to encourage the team and the fans to hang in there and finish well. One day at a game I decided to become a cheer leader for the parents. There was a cheer the cheer leaders did that involved each grade level and the parents, but the parents never participated until that game. I was the lone voice engaging with the cheer leaders. My voice carried well enough that Aaron recognized it, he turned around and saw me standing up by myself, then he dropped his head in embarrassment, but he had nothing to be embarrassed about. The next time that cheer was used I was joined by a large percentage of the fathers. I don’t remember but we probably lost the game, but us parents left the game with a smile on our faces.
What’s keeping you from being a cheer leader for others in the body of Christ? “We’re to encourage one another, even and especially when someone around us is struggling. When we do, we’ll see God show up vertically in miraculous ways.”4
There is an interesting phenomenon when it comes to plants, but house plants in particular. The plant will let you know when it needs water. It does that by allowing the leaves to begin to droop. If you water the plant, within hours the leaves perk up and the plant is fine.
When you see one of your brothers or sisters in the Lord downcast because of circumstances they are experiencing, just like water to a plant, is the right word given as encouragement.
We all go through life changing situations, and hearing a word of encouragement at the right time is priceless. Words and phrases like:
- You did your best and we are proud of you
- Victories are guaranteed in Jesus, not in sporting events
- You’re doing better than you realize, stop being so hard on yourself.
Verse 23 of today’s text tells us to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. The things that are truly important, those things that impact our lives for good, we are to hold on to. Even when it looks like we are losing the fight, hold on for God’s answer.
I believe we are all familiar with the story of the three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. In the book of Daniel, the third chapter we read where King Nebuchadnezzar had a ninety feet tall and nine feet wide statue of himself made. Then everybody was supposed to bow down and worship the image.
Daniel 3:4-6
4 Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “This is what you are commanded to do, O peoples, nations and men of every language:
5 As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
6 Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”
Of course, if Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego bowed down and worshipped the image of gold, they would be conducting a blasphemous action against their God. So, they refused to do so. They informed the king.
Daniel 3:16-18
16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.
17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king.
18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
The three were thrown into the fire. The king didn’t expect to see what he saw.
Daniel 3:22-26
22 The king’s command was so urgent and the furnace so hot that the flames of the fire killed the soldiers who took up Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego,
23 and these three men, firmly tied, fell into the blazing furnace.
24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, O king.”
25 He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire,
As children of God, we can’t lose our hope when things aren’t going the way we want them to go. Our faith in God should be enough to get us through whatever we are going through. God sent, whom some believe to be an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ, to join Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace as a source of encouragement.
As we go through whatever this world has to offer, be ready for God to send you to be that source of encouragement.
Topic: Encouraging One Another
Text: Hebrews 10:19-25
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus,
20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another— and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Support Hillview’s Greeting Card Ministry – We have anniversary, birthday, and get-well cards on the table by the front entrance for you to send to others to let them know you are thinking of them. A donation of $1.00 will help cover the cost of cards and postage.
Continue to pray for the sick and shut-ins and their caregivers. Prayer is needed for our entire congregation as we are all dealing with spoken and unspoken needs and requests.
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