Dear friends,

Due to the evacuations and impacts associated with Hurricane Dorian, the New Life Church worship service scheduled for September 8th is cancelled. 

The Brunswick Center at Calabash is closed for the remainder of this week and their officials have encouraged us to cancel our services given the uncertainties of how this facility will weather this storm. We concur, especially given the hurricane strength, timing, & duration projected. Our church office will be closed for the remainder of the week, but you may reach administrative assistant Pat Stark or pastor Terry Maner (click on the name to email) as long as power is available.

We urge you to respect this storm and take appropriate measures to ensure your safety. For more information regarding evacuation orders & routes, shelters, and transportation for those in need, go to http://www.brunswickcountync.gov/brunswick-county-issues-evacuations-shelters-to-open-inland/ for the Brunswick County Evacuations & Shelters Press Release (September 10th). If you need additional help in finding the assistance that you need, please contact Pat or me (Terry) and we will assist you as best as we can.

Storms are a reminder of creation’s groaning for the return of Jesus Christ, who “comes to make his blessings flow far as the curse is found,” for the time when “heaven and nature [will] sing.” Romans 8 is a great passage for reflection during storms, as it speaks to both the reality of creation’s groaning and the security of God’s love, from which nothing can separate us. After you have, Lord willing, found shelter from the storm, allow your confinement to be an opportunity for quiet time with the Lord. When the prophet Jonah found himself in the belly of a great fish, he prayed. May God meet us in our places of shelter and confinement that we might be drawn to find our refuge only in Him and the love that He has given to us through His Son.

Blessings,

Terry Maner

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge;

in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

Psalm 57:1