A Word from Pastor Jim:

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1 Motley Free Methodist Church, 33 Wellwood Street E, Motley, MN Jan Pastor Jim Johnson: A Word from Pastor Jim: Luke 8:16 (NIV) No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead he puts it on a stand so that those who come in can see the light. As I sit here in my new office in a brand new church on the last day of 2014, I rejoice in what God has done for you and me and our church. I rejoice for what God is doing all over the world, really. I praise God for His faithfulness and goodness and mercy and provision. God has blessed us, friends! I praise Him, from whom all blessings flow. When I read the above verse, it seems so simple. We turn on a light so we can see and be seen and for a light for the next person to be able to see too. Our faith in Jesus the Christ (which is what this verse is really talking about) is the same way. No one who has been born of God can keep that good news to themselves; no one tries to hide that. The news is too rich to hide under the bed. Salvation is too precious and valuable not to share. The good news was made to be shared with anyone and everyone that is around and would listen. Will we share that Good News in 2015? I pray that this New Year finds us eager to let our light shine for Jesus 24/7. In case you have not heard yet, we have moved into the new church building. We still have some small remodeling projects in the old church to do yet and we still have some projects outside to do as well before we are completely done with everything. Sometime this winter the old church is going to be re-sided to match the new church. Both parking lots still have some work to be done in the spring when it warms up again. The parking lot lights have to be finished yet and there will be some landscaping and some guard rails to finish in the spring. But for the most part the project is done. During our annual meeting (January 11 th right after pot-luck dinner) I will share more as to where the financial part of the project lies. That is not quite all done yet, today. Also on January 11 th we will welcome a number of new members to our church family, prior to the annual meeting. During the annual meeting I will share some of what we want to pursue in We will also be electing some new BOA members and 2 new delegates. All are welcome to attend; all members have an opportunity to vote. On January 25 th, we will have our contractor s appreciation Sunday. What does that mean? We have invited everyone who has worked on the building this last 7 months to come and be recognized for what they have done for us and then we will have pot-luck dinner and feed them. This will be our chance to say THANK YOU to each one of them for our new church building. Please remember too, that on this Sunday (January 25 th ) we will have only ONE service and it will be at 10:30 am. I just want to have everyone here at once to say Thank you and to be able to have lunch together afterwards. May I also mention to you that we still gather together on Saturday evenings at 6:00 pm to pray. Please feel free to join us anytime. There is also a ladies prayer group that meets at Jessica Judd s every Wednesday at noon to pray. They would welcome you there also. I believe in prayer friends. I believe that if God s people really travail in prayer greater things then we have already seen will happen. Check out the Sunday morning adult education class at 10:30 am each week for some learning opportunities. And you may want to look at the Small Groups section of this newsletter as well to see if there is small group that you may try. They are really good learning opportunities as well. Thank you again for your kindness in cards, letters and gifts to Sheri and I this Christmas season. God bless you all. May God bless this work this next year. May God receive all the glory both now and forever. Serving Jesus and serving you, Jim J. INSIDE THIS ISSUE Words from Pastor Jim 1 Upcoming Events 2 Small Group Information 2 Children s Programming Information 3 Nursery Schedule 3 Youth News 4 Women s Ministry Information 4 Board of Administration Meeting Minutes 4 Calendar of Events 5

Upcoming Events: *Jan. 10-Women s Group 10 am *Jan. 11-Annual Meeting after Pot-luck Dinner *Jan. 12-Children s Programming Meeting-6 pm *Jan. 23-Ladies Craft Night *Jan.

8-Dedication Sunday Small Group Information: As a part of a growing body, the best way to have a more intimate fellowship and Bible study is to be involved in a small group.

Service-6:00 pm Tuesday morning Women s Bible study-ann Voskamp study, One Thousand Gifts: A dare to live fully right where you are.1:00 pm at the church, see Brandi Neal for questions!

2 Upcoming Events: *Jan. 10-Women s Group 10 am *Jan. 11-Annual Meeting after Pot-luck Dinner *Jan. 12-Children s Programming Meeting-6 pm *Jan. 23-Ladies Craft Night *Jan. 25-Recognition for Contractors and Pot-luck Dinner *Jan. 28-BAY Rally for the Youth *Feb. 15-MN Teen Challenge *Mar. 8-Dedication Sunday Small Group Information: As a part of a growing body, the best way to have a more intimate fellowship and Bible study is to be involved in a small group. Here at the Motley Free Methodist Church we currently have eight small group opportunities Sunday morning at 10:30 in the old sanctuary studying Cults, see Chris Neal or Dan Rose Sunday Evening Service-6:00 pm Tuesday morning Women s Bible study-ann Voskamp study, One Thousand Gifts: A dare to live fully right where you are.1:00 pm at the church, see Brandi Neal for questions! Tuesday evening Bible Study starting at 6:30 pm studying the book of Matthew Wednesday mornings at 9:30 am in the church basement studying the book of I John Wednesday afternoon intercessory prayer team at Jessica Judd s House at 12:00 pm Saturday morning men s group-8 am every other Saturday with Doug Buscho Saturday evening prayer group at the church at 6 pm with Pastor Les Crider Please pray about which group you can be a part of or if you have an idea for/or would be willing to lead a different small group please see Richard Broberg or Pastor Jim! Building Update: *Our First Service in the new building was held Dec. 24 at 4:30 pm bringing in over 300 people!! The new sanctuary! Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. ~Psalm 127

3 Children s Programming News: In the children s programming news *Thank you to our Children s Church staff for another wonderful Christmas program! The children did a great job as usual and it was such a joy to watch!! *In other news, since we have made the switch to the new building, we also have switched our children s church classrooms! The preschool/kindergarten room will now be full time taught by Jason Caldwell and be in the old nursery our 1 st /2 nd Grade class will be taught by Kathy & Richard Broberg in the green room! Geri, Dee & Barb will continue on with the 3 rd /4 th Graders in Geri s room and Danny & Sue will continue to lead our 5 th /6 th graders in the large open room! Thanks for your help with this transition! It will be great to have a little more room for our children *In January we will also have our first of the year Children s programming planning meeting see Jess if you are interested in attending! *In Nursery news, we are looking for any couple or individual(s) that feel God may be calling you to more of a position in the nursery. For instance: possibly taking it on for a month or even quarter at a time during one of the services! If this sounds interesting to you please see Renee today!! Renee also has the 2015 schedule in place if you did not get one please see her today! Thanks again for serving Christ and His body here in Motley!! Happy New Year Everyone! A new year always brings such excitement and a time of reflection of the year just finished. As I look back over the last year in AWANA here at our church I see so much to thank God for blessing us with. We have 30 adults that have committed to serve each and every Wednesday night September-April to teach the clubbers about the love of Jesus- I praise God for that! We have an awesome church family that financially and prayerfully supports our AWANA ministry- Praise God! I want give a huge THANK YOU to each and every person that gave monetarily or donated items to our store night in December! It was a huge success and the kids were so happy to spend their AWANA bucks on gifts for moms, dads, siblings, etc. The wrapping station was a hit also! Thank you to all of our volunteers that helped at the store tables and especially to all of our gift wrappers. I have to share a quote from one little girl from store night- "Thank you for doing this, I can't go to the store to buy a present for my mom, but now I got her just what she loves!" Please continue to pray for AWANA as we are on the 2nd half of the year stretch. You can pray the following ways: 1) please pray that the children attending will come to know JESUS as their LORD and SAVIOR. 2) That children attending will help urge their families to attend church on Sundays so the rest of their family will hear the Good News. 3) That we will continue to reach new children and their families in our community to attend 4) that more adults will step up to volunteer on Wednesday nights. Thank you all for your prayers, God Bless You! Upcoming AWANA nights: January 7th- Regular night; January 14th- Bring a Friend Night; January 21st- Junk Night; January 28th-Regular night Nursery Schedule: cx January 2015-First/Second Service: Jan. 4-Linda J & Brenda R/Lori & Tayah S Jan. 11-David & Nancy S/Renee H & Callie S Jan. 18-Lonna & Nick/Diane B & Chris V Jan. 25-Diane J & Debbie C/Sarah & Robin H February 2015-First/Second Service: Feb. 1-Logan & Jennifer M/Renee H & Sandy K Feb. 8-Ian & Sue N/Brandi N & Margaret F Feb. 15-Steve & Maggie D/John & Angie N Feb. 22-Carol & Craig W/Marisela & Ashley V March 2015-First/Second Service: Mar. 1-Renee H & Tom S/Ken & Hope J Mar. 8-Dale & Carla/Sam & Dayton B Mar. 15-Linda J & Brenda R/Jenelle C. Mar. 22-Linda S & Kurt W/Sandy K & Chris V Mar. 29-Tammy & Dale R/Brenda & Katey

4 YOUTH NEWS: *December seemed liked a quick month with our youth! So many things happening, from programs, concerts, to celebrating the birth of our Savior and our annual Christmas/New Year s Eve Party! Our party this year was held on Dec. 31, 2015! We enjoy a meal together, devotions, games, and fun fellowship!! As we embark on a new year with our youth, we look forward to what the Lord will bring, as He has already brought us a nice consistent group of kids with the hope of quite a few more joining us in May!!! We will continue studying The Top 20 Messages for Youth through January as we move to the new sanctuary to start and will do our lessons and worship in there. Then switch with the AWANA kids at 6:40 to have our game time in the basement! Our youth really enjoy their game time together, and we feel this is an important piece for them. In January, the youth will attend another BAY (Brainerd Area Youth for Christ) Rally on January 28, The group will leave the church at 5:30 for pizza and attend the rally. We will also be collecting ticket money in January for ATF (Acquire the Fire) an annual youth event held in the cities. This event is an overnight Friday-Saturday event, being held March 13-14, 2015, in Eden Prairie, MN. If you have any questions, comments, or are interested in helping in any way, please see Jess or Tim Judd! Thanks as always for remembering to lift up our youth to the Lord, they need our support!! What s Brewin in the Women s Ministry Kitchen? Another year is winding down and a new one is getting ready to kick off. We no more than take a moment to reminisce and reflect on what we have done and then we are back at it making plans for the year to come. Here is what we discussed at our last meeting. Brewing on the front burners.. We will be having a potluck on January 11 th followed by our Annual Business Meeting. I encourage you to attend, whether you are a member or not. We are planning a fun craft night at the church January 23 rd. Ladies can scrapbook, craft, sew, eat there will be lots of things to do whether you are crafty or not. Watch for more details to come. January 25 th we are having another potluck to thank all the contractors and everyone who helped in making the building project a reality. Simmering on the back burners. Teen Challenge will be coming in February and we always like to put together a nice large care package for them. Winter blah ideas are most welcome! We like to break up the long winter dry spell with some activity or activities. If you have some ideas, I would love to hear them! Next Women s Meeting will be January 10 th at 10am! Please come and join us! Kathy Broberg ~ , or brobsrk@yahoo.com Board of Administration Meeting Minutes: *No BOA Meeting in December, the next meeting is the annual meeting to be held Sunday, January 11, 2015 after the second service and pot-luck dinner!

5 January 2015 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday *6 pm-prayer Time 4 *Communion 6 pm-evening Service *12 pm Prayer Time at Jess *5:30-Youth Group *10 am-women s Ministry *6 pm Prayer Time 11 *Pot-Luck Dinner & Annual Meeting 6 pm-evening Service 12 Worship practice-4 pm *6 pm-children s Meeting 13 *6:30-Bible Study 14 *12 pm Prayer Time at Jess *5:30-Youth Group *6 pm- Prayer Time 18 *6 pm-evening Service *12 pm Prayer at Jess *5:30 pm Youth Group *Ladies Craft Night! 24 *6 pm-prayer Time 25 *1 Service-Contractors appreciation & lunch! *6 pm-evening Service 26 Worship practice-4 pm *12 pm-prayer at Jess *5:30-BAY Rally! *6pm-Prayer Time

A Word from Pastor Jim:

Motley Free Methodist Church, 33 Wellwood Street E, Motley, MN. 56466 Mar. 2016 Pastor Jim Johnson: pastorjim05@brainerd.net 218.352.6888 http://www.motleyfreemethodistchurch.com A Word from Pastor Jim: