NLC Connect - Feb. 11, 2026

Otto and Marjorie helped us meet the Gutierrez family, missionaries to Portugal. We’re thrilled to begin supporting their family and their work!
Super Ice Cream Bowl Sunday was a sweet success for NLC Kids!
Jaxon stepped into the story, acting out the grateful leper who came back to thank Jesus.
Our NLC Youth had fun shaping clay versions of themselves—creativity at its finest!

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11:
6:30 p.m. - Prayer Group - Room 113

THURSDAY, FEB. 12:  
6:00 p.m. - CELEBRATE RECOVERY small groups - Education Center

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 15:
8:30 a.m. - Salt & Light Class - Room 114/115 (last session in current series)
9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT - Dining Room
10:00 a.m. - WORSHIP/NLC KIDS/NURSERY

• Guest speaker Tim Geddert

5:00 p.m. - Youth Group - Room 207
6:30 p.m. - GriefShare Support Group - Room 114/115

MONDAY, FEB. 16:  Presidents' Day Holiday (office closed)

TUESDAY, FEB. 17:  
6:00 a.m. - Men's Bible Study - Dining Room
6:30 p.m. - Healing Room Prayer Ministry - Library

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 18:
6:30 p.m. - Prayer Group - Room 113

THURSDAY, FEB. 19:  
6:00 p.m. - CELEBRATE RECOVERY small groups - Education Center

FRIDAY, FEB. 20:
6:00 p.m. - Youth For Christ Annual Report Banquet - Family Center Gym

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 22:
8:30 a.m. - Salt & Light Class - Room 114/115 (new series begins on book of 2 Peter)
9:30 a.m. - CONNECTING POINT

• Come meet and encourage others over coffee and snacks - Dining Room

10:00 a.m. - WORSHIP/NLC KIDS/NURSERY
11:15 a.m. - Family Meal - Dining Room
5:00 p.m. - Youth Group - Room 207

TUESDAY, FEB. 24:  
6:00 a.m. - Men's Bible Study - Dining Room
9:00 a.m. - LIFT Women's Bible Study - Room 114/115
4:30-6:30 p.m. - Annual Soup Supper fundraiser at Palm Village in Reedley - Enjoy great food with the people who live and work at Palm Village!

NLC Kids Winter Jam

Interested in attending a Digital Marketing workshop on Feb. 18 for your business?  It will be held at Living Word Fellowship in Dinuba, co-sponsored by the Center For Community Transformation at Fresno Pacific University.  No tech expertise required--just bring your enthusiasm!  Click here for details:  https://files.snappages.site/N8DCKB/assets/files/20260211081401568.pdf

Offerings Received last week (2/8): ……...... $3,031
Offerings Received this year to date: .…. $173,248
Budget to date: ……………….........…..…...….. $185,593
Needed weekly to meet budget: …….…….. $8,495

“Souperbowl” Offering for Open Gate:  $501

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Matthew 5:9

There is something sacred about a circle. No one is at the head. No one is elevated. No one is hidden in the back. Just people — eye to eye. In my current school setting, when conflict breaks out, we don’t hand students a microphone and tell them to defend themselves. We don’t let the loudest voice win. We don’t shame. We don’t cancel. We pull chairs into a circle.
For those unfamiliar, a restorative circle is a structured conversation where participants sit in a circle and take turns speaking one at a time — often holding a talking piece. The guidelines are simple but powerful: listen without interrupting, speak honestly from your own experience, and treat one another with dignity. The goal isn’t to win an argument. It’s to build understanding, repair harm, and restore relationship. We teach students to listen. We ask them to speak from their own experience. We slow everything down. Sometimes it’s messy. Sometimes there are tears. Sometimes it takes time.
But something holy happens in that space.
Repair.
Ownership.
Understanding.
And often — reconciliation.
Recently, I facilitated a circle with 7th graders about the roots of violence. We talked honestly about what fuels it — anger, isolation, humiliation, fear, feeling unheard. At the end, I asked them, “Knowing what causes violence, what actions can we take?” There was a pause.
One student quietly said: “Maybe… maybe if everyone had a place like this. A place where they could talk and no one's judging them… they would stop crashing out. Because they have someone to listen to them.” Seventh graders. They already understand something many adults forget: Violence often grows where listening is absent. Explosions happen where people feel unseen. That student wasn’t asking for control.
He wasn’t asking for louder arguments. He was asking for a circle.
Meanwhile, our culture often chooses something different.
We choose comment sections over circles. Speed over reflection.
Reaction over relationship. But what if the Church modeled something else?
What if instead of reacting publicly, we leaned in relationally? What if instead of labeling people, we asked curious questions? What if instead of trying to win,
we worked to understand?
In a circle, we don’t ask, “Who is right?”
We ask, “What happened?”
“How were you impacted?”
“What do you need now?”
“How can we repair harm?”
Peacemaking isn’t passive. It is courageous. It requires humility. It requires restraint. It requires believing that restoration is possible. Maybe our divided world doesn’t need louder opinions. Maybe it needs more spaces where people can sit with no judgment.
Maybe it needs more circles.

Blessed are the peacemakers.