NTTD Community Newsletter
September
INSIDE THIS EDITION
Past Newsletters:​
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Next NTTD Weekends:
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Weekend #75 - Men
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April 11-14, 2024
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Weekend #75 - Women​
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April 18-21, 2024
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There are moments we feel worn down by the unrelenting beat of life, we need to set boundaries to create a sacred space away from the heat and pressures of life and sit under the covering of God. He is our relief, like a cloud that gives us shade from the fierce sun. By making space to pause, we can shift our focus away from our everyday struggles and striving and experience the peace of God. Take the opportunity to retreat for an evening.
Your opportunity is coming! Secuela “Under the Sky” on Saturday, September 23, 5-8 p.m., the Pavilion at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve in Plano. Come early, walk a peaceful trail, and be reminded there is no one greater than our Stronghold, our Shelter, our Shade. View information about Arbor Hills here.
Invite someone you haven’t seen at a Secuela in a while to come with you. We promise you encouragement, laughter, inspiring worship, great food, reminders in each face, that you are not alone as you walk out your faith.
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More information is coming from your Fourth Day Committee. De Colores!
September Secuela
Saturday, September 23rd
5:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Arbor Hills Nature Preserve
6701 West Parker Road, Plano, TX 75093
Thursday, September 21, 2023, we are participating once again in NTX Giving Day, an online giving extravaganza! With NTX Giving Day, we’re able to reach more people, engage their passion for our mission, and make an even greater impact.
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During the entire month of September prior to NTX Giving Day, you can make your gift early through Early Giving! The platform makes it simple and easy to give! Between now and September 20, you can give your gift online! Just click below!
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After you make your gift, encourage your friends, family, and colleagues to be a Giving Hero like you! Tag #NorthTexasTresDias and use the #NTxGivingDay hashtag to join the excitement online!
We’re grateful for your continued support of North Texas Tres Dias and we can’t think of a better way to amplify that support than by supporting us on NTX Giving Day as a matching fund donor!
Matching funds are a great way to inspire people to give and to help us reach our goal on NTX Giving Day. By matching gifts, you demonstrate your commitment to our mission and cause.
For more information about matching funds,
contact Rob Burner, treasurer@nttd.org.
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Of course, you can contribute to North Texas Tres Dias anytime throughout the year by donating a tax-deductible recurring payment or periodic payment below.
Dates: 9/7/2023 - 9/10/2023
Rector: Melanie DesPlas
Theme: “God Sees You” “Draw Near”
Colors: Sage Green, Beige, Rust, Turquoise
Verses: Psalms 33:18 - "But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love" & Hebrews 10:22 - "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water."
Song: “Draw Me Nearer” Caedmon’s Call.
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My desire is to remind everyone, including myself, that “you are worthy of his love and his love is sufficient for all!” The Lord placed this on my heart many years ago and it is something that should permeate our daily walk.
Psalm 139 tells us in summary: The LORD created all the delicate, inner most parts of you. He knows your every thought and emotion before you were ever created. He watches you, smiles at you, and He knows your heart. His thoughts of you are precious to Him, for they cannot be numbered!
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Like an Edelweiss flower growing in high altitude, rocky limestone, we can feel at times like we’re stuck in a dry and barren place, surrounded by harsh, rocky conditions. But God has climbed great heights for His bride; HE SEES YOU as WORTHY and HE desires for you to passionately DRAW NEAR to Him because You belong to Him!
Psalm 33:18 along with Hebrews 10:22 say: “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,” (So), “let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. ~Melanie
Women's Weekend #74
ESSENTIALS TRAINING
Are you interested in serving on an upcoming weekend?
If so, join us for one of the upcoming Essentials Training classes.
You must take an Essentials class prior to serving on a weekend.
The Leaders Committee is offering a training before the Secuela.
Saturday, September 23rd
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm
​Arbor Hills Nature Preserve
6701 West Parker Rd., Plano, TX 75093
Call Claudia Kelley at (214) 762-6769 for more information.
Meet Kurt Sadowski
My name is Kurt Sadowski, I attended North Texas Tres Dias #51, on July 12, 2012. My family and I attend The Bridge Community Fellowship Church where I serve as the Community and Missions Outreach leader.
My Tres Dias weekend changed my life. I was pursuing a relationship with Jesus, but I did not have that until Saturday of my weekend. It was then, I decided that I wanted to be involved in this wonderful community, in any way that I could.
Since then, I have continued to serve North Texas weekends whenever I am able. I stayed involved with the DFW Vida Nueva community; where my son, Johnny, and I had the honor of being Rector and Youth Rector on DFW VN #6. Also, our kids, Harrison, Stosh, and Ensley have all attended their own VN, (Camino de Christo) weekends.
Over the last seven years, I have also served on Kairos Prison Ministry weekends, and had the privilege of leading a team into the Telford Maximum Security Prison in New Boston, Texas.
My wife, Grace, and I served as the NTTD pre-weekend couple for about three years. We also had the opportunity to represent NTTD at the Tres Dias International Secretariat Annual Meeting in Cleveland, OH in 2018.
I love playing Ice Hockey on a team with two of my boys, Johnny and Stosh. And whenever I can I love downhill mountain biking trips at Spider Mountain in Burnet, Texas.
My Tres Dias weekend meant a great deal to me and still does. I have gained so many close relationships over the last eleven years through the North Texas community. I am looking forward to many more years of service and the journey that God will take us all on as a community.
~ Kurt Sadowski
At Large Place 6
"MY FIT" ON NTTD CONNECT
What are your talents and skills?
Hopefully you have logged on to our new community portal called NTTD Connect! Now that you are ready to connect, it's time to update your profile.
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NTTD has a new helpful feature called "My Fit." Here you can update your profile with your skills and talents. As Rectors prepare to build their team, it is so important that they know how pescadors can be placed where their skills are best utilized. Please take a moment to log in to NTTD Connect and update your "My Fit" skills.
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Here is how to update "MY FIT"
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Log into your account at nttd.ccbchurch.com.
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You will need to request an account if you have never logged in.
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Select the circle in the upper right hand corner, then select "Profile."​​
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Here is where you can update your contact information.​
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Choose the "Action" drop down menu in the blue box next to "Edit Profile."​
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Here is were you will select the "My Fit" option.
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This will open up your "My Personal Fit Profile."
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Check the boxes that "fit" you, making sure to select each tab at the top.
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Spiritual Gifts​
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Passions
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Abilities (Most important to fill out!)
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Personality Style
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Select "Save" and you are good to go!​
PRESIDENT'S POINTS
Do you ever boast in your weaknesses? I know if I am ever boasting, it's usually about something I think I am good at, or a awesome thing I just did! In 2 Cor. 11, Paul talks about his pedigree and the great suffering he has been through compared with others. He suffered way more, was always on the move, and had the pressure of being "daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches."
Then in chapter 12 he goes on to visions and revelations, then mentions the "thorn in the flesh" and his requests to have it removed. We all know the next part. The Lord said to him, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." (v. 9) He then goes on to say, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Do we not participate in Christ's power in our lives because we don't boast and delight in our weakness - andinsults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties?!
The strength - that God provides in our weaknesses - is so much greater than any strength that we have within our own means. So, we should not hide or avoid our weaknesses, but embrace them, humbly allowing God to strengthen you in ways you could never have imagined.
I pray we are a humble Community boasting in the Lord, and strengthened by Him alone!
De Colores!
Dak