Greetings fellow Risen, After much thought, deliberating, and prayer, we have decided to cancel service for tomorrow morning. We know this is an inconvenience to all who love Arise Community Church and wanted to worship with us tomorrow, but there were too many complications going against us. One is that our pastor is without heat in his home and has yet to see a plow even cross his home street once. Another is that the Polish Hall is still under a pile of snow with no sunlight or time to make things right. The clincher was the “State of Emergency” that Councilman Daniel Panico declared at 3pm, stating no cars should be on the road at this time.

It grieves us to have to close our doors for the first time since we have opened our church. We hope that you will still worship Christ at home, online, or at another accessible church (as long as it is safe to drive).

There are a few opportunities we have here that we urge you to take part in:

First, our online site will be up to date and will even feature a special message by our pastor via audio that will be posted tomorrow (www.ariselongisland.com). We will be resuming our fifth and final week of “Heroes – Finding Christ and the Christian Life in Superhero Stories” next week (2/17). You can even go back and check out the previous 4 messages in the "Heroes" series to get caught up (www.ariselongisland.com/messages).

Second, please take time to pray for the leaders of Arise Community Church as we take this week off seriously, and do not slack one bit in praying for you and the community.

Third, do not forget that we have an online giving capability for tithes and offerings. If you do not want to wait until next week, you can give right on the website (www.ariselongisland.com/give).

Fourth, feel free to attend our “mother” church, True North Community Church. They hit the ball hard consistently, and they even have a live stream service at night called, “Elevate” if you are still snowed in (www.truenorthchurch.net).

Finally, be blessed this week. We would like to tell you to be safe, but in all honesty, our God is not safe. So instead, don’t be stupid. And don’t be a jerk.

God bless you all,

The Staff at Arise Community Church

We hope you can make it!

May:

5/27 - "Pass the Pie" - Pastor Jake Dodge

June:

6/3 - "What is Faith?" - Kim Winckler

6/10 - "You Asked For It, Part 1"

6/17 - "You Asked For It, Part 2"

6/24 - "You Asked For It, Part 3"

July:

7/1: TBA

7/8 - "Love & Marriage, Part 1: Love"

7/15 - "Love & Marriage, Part 2: Marriage"

7/22 - "Church Goes To Hollywood, Part 1"

7/29 - "Church Goes To Hollywood, Part 2"

August:

8/5 - "Church Goes To Hollywood, Part 3"

8/12 - "Church Goes To Hollywood, Part 4"

8/19 - "Church Goes To Hollywood, Part 5"

8/26 - TBA

This is our first summer as a church, so we are PUMPED for what is yet to come! Praise Christ for what He has done thus far!

And a note on our annual summer baptism:

Recently it has been announced that people will be charged to park at all Brookhaven beaches this summer. We are currently looking into what day our summer baptism will be, and now where it will be. We are going to try and work something out so we can remain at Cedar Beach, but we may have to explore other options. Thank you for your patience on this issue.

We are doing something special for all the mothers in the church that day! We are also starting a 2-part series called, "The Mother of God" - a look at Mary and her role in bearing, raising, and living for Christ.

This is a list of the 3 groups we have this round:

Sub-30 Women's Group:
This is a group (for women only) targeted at the age group of 18-30. If you are older than 30 or younger than 18, you may still attend, but it is geared toward this age group. Led by Kim Winckler.
Friday Nights, 8pm (EDIT), starting on April 20th at Kim's House
20 Terry St
Apt 105
Patchogue, NY 11772

Adult Group:
This is a group designed for those who have been through church before and have "heard it all". It is geared toward making connections with people who consider themselves mature in faith, but still need friendship and accountability. Led by Dan (Sr.) and Maureen O'Leary.
Thursday Nights, 7:30pm, starting on April 19th at The O'Leary's in Selden
20 Seneca Pl
Selden, NY 11784

New Believer's Group:
This group is created for those who are new to Christianity, want to cover the basics of the faith, or perhaps are not even Christian, but very curious as to what Christians believe. This group is for the people who get confused in church easily and would consider themselves new to the spiritual journey in Christ. Led by Pastor Dan and Daneal O'Leary.
Sunday Nights, 7:30pm, starting THIS SUNDAY on April 15th at the O'Leary's in Stony Brook
173 Christian Ave (House B, the one on the left)
Stony Brook, NY 11790

The New Believer's group and the Sub-30 Men's Group has been combined for this first round of Community Groups. As time passes and we do more 4-week intervals, (hopefully 3-4 a year), we will add more groups. There have been some requests for groups, and if you have any, let me know (among the requests were a Mother's Group, a Divorced Group, and a Missions Group).

Location may be a reason you choose a group. That is OK too. If you are interested in ANY of these groups, contact the church: info@ariselongisland.com

We are working them on a 4-week format per round (a round is just a set of 4 weeks that we will meet). On the 5th week, we will all come together and celebrate (date/time/place TBA). As time and experience allows, we will have more groups to add and have more rounds per year. This is our first round. Our second round is scheduled in the summer.

Speaking of the summer, our 2nd Annual Church-wide Baptism is coming up! We will be leaving a sign-up at the info table every week. If you long to be baptized before then, or for some reason cannot make the date we choose, we DEFINITELY will find a day to get you baptized. We just like to do it all together, but we realize that it cannot work out that way for everybody.

God bless!

April 8, 2012, 10:15am, free cafe @ 9:45am and after the service.

Port Jeff Polish Hall

35 Jayne Blvd

Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776

Easter Egg Hunt for the kids following the service!

Live Brave.

Set your clocks forward tonight by 1 hour and set your alarms tonight! Church is still on time, but it will feel like 9:15am since we lose an hour. 10:15am service starts. See you there!

Most churches have "membership". While we believe that is a good and normal idea, there are certain implications when one is a member. When somebody is a member, they have rights. When somebody is an owner, they have responsibilities. When somebody is a member, they take advantage of the perks. When somebody is an owner, they take pride in their work.

At Arise Community Church, we want you to "own" a piece of being a part of this church. Because YOU are the church! 

So right after church, Pastor Dan and Pastor Jake will be teaching a quick class on what Ownership at Arise Community Church entails. There will also be time for Q&A after. THERE WILL BE FOOD!

2/5/2012, 12pm, Port Jeff Polish Hall, right after church on Sunday! We would be honored to see you there!

Event Page -  CLICK HERE

ariselongisland.com/give

We will be having a Christmas Eve Service starting promptly at 5pm and ending at 6pm. It will be low-key, but a chance to hang out and enjoy some community before heading to our Christmas Eve parties and families' houses. Info here: Christmas Eve Service 

We will be holding NO CHRISTMAS DAY SERVICES. We are closed for Christmas Day.

We WILL BE having service on New Year's Day the following week with special hours, 11:15am start, to give you an hour to recoup from staying up late the night before. Also, we have a special guest speaker, Wil "The Thrill" Stelzer. YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS! Info here: New Year's Day Service 

We are also collecting toys this year. Simple instuctions: purchase a toy, wrap it, lable it for age and whether it is for a boy or girl, bring it with you to church by Dec. 18th. IT IS THAT SIMPLE! The gifts will be going to kids with families who cannot afford anything for their children this year.

Thanks so much! May the Lord bless you this Christmas season!