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Sunbury City Church Newsletter  

January, 2022

ELDER'S UPDATE

 

Typically, at the end of the year, I like to take a moment to simply reflect on all God has done over the last year while beginning to pray about what God may have for me heading into the new year.  As we look at Sunbury City Church, one area God has brought my attention to more recently is the idea of being a healthy church.  We do not just want to be a church in Sunbury or even a church that grows in size, but rather desire to be a healthy church in the midst of our community. One that rightly reflects the glory of God to the world around us.  But what does that health look like?  First, it begins by having a hunger for the word of God preached each and every week.  And then, desiring that word to shape every aspect of our church; from the way we practice membership to church discipline, to how we view leadership, to how we evangelize together, to how we think about the gospel and what it means for one to come to faith in Jesus Christ and then grow in that faith into maturity to the point that we know God, and want to see others know him as well.  New Years bring fresh starts.  In 2022, it is my hope and desire to see each one of us take up the mantle to help Sunbury City Church become a healthy church, helping other churches become healthy so that together we might grow into the fullness of Christ.  

Pastor Derek




           Derek Van Ruler, Lead Pastor      
 
Curveballs in life can happen at just about any time.  Yet I find, how we respond to those curveballs or difficult situations are often more challenging.  They can either sink us or cause us to press into the Lord.  Over the past month, as your Pastor, I have witnessed a few different members take life’s challenges and instead of pulling away from Jesus, pushing into Jesus, essentially saying what else do I have?  On one occasion, a member lost a relative and on another occasion, a member had changes to his health in which he simply responded, I know God is using this for my good, even if I don’t know how yet.  Both situations showed great faith in Jesus that he is greater than our most difficult trials.  Praise Jesus!


We want to hear from you! If you have a story of how you have seen God working in your life or the life of someone else in our church, we would love to  include your story in our next newsletter. Please contact Rhiannon @ 570-850-2769 or by email @ davidrhiannon@gmail.com
What's Happening At SCC


January 23rd: What is God Like? We will restart our Romans series beginning in chapter 5.  

January 26th: Prayer Night: We need Jesus to move in our community and our church.  Thus, we gather to seek him in prayer, pleading with Jesus to do a work greater than Sunbury City Church.  Join us as we pray together at 6:30pm in the Fellowship Hall.  Snacks will be provided.  Childcare is available to the end of 2nd grade.

February 6th: First Sundays: Have questions about any of the sermons?  Or maybe even questions about Sunbury City Church?  Pastor Derek will lead a time after the Sunday Gathering on the first Sunday of the month, starting in February, to answer any questions you may have about the sermons or even if you want to know more about Sunbury City Church.  

February 13th: Members Meeting: If you are a member of Sunbury City Church, join us for lunch and our meeting to hear what God is doing around Sunbury City Church.  We will meet in the Fellowship Hall directly following the Sunday Gathering.  
 

Another successful year and celebration!

I want to say a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who made this year's year end celebration a success, from set up to clean up. We had members come in and set up the tables, put the decorations out, and get the coffee and juice bar ready. That in itself was a wonderful help! It allowed me to concentrate on making sure that all the food was warm and in its proper place. And speaking of food, we had over 11 delicious options to choose from! Thank you for taking your time to make and share your recipes.

Again, I just want to say thank you and we could not have done this without the help of each and everyone of you! God bless.

                                                                                  Amanda White
 
 
Pray for Chapin and Mandy as they continue to seek inroads to start a church in Selinsgrove.
 
Pray for Josh Brosius as he takes over as mayor of Sunbury.  

Pray for the elders as they take time in January to seek God’s direction for 2022.

Pray for Pastor Derek as he speaks at a retreat for middle-schoolers in January.

Pray for The Gospel Coalition regional pastors retreat, that Pastor Derek co-leads, as they gather near the end of January.
 


To see more prayer requests follow this link and login to your Elvanto account: Be sure to create an account if you do not have one already.    
https://sunburycitychurch.elvanto.net/posts/prayer-list/
We would love to pray for you.  If you have prayer request needs, feel free to follow this link and fill out the form to let us know how we can pray for you:
 https://www.sunburycitychurch.com/prayer
 
 Don't forget to check out our podcasts, available to stream on our website or any platform where you listen to your favorite podcasts.

Stay up to date with what is going on at Sunbury City Church by checking out our blog at:
 https://www.sunburycitychurch.com/blog


Want some good books but don’t know where to go?  Check out our online bookstore at:
 https://www.sunburycitychurch.com/bookstore


Want to familiarize yourself with the music we sing every Sunday? Our Spotify playlist can help you with that!
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7ifRnFCfmaWwimPKQi2i7e?si=8a74b473cfed4d5c

CONTACT US

SCC mailing address:

P.O. Box 344
Sunbury, PA 17801-0344


Phone:
(570) 492-4962

Email address:
info@sunburycitychurch.com

Lead Pastor: Derek Van Ruler