The Herald. Janet. January 2018

Transcription

1 The Herald January 2018 St. Paul s United Methodist Church 2131 Palomino Drive Warrington, PA stpaulsumcwarrington.org Janet L. Saddel, Pastor Nancy Mongelli, Office Admin. Doug Tester, Organist/Choir Director Ray Washam, Handbell Choir Director Happy New Year! Everyone loves a new start, a reboot, a new beginning. We love to celebrate the coming of a new year with all its hopes and possibilities. We make resolutions that this year will be different from all the ones that have gone before us. I don t know about you, but I often find myself losing those resolutions some time into the New Year. What happens to us that we can t keep those resolutions? The short answer is that we are human. The longer answer is that we are subject to the fall and we are not all that we were created to be. This is why Jesus came, to offer us hope for a brighter and perfect new that is yet to come. At the close of 2017, I was reflecting on all my loved ones whom I have lost since moving to Warrington. Most of you know that I had to put my little Dudley dog to sleep just one week before Christmas. There s nothing like saying good-bye to a beloved and loyal friend to cause one to be introspective. I found myself wondering what our new life will be like. Whenever I think of our future, my thoughts go to the promises found in scripture. In Revelation 21 we are told by John, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. I was recently reminded that one of my seminary professors, the late Dr. Robert Mulholland wrote that the Greek word translated new here is kainós, which implies renewed, not brand new [as in something that never existed before], rather it is a change in quality or essence. Strong Greek Lexicon defines kainós as, new, superior to what it succeeds or not found exactly like before, and fresh, unworn. Sounds wonderful, doesn t it? We have a promise of something wonderful to come. God promises to make this world and all of us new to remake and renew us into what was intended from the start. But the promise of a new life doesn t have to wait until we reach heaven or wait until Christ returns. We have that promise of a new life today each and every day! We read in Ezekiel 36:26, A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And in 2 Corinthians 5:17, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! When we give our lives to Christ, he makes everything new. Our Creator God tells us in Revelation 21:5, And he who sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. One translation puts it this way: I bring all things into a new and better condition. Let us give our hearts and our lives anew to Christ and allow God to work his newness in our lives. May you be made new in the coming year by His Grace and have a bright NEW year with our Lord! In God s Great and Glorious Grace, Janet

2 What s St. Paul s... Standing Meetings, Groups & Programs Sunday s Adult Sunday School/9 am Worship/10:30 am Children s Sunday School/10:40 am Noisy Can Collection, the second Sunday of every month Next collection: January 14 Prayer postcards are now available near the Prayer Book in the Sanctuary for you to send as a postcard to someone to let them know we have prayed for them in church. Monday s Trustees 7 9 pm/january 15/Library Wednesday s Women s Bible Study 12-2/Cozens Bible Study 7-8 pm/cozens Thursday s Handbells 6:30 pm/sanctuary Choir 7:30 pm/sanctuary 1st & 3rd Thursday s & Saturday s Food Pantry/6-8 pm Thursday/10-Noon Saturday Saturday s Men s Bible Study 8 10 am/cozens/1, 3 & 5 Saturday Like us on Facebook St. Paul s UMC, Warrington

3 NURSES NOTES It s a New Year! And we will begin our Journey to Jerusalem on the 7th! On that Sunday after our church service you will be gathering the Information needed on how to accumulate miles/points to our goal and end point on April 1st, Easter Sunday. This will be the culmination of your individual wellness and spiritual journey of 12 weeks. I encourage you to find some prayerful time each day using your own devotionals, Upper Room or some of the Bible passages provided, ( which will be on back of your Passport to Wellness your journal of your daily progress). (Always contemplating Jesus s life and sacrifices for us, the Easter People, during this time.) Your daily activities will include physical goals for the health of your body, as well as fellowship and stewardship goals towards your journey. Our monthly activities have been finalized and a head count is needed as soon as able, to secure reservations for our February Italian Lunch at Bertucci s. This will be 12 Noon Saturday, February 17th and Saturday, March 10th to go to Penn Museum downtown for arrival in Cairo, Egypt for Egyptian exploration. So let the journey begin as we contemplate the following message For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. Ephesians 2: 8-9 NIV Yours in health & faith, Gwynne Bee, Parish Nurse It's Snowing! Will we have Church Today? Our Trustees do their best to keep our facility and parking lot safe. But we can t possibly remove every bit of snow and ice, so we ask that you use your own common sense about attending during inclement weather. We have two means of finding out if our church services are cancelled (and the same for evening meetings or bible studies). You can call this Winter Storm Emergency phone number: (215) If services are cancelled, the message will clearly state as such. If you have a computer you can access our website and a banner will be posted on the front page concerning closures: We trust that each person will use their own judgment and not risk life and limb to get to church in difficult weather conditions. Know that you will be missed and we will look forward to greeting you when you are able to come to church.

4 January Birthdays Susan Farish 26 Melissa Chapman 29 Lisa Erb 31 Sandy Berman T H A N K S I want to thank the congregation for remembering me this Holiday Season. The generous congregational gift, the many Christmas cards, birthday cards and gifts of food have been wonderful. Your thoughtful words and deeds warm my heart. It is a joy and a privilege to share in Christ and this Christmas Season with each and every one of you. Thank you for helping to make my Christmas joyous and filled with Christ! With Joy, Janet Thank you all so much for the very generous Christmas gift. Special thanks for your friendship, you ve become an important part of my life. Happy New Year! With love Nancy I would like to say a big "THANK YOU" to all the ladies who helped to make, purchased and spent their time knitting or crocheting hats, gloves and scarves for all the needy children. With the cold weather we are having, you can just imagine how many children we have kept warm. Again, thank you all so much, from my heart and theirs. Louise Zalucki

5 Think About It Bob and Marj, Lay Leaders Winter Opportunities for Service During our Advent Lunch times together, we discussed making a covenant. Something we can commit to do in the New Year, as an outward demonstration of our faith and commitment to the church. If you attended the lunches, have you begun to make your commitment a reality? Or, have you forgotten all about it. Some of the areas that you decided for your service opportunities at the last luncheon are.. Become a prayer warrior, and sign up for the prayer chain. Pray daily, Keep/honor prayer time Read the Bible daily, and get to know God, Join the Bible Study group Birthday card ministry to the entire church, send cards to shut-ins on holidays and birthdays Visit shut-ins. Be present with those who need someone to listen, take time to call friends Donate time/and or food to the food pantry, Share a meal with someone Join the bell choir, become a greeter on Sunday morning, attend women s activities Donate time to projects in the church, help wherever it is needed, fix the fix it list things Teach English to others. Pray for everyone that has ever been in my life. These are the commitments that others made. Will you think about and commit to offering your time and talent to some of the opportunities available? You are welcome to use one of the ideas from the lunches, or perhaps one of the following telephone ministry calling someone missing from church on Sunday morning, or someone who is ill, or a visitor. Time to sit at the church and wait for food donations to the food pantry, or going to the food pantry and volunteering for a couple hours. Host fellowship café occasionally, or help sort bread on a Sunday morning January is always the month to make changes for the New Year. Perhaps this year we can give the gift of ourselves and our service to our Lord, and to the family of God. Think about it.

6 Bucks County Housing Group would like to wish you Happy Holidays and the best for the New Year! With your help this year we have been able to help our neighbors in need! Bucks County Housing Group: Housed over 260 people in our Housing Programs Collected and provided school children in our community with more than 550 Back to School Backpacks Distributed over 600 Thanksgiving meals that included turkeys with all the fixings Provided toys for over 700 children at our Community Toy Days BCHG s three community food pantries served over 52,000 patrons Received 553,594 pounds of donated food worth over $952,000 Helped over 400 people with our Housing Counseling Program From Paul E. Bear: Hark the Herald Angels Sing Believe it or not, the Men s Bible Study dressed in angel wings and flowing gowns (choir robes) appeared out of the clouds to sing Hark the Herald Angels Sing to the children and families of the church and preschool. This was just part of our 13th annual Angel Breakfast. Families also created angel crafts together, took a Nativity Walk to different live nativity scenes, sang Happy Birthday to Je-sus and feasted on pancakes and ham. Thanks to all of the staff, parents, Arch-bishop Wood H.S., CB South H.S. and Boy Scout Troop 172 for all of their hard work. We appreciated the Men s Bible Study for providing and preparing the breakfast food, portraying angels and singing, One of our students gasped as we opened the door and she saw the stable with the stars hanging amongst the clouds. That touched us when we saw the twinkle in the eye of that child and realized maybe that child understood the real meaning of the season. To all of the people who made this 13th annual Angel Breakfast such a success, know that we have received so many compliments from parents and that you have brought the nativity story to life for these families.