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Being Real, Relevant, and Racially Diverse!

Session Members *Elder Charles Robinson, Worship Committee *Elder Vernon Bailey, Mission *Elder Cathy Angell, Discipleship *Elder George Washington, Men’s Ministry *Elder Richard Tallman, Administration & Personnel *Elder Tracey Lenz, Finance *Elder Tim Lenz, Buildings & Grounds/Site Selection *Elder Cathy Trifiro, Lay Ministry & Congregational Life *Elder Kathy Smith, Clerk of Session Children & Youth Ministry *Reverend James Lee, Pastor/Moderator *Reverend Trish Holland, Evangelism

Deacons Bonnie Lew Ulysses Cox Mike Herrington

Ricky Palacios

Mary Mojica

Patricia Caroom

Carol Saddington

Sam Mancillas

Destiny Edwards

NCFA Sunday Schedule

Morning Worship 10:15am

Children’s Church 10:45 am

10:00am—Fellowship Sunday School—All Ages

Sunday 9:00am – 10:00am

Of AUSTIN (P.C.U.S.A.)

NCF CONNEXION!

AT A GLANCE

1507 WILSHIRE BLVD, STE. 6

Austin, Texas 78722

(512) 334-3041

www.ncfaustin.org

Volume 7, Issue 13 March 29, 2012

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

“Announcement” 2

“Sermon” 3-9

“Praise & Petitions” 10

“At the End of the Day” 11

“Youth Connections” 12

“Celebration Time” 16

“NCF Calendar” 13

“Announcements” 14-15

Rev. James H. Lee, Pastor

HOLY WEEK AT NCFA

April 1, 2012: We will be celebrating Palm Sunday which is always an exciting time her

at NCFA, we begin with a “procession of palms” by the children and the young at heart of the congregation.

We will be showcasing the Presbyterian Players, as they do portions of the play Godspell, a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John Michael Tebelak.

April 2, 2012: Pastor Lee will be preaching and the NCFA family will be worshipping at

His Highest Praise. It will be a week of “7 Cries from the Cross” or the “Last 7 Sayings of Christ Jesus.” The services begin at 7:00 p.m. His Highest Praise is located at 100 West Pflugerville Parkway Unit 107 Pflu-gerville, TX 78660. All are welcomed.

April 5, 2012 We will be joining Covenant Presbyterian Church in their Maundy

Thursday Service, which begins at 7:30 p.m. The service will be centered around Jesus’ new “mandate”, which he gave to his disciples in the Upper Room during his final Passover meal: the mandate that we love one an-other as Christ has loved us. The Grace Notes, of CPC, will present lovely choral music and the service will conclude with Holy Communion. Cove-nant is located at 3003 Northland Drive, Austin, TX 78757.

April 6, 2012 New Covenant Fellowship will be hosting our Good Friday service, which

will entail readings from John 18-19, Holy Communion, and foot washing for those interested in this sacramental act of humility and service.

April 8, 2012

Easter or Resurrection of the Lord Services @ 10:15am.

New Covenant Fellowship and Genesis Presbyterian Church will be host-ing a joint Easter Egg Hunt starting at 12:15a. Please make our day spe-cial by joining us for worship and the Easter Egg Hunt.

Selected scenes from the Broadway play Godspell written by Stephan Schwartz and John Michael Tebelak will be performed by The Presbyterian Players on Sunday, April 1st, during our church service. Christ and several of His disciples and some of His followers will enact sev-eral of the parables that Jesus told. Portraying Jesus Christ will be Richard Tallman. The Disciples will be John played by Bill Harris, James played by Tim Lenz, Peter played by Bob Vitray, Andrew playd by Fortune Unegbu, Philip played by Placid Unegbu, Thomas played by Vernon Bailey, Bartholomew played by Mike Herrington and Thaddeus played by Angel Hernandez. Followers of Christ will be represented by Tracey Lenz as Martha the sister of Mary, Doris Bailey as Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist, Mary Ann Ramirez as Priscilla the tentmaker and Connie Jones as Lydia, seller of purple. Accompanying the actors when they sing the song "Day by Day" will be Carol Saddington. Running the lights and sound equipment will be Ricky Palacios. Jesus was a man for all times, and this will be evident by the variety of cos-tuming used in the show: the Disciples and JC himself are dressed in modern day clothing while the followers in this play are wearing typical Biblical garb. This show is a very fine way to start Holy Week in our church, and you are invited to attend.

The Message Pastor James H. Lee

“Living with the Weight of God’s Glory”

Scripture John 12:20-36: 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. 27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indi-cate the kind of death he was to die. 34 The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” 35 Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. 36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

Sermon Summary

The sermon title this morning is “Living with the Weight of God’s Glory,” and the three words we will work with are Called, Crises, and Cross:

Called: What I love about this church as we were working through some of our core values is that we recognized that in this church we are going to emphasize marketplace ministries. What this means is that the call that God places on our lives isn’t just a call to be a pastor or to go into ministry. You see, when you acknowledge your gifts and your calls, you get to work them out in the marketplace. There are those who are called in the area of culinary, and you KNOW I appreciate those who are called in that area because they cook food! And there are those who are gifted and called to sing like Katie, and to play and hit high notes like Bill did today. There are those who are called to administration, and we’re thankful for them. We’re thankful for CPA’s during the tax season. And when you find yourself with an illness, you appreciate the doctors and nurses who are called to care for us in that way, and the phar-macists who will utilize all the gifts that they have with science and technology to help with medication.



Calls are being placed upon our lives; but when you’re minding your own business, and God calls you, you’re like, “Oh, my goodness….” It’s like a weight that you don’t want to bear, it’s a weight that’s so heavy, and you say “No, not me, not now, no, Lord, no!” And sometimes we think when we deny the call that the burden will be less. But the burden is heavy whether you walk in the call or you deny the call, because you know that the call is there, nevertheless. Someone might say, “Well, James, why would anybody deny a call? If God calls, you must answer!” That sounds great, but there are times when you consider the call and the demand that it has and the weight of the glory of that call, and you say, “Lord, I don’t really wanna bear that heavy burden.” Then there are times you say, “Well, why wouldn’t you want to bear that burden?” When you have a call, sometimes the burdens that are placed on your heart that go with that call, they’re not on the hearts and minds of other people. They could care less about it. But for you, it’s right there on the forefront of your mind. It’s what you think about; you go sleep with it, you wake up with it. It’s there constantly because it’s YOUR call. And then the other part of it is when you’re walking in the call and you don’t exactly know where you’re supposed to go or how to articulate it, you don’t really want to say yes to it, or yes to God, because you don’t want to look crazy—“Are you SURE? Was that God or was that you?” But the call is there never-theless, and you’re called to respond to it. You don’t want to offend anybody; you don’t want to offend God by saying no; but you want to be true to the call. You also don’t want to deny the call. And you also know that when the call is there, it bears a burden upon you. When we think about the word “anointing” and the call, you’re gonna hear those words interchanged; this kind of calling is like an anointing that is placed upon all of us: We accept Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit rests, rules, and abides with us. In the Old Testament you would have understood that anointing came, a call came, and folks went. We were called out of darkness, called into the light, called from having a knowledge of world but to a different knowledge of understanding our purposes here on earth with God’s purpose because our purpose is called (1.) to glorify God (and this part really blows my mind) and (2.) to enjoy God. Did you all hear that? I said that in the church! Because many times as Christians we work so hard at taking away pleasure from each other. I don’t mean we intentionally try to keep each other from being happy; but sometimes we want everything to be THIS way, and has to be THAT way, and THAT way, so much that when someone is doing something, we take away their joy. Why? Because they’re called, and our call is not the same. For the administrator, they need the order that’s there. For others, they need the flexibility. All are called, all are called to be in community, and in func-tions at different times and at different places. Because if there’s no one who can administrate, there’s chaos. There needs to be creativity; we need all. But there’s still a burden that comes with the call. Jesus had a call, and his call was to die. You see, when we think about the call, we think about the call for sufficiency, the call for success, the call for security. Well, what happens if in the midst of living out our call, we must sacrifice for someone else, sacrifice for God, and in the process of it, suffer for a greater good. That’s what Christ was called to do, and there are going to be times you’re gonna be called to make a sacrifice for the sake of others, for the greater good that will come out of it.



Today Phillip and Andrew also answered a call. They heard somebody as they went to a festival who needed to speak with Jesus; they were called upon, and they responded by pointing the people, the Greeks, to Jesus. That’s what we’re called to do. We’re not called to be God; we’re not called to be demi-Gods; we’re called to be those who know God and point others to God. And you may say, “I don’t have all the answers!” You don’t have to have all the answers. I can tell you: If you are in debate with someone who wants to be in debate about it, they’re really not looking for the answers. Many will tell you as you look in the New Testament, a lot of the discussions and the debates we get into cause peo-ple to stumble. The revelation that will come will come from the Lord. Are we supposed to talk about it? Are we supposed to share about it? Yes. But don’t get in a long debate about it. ‘Cause at the end of the day, if God doesn’t make the revelation to a person, it won’t happen. But what you can do is let them know: “I know the Lord. This is all I know, and if you want, I can show you the Lord.” That’s it! And I want to encourage us because many of us won’t share the Good News. We won’t show folks Christ, because we’re worrying about being rejected. We’re worrying about other people’s opinions, but all we need to say is, “You know what? I know a good thing, and you need a good thing. Let me show you who God is.” And again, part of our calling is we are called to show Christ to others, to show others to Christ. It’s so important, and that’s what Philip and Andrew did. When they were there amongst those at the festival, they showed others to Christ. What I loved about it was that the Greeks were at the festival; and if you’ll notice when we did our Mission Statement, it is to encourage seekers to joyfully commit. Because seekers are around us all the time. Whether you know it or not, someone is seeking the Lord. Now you can say “Ha, no way. If I’m over here, they’re not here.” Yes, seekers are there because someone wants to know about this God that they’ve heard about. And we’ve got to be willing to show them the Lord. …and not in our way and caught up in how we do, but for who God is—show them who He is, and that’s what Philip and Andrew did as they pointed Jesus to the Greeks. I want to ask this question: Is there something about you that others see Christ being reflected? We sang the song in our Offertory, “Jesus is the light that shineth in me.” We used to sing a slightly different type of song like that when we were little, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.” Let the light of Christ shine in you and reflect in you. Don’t be like this vessel that’s up on a hill, covered over so we hide the light, so we don’t have to worry about anyone seeing the light or being offended. No, take the bushel off, let the light of Christ be reflected in and through you. Again, just show that light; share the Good News. You don’t have to have all of the answers. Then, as we think about this and our progress—our progress is to glorify God and not ourselves. I want us to think about the text and a part of what we think about in walking in this process is that in our living our lives, we have an opportunity to develop relationships with new people and to come out of new experiences. And all of them bring honor and glory to God—all of them, if we’re willing to do so. It’s a part of the call. And in the process of doing it, a by-product of that is, again, new relationship and bringing and honor and glory to God.



Crises: Part of the struggle I had, early on, and as a part of the living, the dying, and the hating, all of that kind of dialog we hear below, is that I went from a person who was dying with a disease to a person who was declaring the works and the glory of God to other people. You see, if you’re dying in your dis-ease, you want to stay in a place of isolation; but if you’re declaring the goodness of the Lord, you’re not gonna stay where you are, you’re not gonna stay in the situation that you’re in, and you’re gonna tell it to somebody else. And when you talk to someone else, you’ll find out that someone else is going through something too. And when they’re going through something else, you can encourage them, whether they believe in the Lord, whether they believe you or not—it doesn’t matter. Just telling the good news to encourage someone else who may have another issue may help them realize “If this guy can do it, then I know I can do it. If that God can be for him, I know that God is for me.” And so, being willing to do it—it’s a calling. Because it means you’ve got to be vulnerable. You’ve got to recognize that you’re not perfect. You’ve got to recognize there’s a circumstance within you that’s not all together; but in the process, it becomes a blessing to someone else. And so I want us to persist in serving, because even when you try to serve and you don’t want to serve, you want to stop serving…KEEP serving because someone else needs to be encouraged by you. I love that little train that says “I think I can, I think I can.” Every time I’m ready to give up and I don’t want to go out, I see that mountain is a little too high for me, I think about that little engine saying “I think I can, I think I can.” Those childhood things are important to me; I think I can. It sounds crazy, but it helps me; I want us to persist in serving. This last piece, I know you may not like it, but I’ve got to say it: We need to persevere through suffering. Don’t quit. Keep going, keep going. In the text it says, 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servants be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. You serve, you keep persevering in your suffering, God will honor you. Now, I’m gonna tweak the way the reading of that text said, “Those who follow me.” Now when you go, there will I be, but there will my servants be. When that happened to me in a different way today, it’s like “there will some other people be who are going through, some other saints who are going through, some other servants who are going through”—they’re going to be there also. And so when you go, and you share your testimony with another servant, they are encouraged. And lo and behold, they will want to tell you what the Lord did for them. Different circumstances, different situation, same God doing the same work in us but in ways that we could not have understood if we had stayed secluded in our struggles. I want us to seek life. Jesus tells us that if we bury one seed pit, it’s going to produce fruit. Multiple fruits. Why is this impor-tant? Because sometimes we would rather seek the depth in our pain, our suffering, and our situation than the life that comes out of being delivered and giving ourselves over to the Lord. We think we know our pain, we know our suffering, we know our situation, and it’s better to stay with that which we know than it is to go somewhere that we don’t know, and to take a chance and to do something that we’ve never done before, or when we’ve done it before, we found ourselves being beat up, or challenged, or unappreciated.



As we think about the Cross, there’s a guy named Erwin McManus whose little quotes were helpful to me in a time of struggle. In his book Uprising, he writes, “The key to the future is not revelation, but obedience. When we submit our lives to what God has made known, the future becomes clearer to us. When we neglect to do what we know, we begin to live as if we were walking through a fog. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves condemning God for being silent, when in fact we have condemned ourselves for refusing to listen.” So God gives us a call, gives us a direction--go and do it--we ignore God, find ourselves walking in a fog, then we get mad at God because He didn’t bless our best. Then he says, “You may not know how God is going to solve your financial crisis, but you can know that the solution is never to steal. You may not know when God is going to bring that special person into your life, but the solution is not to compromise. You may fear the consequence of telling the truth, but God’s solution is not to lie. Between promise and fulfillment, Jesus had a crisis of the soul, yet he remained faithful to his call in the midst of the crisis” (McManus, pgs. 96-97). 27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say—‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” Isn’t that awesome? It’s awesome to hear our call, it’s awesome to hear about our anointing, but when it is a call to die or sacrifice, even when you love the Lord and you’re called according to God’s purposes, and everything is working out for the good, it’s not always good, is it? Now, if Jesus had a crisis of the soul, can you have a crisis of the soul? Amen! Sometimes we get in the church, get around church people who say, “How can you have a crisis of the soul?” ‘Cuz the crisis was there! It was a real strug-gle! How could you not? I’m growing in my faith, I’m not there yet, but I’m striving! Jesus had a crisis of the soul, but he said nevertheless for God to be glorified. That’s what I’m inviting us to do. I am inviting us to say “God, I don’t like it, it’s not right, it’s not fair, but nevertheless, how can you be glorified in this?” It’s not a cop-out, it’s a difference in the way we begin to process and to talk about our suffering, about our situations, as we go through life. A lot of times we circumvent the process and say “God, I don’t want my cross and I don’t want my cri-sis.” But if we face the cross and the crisis right before us, watch how resurrection happens, watch how new life comes out of that situation. But again, Jesus helps us because he lets us know, even when we have to go through the process, the pain, the persecution, and the problems, there’s a way that we can face those hardships. What does he do? He confesses the internal suffering and didn’t keep it to himself. He cried out to the Lord, and he asked his Father to intervene.



What I like about this is this. In earlier days, people used to say “It’s not right to question God; you shouldn’t complain.” Well, who else can I go to? If God knows the situation, if God has the plan to work it out, where else am I supposed to go? I typically go to my friends, I typically go to other people, but they can’t help me out, they can’t solve the problem. Jesus called to the one who can make a difference. We can call to God, who can intervene in our situation, the one who can make a difference. Jesus was in a bad situation, but he said, “Father, glorify your name.” We need to ask God how we can get glory for Him out of our bad situations. So the heavens opened up, and God said, “I have glorified it and I’m gonna do it again.” (Yes, it seems that I have added to the text!) I like that because our situation is not just for right now. God’s gonna glorify it now, and again, and again. In 2012, I need to know that God can get glory out of this situation, and in the process I can be a blessing to someone else. God gets the glory, someone else gets blessed, and I’m blessed in the process. All is working out for the good be-cause God is ever redeeming us, ever redeeming others, and ever redeeming circumstances that we face. Cross: In Soul Cravings, McManus writes, “If God refuses to take from us free will and he refuses to leave the world in its present condition, what can he do? Here’s an interesting possibility: He could change our hearts. He could take us through a process that would move us from greed to altruism that would move us from indifference to compas-sion, that would move us from hate to love, that would move us from apathy to activism. If he would change us, he could change the world (other version: By changing us, he can change the world).” The cross is God’s instrument for change. We ask how God can allow terrible things to happen, but God gave all of us free will—the people we like and the people we don’t like, the people we know and the people we don’t know, the people we trust and the people we don’t trust, those who are greedy and those who are not, those who have a propensity to do things we wouldn’t do and those who don’t. God does not remove our free will; God gives all of us free will. And at the end of the day, God changes the world; by changing us, God changes the world. The cross is God’s instrument for bringing about change. The people saw the cross one way, but Jesus took the cross to use it as an instrument to bring about transformation, to be sure that you would be declared righteous, to be sure that you and I would be declared righteous. It was judgment for him, justification for us. Death for him, but life for us. That’s what comes out of the Cross. So if we’re willing to die to a situation, we become alive to it. But our call is not to love our situations, not to love our stuff so much that we aren’t willing to sacrifice it so that life can happen amongst family, amongst friends, amongst the community, amongst those who are in the church. Then again, he says: 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.



But for us, it’s encouragement. If I lift, it’ll draw. Does that seem hard to do? Do I have to have all the answers? All I have to do is say, “I don’t know what He can do for you, but I know what He did for me. “ I can lift Him up and if this is the time, it will draw them unto Him. If we elevate Christ in the midst of our crises or crosses, He will draw us to Him. The cross is still calling people out of the darkness. Jesus calls people from the north, the south, the east, and the west, from all situations, unto Him. Now that you have the light, let the light shine. You may be walking in darkness a little ways, but because you are in Christ and the light of Christ is in you, you have a pathway made for you. I have some cards in this basket here to share with you with the scripture Ephesians 3:16-19 printed on one side and our church’s information on the other side. I invite you to take some cards, and over the next month give one to someone you see, and offer to pray for them. You don’t have to pray right there if it is not the right time, but you can say, “When I pray for you, this will be the prayer I’ll pray for you.” Pray the scripture on the card. What you are doing is lifting up Jesus, and He will draw. You are being equipped to be a disciple, be an evangelist, to make a difference in someone’s life. Maybe they will read this scripture every now and then, and I hope you will pray this prayer for me so I’ll be the better: 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Isn’t that an awesome prayer? I just pray as I was saying that for all of you that you get a glimpse of it, and that if you’ll pray that prayer for me during the week, I will continue to get a glimpse of it. As we close, God’s calling can bring about a heavy burden, but the heaviness of God…it’s all right. The glory is better than the heaviness. Then the crisis can be an invitation for us to have to God intervene just like he did for Jesus. He said, “Be glorified,” and God said, “I’m glorified and I’m gonna do it again.” And the last part is: The cross was a mark for judgment for Jesus, and for justification for us. God bless you. Let us pray: Thank You for this time, Lord, and we thank you for Your word, thank You for the encour-agement. The text was preached in a different way than we might have heard it and others said it in times past, but I pray that You will make it relevant for us this day and for this season of our lives so that You can get Your truth out yet again for our circumstances and for us. We pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Praise and Petitions March 29, 2011

Praise for connections to other people of faith in our day-to-day lives. Sometimes these seem coincidental, but perhaps not. Praise for being in worship today. Request strength for Christie who is caring for her grandmother suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. Praise for John and Susan and family being here today and for Robert’s 4th birthday. Praise for the new job at Wendy’s! Praise for J’halia’s first birthday in 2 weeks (Destiny’s daughter). Prayer for a new daycare situation for J’halia and to find free diapers if possible. Praise for a successful tonsillectomy for Lily. Lydia provided a praise for the teachers at Austin Theological Seminary who spoke on hospitality. Praise for being in worship today and for Cathy T.’s invitation to attend worship. Praise for having the persistence to bear through 4 years after the loss of an only son. Last year

was very hard, but this year has been a little easier. Praise for Dorrette’s singing. Prayers for Lucy who is studying to be a teacher. Praise for those who are placed in our lives and help us each to take things one day at a time. Praise for a loving spouse and appreciation of God’s blessings while they care for an ailing father. Trish shared a praise for the amazing medical technology available for her successful treatment of

cancer. Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, and praise for all pastors, doctors, Primrose, Cedar View, and healing of all diseases… in memory of Mrs. Braxton. Caly offered praise for God working in her life and in the lives of her children. Praise that her

younger daughter wants to participate in her next medical mission trip. Praise for the message and the musicians today and for Katie’s beautiful voice and courage she

shows in sharing her voice in worship. Prayers for the family of Sean who was killed riding his motorcycle. Grace offered praise for God working in her life and the blessings that she constantly feels are pre-

sent. Prayers and traveling mercies for Vernon who is in New Mexico this weekend learning new skills for

his health ministry. Prayers for Rich at home with Laura this week as Nancy enjoys some welcome vacation time on a

cruise. Prayers for reconciliation between parents and children everywhere, especially in Uruguay where

violence is turning children against parents. Prayers for healing for Trish and George’s son Scott. Praise for the contemplative service led last Wednesday by Becca Weaver.

At the End of the Day with Pastor James Lee

This is one of Pastor James Lee’s favorite sayings. He usually uses it to tie up a discussion that is real and relevant for whom-

ever he’s talking to.

I read a quote from Bishop T.D. Jakes’ book Reposition Yourself. The subchapter was titled “Surround Sound” and it emphasized the great impact a community could have on individuals as they are being shaped for life. “If children are exposed to caring individuals, role models, and examples of healthy people, they can still succeed, no matter how challenging life with their immediate families may have been” (Jakes, p. 71).

My first thought was of last night, when we passed out over 340 door hangers in our commu-nity. It was a way for NCFA to celebrate what we are doing for “Holy Week” as well as connect with the community. I am very proud and thankful for the members who came out to help. Please help me celebrate Precious, Cheyenne, Juan, Naomi, Rory, Nikkie, Becca, Ray, Robert, Mike, Kathy & Tim. Thanks to Roxanne for some good food and thanks to Brandi for making sure the door hangers were prepped. It was so wonderful to be out inviting the community to join us here at NCFA so that we can experience and learn about God together. I want all of you to know that you bring a smile to my heart. I want to encourage us to remember the privilege we have to be a positive influence on those around us. In life we will surely face challenges, but we can not put so much focus on our challenges that we are reducing God in our circumstances and limiting our capacity to impact our spheres of in-fluence. My Christian warriors and worshippers we have to be determined so that we are blessings to one another in the midst of challenges. At the end of the day, our salvation is not just for us.

1st Palm Sunday (Holy Sunday begins)-10:15am; Presbyterian Players showcase Godspell. Fellowship following morning worship Adult Sunday School 9:00am– to—10:00am Sunday school classes for 5th grade & under during worship services

(10:15a). High /Middle School-Sunday School-12:15pm—to– 1:00pm. Youth Choir rehearsal for 15 minutes after worship. 2nd Pastor Lee will be preaching and the NCFA Family will be worshipping at His

Highest Praise. This will be a week of “7Cries from the Cross”, services start at 7:00pm.

3rd Real Men Study the Word with a light meal starting at 6:30pm, and then

Bible study begins at 7:00pm. 4th First Wednesday Night Ministry Meetings: dinner starts at 6:30 and meetings

at 7:00pm. Youth Connection will meet 5th Thursday Noon Bible Study at Connie Jones’s home. All are welcome! Maundy Thursday Service at Covenant Presbyterian Church at 7:30pm. CPC

is located at 3003 Northland Drive, Austin, TX 78757. 6th Good Friday service @ 7:00p.m., here in the Fellowship Hall 8th Easter or Resurrection Services-10:15am; Fellowship following morning worship Adult Sunday School 9:00am– to—10:00am Sunday School for Middle/High School students-cancelled Youth Choir rehearsal-cancelled. NCFA & GPC joint Easter Egg Hunt at 12:15pm. 10th Real Men Study the Word with a light meal starting at 6:30pm, and then

Bible study begins at 7:00pm.

April

Pastor James H. Lee-New Covenant Fellowship & His Highest Praise Church-Pastor Rudy Mojica Sr.,

Worshiping Together Tuesday, April 2, 2012-7:00pm.

His Highest Praise-located @ 100 W. Pflugerville Pkwy #107, Pflugerville, TX 78660

Pastor Lee will be bringing the “Message” during the worship service as part of the “Seven Cries from the Cross” Celebration,

going on all week at His Highest Praise.

Come out and support Pastor Lee and fellowship with His Highest Praise

All NCF women are invited to the meeting of Church Women United

on April 6, @ 9:30 AM South Austin Christian Church

206 East Annie, Austin, Texas 78704

Ecumenical Development Theme: “More Clearly India” with speaker, Joy Durrant

Join Joy Durrant as she shares her experiences as a representative of the 2011 Presbyterian Women’s Global Exchange Program. Joy was part of a delegation of Christian women who went last fall to meet and encourage the Christian women (and all other women) of India. One of the towns they visited was the place where Shanti Solomon began the Fellowship of the Least Coin! Joy’s presentation is called “More Clearly India,” and you will surely see India more clearly as a result of hearing her. Since April 6 is Good Friday, it seems that learning the ways Christian women in India are helping their sisters is a good way to begin the day. Joy is a member of our “mother church,” Covenant Presbyterian Church. She was one of twenty-seven Presbyterian women in all the United States chosen to attend this program.

FREECOOKINGCLASSES

A Program of Sustainable Food Center

P R E S E N T E D B Y

The Happy Kitchen/La Cocina Alegre™

Classes meet once a week for 1½ hours, for a period of 6 weeks. After each class, you will receive a free bag of groceries to prepare that week’s recipe at home. Class series taught by trained Happy Kitchen Facilitators.

Learn to prepare delicious, healthy, and inexpensive meals

Be informed of good nutrition for you and your family

Learn how to get the most food for your money

Learn how to use local, seasonal produce in your cooking

Have fun and meet new people

WHEN| Wednesdays 7:00-8:30 PM 4/11, 4/18, 4/25, 5/2, 5/9, 5/16 & 10/6

WHERE| New Covenant Fellowship1507 Wilshire Blvd, Austin, TX 78722

REGISTER WITH| Vernon Bailey 797.6377OR [email protected] OR

**Must pre-register for entire series**

*Childcare available*

Sustainable Food Center (SFC) cultivates a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food. SFC envisions a food secure community where all children and adults grow, share, and prepare healthy, local food. From seed to table, SFC creates opportunities for individuals to make healthy food choices and to participate in a vibrant, local food system. Through organic food gardening, relationships with area farmers, interactive cooking classes and nutrition education, children and adults have in-creased access to locally grown food and are empowered to improve the long-term health of Central Texans and our environment.

Vision Statement New Covenant Fellowship is a racially-diverse community in-formed by the Bible, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and moti-vated to share God’s love with all. In response to God’s love we are called to equip disciples to faithfully serve, to encourage seekers to joyfully commit, and to implore all to worship our Lord as we love our neighbors, grow in grace, and live by faith.

M A RC H C E L E B R A T I O N T I M E ! I F W E M I S S E D Y O U R S P E C I A L D A Y , P L E A S E S E N D U S T H E D A T E S O W E C A N

I N C L U D E I T I N T H E N E X T I S S U E !

Ricky & Brandi Palacios March 13, 2012

NCF ConneXion!

NCF ConneXion! Is a weekly publication of New Covenant Fellowship, PCUSA, Austin, Texas. If you would like to

submit an article for consideration of printing, please send article via e-mail in MS Word format to [email protected]

Thanks for reading and God Bless You!

MARCH BIRTHDAYS

1st Nancy Tallman 4th Kali Christman Gina Cox Lydia Hernandez-Trickey 17th Jason Lee Kristopher Davis (Williams) 19th Hosea J. Lee Amari Alvarez 22nd Crystal Unegbu 31st Jumarcus James Daniels

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