GRACE NOTES March 2018 Grace United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 GRACE NOTES March 2018 Grace United Methodist Church 2950 Spruce Drive, Cheyenne, WY Church Office: (307) Rev. Laura Rainwater: March Calendar March 3 - District Meeting in Sheridan March 3 - Women s Rally for Equality 11:00 am in front of steps to Wyoming Supreme Court March 4 - UMM Breakfast 8:00 am Grace Hall March 4 - Froyo Faith 3:00 pm at Spooners March 7 - Facilities Team Mtg 6:30 pm Upper Room March 11 - Daylight Savings time begins March 16 - Christ s Coffee Shop 6:00 pm Grace Hall March 18 - Pastoral Care Team 11:30 am March 18 - Discipleship Team 12:00 noon March 18 - Froyo Faith 3:00 pm at Spooners March 19 - Grace Notes Due March 21 - Christine Circle 9:30 am March 22 - Comea Dinner 5:30 pm March 25 - Palm Sunday March 27 - UMW Board Meeting 9:30 am March 29 - Maundy Thursday Service 6:30 pm March 30 - Good Friday Service Faith UMC 6:30 pm March 31 - Facilities Clean Up Day 9:00 am Weekly Activities Sundays Adult Sunday School 9 am Sunday School for All Ages 9 am Youth Sunday School 9 am Worship 10:15 am Monday - Thursday Office Hours 8:30 am - 12:30 pm Wednesday Handbells 5:15 pm Reverend Laura s Hours Office Hours: Mon. & Wed. 8:30 12:00 pm /Call/Text gumcpastor@outlook.com cell Grace s Vision: Grace Sharing Grace Unconditionally Grace s Mission: Grace Strives to be a Church that Gathers, Responds, Accepts, Cares, and Engages.

2 From the Pastor. Lent began on Valentine s Day. Several churches wrote VaLENTine s Day. Unfortunately, I saw this spelling too late. Yet, in this season of introspection, as we acknowledge our mortality and our bent to sinning, it is good to remember that God s love always surrounds us. It s a good thing God s love is limitless because I need it a lot. In the spirit of mortality, I ve been reflecting on the latest school shooting in Florida. Maybe it is because I know the United Methodist pastor closest to this school. Maybe it is because my own alma mater in Tallahassee welcomed 100 students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS as they arrived to lobby the Florida Legislature. Maybe it is because I am the parent of a public school student. This hits home, as every other violent act in any of our schools has (and will). Where is God? What does God say? My colleague preached the Sunday after the shooting. He said he focused his peaching on the person who needed to hear that it s ok not to be ok. He reminds us that in Revelation 5:5, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. We would like for God to be the lion who roars at injustice and punishes the guilty. We would like for God to have wandered the halls in the school on February 14 as the angry and protective lion. However, Revelation 5:6 describes Jesus, the Son of God, as the Lamb, looking as if it had been slain. Not a strong & fierce lion, but a lamb who had been stricken and wounded for our sins. This is the one worthy enough to change the world. Maybe God hasn t spoken yet in a way that we can hear. Maybe all we can do, rather than waiting for the lion s roar, is to understand and even accept our own limitations. Our own brokenness. Our own wounds. And know that God s love always surrounds us. God s love and presence was at that school on Ash Wednesday, and God was at work in ways we can only imagine. In the words of Henri Nouwen, In Christ we see God suffering for us. And calling us to share in God s suffering love for a hurting world. The small and even overpowering pains of our lives are intimately connected with the greater pains of Christ. Our daily sorrows are anchored in a greater sorrow and therefore a larger hope. How can we share in the suffering love for hurting world? How can we share this larger story and hope with those around us? And how can we be filled with compassion and resolve to make this world a better place, especially for those who are hurting and feeling powerless? This conversation will continue. I invite you to join in. Because God s work isn t yet completed. Grace and peace, Rev. Laura Read Rev. Vance Rains sermon for February 18 and other blog entries:

3 WORSHIP Here is our worship schedule for the rest of Lent and Holy Week: Uncertainty of Mortality (John 11:1-44) Uncertainty of Surrender (Luke 19:1-10) Uncertainty of Obedience (Matthew 26:36-46) Palm Sunday Maundy Thursday 6:30 pm at Grace UMC Good Friday 6:30 pm at Faith UMC Easter Sunday Proof of the Resurrection Sunrise service at 7:30 am Regular service at 10:15 am Sunday Fellowship Time LuAnne Cook-Ludwick Todd and I have been happy to serve Grace by setting up and cleaning up after fellowship time every Sunday. I would like to thank all those who have helped make our fellowship after Sunday worship, a continuing special time to share! I can t name everyone because I know I don t remember everyone! Appreciation and Thanks go out to you if you have brought treats, helped set up or clean up, donated money or supplies, did dishes, came to share time and anything else. It doesn t happen if we don t make it happen. Everyone seems to enjoy the time and as long as people keep showing up and bringing teats, it ll continue to be a time of blessings. There is no sign up for fellowship these days. If you feel like you can bring treats, send them our way, they ll be put out with anything else that shows up. It s like having a potluck of treats each week! If you want to host the time specifically, please let LuAnne or Dee know. Thank you for bringing items to enjoy with others! See you every Sunday following worship!

4 Dr. Michelle Aldrich You would never know that spring is nearing on the calendar by the weather. I talk to people all of the time who complain about the wind but wind brings change! The Holy Spirit is sometimes described as a wind in the Bible and afterwards the hearts of the people are changed or the situation is changed. Our windy month of March will usher in spring and new growth and beauty if we can just endure. There are definite benefits from the winds of life. First and foremost, it makes us appreciate the days there is no wind. Secondly, wind blows out the dust and the cobwebs, which in Wyoming means that we have very little smog or air pollution. Lastly, and probably most importantly, the wind causes us to grow stronger. Plant life here has to have much deeper roots than, for example, palm trees in San Diego, where my daughter lives. In San Diego, 40 mile an hour winds will topple palm trees because they have not developed the deep roots that adverse wind requires. As we travel through this Lenten season, may we welcome the trials and tribulations or wind and know that God uses all things to His glory. We will arrive at the cross on Easter looking forward to our fresh beginning and the new life that Christ brings through resurrection! Christ s Coffee Shop LuAnne Cook-Ludwick A special time to come and share faith and worship in an alternative style! Held every third Friday from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm. A light dinner is served with worship being led by laity. It s never the same experience twice! May the Holy Spirit always touch the lives which walk through the doors of Grace! Next experience is Friday, March 16th.

5 United Methodist Women Mary Lou Marcum The organized unit of United Methodist Women shall be a community of women whose purpose is to know God and to experience freedom as whole persons through Jesus Christ; to develop a creative, supportive fellowship, and to expand concepts of missions through participation in the global ministries of the church. Beginning April 30th, Rev. Laura will lead the Spiritual Growth study, "Living as a Covenant Community" at 9:30 am in the upper room. The study will run through May 21st. Books will cost $ This study is open to everyone. Christine Circle:. Anyone interested in learning more about John Wesley is welcome to join the study on Adam Hamilton's "Revival". The study will be at 10:45 am, the third Tuesday of each month, through May. It will be held in Grace Hall. The cost of the book is $10.00 and can be ordered from Gale Graves. She can be contacted at Martha Circle: The next meeting will be Saturday, April 21st from 10:00 am -12:00 noon in Grace Hall. Contact Linda Bogart at for more information.

6 Missions Glenda Haley What is it about missions? What moves us to do what we do, to do what we can, to do what needs to be done? I fall back on the phrase, There, but for the Grace of God, go I. So with that phrase running around in the back of my head, I am forever grateful that I can call Grace my church home. I hope you feel the same. Grace Giving Grace Unconditionally. We are three months into the new table placement for the Basket Ministries, the Needs cardboard box below the table and the toiletries, and Lion s glass collection box all being together. A few reminders: we are still collecting food items for Needs. Just bring what you can each week and drop them in the cardboard box. It is pretty cold out there which means people are paying higher utility bills so food pantries are usually still being hit pretty hard. Clothing items for Needs are also collected and can be placed in the bins outside our back door. Aluminum cans are collected there as well, with that money going towards Outreach. January s basket ministry was to make up a Move Out Box for Safe House. Mary Lou delivered it and we received a very nice Thank You Note from Safe House for the donation. It s not that I think being thanked is that important, but I want you to know that what little we do is very much appreciated. February was Undies month. We collected A LOT! (I ll report next month.) March s collection is being driven by our youth. They will be collecting reusable water bottles, socks, personal hygiene items, as well as cash donations, to take to the youth day, a valuable part of Cheyenne Day of Giving. Coins being collected during March will be given to our youth to support their work. Youth Day is May 10th with Day of Giving the next day, May 11th. Our next Family Promise Rotation is April 1, yes, Easter Day, through April 8. We currently have 3 families in the program, so we will be in need of a lot of help with dinners and set up. Please consider giving your time to this Mission Program. I am always glad to be there to help you if you want to jump in! So, what is it about mission work? (A) Knowing you make a huge difference in someone s life, (B) knowing that you eased someone s pain, (C) knowing that someone is eating better because of the food you brought for Needs, or (D) all of the above. Yep, There, BUT for the Grace of God, go I God Bless You!

7 Sunday School for All LuAnne Cook-Ludwick Did you know every Sunday in Grace Hall, we have a time for everyone to come and grow their spiritual understanding? A group of many abilities come together at 9:00 am to share our faith and grow our understandings through listening to scripture, sharing experiences and stories. Prayers are lifted up weekly and special projects are completed together from time to time. If you re looking for a different kind of way to grow in your faith, come join us anytime! Facilities Team LuAnne Cook-Ludwick Our first gathering to look at the facilities of Grace UMC is happening on Wednesday, March 7th, at 6:30 pm in the Upper Room. The focus of our team is to maintain the building as it functions in all of its capacities. We ll be prioritizing the needs of our church and coming up with a plan. This team is committed to address the needs to the best of our abilities with the resources we have available. If you discover anything which needs to be fixed, updated, maintained, etc., put the details in the Facilities church mailbox. It will be addressed as quickly as we are able. Please also keep in mind, our church can only be kept up with everyone s attentiveness and willingness to assist and support the projects. We invite you to join in some of the high prioritized projects. The top focused areas at this moment are outdoor walkways, lawn maintenance, ornamental flowers, scrubs, and trees, weed control, Grace Hall technology repairs or replacements and general upkeep of the facilities. More information will be available as we plan out the focus for this year. Until then, mark your 2018 calendars now! Dates set for deep cleaning and maintenance which everyone could help with are the 5th Saturdays: March 31, June 30, September 29, and December 29, from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon. Thanks for your commitment to have a clean, safe, accessible and useable church for all! May God bless Grace UMC!

8 Birthdays March 8 - Conner Martin March 9 - Samantha Horton March 11 - Alice Davis March 12 - Jeremy Nash March 25 - Rev. Jeff Rainwater Anniversaries March 15 - Lee & Sheryl Roadifer 27 years Save the Date The Grace United Methodist Church 25th Yard Sale will be May 25th and 26th. Start saving those unwanted items for the Sale. Items we don't take are: T.V.'s Clothes unless a specialty items like wedding dresses Exercise equipment Last year the funds purchase two new screens for the Sanctuary and we made $4,000. Let s beat last year!! Recycle Battery Project GUMC members collected 31 pounds of Batteries and one Fire Extinguisher that were taken to the transfer station for proper disposal. Feel free to collect used batteries at your place of work and bring them to the church. You can drop your used batteries in the drawers that are in the Narthex. Don t forget to tape the tops of the 9Volt batteries as they can be a fire hazard when stored with other batteries. They also take fire extinguishers that have expired. We do not have a drop off place for these but if you will let me know that you are bringing them in, I can take them directly to my car. Questions call, Linda Bogart or me at 50echolane@gmail.com.