NFTH #90
Week of November 20, 2022 – Letter to Thyatira
Sunday Service
Our brother Jason Carter spoke on the Letter to Thyatira in Chapter 2:18-29 from the Seven Letters to the Seven Churches found in Revelations 2-3. In Jesus’ 4th letter dictated to John, this church was praised for its love and faith among other things. But it was called out on its tolerance of the very same sins that plagued the region: sexual immorality and food sacrificed to idols. Tolerance entices us to change our behavior before changing our beliefs. These compromises then start to undermine our convictions. God always gives us time to repent, but the door to repentance eventually closes because of our own unwillingness to do so. Where in our lives are we living in compromise to sin?
Above is one of many depictions of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife found throughout art history. These depictions usually show an attractive woman in some state of undress while an attractive man tries somewhat desperately to remain dressed. Potiphar’s wife grasping while Joseph is in a hands-off, eyes-off stance. The gestures and bodies are usually highly and beautifully posed, telling of struggle but not showing any feeling of the tug-of-war. But the image below by Rembrandt, a bit crude, with characters perhaps less attractive by today’s standards, shows an unquestionable tug-of war. Potiphar’s wife is fully supine, naked from the waist down, dragging Joseph to bed with the entire weight of her body. Joseph, on the contrary, is using his full weight to pull away from her force. His hands leveraging his strength but unwilling to touch even her arms. He even refuses to turn his face, lest he accidentally sees her in her nakedness. That is the extent to which Joseph refuses to tolerate or compromise to sin in his life. We would do well to learn from his example.
Worship songs 🎶 this week: How Deep the Father’s Love / Lord I Need You / Give Us Clean Hands / Nothing But the Blood / Broken Vessels
📢 Announcements
🦃🍁Happy Thanksgiving!
🙌👶🧒🏻 This Sunday, we had a baby/child dedication for the first time in a few years. Many of the children were born during the pandemic. The five pair of parents, along with the congregation, committed to overseeing these children to grown up in knowledge of the Lord. Let us continue to pray for Ezra and Noah, Arvo, Mia and Leah, Aaron and Alicia, and Travis to grow in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man. And let us support Allison and Kester, Tracy and Josh, Judy and David, Abe and Amanda, and Jason and Gloria as they steward their children in the Lord.
Photo courtesy of Molly Tung. 🎄👟🎁 We passed out a total of 235 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child and we received 191 shoeboxes!! Praise the Lord! Thank you for all your prayers and participation!
💦🙌 Happy Baptism to Abigail Le and Jason Tong this past Sunday! Welcome officially to the family of God!
Photo courtesy of Molly Tung. 👦👧 We now have a Children’s Ministry time for 3-6 year olds. The worship time will start together at 9:30am with the children dismissed ~10am for their service running parallel to the English service.
🙏 What is one church gathering you can still join from the comfort of your own home?! It is our Weekly Prayer Meetings still meeting on Zoom 🔍! We meet every Wednesday night at 7:30pm. Please join us to pray for the world, our nation, and our church.
The Second Hour
Join us for Sunday School, the second hour, or whatever you would like to call it!
Our Middle School Group meets at 11:30am and is taught by Emmanuel.
Our High School Group meets at 11:30am and is taught by Josh.
These Sunday Schools are elective and open to everyone College and above.
Jesus’ Sayings in the Gospel of Matthew meets at 11:15am in the Library. It will be taught by Jason.
The Book of Daniel meets at 11:30am in Room 104. Different leaders will take turns teaching this course.
Fellowships
Our Candlelight Fellowship 🕯️is for 6th-8th graders. It meets on Friday nights at 7:30pm and is led by Pastor Emmanuel.
Our Footwasher Fellowship 👣 is for high schoolers. It meets on Friday nights at 7:30pm and is led by Pastor Josh.
Our Adult Fellowship meets on Friday nights at 7:30pm and is led by Jason and Cindy.
Our Married Couples Fellowship meets every other Saturday at 7:00pm. The previous meeting was on October 8. It is led by Tim Yang.
Our Women’s Ministry meets seasonally. For more information, please contact rhcccwomenministry@gmail.com.
Our Seasonal Small Group is meeting in the Fall. One will be studying the Gospel of Luke and the other one will be studying a theology of worship. Please visit our website for more information about joining one of these groups: https://rhccc.net/smallgroups We will post more information in the coming weeks.
The Church at Large
This holiday, as we are resuming travel and family get-togethers, Ukraine is in its 275th day of the invasion of their country. As Russian forces lose the ground war, it has turned to bombing Ukrainian infrastructure from afar in an attempt to force Ukraine to the negotiating table. As Ukrainians face their usual harsh winters, they are faced with no electricity, heat, water and public transportation. Please continue to remember the Ukrainians in your prayers, for a swift and peaceful resolution to the conflict. If you are so inclined, here is a list of organizations aiding Ukraine or directly to their government.
Again, our nation had two mass shootings within a span of one week. There was a shooting on the 20th in Colorado Springs at a LGBTQ nightclub where 5 people were killed and 19 others injured. Another one took place on the 22nd in a Virginia Walmart, where the gunman turned the weapon on himself after killing 6 people. Please pray for the victims of these and other mass shootings, as victims are more than just the deceased. Continue to pursue biblical resources that will help form our hearts and minds on gun violence, such as RAWtools.