
31st January 2025
The Power of Thanksgiving
I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
- Psalm 9:1
How good is it to be filled with gratitude, thanks and praise?! Not only is giving thanks to God right and appropriate, but it also does something wonderful within us when we do. To genuinely thank God is to be humbled by his kindness. To be in awe of his power. To embrace contentment and joy as one blessed. To have our hearts deeply connected with the one we owe our gratitude to.
It is little wonder then, that throughout the Scriptures there are such strong and repeated calls for us to be thankful and worship God (Hebrews 12:28). In Colossians 2:7, for example, we are called to be overflowing with thankfulness. In Ephesians 5:20 we are to be always giving thanks to God the Father for everything. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 the encouragement is to "give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus" and the Psalm above reminds us to do so "with all my heart".
That is a lot of deep and genuine thankfulness!
This Sunday we will deliberately stop to look back over the past year, pausing to recognise and remember the ways that God has been at work in our lives. We will name and celebrate those things together and have opportunity for many to give public thanks to God!

We invite you to be ready by asking God if there is a specific testimony you have to share. Many an experience God's provision, his healing, his leading, his empowering, his comfort or his work in the life of someone close to you?
Ministry Highlight: Term 1 Kingdom Kids
As Kingdom Kids starts back this week would love your prayers over all our leaders as they prepare and plan for the term. Please also pray for our children as they come through that God will be working in all their hearts.

To Start the year off we will be looking at Putting God First in our younger rooms In this series, children will hear about how putting God first changes our lives and our hearts. Right from the beginning God has our best in mind, and when we put him first, it is the very best thing for our lives and the world.

In our older rooms our series is called “Aftermath.” After sin entered the world, people had to stay focused on God or they made some really bad choices by following their own way. In this series, kids will learn about God, his heart for us, and how following his way is the best decision we can make.
February Resumption Dates
It is going to be a wonderful year ahead as a church!! As February begins, so too does many of the regular ministries of NVBC. We invite you to be praying for and over these ministries and more. The start dates for some of our regular ministries are below:
2nd Feb (Sun) Kingdom Kids resumes
5th Feb (Wed) PlayGroup resumes
7th Feb (Fri) The Valley Youth resumes
11th Feb (Tues) KYB (Know Your Bible) resumes
27th Feb (Thurs) Seniors Communion Service resumes
During Feb (various) Connect Groups resume
This Sunday AM

Sunday, 9:30am
Join us for a moving service of celebration and testimony! We will also pray over our Kindy starters, and Kingdom Kids will be back for Term 1.
This Sunday PM
This Sunday PM we are in for a special double-header. We will pause to give thanks and have opportunity for testimonies as with the AM and have (at least) two baptisms! It's also NOT TOO LATE to make the most of this baptism opportunity - get in contact with any of our pastors or visit nvbc.info/baptism
Vision Sunday

Sunday 9 Feb
Each year, in response to listening to God's leading, we set a theme and focus for us to go after together as a community. This is one for your diaries not to be missed!!
Church Prayer Walk-Through

Sunday 9 Feb, 11:30am
At the beginning of each year we love to pray through our church property and intercede over the people, programs and opportunities we'll have in the year ahead. It is a time of seeking God's covering, his blessing and his leading as we listen to his voice as we pray. All welcome to join.
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