Sunday, May 3rd, Pastor Gary shared about the spiritual anatomy of a Christian in two sessions, one before worship service and one after. It was an exciting and informative time as the NorthStar family began to get acquainted with Pastor Gary and the unique way God has gifted him to share the message of salvation through Christ. A special thanks to Mountain Lakes Bible Church for letting us borrow some of your childcare workers for this event!
2nd Annual NorthStar Variety Show
It was an evening of excellence, excitement, entertainment, enlightenment, exceptionality, and so many more e-things. For the second year in a row the people of NorthStar gathered together to impress and inspire one another with their feats of talent. Acts were performed by young and old: singing, piano, guitar, trumpet--we had it all. There was even a special tribute to our new pastor. You can ask him if he appreciated it. Thank you to everyone who participated and attended this event. Its one of the things that makes NorthStar a great place to be!
A Great Weekend: Easter and Ministering to the Homeless
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easter Sunday
We had a wonderful celebration of Resurrection Sunday! By the best count we could come up with there were 111 people in attendance. Our nursery, preschool and children's classes were running at full steam. Even more important than the crowd or the numbers, we had a great time of worship. There is nothing better than God's people (sinners saved by grace) joining together in praising Jesus and proclaiming his goodness and strength. If you were one of our guests on Sunday, thank you for being with us. It was very encouraging to see each of you there. We hope you feel welcome to come back and be a part of what God is doing in our church and in this area.
Women's Ministry Ministers...to Women!
Some of the leaders of the women's ministry at NorthStar Church felt God calling them to serve some women in need. They decided to do something totally unexpected--a spa party for homeless women. This past weekend this unconventional ministry idea led to several women in our church going to Anna Ogden Hall to put on a complete spa party complete with footspas, gift bags and a chocolate fountain. We hope to have a complete, detailed description of this event soon along with some pictures.
NorthStar Gets New Pastor
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Special Announcement
NorthStar's Pastor Search Team along with the entire congregation of NorthStar Church is proud to announce the calling of Pastor Gary Brown to be the new lead pastor of NorthStar Church. Pastor Gary came on March 15 to preach in view of a call. The following Sunday our church members accepted the search team's reccomendation to call Gary and his wife Cindy to come be a part of what God is doing at NorthStar!
Below is a letter from Pastor Gary:
Greetings to Our New North Star Family and Our Friends in Northern Idaho!
My wife, Cindy, and I are ecstatic to be moving to Coeur d’Alene as the pastor of NorthStarChurch!We can’t wait to meet everyone in the church family and the community as a whole.Before we visited the area, we found pictures of CDA on the internet, and we had many phone and video conversations with the Pastor Search Team.So we knew coming in that the area was beautiful and the people were warm and friendly.
But nothing could prepare Cindy and me for the actual visit.When we stepped off the plane in Spokane we met the first of what would be dozens of gracious and kind people.When we drove into Idaho and eventually CDA, we were treated to one visual wonder after another.As helpful as the pictures, calls and video conferences were, these tools of technology proved to be only a shadow of the real thing!
It was with great pleasure and an overwhelming sense of God’s calling in our lives that Cindy and I accepted God’s and North Star’s call to come to North Idaho as Pastor.We have every confidence that Christ is pleased and will pour out His blessings on us all.We are thrilled to join the members of North Star and our sister churches as we reach Northern Idaho for Christ!
When you drop by for a Sunday morning visit it will not take you long to conclude that I am not from Idaho.Cindy and I are life-long Southerners from the Great state of Georgia.But do not be mistaken, I have participated in many ministry projects in the Inland Northwest over the years. It has been my prayer for years, for God to open a door for ministry somewhere in this area permanently.But honestly, I thought it would never happen…”O ye of little faith!”
Approximately two months ago I received my first contact from Doug Thompson, the Chair of the Pastor Search Team for North Star and my heart was smitten!I want to thank Doug, the Pastor Search Team, Tom Magee, Bennett Sanderson and the entire North Star family for your heart for God and your willingness to stay diligent in this spiritual journey that has led to this moment.
Cindy and I are looking forward to a long and fruitful ministry together.Ahead, there will times of trials and times of celebration!But in all things it is our prayer that together we will as one body, with one voice, one mind and one heart glorify God in all we say and do; may the people of North Idaho clearly see Christ living in and through us.May their hearts be stirred and may they turn to and receive His Life!
With a Heart Full of His Grace and Love,
Pastor Gary Brown
Galatians 2:20
PSMy first Sunday at North Star is April 26th.Come and worship with us; I would love to meet you!
The Snow is Melting
Monday, March 02, 2009
Snow Melt
We've had a week of rains and slightly warmer temperatures. Our mountain of snow at the end of our parking lot is slowly turning into a mountain of plowed up gravel. Our temporary mailbox (put in place because our regular mailbox has been unaccessable since December) now appears to be in the middle of our driveway. Before, it appeared to be at the very edge because of snow and ice. Unfortunately, the slight upturn in the weather seems to have caused a massive outbreak of colds and flu throughout our area. Sunday we were missing 15% or more of our regular attenders due to sickness.
Ordination
Those of us who remain healthy were there to witness the ordination of two new elder/overseers at NorthStar. Rich and Ron were nominated by the congregation, approved by the Pastoral Support Team and affirmed by the vote of consent of the congregation. Hey, we're just following the by-laws! In any case we strongly believe that God was in control of this selection process. And so yesterday we recognized God's calling in the lives of these two men and their families.
Ping Pong Tourney
Saturday night NorthStar had its first ever ping pong tournament. It was a well-played tournament with eight athletes participating. The winner was Rich, who came back after suffering a loss in the first round. In second was Sean who played valiantly but just couldn't bring himself to embarrass his father. In third place was Larent (forgive my spelling!), our new friend, who found out about the tournament by doing and internet search for "ping pong in Coeur d'Alene." Those who were out of the tournament early weren't phased by the defeat. They simply joined some spectators in a rousing game of Scrabble that tested the boundaries of the English language.
Thank you, to everyone who participated in this event. Start practicing now for the next tournament! Who knows when that will be.
Christmas Update 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
December is halfway over and the people of NorhStar have been as busy as elves. The Men's Ministry kicked off a monthly men's breakfast in November and already that has led to a lot of serving in the name of Christ. We were able to organize Thanksgiving meals for five different families. We also got together to provide firewood for a family who could really use it. This month we planned the Polar Plunge Warm-Up and put a plan in place to start visiting people in our church and our community. So far we've had about 12 men involved. Pray that God will use the Men of NorthStar to be leaders and examples to our families and our neighbors.
The Ladies gathered for a Christmas party where they made wreaths and had a sock exchange. A great time was had by all. Dec. 21 we will have our annual Carols, Candles, and Communion service on Sunday morning. Thanks for all of your prayers as we go into a new year. We are very excited about all that God is going to do through NorthStar in 2009!
Make sure to check out the new pictures we've posted of the baptism and picnic. Here's one to get you started.
Baptism at the Lake
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
This past Sunday NorthStar did not meet in the building that we rent. Instead we met at the edge of Lake Coeur d'Alene. It was a beautiful day, sunny with a high of 75 or so with a slight warm breeze. We met on a lawn maintained by North Idaho College that overlooks the lake right on the beach. Everyone brought food, and we grilled burgers. There were about 40 people there I guess, with their lawn chairs and picnic blankets. Rich and Tom led us in worship, and we sang to the God who created the beauty around us. I preached a short message from Luke 9 about the cost of discipleship and what it means to publicly proclaim Christ. Together we prayed that our church would be commited to publicly sharing the Gospel. Then we shared a meal.
After we ate together we gathered on the shore. We baptized three people in the chilly water; all three of them adult believers fulfilling obedience to Christ. They were publicly (very publicly!) proclaiming their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Our church was joining them in that proclaimation and commiting to hold them to their covenant with the Lord.
It was a wonderful day for our church. Please pray for more of the same.
Campout, Faithwalk, Missionary Connection
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Last Saturday we had the second annual BBQ and cookout at Brad and Josie's. What can we say about that except that the weather was great, the food was outstanding, and everyone had a great time. We potato sack races and a water balloon toss. We even got a visit from Molly the deer.
We have also been blessed to meet Carol Cruise and Wendy Miller. Carol is walking around the perimeter of the country praying over every mile of our borders. She and Wendy, her assistant, need a place to stay during their travel through our part of the country, so we've helped them out. You can find more about Carol's mission at Faithwalk.net.
This weekend the Sandersons and the Magees are going to the NorthWest Missionary Connection hosted by the North American Mission Board (NAMB). They will be traveling to Seattle Thursday through Saturday to learn about NAMB's newest strategies and connect with other ministers throughout the Northwest.
Thanks for all your prayers!
Backyard Bible Club
Monday, August 04, 2008
Backyard Bible Club
This summer a team from NorthStar put together our first ever off-site Backyard Bible Club. We had a great time working with the kids at Children's Village. We had songs, crafts, stories, games and crafts. The children were very appreciative. They didn't want us to leave, and we didn't want to leave them. If you are interested in volunteering with the kids at Children's Village or in helping with future BBC's please let us know.
Mid Summer
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
We are finally experiencing Summer. It is a great time to live in North Idaho! Its a great time to visit too. At least that's what people who are visiting are telling us. The New Wind Choir from Alabama thought our heat wave was somewhat of a relief from the humidity of the South. Make sure to read about their time here on our Ironman Impact page. There is even a link to videos and slideshows of the team working here.
As soon as we get our hands on them we will post some pictures of our church members. For now you can check out some pictures at Life in the Big Potato.
This week one of our youth is attending Centrifuge. We cannot wait to hear what God does in her life. And also pray for our upcoming Back Yard Bible Club in a couple of weeks.
Enclosure
This past Sunday NorthStar did not meet in the building that we rent. Instead we met at the edge of Lake Coeur d'Alene. It was a beautiful day, sunny with a high of 75 or so with a slight warm breeze. We met on a lawn maintained by North Idaho College that overlooks the lake right on the beach. Everyone brought food, and we grilled burgers. There were about 40 people there I guess, with their lawn chairs and picnic blankets. Rich and Tom led us in worship, and we sang to the God who created the beauty around us. I preached a short message from Luke 9 about the cost of discipleship and what it means to publicly proclaim Christ. Together we prayed that our church would be commited to publicly sharing the Gospel. Then we shared a meal.