F I R S T U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T C H U R C H N E W S L E T T E R

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1 F I R S T U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T C H U R C H N E W S L E T T E R August 2016 Our mission: Share God s love Make and nurture disciples of Jesus Christ Positively impact our community and world ww.fumcperkasie.com FIREFIGHTERS AND FIREPOLICE SERVICE SUNDAY 9/11/16 This year s Firefighters and Fire Police Service will be held on Sunday, September 11th. Breakfast will be held that morning at 9, and a combined worship service at 11 AM. Courtland Gardner is coordinating the breakfast. Please contact her if you can bring baked goods, casseroles, etc. Help in setting up and cleaning up is greatly appreciated! Also, we encourage everyone to share thoughts on our Facebook page about the fire department, or about any firefighter, who might have had an impact on you in the past. You can share your testimony here: fumcperkasie. Be sure to join us on Sunday, September 11th, as we express our appreciation for the dedication and commitment to the safety of our community by the men and women of Perkasie Fire Company No. 1. VBS UPDATE SURF SHACK: CATCH THE WAVES OF GOD S AMAZING LOVE (from Trinity Lutheran Church) Vacation Bible School 2016 was a fun, faith-filled week as 160 children from Trinity, TLC Child Care Center, and our community gathered Monday through Friday to experience God s amazing love. We were blessed with more than 75 youth and adult volunteers who shared their gifts throughout the week. Students reached out to their local neighbors through various mission projects. They made SAND ( snacks and nutritional delights ), gift bags for first responders, shell prayer cards for shut-in members, and filled 50 backpacks with school supplies for children whose families are served by Pennridge FISH. Special thanks go to Thrivent Financial for a grant that helped us purchase the backpacks. Thank you to the congregation, volunteers, decorators and generous donors of snacks, supplies, and monetary gifts for your support of our Surf Shack VBS. You all helped our participants better understand our theme verse for the week from Nehemiah 4:14 - Remember that the Lord is great and awesome! PERKASIE CAR SHOW OUTREACH UPDATE 630 bottles of water in the space of 3 hours were given out in front of the First Church building during the Perkasie Car Show back on Saturday August 20th We are also pleased to report that there were more than ten volunteers who helped out that evening, including at least three who had never worked the water giveaway outreach before! Two of which have already signed up to help next year! Many thanks to all the volunteers and coordinators for being a part of this Outreach! AMERICAN RED CROSS BLOOD DRIVE FRIDAY 9/2/16 The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive here at First UMC on Friday September 2nd. The blood drive is scheduled from 2 to 7 PM. All donors will receive a Red Cross duffel bag! Appointments are recommended, so please contact the church office to schedule an appointment. You can also register at sponsor code: Perkasie, or call redcross. CROP WALK (from Trinity Lutheran Church) Take a hike for hunger during the 32nd annual Pennridge CROP Walk for the Hungry, Sunday, October 9. Registration for the five mile route begins at 12:30 p.m. at St. Andrew s Lutheran Church, 20 Dill Ave., Perkasie. The Walk, held rain or shine, begins at 1:15 p.m. Registration for the shorter Golden Mile route begins at 12:30 p.m. at the Sellersville scout cabin in Lenape Park. Bring canned goods to donate to the Pennridge F.I.S.H. food pantry. Twenty-five per cent of all proceeds go to Pennridge F.I.S.H. for local hunger use. The remaining funds will be used by Church World Service and its partner agencies for hunger and disaster relief in the US and globally. To become a recruiter, request a sponsor form, or for more info about the Walk itself, contact the First Church office TODAY, by leaving a message on the office voic , or ing the office. AN OUTREACH OPPORTUNITY (By Bernie DuBois, Memorial and Honor Chair) First Church is going to be sharing with our community the many examples of the stable where Christ was born. We invite you to please put aside your nativity scene(s) to be loaned to the church when we get the display ready before the Advent Season. In this way, we will share some family Christmas with our neighbors and friends. I will remind you again of this Outreach in the fall, so that we can reserve a spot for your treasures to be shared at the church nativity display, complete with coffee and goodies. Watch for more details in the fall.

2 NOTE FROM THE PASTOR Who Is Jesus To You? If I would pose this question to the masses, you would likely receive the same answer from most of them. They would say that Jesus was a good man, a prophet. Some would even venture to say that he died on the cross, was buried and then rose again on the third day. My answer to their response would be that Jesus is so much more. As I study the scriptures, I am reminded of how unique and magnificent our Savior and Lord really is. Allow these truths to brighten your day when you are going through a trial or having a rough go of life. Jesus is everything to us! He is our, ever present help in trouble (Psalm 46:1) and is, a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24) He is always caring, slow to anger, and forgives us when we have difficulty forgiving ourselves. We would not be here today without his unconditional love. Jesus is our patient Heavenly Father who weeps when we digress and rejoices when we follow his will. Jesus is fully human and yet fully divine at the same time, which means that he can empathize with our weaknesses because he once lived in the world, but transcended the world by his power. Jesus is our savior and Lord because he reached into our lives and brought us out of the darkness into the light. Perhaps, your image of Jesus has changed through the years. Maybe you didn t grow up in the church and you believed Jesus was a legalistic lord, not a loving father, just waiting for you to make a mistake. Perhaps, you may have felt like a condemned person because you assumed Jesus was unhappy with you. Maybe, you understood Jesus with a genie in a bottle mentality, that if you rubbed the genie the right way, all of your wishes would come true. I don t know about you, but that s not the Jesus I serve. Jesus is our Savior and Lord, not a judgmental taskmaster, but an active savior, whose love for us is the same whether we fall down or excel through life. Sunday school portrays Jesus as a Caucasian model with brown or red flowing hair and blue eyes, but that is not the real Jesus. The image of Jesus with the flowing hair and the blue eyes does not match the description of what he would have looked like in the Mediterranean world. He would have had dark hair and a dark complexion because he was a Jew. The scriptures also mention that, He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2) Physically, there was nothing special about him, and yet he attracted the multitudes. There is also the spiritual side of Jesus. On more than one occasion, Jesus took time away from the crowds to pray. After Jesus fed the five thousand, he instructed the disciples to go ahead of him while, he went up on a mountainside to pray, which proves that he practiced a spiritual discipline. (Mark 6:46) Another instance occurred right before he was arrested. Jesus went to Gethsemane and asked his disciples to Sit here while I pray. (Mark 14:32) Let s not glance over the emotional side of Jesus. There was a time when he overturned the tables and benches of the money changers. He revealed a righteous anger and scolded 2 the merchants and the buyers for not using the temple as a house of prayer. (Matthew 21:12-13) Also, the shortest verse in the Bible: Jesus wept, displays a tender side of Jesus humanity after he saw Mary weeping for her brother Lazarus who died. (John 11:35) It is comforting to see Jesus as a real human who actually weeps for us. Intellectually, Jesus was more educated than the religious elite of his time. He always had a question that stumped the teachers of the law. On one occasion, Jesus was questioned about his authority and he posed a clever question regarding whose authority John s baptism was from. (Luke 20:1-8) The religious leaders were confused. Even when he was twelveyears-old, Jesus deserted his family and was found conversing and teaching in the temple. The teachers were amazed at his understanding because they probably wondered how a carpenter s son could know so much. (Luke 2:41-47) Jesus describes himself as the Son of Man in the gospels more than any other term because he wanted to emphasize with humanity. That s how we should truly understand who Jesus is. Yes, he is a God to be revered, but he is also our friend who has been through every aspect of our lives. Looking at Jesus in his early years helps us to see that he had a close family and a solid upbringing. He was an ordinary little boy and that is why people could not understand how he was the Messiah. The fact that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man and the fact that he lived in humble beginnings makes it even more divine! Jesus Christ can relate to our suffering because he suffered and sacrificed every aspect of his being, so that we would receive life to the fullest, even the hope of eternal life. My friends at First UMC of Perkasie, as we begin the new school year and venture into another chapter of our lives, I pray these true words of comfort will help you to see how awesome and wonderful Jesus really is to us every waking moment of our day! Enjoy the fall! In Christ, Pastor Scott FINANCE AND STEWARDSHIP Our latest financial reports (as of July 31) show total receipts of $86,854 versus expenses of $104,763, adjusted. Our 2016 Budget is based on Congregational Giving averaging $2970 per week but the weekly average through July is only $2408, a shortfall of $562 per week. All bills are current but we decided at the Finance Meeting on August 22 to withdraw $10,000 from our investment principal to meet September s anticipated expenses which include some extraordinary facility repairs. We received a check from our property insurance company in August in the amount of $22, This is for damage sustained this past winter to our roof and carpets and is minus a $1000 deductible. This is not a windfall but will be used to repair the roof and clean the carpets with the net impact to our budget of minus $1000. We are also facing a repair to the stone work around the large stained glass window over the altar of approximately $2500. The $1000 and $2500 amounts are included in the $10,000 mentioned above.

3 The $180,000 we invested in the Mid-Atlantic United Methodist Foundation in February has performed very well to date. The market value as of July 31 was $194,583. As always, please see any of the Finance and Stewardship Committee members if you have any questions. Copies of the full financial reports are available in the Fifth Street Narthex. Please continue to hold our church s finances in prayer. Stewardship & Finance Committee Members: Ben Botti, Chairman; Sue Barger, Treasurer; Deanna Jervis, Financial Secretary; Marie Howells, Trustees Representative; Bernie DuBois, Memorial and Honor Fund Committee Chairperson; Scott Dorn, Pastor; Tony Rapp, member at-large. FALL CHOIR REHEARSAL Choir rehearsal starts on Wednesday, September 7, 2016 at 7:00 pm. New members are welcome. If interested, please contact Robert Creager. WEDNESDAY MORNING BIBLE STUDY Please note, the weekly Bible Study resumes on Wednesday, September 7th, at 9:30 AM. You are welcome to join us each Wednesday morning to study the Word of God and enjoy some fellowship with other folks. The church library has comfortable seats and occasionally some coffee and goodies will accompany our studies. We would love to have you join us at our next study session. Bibles available or bring your own. J.O.Y. CIRCLE NEWS Please note, J.O.Y. Circle s first meeting of the fall will be held at the home of Ronnie Sensinger, on Thursday, September 8th, at 7:30 PM. For info on how to join the J.O.Y. Circle, or to learn more about this lively group, contact Laura Brandenburg-Carella. NEW JAZZ AND JOE EVENT SCHEDULED The next Jazz n Joe event at First UMC Perkasie is scheduled for Sunday October 23rd, from 2 to 4 PM here at First Church. Bring a friend and come enjoy an evening of music, brilliant company, and refreshments. This is a church fundraiser to help raise money for First Church ministry. Anyone wishing to donate desserts and appetizers are welcome to do so. For more information, contact Robert and Marie Howells. We encourage all to bring a donation that evening for the F.I.S.H. baskets. F.I.S.H. DONATION CHALLENGE Since the beginning of 2016, a total of lbs. was collected from our congregation this year and delivered to F.I.S.H. See the F.I.S.H. baskets in the rear of the Sanctuary and SpiritLight rooms to track the donation progress. Pantry needs: Pasta and Pasta Sauce are especially low in supply; Tea, Hot Chocolate, Coffee, Canned gravy, broth, spinach, beets, carrots and potatoes, Cream Soups, Meal Helpers, Mac and Cheese, Juices, Fruit Cocktail, Family Size Cereals, Cake and Brownie Mixes, Health and Beauty Items (toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, deodorant and shampoo), Female Hygiene items, and Laundry Detergents. Bring your donations to the marked baskets in the rear of the Sanctuary and in SpiritLight. Our current goal to raise ONE TON (2 thousand pounds) in donations for the pantry. Outreach leader Jac Filer stated We are asking our leadership committee members to bring donations to each meeting. If you re running a special event or group activity, consider asking those who attend to bring an item for F.I.S.H.. But in the months between now and November [Harvest Home], we have an opportunity to develop or reinforce habits of giving. As you complete your weekly grocery shopping, remember to pick up an item or two to share with FISH. F.I.S.H. is located on 800 W. Chestnut Street in Perkasie, their phone number is Hours of operation are: Mondays 3-5pm, Wednesdays 3-5pm, Thursdays 6-8pm, Fridays 9-11am, and Saturdays 9-11am. THANK YOU FROM F.I.S.H. Pennridge FISH Organization would like to express its gratitude to FUMC for working extra hard to collect food for the FISH food pantry this year. FISH is currently serving more than 600 Pennridge families in need with food, clothing and financial aid. 133 families have been helped with extra lunch food for school-aged kids during the month of July. This number will be slightly higher for August. The ongoing support and prayers from our local founding churches is key to keeping us in the business of helping our neighbors in need. Thank you so much. PERKASIE HISTORICAL SOCIETY (taken from perkasiehistory.org) The Perkasie Historical Society Meetings will resume on Tuesday, September 6th, at 6:30 pm, here at First Church. Reservations for dinner meetings are required. Please call Connie Etters to reserve your seat. Dinners are $12, payable at the door. The deadline for reservations is the Friday before each meeting. For cancelations, please call the church office. On the first Tuesday in March, April, May, June, September, October, November, and December, the Perkasie Historical Society holds dinner meetings that include a speaker or program. Guests are welcome and new members are encouraged to join. The topic for the September 6th meeting is A Personal Account of the Perkasie Fire of SMALL GROUP BIBLE STUDY In late July, we started a new small group that meets on Thursday evenings at the home of Jeff and Brynne Stork at 7 PM. Our first series is a 21-week exploration of Jesus teachings using The Forgotten Way by Ted Dekker. Books are provided. Please contact Jac Filer or the church office to sign up. BIBLE STUDY PROJECT The Wednesday morning Bible Study group, along with the Finance Committee, is beginning a project to recycle old Bibles into the hands of people who want a Bible, or to properly dispose of Bibles that have been loved long past their useful handling days. If you have any old Bibles that you no longer use, or extra Bibles that someone else could 3

4 use, please contact the church office or Bernie DuBois. KEYSTONE OPPORTUNITY FALL FOOD DRIVE VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP (from keystoneopportunity.org) Because of the increasing food needs of our local community, Keystone Opportunity Center is launching a new event this year, the Fall Food Drive, on September 24th. This one day food drive is designed to help restock the shelves at Keystone Food Pantry that feed over 240 families each month that are struggling with food insecurity. There will be two food collection sites on Sept. 24th (8am-1pm). The first is at Care & Share Thrift Shopping Center and the second is at the Harleysville W almart. In order to make this event a success, we need your help. At each site we will need volunteers in shifts to help with food collection, organizing donations, checking dates, and packing the storage pod. This is a great opportunity for people of all ages to help make life better for someone in need. Go to to sign up as a volunteer. FLOWER MINISTRY Many thanks to Diane Holler for assisting in the Flower Ministry. To become a part of, or learn more about, the Flower Ministry, see Bernie DuBois, or contact the church office. THANK YOU FROM BRIAN AND BERNIE DUBOIS We would like to thank all of you for the many prayers as well as the beautiful cards and food during my recovery from Bernie s hip replacement. We are very blessed to be part of the First Church family. Grace United Methodist Men Trip to Mercer Museum Saturday, September 24, 2016 The Men of Grace will host a trip to the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA on Saturday, September 24, Reservations are set up for a 10:30 am arrival. The cost is $11 per person. All members of Grace, their families and friends are invited to join us. Please complete the following sign-up slip and place it along with your check made payable to United Methodist Men in an envelope which can be placed in the offering plate or mailed to Grace United Methodist Church, PO Box 257, Telford, PA Sign-up slips and payment due by September 18. We are currently in the process of organizing a car pool, leaving the church at 9:30 am. Name(s) Phone Number attending Payment ($11 per person) (checks payable to United Methodist Men) Please tear this off and mail to the above address with payment. 4

5 HIGHLAND PARK CAMPMEETING UPDATE (from Barbara Leight) HIGHLAND PARK WEEK SELLERSVILLE, PA JULY 30 AUGUST 7, 2016 As Highland Campmeeting drew to a close and it was time to go home, over and over, one could hear, This week went too fast. There were 58 great campers and 13 fantastic youth who now have wonderful memories and many new friends. This would not have been possible without the many volunteers. First Church volunteers were involved in every aspect of preparing for camp, and in carrying out all the activities. A huge Thank You! doesn't seem to say enough. Also, thank you to everyone who contributed to the Yard Sale and Food Auction. Both were very successful, raising over $1000. Please consider joining us next year, starting July 29th. 5

6 UNDER THE STARS CAR SHOW FIRST UMC OUTREACH; PERKASIE, PA SATURDAY, AUGUST 20,

7 FIRST UMC MISSION TRIP TO CRISFIELD, MARYLAND AUGUST 14 20,

8 MISSION TRIP TO CRISFIELD, MARYLAND AUGUST 14 20,

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12 NON-PROFIT ORG US POSTAGE PAID QUAKERTOWN PA PERMIT NO. 43 FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 501 Market Street Perkasie, PA Address Service Requested Sunday Worship Schedule Church Office Hours 9:00 AM 10:30 AM Contemporary Worship and Kids Church Traditional Worship Tuesdays through Fridays: 9 AM to 1 PM Closed Mondays Pastor Scott Dorn Robert Creager Organist/Choir Director Jennifer Fabey Leanne Lightcap Nursery Attendants Alanna Jones Administrative Assistant Edmund Schonheiter Custodian S E P T E M B E R h i g h l i g h t s In this issue: Firefighters and Fire Police Service Sunday 9/11/16 American Red Cross Blood Drive Friday 9/2/16 Perkasie Car Show Outreach Update Highland Park and VBS Updates Choir and Wednesday Morning Bible Study Resumes Nativity Scene Outreach Opportunity Announcement Bible Study Outreach Our mission: Share God's love Make and nurture disciples of Jesus Christ Positively impact our community and world. 12