COURIER. June A P u b l i c a t i o n for Eastland United Methodist Ch u r c h. Pastor Craig s Corner. Eastland United

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CROSS COURIER ROADS June 2016 A P u b l i c a t i o n for Eastland United Methodist Ch u r c h Eastland United Methodist Church 10718 Courthouse Road Fredericksburg, VA 22407 540-898-6430 Pastor Rev:

Service 8:30 am Sunday School - 9:45 am Worship Service - 11:00 am Holy Communion First Sunday and special Pastor Craig s Corner Is it just me, or are you hearing the word karma more and more these

Celebrities seem to be endorsing it as the latest, hippest, coolest worldview, which asserts that your actions impact your future.

1 CROSS COURIER ROADS June 2016 A P u b l i c a t i o n for Eastland United Methodist Ch u r c h Eastland United Methodist Church Courthouse Road Fredericksburg, VA Pastor Rev: Craig Muffley Ministers The Congregation Lay Leader Bill Todd Accompanist Afton Duenow Administrative Assistant Laura Martinsen Youth Director Renee Garrett Sunday Schedule Early Worship Service 8:30 am Sunday School - 9:45 am Worship Service - 11:00 am Holy Communion First Sunday and special Pastor Craig s Corner Is it just me, or are you hearing the word karma more and more these days? I m hearing it with regularity these days - especially on television. I m even hearing the word pop up more and more in people s casual conversations. Celebrities seem to be endorsing it as the latest, hippest, coolest worldview, which asserts that your actions impact your future. Karma, in its western understanding, is the doctrine of inevitable consequence you get what you deserve based on your actions. What goes around, comes around, we say. Despite its Buddhist and Hindu origins, this perception of karma has definitely seeped into our Judeo-Christian society. In our society, people find great satisfaction when the wicked get what they deserve in the form of imprisonment, financial hardship, health issues, or relationship struggles. We see it as a form of justice. They deserved what they got. But I think karma is a very deceptive worldview. We all know that sometimes the wicked do prosper and the righteous suffer. The Bible bears witness to this reality. Throughout the wisdom literature in the Bible, we can read about people lamenting about this actuality. Karma is not biblical, nor is it life according to the New Testament. The Bible teaches us that God's kingdom operates by grace. And grace is very different than karma. Grace is God s unmerited favor. It is love and mercy bestowed upon us because God desires us to have it. With grace, we can all rejoice in the fact that we get what we don't deserve. As you can see, grace is very different than karma more like polar opposites. There is nothing amazing about karma. If we all got what we deserved, as karma suggests, then we would all be in deep, deep trouble because if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we are all sinners in need of God s grace. We are deserving of God s judgment and punishment. Instead, we are offered God s amazing grace exactly what we don't deserve through the wondrous sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross. Grace. Pure grace. An unimaginable gift from God offered to us through our Savior, Jesus Christ. It disappoints me that so many of us seem to have forgotten the significance of this marvelous gift. It disappoints me that we are more inclined to look for karma than we are to accept God s gift of grace. I don t know about you, but I think this world needs a lot more grace and a lot less karma. If there were more grace, I think there would be less racism. If there were more grace, there would be less violence. If there were more grace, there would be more love and kindness in our world and the Lord knows that we could use more of that these days. I'm holding out for grace. And I think that if everyone in this world knew the magnificence of God s grace, they would be holding out for it as well because we all deserve something that we don t deserve. We all need amazing grace. Grace and Peace, Pastor Craig occasions 1

Ways You Can Help YOUR Church... COME TO THE THURSDAY MORNING PRAYER MEETING!

Pastor Craig leads this very special and much needed event.

The choir is taking a break for the summer.

Teachers, Helpers, Cooks and other fun and exciting things!

2 Ways You Can Help YOUR Church... COME TO THE THURSDAY MORNING PRAYER MEETING! Every Thursday, at 9 am, there is a 30 minute prayer session held in the sanctuary. Pastor Craig leads this very special and much needed event. Please come and lift your friends, family, yourself, and other things on your heart to the Lord. We ALL know that prayer works! Sign Up To Perform A Musical Selection During the 11:00 Service. The choir is taking a break for the summer. Volunteers are needed to perform a solo, duet, trio, etc. during the 11:00 service. You also may play a musical instrument! If Please refer to the sign up sheet to see what you can donate for our children to make their summer VBS a success! Thank you! JOIN THE ADULT SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS Upcoming: The Case for Christ Bible Study 9:45-10:30 Teachers, Helpers, Cooks and other fun and exciting things! Contact Renee Garrett if interested! We are having a great time learning more about God s word! The coffee and snacks are PLEASE VOLUNTEER! If you are interested in serving, contact Karla Cook by at nowacook@verizon.net or in person after services Take a look at the church website at and Like us on Facebook. When you see a post, after you like it, share it! Don t see your events announced? Call or Diana, Eastlandumc@gmail.com. 2

REQUEST PRAYER We are happy to pray for you or your loved ones. You may write the names of those you want lifted up in prayer on the back of the Communication Card in your worship bulletin.

Music, Missions, & Miracles VBS 2016 June 27th - July 1st 5:30pm - 8:30pm This year our focus is having fun through Music, helping others and the earth through Missions, and learning about the

5 Madeline Jarrett 11 Summer Wilson 12 Mary Ward 14 Dot Dillard 16 Carolynn Gibson 17 Jovon Ephriam 23 Chelsea Quaye 2 Sandy Perkins 6 Mike Brown 8 Bryce Dillard Joan White 13 Dan Curtis 18 Frances

Her passion for God and others made such an incredible impact on every life she touched. Her love can be seen in every detail of this masterpiece.

3 REQUEST PRAYER We are happy to pray for you or your loved ones. You may write the names of those you want lifted up in prayer on the back of the Communication Card in your worship bulletin. These persons will remain on the prayer list in the bulletin for two weeks, unless their names are resubmitted. Music, Missions, & Miracles VBS 2016 June 27th - July 1st 5:30pm - 8:30pm This year our focus is having fun through Music, helping others and the earth through Missions, and learning about the Miracles of God and Jesus. By the end of the week, your child will be ready to go out to help others, help the earth, and praise God! 5 Madeline Jarrett 11 Summer Wilson 12 Mary Ward 14 Dot Dillard 16 Carolynn Gibson 17 Jovon Ephriam 23 Chelsea Quaye 2 Sandy Perkins 6 Mike Brown 8 Bryce Dillard Joan White 13 Dan Curtis 18 Frances Vaughn 19 Bill Todd 22 Chloe Quaye 25 Nikki Espiritu 31 Faith Stephens The Houck family dedicated this beautiful picture to Eastland in memory of Alice Louise Soltis. She was Caroline s cousin. Her passion for God and others made such an incredible impact on every life she touched. Her love can be seen in every detail of this masterpiece. Fellowship Luncheon Our monthly fellowship luncheon is served on the second Sunday of each month, after the 11:00 service. It s potluck, so bring a favorite dish! If you forget, join us anyway, there is always enough food to go around! FOOD FOR LIFE PROGRAM Eastland UMC is a distribution site for the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank s Food for Life program. FFL is an income-qualified program based on USDA Income Guidelines. Persons age 60 and over may apply; no income documentation is required. Individuals age 59 and under who are on disability (SSI or SSDI) may also apply but must provide supporting documentation with their application. Individuals receive a box of dry, non-perishable groceries packed by the food bank. They may also receive produce or perishable food items when available. Individuals do not need to be members of, or attend Eastland UMC. The program is managed by Eastland s UMM group. Contact Bill Todd at or btodd1941@gmail.com or David Vaughn at or dfvaughn@verizon.net for more information and an application. Distribution takes place the third Thursday of every month from 4:00 6:00 p.m. 3

Matthew; others name the book s main character such as Ruth.

4 Fun and Games... Bible Quiz Of the 66 books in the Protestant Bible, 39 have people s names as titles. Some names indicate the person credited as author for example, Matthew; others name the book s main character such as Ruth. How many books are written to the person named in the title? A. 2 B. 4 C. 13 D. 21 Answer: (See 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; Titus 1:4; Philemon 1:1. 4

5 United Methodist News United Methodist Volunteers In Mission (UMVIM) Training offered on our district! July 16, 2016, St. Matthias UMC, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., 426 Deacon Rd, Fredericksburg, VA To register, go to vaumc.org. Under Quick Links, click on Events. In the date field, using the drop-down menu, select July Double-click on UMVIM Team Leader Training, St. Matthias UMC, Fredericksburg. This takes you to additional information about the training and a computer link to register online and pay by credit card or to download the registration form to pay by check. In light of the help needed for our neighbors who experienced tornado damage, having trained leaders is important. Please join them in being prepared to help those in need. Contact Evelyn Penn at: evelynpenn@vaumc.org or CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES! Mindy Hall graduated from Spotsylvania High School Taylor Jordan and Shiann Ozawa graduated from Courtland High School. Granddaughter of Lois Koehn, Stacy DiMattio, graduates from the University of Arizona Congratulations Grads! Best wishes as you move on to the next chapter of your lives! A Methodist Minute Q Who is the official voice of The United Methodist Church? A Only the General Conference may speak officially for The United Methodist Church. Individuals, local churches, annual conferences, church agencies, and others may make policy statements or offer their individual or collective understanding of an issue not addressed by the General Conference. They cannot, however, offer any official position of The United Methodist Church that goes beyond The Book of Discipline, our book of law, and The Book of Resolutions. Source: Social Principles of The United Methodist Church, edition, The United Methodist Publishing House,

Eastland News... Spring Yard /Bake Sale a Success!

The United Methodist Woman decided to take advantage of this great

It was a cloudy and cool day, and the rain stayed away long enough for

Thanks to everyone who offered their time and services to make this

The little brick house next to the church is church property and is a

The family renting it had to move out, leaving it with many things to

We want to thank Deane and Phyllis Napier and Tom Sobkowicz for the

6 Eastland News... Spring Yard /Bake Sale a Success! The United Methodist Men sponsored a yard sale on Saturday, June 4th. The United Methodist Woman decided to take advantage of this great opportunity and held a bake sale! It was a cloudy and cool day, and the rain stayed away long enough for the UMM and UMW to have a very successful outcome! Thanks to everyone who offered their time and services to make this event possible! THANK YOU FOR VOLUNTEERS! The little brick house next to the church is church property and is a source of rental income. The family renting it had to move out, leaving it with many things to fix and remodel before it could be rented again. We want to thank Deane and Phyllis Napier and Tom Sobkowicz for the many hours of hard work and dedication that they put into remodeling the house. When the house is completed, all involved with the remodeling process will be properly recognized! It was a big undertaking, but with the help of volunteers, the job is near completion! 6

7 More Eastland News... Eastland s Administrative Assistants...wishing one a fond farewell and the other a warm welcome! Laura Martinsen, our new Administrative Assistant and an Ohio native, has been a Methodist since she was 16. Three years after meeting her husband Todd at Cedar Point Amusement Park, they married in the First United Methodist Church of Troy, Ohio. They attended several UMCs as they moved to Detroit, Cleveland, Dallas and Virginia Beach! They settled in Williamsburg, Virginia where Laura worked with families and school kids at Colonial Williamsburg for 10 years. Their son Erik was born in 1997 and was baptized at Williamsburg United Methodist Church. When they moved to Fredericksburg in 2007 so her husband could run the Build-A-Bear Workshop at Spotsylvania Towne Center, Erik was confirmed at the Fredericksburg UMC. Today they live on a farm in Partlow with dogs, chickens and honeybees and are members of Zion United Methodist Church in Spotsylvania Courthouse. All three of are avid readers, music lovers and good friends (Ecclesiastes 4:12).Please be sure to warmly welcome Laura when you meet her! Diana Farrar has been our Administrative Assistant for the past 5 years. She has done a wonderful job and has been a delight and joy to work with. Unfortunately, she and her husband Gary are moving to Illinois, back to their hometown to live near Gary's parents. Living closer, they can be a better support system for them. Gary s parents are in fairly good health, but Gary s Dad has had a couple of strokes (and is still driving) and his Mom has had her hip replaced. This move is somewhat unexpected as they felt they had a few more years here in Virginia and then had planned to retire to Tennessee. Diana expressed that it has been a pleasure working with Pastor Craig and the people of Eastland UMC. She said that we all have been delightful to work with and for these past few years. She loved working in a place where it's ok to glorify God with all we do and say. She stated that we all treated her with love and respect and she will remember that wherever she goes! We pray that God will be with Diana and Gary as they start this new chapter in their lives! 7

8 June 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Happy Fathers s Day 20 7pm: Administrative Council meets : Thursday Morning Prayer : Thursday Morning Prayer 8

ROADS COURIER PASTOR CRAIG S CORNER. February 2017

ROADS COURIER PASTOR CRAIG S CORNER. February 2017 A Publication for Eastland United Methodist Church CROSS ROADS COURIER February 2017 Eastland United Methodist Church 10718 Courthouse Road Fredericksburg, VA 22407 540-898-6430 Pastor Rev: Craig Muffley