Pastor Thure Martinsen

A Week with Our Son

Yesterday we put our son back on the plane to head home. We had a great time, but already we miss him terribly. It is always a blessing when we can enjoy time with our family. We are hoping to get together again before another couple of years are over. We are looking forward to seeing our daughter in about three months in Italy!

One of the blessings we have is our church family! Isn't it great that even if our immediate family is far away, we can enjoy our family in Jesus! Each week is a family time to fellowship, share, and grow!

How Can We Help Those Struggling with Hurricane Sandy?

Adventist Community Services Disaster Response (ACS DR) teams in partnership with other voluntary agencies and Federal and state governments, meet the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of those affected by providing food, blankets, clothing, and other much needed relief supplies. “Its important for our church to be there to help people who have been affected by widespread devastation,” said Pastor Dan Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America. “We could be the Jesus that some of these people will only see and experience from these acts of kindness,” he said.

• With so much trouble and so many disasters surrounding us, or even far away, what can you do to help? ACS gives advice on how to be prepared for a disaster and to help others when affected. Click Here for this information.
• ACS is able to leverage its partnerships and bulk purchasing power to provide goods to disaster survivors for a fraction of retail cost. A financial donation to ACS DR today will help your church bring vital supplies and relief to people devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Click Here to make a donation.
• Churches and small groups such as youth groups, Bible study groups, Sabbath school classes, and others, can also help by making personal care kits to hand out to people who are not able to use their homes due to flooding or wind and tree damage. There are 11 different types of care kits that can help people who are displaced from their homes and schools. Click Here for the list and contents of each.
• To access the Disaster Response page on Facebook click here.

Sermon Series Continues

Two weeks ago we began a new sermon series based on John 13-17 titled "The Time has Come" (from John 17:1). That first week we looked at how Jesus lived His life successfully here on earth and discovered, to our surprise, that it was exactly the way we have live ours. According to Jesus, He was completely dependent on His Father for everything - just like we are. To download a PDF manuscript of this sermon, click here.

Last week we looked at prayer in Jesus' life and were amazed at the promises He made about prayer in these chapters. Prayer was how He stayed connected with His Father and now He offers us this powerful tool to help us stay connected! To download a PDF manuscript of this sermon, click here.

This week our message is titled "United by the Holy Spirit" and is based on John 16:7-15. We will look at how the Holy Spirit wants to work in our lives to produce personal and church-wide revival.

This series will be most meaningful to you if your read these chapters (John 13-17) through several times as we are looking at them. If you have the book, The Desire of Ages, Chapter 73 (Let Not Your Heart be Troubled) gives some meaningful insights as well.

Hope to see you Sabbath!  

Potluck this Sabbath

If you are a visitor, please just come and enjoy it - don't plan to bring anything. If you are a member, please bring a dish (entree, salad, vegetable, dessert, etc.) that would feed 8-10 people. We will supply drinks. For more information, contact Hope at (402) 292-8280 or email her. 

Prayer Meeting

Prayer Meeting continues to be a powerful time of fellowship and growth. Tonight we are studying Psalm 38 and next Wednesday we will be looking at Psalm 39. We have a soup and bread supper at 5:30 pm so you can come right from work. Our study goes from 6:00 - 7:00 pm every Wednesday evening.

Our Son

Not too long after I finish writing this we will be heading to the airport to pick up our son. We have been preparing now for several days - did I tell you that we are excited! We have not seen him for almost two years and are looking forward to spending nearly a week together. Pat and my mom have been baking and cooking his favorite foods, we have been cleaning, and we have been planning on what special things we would like him to experience.

It reminds me a bit of what Jesus said: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-3, TNIV) 

I get the feeling that He is pretty excited about bringing us home too, and it won't be for just a couple of weeks - it will be forever!

Sermon Series Continues

Last Sabbath we began a new sermon series based on John 13-17 titled "The Time has Come" (from John 17:1). Last week we looked at how Jesus lived His life successfully here on earth and discovered, to our surprise, that it was exactly the way we have live ours. According to Jesus, He was completely dependent on His Father for everything - just like we are. The sermon should be up on our website before long if you missed it and would like to hear it.

This week our message is titled "United by Prayer" and is based on John 17:20-23. We will look at the role prayer played in Jesus' life and the promises He made about prayer in our life. We will discover that prayer may be one of the most important things we can do!

This series will be most meaningful to you if your read these chapters (John 13-17) through several times as we are looking at them. If you have the book, The Desire of Ages, chapter 73 (Let Not Your Heart be Troubled) gives some meaningful insights as well. Hope to see you there.

Prayer Meeting

Prayer Meeting continues to be a powerful time of fellowship and growth. Tonight we are studying Psalm 37 and next Wednesday we will be looking at Psalm 38. We have a soup and bread supper at 5:30 pm so you can come right from work. Our study goes from 6:00 - 7:00 pm every Wednesday evening.

Thank You!!

Pat and I were blown away by the cards, gifts, and show of support you gave us for Pastor Appreciation Month. We feel loved and appreciated! We want you to know that there is no place we would rather be right now than working here in the Greater Omaha area. We are blessed to have two great church families.

Our Son

We are excited that our son Jonathan will be with us for a week beginning next Wednesday. We will be out of circulation for about a week as we enjoy his company and catch up. It's been almost two years since we have been together. I will still be preaching at church the Sabbath he is here and I know he is planning on attending with us. Hope many of you get to meet him.

New Sermon Series

This Sabbath we are beginning a new sermon series based on John 13-17 titled "The Time has Come" (from John 17:2). These chapters represent some of Jesus' most important teaching, not that any of His teaching is unimportant, but these chapters give us the tools to develop a personal relationship with God that will affect the way we live and how we relate to those around us. They underscore the fact that Christianity is much more about relationships than about rules. I challenge you to read these passages through several times during the next few weeks as we explore their message. If you have the book, The Desire of Ages, chapter 73 (Let Not Your Heart be Troubled) gives some meaningful insights as well. This week our message is titled "United with Jesus" and is based on John 17:20-23. Hope to see you there.

Prayer Meeting

Prayer Meeting continues to be a powerful time of fellowship and growth. Tonight we are studying Psalm 36 and next Wednesday we will be looking at Psalm 37. We have a soup and bread supper at 5:30 pm so you can come right from work. Our study goes from 6:00 - 7:00 pm every Wednesday evening.

 

I am kind of new at this blog thing - usually a person of few words. So I am open to lots of suggestions. I'm not sure how your week is going, mine has been pretty tough. But, God has blessed and is sustaining me. I have been relying one one of my all-time favorite promises this week found in Isaiah 41:10 & 13 and I like it best in the Contemporary English Version. This is God talking!

"Don’t be afraid. I am with you. Don’t tremble with fear. I am your God. I will make you strong, as I protect you with my arm and give you victories ... I am the Lord your God. I am holding your hand, so don’t be afraid. I am here to help you."

Mini Concert this Sabbath

This Sabbath, our very own Daughter's of God are presenting a mini-concert as well as leading out in our praise music for our worship service. I'm excited about the songs they will be singing. It would be a great Sabbath to bring a friend!

This Week's Sermon

The sermon will be a bit shorter this week to make room for the concert. This week's title is "Never Alone" and focusses on the the promises found in Joshua 1:5-9 and Matthew 28:18-20. If you have ever felt that there is no one there for you, like there is no one that you can talk too, or that no one really loves you or cares about what you do with your life, this message is for you! Other scriptures to consider are Deuteronomy 31:6; Psalms 32:6-7 & 46:1-3; Isaiah 41:10 & 13; Matthew 11:28-30 and Philippians 4:4-7.

Click here to listen to this sermon.

Picnic Potluck this Sabbath

If you are a visitor, please just come and enjoy it - don't plan to bring anything. If you are a member, please bring your own clean meat to grill and a side dish to share. We will supply the buns and drinks. We will also have an inflatable for all ages! You may want to bring a change of clothes. For more information, contact Hope at (402) 292-8280 or email her.

Prayer Meeting

Every Wednesday evening we have been enjoying a simple meal (usually soup and bread or haystacks) beginning at 5:30 pm followed at 6:00 pm by prayer and study. We are working our way through the book of Psalms and this next week Psalms 31 will be our topic. For those who attend, it is a time of fellowship and growing closer to God. You are invited to join us!

 

Minister's Meetings

This week Pat and I attended Minister's Meetings hosted by the officers of the Kansas Nebraska Conference in Topeka, Kansas. I was again impressed with their positive spiritual leadership! The majority of the session was spent on helping us as ministers form a deeper connection with God and teaching us how to minister to our church families more effectively out of that connection.

Prayer Meeting

This past Wednesday evening at Prayer Meeting we discussed Psalm 28. As usual, it was a blessing to fellowship together as we prayed and considered God's Word. Each Wednesday we begin with a light supper at 5:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall - this week we had haystacks. We then move to the Hearth Room around 6:00 pm for prayer and study. We usually finish promptly at 7:00 pm. Next week we will study Psalm 29. Come join us as we grow closer to each other and to God!

This Sabbath

This Sabbath our Worship Service will include a special dedication for everyone involved in Education - students, parents, teachers, and staff. Our worship thought will center around the promise Jesus made in Luke 22:15-16 as He looked forward to spending eternity with us. Hope to see you there - both this Sabbath and in eternity!

Click here to listen to this sermon.