Operation Christmas Child
Our Lindbergh children as well as our EKids will be packing boxes. They could use donations of school supplies to include in their boxes. September shopping suggestions are games and puzzles.
Ages of children range from two to fourteen years. Please leave your donations in the foyer. Boxes will be collected the second week of November.
What is Operation Christmas Child?
Operation Christmas Child is a project of Samaritan’s Purse that collects shoe box gifts filled with all kinds of items like school supplies, hygiene items and toys and delivers them to children in need around the world.
Eastwood Tulsa has participated in Operation Christmas Child for years and is part of our vision of being a multi-generational, multi-ethnic church, that is a place to Believe, Belong and Be Loved.
As part of its “all church” mission outreach projects, this year’s goal is 150 boxes.
How to Pack a Shoebox
Here’s all you need to do:
- Find an average size empty shoebox. If you want to wrap it, cover the box and lid separately OR pick up a shoebox in the foyer (the plastic boxes are each).
- Decide whether you will pack a box for a girl or a boy, and the age category: 2–4, 5–9, or 10–14.
- Select a medium to large “wow” item such as a deflatedsoccer ball with pump or stuffed animal, then fill with other fun toys, hygiene items, and school supplies.
More gift ideas can be found here.
Please DO NOT include these items:
Candy; toothpaste; gum; used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives, or military figures; chocolate or food; seeds; fruit rolls or other fruit snacks; drink mixes (powdered or liquid); liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers; aerosol cans.
- Most importantly, pray for the child who will receive your gift. You can also include a personal note and photo.
- Donate $9 in cash or check payable to “Samaritan’s Purse” to help defray shipping costs.
- Return your filled box to Eastwood Tulsa by November 4th.
Thank you for providing a Christmas gift for children in need. For many of these children, this is the first gift they’ve ever received in their lives. This is a great opportunity to share God’s love with kids all around the world and to make a positive impact in their lives.
pharmacy
Anybody can participate whether you’re a little kid, college student, parent, grandparent or great-grandparent.
Unlocking the Mysteries of Genesis
By Betty K. Fisher
Defending Genesis
Several years ago, God impressed I Peter 3:15 on me. “Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you for a reason of the hope that is within you with meekness and fear.” Then later, Psalm 11:3 “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” And then in Isaiah 58:12 “. . . raise up the foundations, . . . Be a repairer of the breach!”
The study of Genesis is the foundation of all we claim to believe Biblically, including creation, the deity of Jesus Christ, the Gospel and the Second Coming of Jesus (among other salient doctrines). Thus, the defense of the Genesis record has become my way of living by I Peter 3:15. God told us “earthly things” in Genesis—things we can check out (John 3:12). But if we don’t believe those “earthly things,” how will anyone believe the promise of His soon return–what we can’t check out? If they don’t believe Moses writings, they won’t believe Jesus either (John 5:46- 47).
Christian Apologetics
Education has tried to destroy the “foundations” of our faith given in Genesis. We’ve been sold a false doctrine in which there is no room for the authority of the Creator God or manifestation in the flesh, Jesus Christ our Savior. Evolution cannot be, and has not been, proven. It is based on mountains of speculative assumptions for so long that people have accepted it as truth, principally because of its secular scientific credibility. Those who promote evolution as scientific truth have been deceived just as Eve was deceived. Those who push such false lies know that to acknowledge belief in a God makes us responsible toward Him as Creator. “No Creator – No guilt” (Romans 1:28).
Evolution deceived man into thinking he can decide what’s right or wrong. NO absolutes! True scientific “knowledge” supports divine creation that is dependent on a supreme intelligence. Life on earth depends on the sustaining power of Jesus (John 5:17, Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:17). He is upholding all things by the power of His Word. Science has no explanation of how atoms hold together or how the universe functions like a well-oiled machine. Apostle Paul said it right, people believed a lie and became as fools (Romans 1:22).
Many people have said to me, “I just believe whatever the Bible says, that’s good enough for me.” But that is not a ‘defense’ (I Peter 3:15). Yet those same people can’t give an answer for what or why they claim to believe a certain way, and this is because there is such a drought among professing believers concerning what they believe and why they believe it! I certainly don’t know all the answers but it is such a thrill to know the foundation of my faith is secure.
Small Groups Help Answer Difficult Questions
In our small group, we will study “A Primer on Biblical Worldview” by Michelle Holland and Dr. G. Thomas Sharp and view videos from the “Unlocking the Mysteries of Genesis” series by the Institute for Creation Research.
Unlocking the Mysteries of Genesis Trailer from Institute for Creation Research on Vimeo.
Join us as we discuss questions and answers to many issues not usually dealt with in Sunday School. The excitement of learning new information about our Creator and His plan will help anyone more effectively defend what he claims to believe. Books available at my class are $3.00.
A Primer on Biblical Worldview is a book outlining the elementary principles that are needed to have a proper understanding of science and the first 12 chapters of Genesis. This primer endeavors to help you evaluate your worldview and adjust it to align fully with the Bible so that you interpret your world through the lenses of Scripture.
How to Join our Small Group
I am leading two small groups with this study. We meet on Sundays @ 5:30 pm or Wednesdays @ 1:00 pm. Register at https://eastwoodtulsa.org/small-groups or contact the church office at 918-836-8686 for more information.
The Value of Community Groups
Remembering September 11th
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Remembering September 11th, 2001
What were you doing Tuesday, September 11th, 2001? If you were like everyone else on the planet, you were watching the terror unfold in New York City as evil sought to steal, kill, and destroy. Terrorists sought to steal our freedom, hope, security, and faith by killing as many innocent Americans as possible when they attacked and ultimately destroyed the World Trade Center.
I remember that awful day. My husband and I had just moved to Oklahoma City where he had started a new job. I was still unpacking boxes that morning when he called and told me to turn on the tv. I saw images of the North Tower of the World Trade Center engulfed in flames. Some thought a small plane had crashed into the building, others thought there had been some kind of explosion. Minutes later live cameras captured a passenger plane deliberately flying into the South tower of the World Trade Center. There was no mistaking that America was under attack!!
I watched in horror as thousands of Americans who showed up for work that day desperately sought to escape the towering inferno. Then, just as suddenly, reports came that the Pentagon was also under attack. Another passenger plane that had been hijacked crashed into the U.S. Department of Defense building killing 53 passengers, six crew, and 125 military and civilian personnel.
At 9:59 am the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed killing 800 civilians and first responders in the building and surrounding area. The urgency to rescue those remaining in the North Tower was paramount. Hope was running out.
Barely having time to grasp the devastation of the events in New York and D.C., reports of yet another hijacked passenger plane had crashed into an empty field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It was reported that passengers on board American Airlines flight 93 had called family members to inform them their plane had been hijacked and were told of the events unfolding in NYC and Washington, D.C. These brave souls on board this fated flight decided to force their way into the cockpit and take back the plane. Together they fought the four muscle hijackers and are suspected to have attacked the cockpit with a fire extinguisher. The hijackers then pointed the nose to the earth going upwards of 500 miles an hour. All 44 people on board were killed.
There were still 1,600 people in the North Tower at 10:28 am when the tower collapsed. I sat there all day glued to the tv watching the unthinkable loss of life, families changed forever. The world joined us in our mourning.
With all U.S. airspace shut down and all civilian planes grounded, it appeared the attack was over. The search for survivors would continue through the afternoon of September 12th.
The President Addresses the Nation
At 8:30 pm, President George W. Bush addressed the Nation from the White House, “Today our nation saw evil – the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the very best of America – with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring of strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any small way they could.” He concluded his remarks with these unforgettable words:
“Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23: ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me.’ This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day. Yet, we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world. Thank you. Good night, and God bless America.”
Timeline
8:46 am AA Flight 11 North Tower Floors 93-99, 76 passengers & 11 crew, hundreds inside the building killed instantly.
9:03 am United Airlines 175 South Tower Floors 77-85, 51 passengers & nine crew, untold hundreds.
9:37 am Pentagon AA 77, 53 passengers & six crew, 125 military and civilian personnel killed.
9:58 am 9-1-1 call from Flight 93
9:59 am Collapse of the South Tower – 800 civilians and first responders in the building and surrounding area killed
10:03 am Crash of flight 93 in an empty field near Shanskville, PA, 33 passengers & 7 crew killed
10:15 am Collapse of the Pentagon E Ring
10:28 am Collapse of the North Tower – 1,600 people killed
12:30 pm Group of 14 Survivors Located in Ruins of North Tower’s Stairwell B
5:20 pm Collapse of 7 World Trade Center, 47 tower had burned for hours and had been evacuated earlier. There were no casualties.
8:30 pm President George W. Bush Addresses the Nation from the White House
10:30 pm Rescue workers locate trapped PAPD Officers
Never Forget September 11th, 2001
We will never forget. We honor their memory, their sacrifice. Only 18 were rescued from the rubble of the World Trade Center. Do you remember the day when you were rescued? The moment you came to saving faith in Jesus Christ? You see, this life is full of evil that seeks to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10) but GOD came to give life everlasting (John 3:16).
I remember the day I was rescued from sin and death. I was 13 years old when I realized I was separated from God because of my sin (simply put, sin is anything you say, do or think that breaks God’s laws). Through faith, I confessed my sin before a Holy God and asked for forgiveness through the sacrifice of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
If you have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ, please view our Gospel page or feel free to contact us with any questions or prayer requests you may have.
We would love to hear your story of 9/11 and the moment you were rescued by God’s love and forgiveness. Leave us a comment below.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]