The Church Courier V OL U M E 1 0

I SSU E 3
March 2009

Inside this issue:

Parson to Person 2
Proverb... FLA Cantabile 3
Nutty way... 9
Never say everything you know…
Neither do more than you can... Church @ Work 10

Nor believe everything that you hear...

Amazing Adventure
Nor spend everything that you have, Bible Studies
Because…
What an amazing ex-
The one that says everything they know… perience this has been.
The one that does more than they can… During 10 weeks we
enjoyed these Bible
The one that believes everything they hear… studies for kids and
And the one that spends more than they have, what a blessing!
Quite often... More than 10 kids so
Say more than they should, far have manifested
interest on baptism.
Do what they should not...
Judges what they do not see... Thanks to Juanita
Grimes, Juan Rivera,
And spends what they cannot. and all the parents that
helped in this Amazing
Adventure.
Bowling Season support your brothers We will keep you posted!
Broncos, Jaguars, Rams, and sisters.
Lions are some of the Some pictures are al-
team names this Bowling ready posted on our
Season. We play every website.
Sunday @ 6:00 PM @
the LaneGlo Bowling on
www.nprsda.org/
Ridge Rd. Go there and
PhotoGallery
 The apostle Peter experienced some
great things in His walk with Je-
sus. But he also failed at times.
Remember when he denied the
Lord three times just before the
crucifixion? (Matt. 26:69-75)

But his failures didn’t ruin him or

disqualify him from future ministry!
Jesus confronted Peter about his unfaithfulness and lack
of love. But Peter affirmed his love for Jesus three times.
And Jesus didn’t give up on Peter. In fact, He reassured
him that he was still an apostle and commanded him to
exercise faith and obedience and to follow Him.

What about us? Have we fallen down in our walk with

the Lord? Is our witness for Him weak? Do we overlook
opportunities to share Him and His love with others?
Whatever the situation, we have a perfect opportunity to
share the truth of His word—during Evangelistic meet-
ings going on Now with Elder Lester Pratt as our guest
speaker.

Let your light shine! Invite your relatives and friends to

―come and taste‖ for themselves! Remember, like Peter,
we have made our share of mistakes, but the Lord doesn’t
give up on us! We have another chance to prove our love
for Him by sharing Him through the spoken Word.

Yours for bringing others to Jesus, Pastor and Sharon

Webb.

Page 2 The Church Courier

On Sabbath, February
21st., what a treat was
brought to us by the
Forest Lake Academy
with their Cantabile
Chorale.

The Cantabile is a se-

lect choir of beautiful voices from the Forest Lake Acad-
emy under the able direction of Mark
Becker. They are one of the best
academy choirs anywhere!

As members, students have the op-

portunity to perform music for area
churches, Festival of Lights, tours,
spring sacred and secular concerts,
and any additional concert opportuni-
ties that arise during the year.

If you didn’t have the chance to be

here that day, you always can hear
them on our website www.nprsda.org,
under: Resources
(Sermon and Music
Library)

Thanks to Mark
Offenback for the pic-
tures.

Vol. 10 Issue 3 Page 3

 Summary of the “Next Big
Thing” Talent Show!

On February 14th, the student council

presented “The Next Big Thing” Talent
show. It was fun for every-one.

Elvis was there, the 5th-8th graders put on a funny skit that
made everyone laugh, plus Mr. Cruz dressed up in a Mariachi
suit and sang. If you weren’t there you missed a lot of fun.

March 4-6 The 8th Grade Class Trip!

The 8th grade class of the New Port Richey Adventist

Christian School thanks all of you for all the support. They
raised over $900 for their trip to St. Augustine, Florida.

Some of the things we are going to see are The Fountain of

Youth, Wax Museum, Ripley’s Believe it or NOT, etc.
There will be a video of the Class Trip when we get back.

We want to welcome our

new members, Sarah God-
zicki from East Pasco SDA
Church and ―Kitty‖ Santiago
from Tampa Spanish SDA
Church.

Page 4 The Church Courier

 PIXIE PIN-UPS
DO YOU KNOW ME?
If you think you know this church member,
submit your guess to us, either by phone or
email.
You can submit your baby pix by email or
directly to us. Photos can be black and white
or color and will be promptly returned. For
more information please contact us.

February baby was: Omayra Rivera

Clue: “I don’t like beans but for some rea-
son people think I should.” What is the big
thing about beans, doesn’t everyone hate
Clue: ―He used to be a
them?  Half a point for the ones that
tour-guide and worked
guessed it was my brother Alex, he doesn’t
in a drive-in theater.‖
like them either.

Our winners were: Many participated but

nobody guessed. Thanks for participating!

Think about it…

 Practical prayer is harder

on the soles of your shoes
than on the knees of your
trousers.”

The difference between

the right word and the almost
right word is the difference
between lightning and a
lightning bug.”

 Some minds are like con-

crete, thoroughly mixed up
and p e r ma n e nt l y s et .
-Denny Brake

Vol. 10 Issue 3 Page 5

 A FEW MORE FINANCIAL TIPS
FROM THE BIBLE
By Gary D. Grimes

MISNOMER! What in the world is a misnomer? It is a name or term

used wrongly. It is a misnomer when I say, ―I pay tithe to God.‖ We
do not ―pay‖ tithe to God. We ―return‖ tithe to God because God owns
everything including us. We ―return‖ it because He has asked us to
―return‖ it. How could we ―pay‖ God? Is God our employee? Do we
―pay‖ Him for working for us? NO! God owns us! First, He owns us
because He created us. Second, He owns us because He redeemed us.
Creation and redemption show God’s great love for us. Returning tithe
is our love response to God. Mal. 3:8-11; Psalms 50:10-12.

Giving offerings work the same way. We give them back to God who
owns everything including us. All offerings should be given out of
love for God. He created us out of love. He redeemed us out of love.
Ps. 96:8.

We are managers rather than owners since God owns everything in-
cluding us. It is a serious responsibility to be God’s manager. He re-
quires us to use it and invest it wisely and profitably. Two places we
can invest our managed funds are returning our tithe and giving our
offerings. Some have called giving to the Bank of Heaven. All depos-
its are 100 insured. No one has ever lost a penny in the Bank of
Heaven. A high rate of soul winning is guaranteed. Matthew 25.

Watch the small things. Gather up the leftovers. Be frugal! John 6:12.
Turn off electrical appliances when not use. That would be lights, TVs
and computers. Drive the speed limit in town. Drive 5 mph under
speed limit on highways, toll roads and interstates. It safer too! Dur-
ing the winter set your thermostat.

More tips: Cut all credit cards! Use cash or debit cards for purchases.
On major purchases get at least three bids. Comparison shopping to a
point can produce rich dividends. Buy the best quality you can afford.
Pay bills immediately! Can’t pay call your creditor and make arrange-
ments. Make your goal to live debt free!

Page 6 The Church Courier

 Jesus Loves You… Always!
By: Randi Odierno
Fundamentally we all know that we
are born and once that happens, we
are on the pathway to death. Some
sooner and some later but, ever
onward toward our passing. Harsh
words but it’s a harsh reality. Be-
liever or non-believer, we all have
that one thing in common.
I begin this way be-
cause it occurred to
me as I was drift-
ing off to sleep
last night, that
we take our lives
pretty much for
granted. We expect
to wake up, meander
through our days however we each
spend them, work, TV, a good
book, and retire to bed.
But is that all there is? Believers, of
course, know that after this life we
have been granted the greatest gift
of all – our salvation. All we need
do is ask the Lord into our lives and
live as He would have us live.
Praise God!
We also know that the gift of the
Almighty’s salvation, granted by
His huge sacrifice, can be lost or,
like any gift, misplaced. But that is
not what this is about. I just put that
in to remind you and me that we
need to be diligent and faithful to
God each and every day of our
lives.
Vol. 10 Issue 3
The reason I’m writing this is be-
cause I failed in my Christian duty
and, saddest of all I only realized
this by God’s grace last night.
My son, Joey, as some of you
know, was murdered in July of this
year. Now you also know, most of
you anyway, that I became a
Christian pretty recently.
In fact my path to-
ward God was a
special, blessed
road that He led
me on. But that is
also not what this is
about.
About my son… I’d handed in
many prayer requests and pleaded
for Joey and his family daily. My
prayers went unheeded, or did
they? The prayers to have him real-
ize the errors of his life perhaps,
but I find solace in thinking he is
now at rest, at peace, out of his
misery. My ever-nagging plea
―help him‖ to the Lord was actually
answered albeit not in the way I
planned, hoped, expected.
I was blessed last year with God’s
revelation to me as I slept. He let
me examine my motherhood and I
awoke realizing that until the time
my son began his drug usage, he
thought I was the most incredibly
wonderful mom in the world.
Continue on next page...
Page 7
..continue from previous page
On a night in July 2007, God
granted me peace. After more than
twenty years of feeling guilty and
sad over my deficiencies in the
mothering category, I got over it –
just like that! My battles weren’t
over on all fronts but that one was
finally at rest for me.
Just weeks before he was murdered
I mentioned that it would be good
for him to read some specific pas-
sages in the Bible. He said he
didn’t have a Bible.
I offered to send him up his own
personal Bible. Assuming I had
plenty of time to wiggle Christian-
ity into his life, I sent up the DVD
and the Bible with a short and lov-
ing dedication on the inside cover,
much like the dedication in my first
Bible from Gary and Juanita
Grimes.
But I didn’t tell him Jesus loves
you! I cry now as I write this. At
the time I thought I’d push him
away, that I had plenty of time to
help him see. How wrong I was!
―Jesus loves you, Joey‖! Such a
short sentence with abundant truth
and love in it and I didn’t say it. I
just didn’t think he’d be gone in
that heartbeat between receiving
the Bible and his murder two weeks
later.
Am I crying for him? I am! I am
crying for my failure too. Don’t
feel badly and end up crying over
failing yourselves. Life is too short.
Be a bit more assertive. Say the
words! ―Jesus loves you‖! Say
them to whoever needs to hear
them! ―Jesus love you!‖
It’s those three words that miracles
are made of.
With love,
Randi Odierno
September 29, 2008

Four beauty tips

Before she became an actress, Audrey Hepburn was a successful
fashion model. After her acting career, she spent much of her
time working for humanitarian causes around the world. These
four “beauty tips” written by this former model are a snapshot of
how she lived her life. They were read at her funeral.

1. For attractive lips, speak words of kindness. Luke 6: 27-31

2. For lovely eyes, look for the good in people. Galatians 5:19-26
3. For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry. Luke 3:11
4. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone.
Isaiah 41:10

Page 8 The Church Courier

Nutty Way to Fight Disease
Eating 1 1/2 ounces (a couple of handfuls) of tree nuts as a daily
snack can reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes, say USDA
researchers-but just 34% of people eat any nuts at all, reports gov-
ernment survey. Here are four types worth trying for good health and
great taste. -Prevention Magazine, March 2009

NUT BENEFITS IN EVERY BITE

One ounce has as many heart healthy polyphenols as a
cup of green tea and 1/2 cup of steamed broccoli com-
ALMONDS bined; shown to help lower LDL cholesterol.
Rich in arginime, an amino acid that can relax blood
vessels and may lower blood pressure; also has high
HAZELNUTS levels of vitamin E, folate, and B vitamins.
Highest overall concentration of disease-fighting anti-
oxidants amount all nuts; 1 ounce contains 10% of your
PECANS daily value for fiber.
A daily serving or two may decrease LDL levels by 9 to
12%, according to a recent Pennsylvania State Univer-
PISTACHIOS sity study.

Vol. 10 Issue 3 Page 9

 P A R E N T S

Please help us have a more or-

derly Fellowship Meal experi-
ence by keeping your smaller
children with you. We are
having a problem with children
in the kitchen area and running in the hallways
and in the sanctuary.

Enjoy a Relaxing Sabbath out of accidents!

WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!

We need a photo of you as a baby for the
section Pixie Pin-Ups (page 5).

Remember also, if you like to write an article, we

have a special page reserved for you!

WE ARE LOOKING FOR PIC-

BOOKS AND
BUBBLES
The ABC Bookmobile will
be coming to our Church on
Sunday, March 8th from
11:00 AM to 12:30 PM.
Please note the Pathfinder
Car Wash will be the same
day and time…please stop
in and let them wash your
car while you go shopping
at the Bookmobile!
TURES OF CHURCH ACTIVITIES
FOR OUR CHURCH WEBSITE.
GOT SOME? PLEASE SHARE!
Omayra & Juan Rivera
JOB OPENING
Our Adventist School is looking for
an Adventist-certified teacher on a
part-time basis to teach 9th and 10th
grade English and Social Studies/
World History. If you are interested,
please call Mark Schiefer at (727)
376-4316.

Page 10 The Church Courier

From the Editors wheel, are we
letting Him
Are you in a fight drive? His arms
with God? Do you are around us,
try not to hear His are we letting
voice? Are you Him comfort
avoiding His pres- us?
ence?
Lets stop fight- This newsletter is
We may not notice ing! He wants published monthly
but sometimes we us to know that by the NPR SDA
are fighting Gods’ Church. If you have
He loves us and
any comments to
will. We have an He knows what make about the
idea of what we is better for our newsletter, wish to
want and how to get souls. make a donation, or
it, an idea of where wish to submit an
to go and how to get Alex Ortiz article, please send
there, but God it to the church or
knows what, when, to us.
where, and how,
better than us. He
has His hands on our

Contact Us
Alexander Ortiz Omayra Rivera
727-365-2892 727-372-0052

nprcourier07@gmail.com

NPR Seventh-day Adventist Church

6424 Trouble Creek Road
New Port Richey, FL 34653
727-848-4567 www.nprsda.org/newsletter

Vol. 10 Issue 3 Page 11

NPR Seventh–day Adventist Church
6424 Trouble Creek Road
New Port Richey, FL 34653