OUR MISSION:

To be a community that walks with Jesus and shows His love to others

OUR VISION:

To make Disciples of Jesus Christ October 2017

Highlights

Life Groups

ABF Classes

Student Ministry

Background

checks

Volunteer Op-

portunities

Women’s Minis-

try

Opportunities

for men

NEWS from

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harvestefree.org

Change is in the air! Fall has arrived, the leaves are changing color and we just kicked off a new 8-part series at Harvest called “Life’s Healing Choices.” This series is designed to help us overcome our hurts, harmful habits and hang-ups that hold us back in our journey with Jesus. We hope you’ll be able to join us each week and maybe get plugged into the corresponding life groups or the Sunday morning Adult Bible Fellowship (ABF) group that are going through the DVD-based teaching from Pastor Rick Warren. These are great opportunities to discuss the sermons and topics presented each week. They are also a great way to meet others and learn more about growing in our faith journeys together.

Our focus here at Harvest continues to be on “making disciples of all people.” We keep assessing what we can do improve our outreach and to continue to make Harvest a warm friendly environment for those in our community who don’t have a church home. We will continue proclaiming God’s Word with boldness. We will continue to create an environment for folks to invite their friends and neighbors into corporate worship, edification and service together. We will continue to improve our safety procedures to protect our kids, our volunteers, our parents with the rolling out of our child protection policy. We will continue to cultivate a culture of prayer and the study of God’s Word. In this world filled with so much evil, all the more we need to be deeply rooted with our Lord, our Rock, our Truth, our Provider, our Peace. We continue to pray that every individual here can finds their place to belong and serve.

We still need you to help assist others in our Wednesday evening AWANA kids ministry; to help serve in the kitchen on various occasions; or to join our Sunday morning “welcome team” making coffee and greeting folks at the door. Please contact the church office for more details on any of these opportunities! office@harvestefree.org (515)733-5360.

For men, we have started a new men’s video-based study (using DVD teaching from Pastor James MacDonald) on Tuesday mornings (6am-7:15am) at the church. Join in at any time! We have other weekly men’s groups you can join at any time as well (listed in the newsletter). This month we also will be starting a monthly men’s prayer breakfast here at the church starting Saturday October 7 (8am-9:15am). We hope to have these the first Saturday of each month.

It continues to be a blessing to partner with you in sharing the Good News of Jesus and making disciples here in Story City and beyond! Keep praying for boldness to share the hope of Christ with others in our lives!

All for Christ, Pastor Steve & Harvest EFC staff

Newsletter

Life Groups at Harvest!

One of the dynamics that makes the Christian life fruitful is sharing ourselves with others who know Jesus or who are curious about him. Jesus never intended for us to live the Christian life in isolation.

If you have been thinking about connecting with friends (old and new), we would encourage you to con-sider one of our life groups. We have twelve mixed groups (couples or couples and singles) currently at Har-vest. Six of those groups have room for parents to involve their children. Three of the groups meet at various times on Monday. Six of the groups meet at various times on Sunday. Three of the groups meet in the evening on Thursdays. Some groups meet monthly, others bi-weekly, and others, weekly.

Below you will find out basic info on our current groups. You can also find out details about all of our life groups online by going to www.harvestefree.org/adults/life-groups. If you have and question, please con-tact Synthia or Pastor Jim at the Harvest office (733-5360).

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to make new relationships or build existing ones in the context of learning about the Christian life.

Fall 2017 Sunday Morning Adult Classes

Here is a summary of the classes we will be offering on Sunday morning for adults from September-

December 2017! The classes are scheduled from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. on Sunday mornings. We will have at

least three classes offered simultaneously for you to choose from.

Dates Topic Audience Facilitator (s) Room

10/1-11/26 Life’s Healing Choices All Adults Kim Heckert 029 East

10/1- 11/26 Colossians Women Samantha Frykholm 130

10/1-12/17 Jeremiah All Adults Dan Waid 029 West

12/1-12/17 Sharing Your Faith Women Samantha Frykholm 130

12/1 –12/17 Nahum All Adults Blaine Lenz 029 East

Day of Week Time Frequency Facilitator(s) Topic Contact Phone Location Notes

Monday 6:30 PM Weekly Kim & Lois Heckert Sermon-based 515-231-1583 rotates

Monday 6:00 PM Monthly Mark & Donna Rickels Romans 515-520-9072 varies

Wednesday 7:00 PM 2nd & 4th Gary & Olivia Griggs Variable 515-450-7632 varies

Thursday 7:00 PM Weekly Steve & Samantha Frykholm Sermon-based 515-733-5360 Frykholm home (Oct. 5 - Nov. 17)

Sunday 4:30 PM 1st and 3rd Jason & Noelle McLatchie Sermon-based 515-992-6252 Ministry Center

Sunday 5:00 PM Weekly Dan & Karen Waid Sermon-based 515-835-7960 Waid Home

Sunday 6:30 PM Weekly Jim and Marsha Levitt Sermon-based 515-520-9845 Levitt home

Sunday 11:00 AM Weekly Rodney & Kara Rinehart Topical 515-450-4391 Ministry Center monthly meal

Sunday 7:00 PM 3x / month Rob and Machelle Clark Who Am I 308-236-3469 Varies monthly meal

BACKGROUND CHECK INFORMATION UNDER-

WAY

As part of our ongoing effort to provide a safe and secure envi-ronment for children, we are in the process of obtaining back-ground checks for workers (paid staff and volunteers) who interact with children. We have partnered with a service called Shepherd’s Watch to bring a simple, easy, online way for volunteers and others to go through this process. The process verifies the identity of the person and does a search related to a criminal database and a sex offender registry. If nothing is found, it will return a statement of “clear” in the report to us.

The pastors, elders, and our administrative assistant were the first to go through the process, which takes about four minutes. Beginning in August we began asking Sunday School staff into the pro-cess. Others who interact with children are being contacted, and we hope to have everyone engaged in chil-dren’s related ministries processed soon.

We realize that this is only one step in the process of creating a nourishing and safe atmosphere for our chil-dren. As Christ works in each of us, we can all contribute toward making Harvest a healthy place where chil-dren learn of Jesus and see his character and priorities reflected in the lives of older adults around them.

LOAVES AND FISHES

Harvest is designated to run the food pantry on October 14th, 10 am- 12pm. We would love to have at least 4 people or a family to serve during this time. If you’d like to vol-unteer please contact Sherry Maakestad at 515-460-0004.

VOLUNTEER RELIEF WORK NEEDED IN TEXAS

The EFCA ReachGlobal Crisis Response ministry is looking for local EFCA churches to send relief teams down to help clean up and rebuild homes and churches damaged by the recent Hurricane Harvey. They are looking for churches to organize a team to serve affected families and invest in relationships to impact Houston and the surrounding area with the gospel. With the current flooding and damage to infrastructure, teams of limited size will be accepted. If you might be interested in serving on such a relief team, please contact the church office and let us know some general dates you may be available to serve. For more information, see the EFCA website link: https://go.efca.org/hurricane-harvey-response . Please continue to pray for those many fami-lies and communities recently affected by these natural disasters. If you have any ques-tions please feel free to contact the office or Pastor Steve.

STUDENT MINISTRY—UPCOMING DATES TO REMEMBER

High School :

January 5-7, 2018—IMPACT Youth Conference in Coralville,

IA. Cost is $150

Middle School:

February 2-4, 2018—WINTER BLAST at Hidden Acres; ap-

prox. cost is $85

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HANDS IN SERVICE (HIS)

HIS Ladies will meet Monday, Oct. 16th, from 2:00-8:00 pm. We will continue to

work on a variety of sewing & non-sewing projects for the Congo, Africa. Materials

are provided. Feel free to come & go as you please. Everyone is welcome!

Mothers of Preschoolers

Are you a mom of young children? Would you like to connect with other moms? Then

join us, Thursday, October 12th and 26th at 9:15 am to learn more about MOPS and meet

other women who are in the same life phase as you.

Fall 2017 Women’s Bible Studies

“Overcoming Fear and Discouragement” By Kay Arthur, David Lawson and Bob Vereen Book cost $7 Tuesday evenings, 7-8:30 pm in the Conference Room Starts September 5th Facilitated by Lynn Ehrenberg This in-depth look at Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther chronicles the lives and conflicts of or-dinary men and women who faced overwhelming situations charged with fear and dis-couragement. Yet they come out the winners. Learn how you can do the same!

“WHO AM I” Identity in Christ; By Jerry Bridges Book costs $9 Thursday mornings, 6– 7:30 am. Location to be announced. Starts September 7th Facilitated by Machelle Clark Have you wondered or doubted who you as a person & as a follower of Jesus Christ? Jerry Bridges leads us into Scripture to unpack the answers to this foundation question in this direct & illuminating presentation of clear Biblical truth. This study demonstrates for be-lievers they can & should claim for themselves an unshakeable, lifelong, personal founda-tion of confidence in only one thing--the gospel of a victorious, resurrected Savior!

“The Quest” By Beth Moore Book cost $17 Sunday evenings, 7-9 pm in the Conference Room Starts October 8th Facilitated by Susan Parker In this six-week excursion with Jesus, Beth Moore uses questions from Scripture to lead you into intimacy with the One who knows you best. Learn to dig into the Word, to re-spond to the questions of God, and to bring your questions before Him. Let the crooked punctuation mark be the map that points you into a closer relationship with the Father.

PERSONAL DISCIPLESHIP GROUPS

These are groups of 4-12 men who meet to encourage each other and build into each other

with growing friendship and a focus on growing as disciples of Christ.

TUESDAYS 6:00 AM

This group is exploring Christian living through a mini-DVD study called “Authentic” by James McDonald. Pastor Steve facilitates this group. It meets in room 130.

WEDNESDAYS 6:00 AM

This group is exploring the life of Christ as it unpacks the gospel of John together. Pastor Jim facilitates this group. It meets in the church office area.

THURSDAYS 6:00 AM

This group explores various books that discuss Christianity, culture, challenges, and

priorities for men in our time. The class will begin the book, Reunion: The Good News of

Jesus for Seekers, Saints, and Sinners on September 7th.. Matt Soderstrum facilitates this

class. It meets in room 130. (Contact Matt at papasode@gmail.com by 8/31 if you want him

to get you a book.)

FRIDAYS 6:00 AM

This group is exploring the life of Christ as it discusses the gospel of John together. Greg

Yeakel facilitates this group. It meets in the church office area.

SATURDAYS 7:00 AM

This group meets weekly to discuss varied passages of scripture and to encourage one

another in our walk with Christ. Warren Straszheim facilitates this group. It meets at 7:00

a.m. in the coffee area in the lobby.

MONTHLY MEN’S PRAYER BREAKFAST This is a monthly gathering of men for prayer, teaching, food, and fellowship. The meetings

will be held on the first Saturday of the month from 8:00—9:15 a.m. in room 130, starting

October 7th. Pastor Steve facilitates the meetings.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR MEN

To Connect and Grow Spiritually

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12-Week Summer Internships

We're excited to announce a new program at Hidden Acres: 12-week summer internships for college-age students! These 12-week, paid internships are available to any college-age student who is in-terested in receiving practical leadership training in a fast-pace, Gospel-centered ministry. Specific internship descriptions can be found in the application at hacamps.org. Applications are due by January 1st. Questions?—Contact Eric Smith at eric.smith@hacamps.org or 515-547-2751.

Men's Retreat 2018

Men: are you looking for a weekend of spiritual enrichment and exciting activities all rolled into one? If so, check out our annual Men’s Retreat., January 19-21st, 2018. At this January event, individuals and church groups will hear powerful messages from our speaker and worship together. They’ll also play basketball in the gym, compete against friends on the giant inflatable joust, eat lots of delicious food, and much more. We’ll take care of all the planning so you can relax, have fun, and learn more about the Creator. Consider joining us for at Hidden Acres for this event. Don’t forget to bring warm clothes and prepare yourself to enjoy a powerful week-

Sportsmen's Retreat March 22-25, 2018

“24 Hours with the Guys”

Do you love the outdoors and enjoy shooting, archery, and hunting? Do you need a break from your job and a chance to get outdoors? If so, check out our Sportsmen’s Retreat! Whether you’re a veteran marksman or new to shooting, archery, or hunting, you’ll have a great time at our Sportsmen’s Retreat. Over 650 men from all over the Midwest will join us for this weekend of shooting, fellowship, and delicious food.

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