First Assembly of God Newsletter                                                                                                   October 2010

What a beautiful time of year in the Shenandoah Valley. The colorful foliage of the trees, the
cool, crisp night air, and football. I want to remind you of several upcoming events scheduled during the month of October, and ask that you would put it on your calendar.

We begin with our annual church picnic scheduled for Sunday, October 3rd after the
morning service. It will be held at Oakdale Park in Bridgewater at shelter #3. We are asking you to bring 2 large side dishes and a soda/tea to share. Bring your lawn chairs, sport equipment, and musical instrument. We will have a time of singing following the meal if there is enough interest in having a singspiration.The church will provide the meat and dinner utensils.

The week of October 11th we will be launching our small groups on either Wednesday or Thursday night. We will still have our Wednesday night Bible Study and Praise Team practice here at the church at 7:00 p.m. However, I encourage you to attend the small group of your choice. Host family addresses are listed on the bulletin board by the sound booth. Meeting time is from 7-8:30 p.m.

On Sunday, October 24 we begin revival services with Rev. and Mrs. Gerald Mayhan, that continue through Wednesday, October 27th. Services will be at their regular time on Sunday, but Monday through Wednesday services will be at 7:00 p.m. Invite your friends and family, and plan on having a great time of spiritual renewal. Let's be in prayer for God to revive His church.

Saturday, October 30 we are teaming up with the Harrisonburg Boys and Girls
club for a Fallfest over at the Boys and Girls Club on Simms Street. We are in need of many volunteers, so if you are interested in helping, please speak with either Stephanie Grant or Carla Regginello.

Last, I want to thank those of you who have been involved in outreach at "Our Community Place." We are meeting here at the church on Thursday mornings at 7:30 a.m. and going over to OCP and working until noontime. It is a great opportunity to meet people, and minister to
individuals who need to experience God's love. Let me encourage you to become involved if you can. If you can't join us on Thursday, but would like to do it another day, speak with Pastor Jeff, and he will make the necessary arrangements. God bless you as we labor together.

—Pastor Jeff

Have you ever been in a difficult situation where you felt you were totally in the dark and that God was nowhere to be found? I suspect if we are honest, all of us have experienced those occasional feelings when we longed to feel the hand of God upon us. Thinking about that brought to mind an experience I had about 30 years ago that illustrates the point.

At the time this event happened we were living in Conway, New Hampshire, in a house that was in a wooded setting. On this particular occasion my youngest daughter, who was about five at the time, and I were going to be spending the night alone. To make the occasion more memorable we decided to camp out in the back yard that night. We started our adventure by setting up a tent and laying out the sleeping bags and then we waited for night to come.

When bedtime came we turned off the lights in the house and made our way to the tent with the light from a flashlight. After settling into our sleeping bags, and a little chit chat, it was time to turn off the light in the tent. Now where we lived, when the lights went out it was dark – very dark. After a couple minutes of silence I could tell that there was a little hand that was trying to find me in the darkness. My young daughter could not see me in the darkness and she needed a reassuring touch to know that her father was nearby. Once I took her hand and said a few reassuring words everything was fine and we had a peaceful night’s sleep and an enjoyable adventure to look back on.

During our personal times of darkness we need a reassuring touch from the hand of God. While it will probably not be a physical touch or an audible voice, nevertheless it is real, it is powerful, and it is always available when we reach out to Him. Psalm 31:14-15b gives us this assurance when it says “But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord; I say, You are my God. My times are in Your hand;” When you are facing those dark times in your life, you are not alone. Just place your life in His hand and trust Him to see you through.

—Steve Parsons