HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Mon., 17 – Sue Sehon
Thu., 20 – Sybil Hogan
Mon., 24 – Sandra Hartsell, Catherine Rich, Michaela White
Wed., 26 – Jeff Roberts
Thu., 27 – Torrie Patterson
Sun ., 30 – Torzell Patterson

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Oct., 2 – Ron & Gail Williams

The fall festival will be October 29 from 6:00-9:00pm. Please contact Ed Prada or Dana Keith with any questions you may have. For all of you who will be participating in the Fall Festival bring your car with you trunk loaded with treats. If you can’t be present please donate a bag of candy to the Fall Festival. You can bring it any time between now and Wednesday, October 26th.

“The Pecan Sale” for the Ladies Auxiliary of Agape is now underway. Please contact Bonita Taylor, the church office or sign the list in the back of the auditorium. The sale will end October 31. We hope to have the pecans to you by November 14-18. Prices this year are $11.00 for pieces and halves. Two pound tins are $25.00. We are also offering bags of milk chocolate halves and white chocolate halves for $12.50.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Eph. 2:10
In the very beginning of time, God set into motion a necessary redemptive plan of salvation for all of man in order to once and for all redeem man that we may dwell with him in the far reaches of the heavenly realms giving him praise and honor among the angels for all of eternity. This plan, being made essential for the reconciliation of our corrupt world to the Father, has been revealed to us by Him through his law, his prophets, and his Son: through his law because it condemns us of an unrighteousness that can only be made right through the atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus, through his prophets because they spoke of the salvation that could only be attained through the coming messiah long before the birth of Jesus, and through his Son because he not only lived according to the law and the prophets, but he carried out a life of obedience to the Father in his ministry, his death, and his resurrection as he offered himself “as a ransom for many.” Upon receiving this message of reconciliation, we as members of the body of Christ become a part of his redemptive plan of salvation. Our calling is to then become Christ’s ambassadors (2Cor. 5) charged with making disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that Christ has commanded us (Matthew 28).
Now, when you bring together a multitude of people who have all taken part in this redemptive plan and have received the grace of God through faith, you give this fellowship of believers a term; church. Church isn’t just a place where people go to sing or hear some guy in a suit holler about a guy named Jesus (both of which are important), church is a living organism where each member is a functioning part of its body and where Christ is head. These things we know, but let me also remind you that it is a place of Christian love. “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” 1John 4:8. The Palisades Church has shown me nothing but love, encouragement, fellowship, and family. Thank you for answering the call these past years as God has called this church to richly bless my walk. You have been responsible for my spiritual growth and without a doubt have challenged me to become a man of God. This scripture is my prayer for you…
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21.
-Nick Fowler

HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Fri., 09 – Jean Yerby
Sat., 10 – Jordan Sails
Mon., 12 – John Sehon
Tue., 13 – Mark Elders, Bill Ray
Sat., 17 – Gail Williams
Fri., 23 – Elizabeth Floyd
Sat., 27 – Elsie Phifer
Sun., 25 – Lucynda Smith

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY
Aug 28 – Don & Beverly Lovell
Sept., 10 – David & Doris Wood

Pot-luck Lunches will start on the Second Sunday of September each year. The Pot-luck Lunches are held on the Second Sunday of most months from September to May. Sometimes the dates may be different in November and December because of holidays.

Hope to see you there.

I was sitting in an 8th grade classroom at Challenger Middle school on this day 10 years ago. We had an announcement come over the speakers calling for everyone to go to their homeroom classes and wait for further instruction. So everyone anxiously rushed to their respective classes for we had not yet been told what was taking place and we thought maybe a surprise assembly or some special treat. We were sadly mistaken. My teacher turned on the TV and we all sat and watched live as the horror and destruction was very quickly overcoming New York City. To be completely honest I remember not being really sure what to think. I knew this was a very bad thing, a scary thing, but it never really hit me that day. Maybe because of my age at the time and all of the action movies that were always on TV I was desensitized to the massacre taking place. Maybe because it was on the other side of the country I had no immediate fight or flight reaction or emotion. I didn’t realize the implications of what had happened right away. I hadn’t let the gravity of that moment sink in until much time had passed. But here we stand 10 years to the day, roughly 8 years into war, just months into long sought after justice, and only hours into reliving that day all over again. Sadly, for many, their hearts can still feel the sting from 0-hour. Families, friends, and those directly affected tragically suffered losses beyond a magnitude that many will never quite comprehend. These men, women, and children weren’t equipped with rifles, helmets, or combat training, rather with innocence, pride, and freedom. Then at the hand of terror they were blindsided and in half a day; gone. “…God, where are you…?”
Jesus to his disciples:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you….When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning. “All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. 2 They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. 3 They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. 4 I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you…I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. 23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name…“But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me. 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the orld.” John 15 and 16 In times of terror He has promised us peace, in times of pain He has promised us compassion, and in times of death He has promised us life.
-Nick Fowler

THANKS EVERYONE
PANAMA MISSIONS OPERATION CHRISTMAS JOY has been a great success…

Packages are being finalized for shipment to Panama via Montgomery, AL for arrival in Panama about Christmas.

Glenn VanZandt has accepted the minister position at Palisades. He will begin at Palisades on October 30, 2011.
Welcome to our New Minister and his family to the palisades family.

One Sunday afternoon, a few years ago, on exactly January 13th I was pumped because I was about to play the coolest game ever with some of the coolest guys ever. A game called Berzerker. It’s a combination between football, rugby, soccer, and basketball. Awesome! Right!? YA! It was the first play of the game, I got the ball, took one step, and POP!! I was down. I tore a calf muscle and the next 2 weeks of life were the most agonizingly dreadful, exhausting experience over…crutches. Now some of you may think, “oh, crutches, those look easy.” or “I’ve been on crutches before and they weren’t that bad” well I hated them! But of course, I learned something as we all should from each experience. Crutches really made it difficult to get around, especially since I had to get around UAB. For the most part, I just tried as much as I could to suck it up and be tough about traveling multiple blocks. I think what helped out a lot was the fact that people were very thoughtful. They held open doors and were always offering to help carry things for me; however, I nicely rejected the help. I’m not sure why, I just wanted to do everything for myself, even something as simple as carry something up stairs. So I did. I never fell down the stairs or was unable to perform my day to day tasks. I made it! While I crutched from place to place I did have a lot of time to just think. I thought mostly about how tired and sore I was, and I often asked myself what the root of my hard headedness was in not accepting help. But mostly I thought of how all of us want to do everything ourselves when it comes to Christianity. Let’s take a poll (raise your hand if this applies, I will too)….How many of you want to do everything you can each day to ensure a spot in Heaven? How many of you spend time each day reading the Bible and praying because you want to be saved? How many of you think that you will be saved because of your deeds, faith, or because you have committed less sin then someone else? I’m pretty sure we all know that we can’t earn our way to heaven, but don’t we usually revert back to that kind of lifestyle? Things begin to get a little rocky and all the sudden we are at church 24/7, we are constantly praying, looking up scriptures, and trying our hardest to walk the straight and narrow as if our works and efforts are going to save us, or bring us back to a comfortable place. These are things we should be striving to do always, not to earn a spot in heaven, but because we already have obtained that spot and are beginning the heavenly lifestyle here on earth. Jesus prayed “Your will be done, on EARTH as it IS IN HEAVEN.” For the duration of my injury, I had a very hard time moving around. Without my crutches, I would have never been able to move. I couldn’t do it by myself. We can’t do it by ourselves. We need the aid of Jesus and his blood, we need the grace of God, and we need to give up and surrender to Him. Sometimes we need that “injury” to bring us down before God so that we can view Him in the right perspective and see that there’s nothing we can possibly do to get where He sits. All we can do is accept His invitation. It took months to recover from that injury, and I still have a deformation in that muscle. But I’m physically back to full speed thanks to the doctors and therapists. Most of all thanks be to God. I’m imperfect, unworthy, and injured, but His gift of grace allows me to run full speed after Him. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast” Ephesians 2:8-9. –Nick Fowler