November 17, 2023

In This Week's Update

• Sunday's Sermon and Song List
• New Adult Sunday School Class
• Special Fellowship Time November 26th
• Small Group Opportunities
• New Church App
• Hy-Vee Gift Cards
• Office and Gathering Grounds Hours Next Week
• Living Free Jail Ministry
• Wednesday Night Activities
• Festival Of Lights
• Men's Breakfast
• Great Plains Association of North American Baptist Churches Information
• Cowboy Christmas

This Sunday's Sermon and Song List

This week we have reached the passage in Philippians that made me want to preach the book in the first place. It has changed the way I pray and has been an anchor for my soul whenever things are hard and uncertain. The key verses are Philippians 4:4-7, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." There was something in this passage that completely upended the way I pray and has brought more peace into my life than I've ever experienced. Not the kind of peace that many fantasize about - the absence of trouble or affliction - but rather a peace from God that guards the heart no matter the circumstances. Join us Sunday to find out more!

To get yourself ready to sing on Sunday you can start listening to the songs we'll be singing together:

• Psalm 34 (Taste and See)
• Behold Our God
• Hallelujah, What a Savior
• What A Friend We Have In Jesus
• I Will Wait For You



We created a playlist on Youtube in case you want to start listening today. You can find that by clicking HERE.

New Adult Sunday School Class!

This Sunday we'll continue our Sunday School Class designed to walk us through the book of Exodus. If you don't like mirrors held up to the contents of your heart then Exodus can be an uncomfortable book. Ancient Israel continually forgot the goodness of God and longed to return to their chains in Egypt. And we can often be just like them. But, if you enjoy seeing the enduring faithfulness of God and His amazing grace on display then Exodus is a "can't miss" kind of story. As always, we'll make an extra effort to consider how Exodus points forward to Jesus Himself so that we don't forget the ultimate picture of God's faithfulness in the gospel! Join us Sunday morning at 9!

Special Fellowship Time - No Sunday School on November 26th

On November 26th we will have a break from Sunday School for the Thanksgiving Holiday and instead have an extended time of fellowship beginning at 9:30AM. Feel free to bring a treat to share - or, hey, even some leftovers you need to get rid of (just kidding...mostly). We will provide a few treats to share and coffee as usual but please feel free to add to the abundance. Happy Thanksgiving! 

Here are all the study/fellowship opportunities currently available through our church:



• Monday Evening Men's Group - 7:00PM at Discovery
• Wednesday Night Discovery Zone and Small Groups 5:45PM
• Women's Friday Afternoon Study at 1:00PM - Ephesians
• Saturday Morning Men's Group- Please contact the office for dates, times, and locations.

Questions? Contact the church office at (605) 689-2211.

Get Connected With Our New App

The new and free Church Center App allows our members and attenders to access a few handy features that will keep us all "in the loop".

Downloading the app on your smartphone allows you to access the church calendar of events and our directory. You can sign up for events or groups through the app as well.

While we encourage folks to save their giving for the worship service, as an act of worship, the app also has an electronic giving option in the event that you can't be in worship.

Church Center is provided by a service that is officially replacing Church Community Builder (CCB) so, it's important that you check your e-mail for an invitation to join Church Center so that you can view the directory and other features in the app. Your invitations were sent out in July. Be sure to check you spam or junk folder as the email came from Planning Center not the office. As always, reach out to the office if you have any questions. Thank you!

Did You Know You Can Give To The Church By Purchasing Hy-vee Gift Cards?

Discovery Church receives 5% back on all gift cards purchased from the church. You can purchase your $50 or $100 gift cards on Sundays from Jeff and Dawn Herron (Fellowship Hall) or weekdays from the office. There is no limit on how many you can purchase. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the church office. 

Office & Gathering Grounds Hours Next Week

The church office and Gathering Grounds will have limited hours next week due to the Thanksgiving Holiday. 

• The church office will be closed all week. Pastor Cory will be in periodically to check e-mail and voicemail. Church members and regular attenders can reach out to the office before next week if they do not yet have his cell phone number or personal email.
• Gathering Grounds will be open on Wednesday and Pastor Cory will be in his study for the bulk of that day as well. So he'll be available to answer the office phone on Wednesday as well.  

Living Free Jail Ministry

Every Thursday 2 volunteers from Discovery lead a group of incarcerated women through Stepping Into Freedom.

Each attendee receives a work book and a Bible.

Please be in prayer for our volunteers and the women they meet each week. May their hearts be open to receive the gospel.

If you would like to donate towards the cost of the workbooks or Bibles, you may put donations in with the offering, but please mark it as jail ministry. There are envelopes in the brown offering box located on the east wall by the sound booth if you are giving cash.

If you have any questions please contact Peg, Brenda, or the office.

Discovery Zone This Week and Upcoming Christmas Party!

There are no Wednesday Night Activities this week. See you Wednesday, November 29th for Discovery Zone!

On December 13th Discovery Zone will have our annual Christmas party and this year we are adding Presentations! That means, if your children want to present any of the memory verses that we've been working on (or if a few parents want to partner with other parents to help kids present memory verses) then there's a spot in the evening for them! If you or your kids want to present a special Christmas song, poem, art project or devotional thought, we will make room in the evening for you to share with the group. We will sing a Christmas song or two together as a group as well and enjoy fellowship as we enter the Christmas season.  

Festival Of Lights

The city of Yankton presents “A Frosty Evening” on Thursday November 30th. The parade begins at 6:00PM and runs right in front of Discovery. We would love to be open to serve hot chocolate and coffee to the community. We are in need of volunteers to make and serve the hot chocolate. The sign up sheet is available at the Welcome Desk. If you have any questions contact the office.

Men's Breakfast

All men of Discovery are invited to attend the men’s breakfast on Saturday, December 2nd at 8:00AM. They will enjoy fellowship, God’s word, and of course a hearty breakfast.

Discovery Church Welcomed Into the Great Plains Association of North American Baptist Churches

Last Friday I had the pleasure of travelling to the annual meeting of the Great Plains Association of NAB churches. The goal was to introduce Discovery Church to the GPA and answer any questions about our desire to enter partnership with them. The following day they voted unanimously to welcome Discovery Church into the association. It was a joy to see the churches and pastors gathered, reporting on the work of God in our region. I was struck at one point during the meeting by the fact that one pastor who was reporting on God's work in Iowa was a graduate of the TPA! Other times I was blessed to look around the room and see Pastors Andy Wright and Ryan Franchuk and just rejoice that pastors like them are replicating themselves and growing the Lord's kingdom in their corner of the world. Then, of course, I met pastors who are seeing growth in small places like Wessington Springs and Emery and Avon. Of course there are challenges everywhere but that's reality under the sun - we wage war against the spiritual forces of darkness and are taking the gospel to dark places. 

Do you still have questions about partnering with the GPA? You should let us know if those questions cause you concern. We don't mind hearing them and doing all we can to sharpen our ministry together. 

One question that came across my path after the vote passed was about our "non-denominational" status. Does this partnership mean that we are no longer "non-denominational?" For some, our non-denominational status is a real plus - one of the main reasons some have chosen our church. Here was my basic answer: 

In a sense, yes, we are still non-denominational because the NAB does not consider itself a denomination. Denomination tends to imply that there is a level of control over the local church that exists outside the local church. But Baptists, by definition, believe in the autonomy and authority of the local church. However, at the same time, our partnership or association with Baptist churches makes it clear where we stand theologically on the gospel and on the Lord's commands regarding baptism. So, in short, in this partnership we retain our autonomy and authority as a local church, but we've added two things: (1) a greater degree of honesty and publicity about our theological convictions and (2) an association/partnership with other churches that provides us access to multiple opportunities for ministry partnership and significant pastoral support. 

We look forward to bringing Discovery's strong theological and ministry convictions into the GPA and to finding opportunities to grow the Lord's kingdom in partnership with other gospel-centered churches in the region. Let's pray for the Lord to keep our eyes open for the work He wants us doing together!

Elder Meeting Minutes

To read the minutes from our most recent elder meeting, please click HERE.