Meet The Preacher

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Published on Thursday, 27 October 2011 19:49

Written by Administrator

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  A lot of questions run through the mind of someone looking for a church home or simply looking to visit a local congregation.  I hope you will take the time to read the articles "Welcome Newcomers" and "What To Expect" but I also wanted to take a moment and introduce myself to you.

My name is Nick Secula and I have been the full time minister here with the Three Forks church of Christ since November 2007.  I am amazed everyday at the blessings God has allowed me to be a part of working here with the Three Forks family.  I have a beautiful wife name Tiffany, who labors with me in the work for this wonderful congregation.  She is very involved with our Women's ministry and she has even started her own blog  "As For Me And My House." I am also blessed with three wonderful kids that certainly keep me on my toes.  It is my joy in life to share the message of Jesus and I have been doing so as a full time minister for eight years now.

I want to personally invite you to come and visit with us at Three Forks.  I think it will be a wonderful opportunity for you and your family to meet a loving and caring body of Christ.

About Nick:

   -  Graduated for the 2-year preaching program of Sunset International Bible Institute via their satellites school program.

   -  Received an Associates Degree in Religious Studies from NationsUniversity

   -  Received a Bachelors in Religious Studies from Nations University from NationsUniversity

  -  Completed a Christian Counseling Training program through Agape Counseling Center

  -  NCCA Certified Temperament Counselor

  -  Received a Bachelors of Theology from Sunset International Bible Institute

What To Expect When You Visit WIth Us

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Published on Monday, 17 October 2011 17:53

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We want your visit with us to be an enjoyable one and a vist in which you are able to feel free to partake in the worship service instead of being anxious for what might happen next or what might take place in general during the service.  To help you visit with such an experience the following is a brief description of what will take place during our services and worship to God. 

Bible Study
Bible study is an important part of our service to God.  It afford us the opportunity to truly search out the beauty of God's word.  Bible study is truly a window into our spiritual growth and we invite all to join us for this part of our services.  Bible study begins at 9am CST.  We start with everyone gathered in the auditorium.  A song will be lead. We encourage you to grab a songbook from the pew and join us in singing.  The song is followed by a scripture reading by one of the men of the congregation and a prayer.  After the prayer everyone will be dismissed to classes.  There are classes available for all age groups from nursery to adult.  If you have children we will be glad to help your children find their class.  The adult class is held in the auditorium.

Break and Return to Service
At 9:45am a bell will sound to mark the end of our Bible Study period.  At this time we will break for 15 minutes.  You can use this time to do some visiting, check out our bulletin board for updates an announcements and of course make your way to the auditorium.

Worship Resumes
At 10:00 am the song leader will begin singing a song as a call to worship.  At this time we would encourage all if they have not already found a seat to quietly make their way to their seat and join in the song being sung.    When the song is finished a welcome will be extended and any announcements, prayer list updates and events will be made.  After the announcements have concluded the song service will begin. 

Singing
An area of the worship service you will notice right away is singing praises to God. One of the members will lead the church in congregational singing at various times throughout the worship. You are welcome and encouraged to join us in singing praises to God, but don’t feel uncomfortable sitting quietly if these songs are new to you. Songbooks are available for everyone. The song numbers are announced before each song.

The singing is a cappella, or voices only, because we believe that the Bible tells us to sing praises. Consistent with our goal of using the Bible as our guide, and in following the example of early church, we do not add any instruments to the New Testament’s instructions.

Praying
Several times during the service today, one of the men of the congregation will lead a prayer. Generally, people bow their heads and close their eyes when a prayer is being offered during the worship. However, this is simply our tradition which is intended to show reverence to God. The important thing to us is focusing on what is being said. The members of the congregation will be praying silently along with the one who is leading their thoughts.

Communion
An important time during the worship service is the time we remember the sacrifice Jesus made for all of our sins. Churches of Christ observe communion (also called the Lord’s Supper) each Sunday. This is done because of what Jesus taught. He told his disciples to eat bread to remember his body which was sacrificed for our sins and raised from the dead. He also told the disciples to drink “the fruit of the vine” to remember the blood that he shed for our sins.

Unleavened bread and grape juice are used in the communion service because we believe this is most like what the first Christians used. The Lord’s Supper served today is for any Christian, whether or not you are a visitor.

Offering
We will be taking an offering from our members during the worship service. We do this each Sunday immediately following the communion; it is one of the parts of our worship.

The money contributed by the members is overseen by the elders and used for evangelism and benevolence both locally and around the world. As a guest, you are not expected to contribute to these works, but you are free to give if you so choose.  When the collection plate is passed to you, feel free to give any donation you might want to give or just pass it on to the next person

Preaching
Today and every Sunday you visit, you will hear a lesson based on the Bible. Nick Secula, who is our full-time minister, will speak to the congregation for about 30 minutes. At the end of his lesson, he will ask anyone who wants the prayers of the church or wishes to be baptized to come to the front. Sometimes people refer to this as “the invitation” or we might call it a "song of encouragement," but God’s invitation to obey him is always open.

To become a Christian a person must believe the good news they have heard about Jesus. They need to repent of their sins, which simply means to turn away from sinning. They need to confess their belief in Jesus and be baptized to have their sins washed away.

Some Related Scriptures You May Want To Read

Womens Ministry

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Published on Wednesday, 19 October 2011 19:17

Written by Administrator

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Welcome Newcomers

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Published on Monday, 17 October 2011 16:43

Written by Administrator

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It is understandable that many people are a bit anxious about visiting a new church.  Whether you are just beginning a journey to know God or are looking for a new church we want you to know that we welcome all visitors here at Three Forks church of Christ.  So let us take this moment to share a littl bit about who we are.

The Three Forks church of Christ is a group of Christians seeking and desiring to know and to live in the love of Jesus the Christ. We are a group of individuals and families here to encourage and to edify and here to express our thanksgiving and praise unto our God and Father.  We believe that God speaks through His word and that we find His word in the Holy Scriptures. We believe the scriptures are God breathed, that they are inspired and as Paul tells us they are “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Tim 3:16-17 (NKJV)

We believe God is the great creator of this universe, of matter, of life, we believe He created it all. We believe that not only did He create the great span we see as we stare into a clear night's sky, but that he made you and he made me. He made each of us unique and as a special object of His love. And we believe we see this love in the ultimate sacrifice of His Son on the Cross.

It is our belief in God and His Son Jesus our Christ that leads us to be involved in the work of kingdom.  Let me take a few moments to say a bit about our programs here at Three Forks. Often people think that a smaller rural congregation doesn't have much going on, nothing could be further from the truth here at Three Forks. Our programs are growing and being implemented to meet the needs of our members as we continue to grow in spirit and in number.

We have many young families and a new youth group called S.W.A.T. (Seeking Wisdom And Truth). The SWAT team is a year long group encouraging our young people in participation, creation of Christian friendship, development of leadership and growth in faith. We see our young people not only as the future of our church and our community but a vital part our present.

 In addition to the SWAT team itself, we have yearly activities that offer our youth and the youth of our surrounding community opportunities of spiritual growth. In June we have our yearly Vacation Bible School series. VBS is an outstanding time for our young people not only to learn but to get involved. Many participate in skits, in songs and of course classes. We bring every VBS to a close with a Saturday full of activities that ends with our annual water balloon fight. August brings our youth rally. It is hard to share in words what SHINE (Seeing His Image iN Everyone) is all about. You have to experience it. Last year we had 250 in attendance as we celebrated our biggest youth rally to date.  

Our youth participate in a week long summer bible camp at the Taylor Christian Camp. As with all our activities, camp offers the experiences of activities, classes, skits and more. It also offers our kids that opportunity to fellowship and befriend other Christian peers from surrounding congregations.

Our programs don't end with our young people.  We have an outstanding Women's group here at Three Forks. WOW (Women of Worth), our Ladies Group, meets monthly for lessons and fellowship.  WOW fosters the opportunity for our women to build strong and lasting relationships with one another as well as God.  

And of course we are always seeking to reach out into our community. We believe in the power of the gospel of Jesus not only to save people from their sins but to bring them to the important things of life such as purpose, fellowship with their God and friendship that is true.

We believe the Three Forks family is a place for you. Come visit with us we believe you will be glad you did!

In Christian Love,

Nick Secula

Minister