[From a recent church bulletin] "Good morning friends and welcome to our gathering of believers. We are not perfect but we are perfectly loved. We are not righteous on our own, but called into the way of Christ by the grace of God. We are blessed to be known by God and overwhelmed by God’s covenant love. We desire to live Jesus’ way of the cross through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are blessed to call God our father, Jesus ourbrother and friend, and this church our home. We desire to fulfill the Lord’s commands by loving God, loving others, and serving the world. Each believer has been gifted with the Holy Spirit in order to edify the body of Christ, the church, and to advance the kingdom of God in this place. We are a community that desires to grow in love, make disciples, and restore the world to Jesus as King.

We would love for you to share your life, your gifts, and your love with this community of friends. Help us grow into the kingdom of God. Help us to grow in our dependence on God, our pursuit of justice, and our effort to create peace. We would love to know your journey of faith and your desire to serve in God’s kingdom. We would love to have you commit your life and service to this gathering of saints as we grow as disciples serving in love. Let us know your questions and your concerns about committing to the Lord and this body of believers. Let us know how you would like to be involved in helping us grow into the likeness of Christ. Let us know how we can serve you and grow together as friends. 

---->CLICK "Read More" below for the rest of the article

    Every Wednesday night at 6 PM we welcome ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE to come to "Agape Night" (a word meaning "love") where we serve a free meal of some good food. Afterwards, we do some singing followed by a short devotional. Come and join us - stay and visit if you can. There are absolutely no strings attached -- EVERYBODY is welcome. Doesn't matter if your the member of any church, social group, old, young, rich and famous, or homeless. Come on over and feel at home. We're located at  2761 Broadway, North Bend OR. We start at 6 PM and end when we're done... probably around 7-ish :-) Don't miss it! We plan to keep this up for many weeks to come.

    As you enter our church building you will be welcomed by a warm smile and gentle touch. We welcome you as  friends and will host you as family. We will participate in songs, hymns, and spiritual songs. You are invited to lift your voice in praise and your heart in worship to God as we sing together. We will be led in prayers that express adoration to God, thanksgiving to God for God’s goodness, confession of our sinful and human nature, and requests for God to heal, forgive, and bless our lives. We will stand as we hear God’s holy word being read. God’s word is a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path.

We will hear a message preached from God’s intended to instruct us in the ways of God, transform our hearts and mind to be like Jesus, and to direct our lives towards love, justice, and mercy. You are invited to respond to the message and calling of Christ by sharing with other believers and the church your prayers, requests, confessions, and faith. We will share in the Lord’s Supper remembering Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. We will eat bread and drink grape juice as we remember Jesus’ body and blood given to save the world from sin and death. We participate in the gospel through baptism and celebrate our salvation in Christ as we partake in the communion meal.

We have opportunity to share our lives and love with God and each other as we gather together in this place each Sunday. We ask that you join us as we give our lives as living sacrifices of praise to God. Please join us as fellow disciples serving in love by partnering with this congregation as active members. We are excited to have you share your gifts of grace, love, and service to edify this body and to advance the kingdom of God.

  --Click "Read More" below--

     I love the sound that a basketball makes when it swishes through a net, the sight of the rock passing perfectly through the orange rim, and the satisfaction of making a shot in the game of basketball. Hours and hours of practice are required in order to accomplish this task on a consistent basis. A beginner needs to learn the basic form and hand positions in order to accurately shoot a ball. This requires training your muscles to put to memory this proper form. Next the player must learn how to use ones entire body, feet, legs, arms, hands, and eyes, working in sync with each other to skillfully shoot the ball into the air with perfect backspin, arc, aim, force, and direction toward the goal. With practice, repetition, and coaching the skill is attained. The task becomes natural and the benefits are joyfully received.

    As disciples serving in love we have practices that give glory to God and benefit our faith in God. Our practices shape and inform our ability to serve God and others. We have the benefit of participating together through prayer, singing, sharing God’s word, eating together, and meeting each other’s needs. When we gather together as the body, we learn how to perform these tasks with the purposes of drawing our hearts toward God. Individually we are encouraged to make these practices a part of our daily rhythm of life.

    Today we will focus on the practice of prayer. Join us in prayer as we address God through faith, acknowledging God’s presence, confessing our sins confidently to the one who will forgive, thanking God as the creator and giver of all things, and asking God to act on our behalf and our loved ones. Allow our prayers to point your heart toward God. Make our prayers a model of how you practice coming before God each day. We hope our practice of prayer in worship will inform your daily practice of talking to God, and that your daily practice of calling out to God will inspire our times of corporate prayer each Lord’s day.

    Let us come to love the sound of heads bowing, hearts opening, and voices speaking to God. - Bryan Johnston - nbcoc@hotmail.com - churchofchristnb.com

The practice of singing praises to God has been a rich blessing in my life as a follower of Christ. The songs of the church have kept my heart filled with God. Singing as an act of worship has been a great tool for keeping my heart pointed toward Christ. The blending of voices in proclamation of our faith and the harmony of hearts worshiping as one body has profoundly informed by walk with the Lord.

     My choir teacher in high school would say she could tell which kids had been raised in the church because they came to her knowing how to read music and how to sing parts – soprano, alto, tenor, or bass. Participating in singing songs in church can help one learn how to sing with musical precision but it is not the quality of the sound of the music which makes singing worship. Singing becomes worship when the love of God flows from the heart of the believer to

God through the vessel of the voice. The gift of singing has its greatest impact to proclaim the praise of God when it is propelled by love. (Click READ MORE below for the rest of the story)