RUHL S CHURCH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Transcription

1 In This Edition Page 1 3 Announcements RUHL S CHURCH WEEKLY NEWSLETTER Page 4 Pastor s Column Page 5- Calendar THIS WEEK IN WORSHIP This week in worship is number six, only one more to go, in our series looking at the I am statements of Jesus. This week the passage is John 14:6 I am the way, the truth and the life. Take some time over the next few days to think on this and to meditate. Are you on the way, filled with the truth and living the life? If not, what do you need to do to get back on track. Come Sunday, we will work on this together and we will join together to praise God in song and prayer as well. Looking ahead, next week we will look at Jesus as the vine, then it is Transfiguration Sunday, Ash Wednesday and Lent begins. During Lent it is traditional to give something up to focus more on your faith. Maybe you want to start thinking now, what you will do then, whether it is to give something up, or do something more, or differently, so that you may grow in your faith. Just a little something to think about maybe if the snow has you slowed down a bit. See you Sunday. Blessings to you all. SOMETHING NEW IN THE BULLETIN - QR CODES Starting this Sunday, we are adding QR Codes throughout the bulletin. When you access a QR Code on your Smart Phone, it will take you directly to a specific page on our website. This feature will work with your camera or you may need to download a QR Reader app. FROZEN HAM AND BEAN SOUP AVAILABLE. Frozen soup is available in the kitchen and may be picked up after either church service and after Sunday School. Donations will benefit the Ruhl's mission outreach. WOMEN S PRAYER AND SHARE GROUP Women's Prayer a nd Share Group meets on Fridays from 10:00 to 11:00am. This is a time for sharing prayer requests and praying for each other, our church and our Country. INDOOR YARD SALE The 20 th Annual Ruhl s Indoor Yard Sale is Saturday, March 2 from 7-11am in the New Fellowship Hall. If you have a few items that you wish to donate, a space will be provided. All proceeds will go towards various missions and ministries the Sunshine Class supports. Even if you do not have anything to sell, please join us the day of the event to buy some treasures. Lunch, homemade soup and baked goods will be sold at a food stand. Questions? Contact Kris Gray ( ). Come join the fun! TOOLS FOR MINISTRY Tools for Ministry is coming March 2. For details, pick up an information packet at the information center in the lobby. FAITH AND FAMILY NIGHT Come out for fun and fellowship as Ruhl s Church joins Faith & Family Night at the Giant Center on March 16th at 7 P.M. The Hershey Bears take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (New York Islanders). Cost is $16.00 Per person. Seats are in section 205 rows A D. Deadline to sign up February 3rd, Make checks payable to: Barb Dunmire, 497 Meadowlark Lane, Manheim, PA Questions? Contact Barb Dunmire at or bwbbarb@hotmail.com

2 CHICKEN POT PIE DINNER All you can eat Chicken Pot Pie Dinner Saturday, March 23rd from 4:00pm till 7:00pm or until sold out. Other menu items include: Green Beans, Cole Slaw, Applesauce, Homemade Desserts, and Beverages. Cost: Adults $12.00, Children (6-12) $5.00, Children under 5 are free. Take out Chicken Pot Pie will be $8.00 a quart. All proceeds benefit mission trip in June CARPENTERS CALLING MISSION TRIP Carpenters Calling Mission Team is planning a trip to Lumberton North Carolina March 31 st through April 6 th. We are always looking for people to join us. If you are interested in joining us, think you might be or have questions, please see Ted Achey, Fred Longenecker or Steph Heisey. If you need to spark your spiritual life or you want to share Christs love, come along. We guarantee it will be life changing. BUS TOUR MUSEUM OF THE BIBLE OR SMITHSONIAN ZOO When: April 6th, 2019 Cost: Museum of the Bible - Adults $82.00, ages 5-11 years $70.00, Under 5 years $55.00 Cost: Smithsonian Zoo - Adults $69.00, ages 5-11 years $60.00, Under 5 years $ Flyers & sign-up sheets on bulletin board in Fellowship Hall or contact Barb Dunmire at or bwbbarb@gmail.com SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY PREGNANCY CENTER Here at Ruhl s Church, we support the work of the SVPC through our Mission Team. You can help personally. In the main lobby there is a manger to collect items that are used by SVPC. Anytime the Spirit moves you, purchase an item and drop it off. (All items should be new unless noted otherwise.) Items will be delivered when the manger starts to get full. Items to support this local ministry include: Baby bathtubs, Bottles, Boppy Pillows, Pacifiers, Diaper Bags, Baby Wash, High Chairs, Baby Bouncer, Teething Rings, Receiving Blankets, Burp Cloths, Wipes, Hooded Towels, Crib Sheets, Baby Lotion, Diapers, (New OR GENTLY used) Clothing sizes preemie up to 5T. TARGET YOUR DISCOUNT CARDS The Preschool is once again selling t he Target Your Discount Cards. This card allows you to access discounts at many businesses in the Manheim, Lititz, Mount Joy, and Lancaster areas and can be used as many times as you wish between now and December 31, The discounts vary from a percentage off a purchase or free items with a purchase. Visit for a complete list of businesses or Ginny Brown. If you have any questions or wish to purchase a card ($20) see Ginny Brown or call De Leitzel ( ). A TargetYourDiscount Card is a gift that keeps on giving. Thank you from the staff and children of Ruhl s Preschool for your support! FIREWOOD FOR SALE AT THE GROVE CONTACT Dave Heisey OFFERING ENVELOPES YEARLY GIVING STATEMENTS Offering envelopes have been moved to the church office. If you have not picked up your envelopes yet, please pick them up there. Yearly Giving Statements were mailed the week of January 28.

3 FOOD PANTRY Here at Ruhl s Church we want to help out our neighbors in need. One of the ways we do that is through food ministry. In the main lobby, there is a grocery cart with a list of items each month. You are encouraged to give a food tithe. Every time you go to the grocery store, purchase one item that you will share with those in need and place it in the cart when you come to church. The items collected ultimately go to the Food Pantry in Manheim, housed at the Salem United Methodist Church. However, we will pull a few items aside as they would be useful to keep a small selection here at Ruhl s for special, emergency needs. In the Hallway between the Sanctuary and the Fellowship Hall, there is a white book case with a selection of food items that you can take and use personally or deliver to someone you are aware of who has an immediate need. Take whatever is useful. No questions asked! FOOD PANTRY SPECIAL REQUESTS FOR FEBRUARY: Canned fruit, especially pineapples and pears Applesauce Saltines/snack crackers Cranberry juice Canned tuna and chicken CAN T MAKE IT SUNDAY MORNING? We are Live streaming services here at Ruhl s. What does that mean exactly? Well that means if you are ever home sick or away on a Sunday morning, you can tune in and watch our service live from where ever you are with your cell phone, tablet, computer, or smart TV. All you need to do is go to then in the search bar type in Ruhl s Church. The first thing that will pop up is the Ruhl s Church channel. You click on that, select the live service or watch one of the previous uploaded sermons. The actual link is Our live services will be most 8:00am services and all of the 10:30am services. We also live stream our service to the nursery and the prayer room for anyone who may need to step out of the service for a while. The live stream is deleted soon as the service is over for copywrite issues and the Sermon part of the service will be put up on our website and youtube channel on Monday. If you have any problems or questions, see Dustin. YOUTH GROUP NEWS IGNITE is held Sunday nights from 6:30 till 8:00pm for grades 6 th through 12 th. Our new series will be starting soon. We will be talking about Godly Relationships. Youth Fundraiser: The youth are selling Hershey Park Tickets at a discounted rate. The best deal is to buy the tickets before March 15 th. All checks need to be made out to Ruhl s Church. For more info look on the Bulletin board in the NFH or talk to Barb Dunmire. Youth Update: The 30-hour Famine will be March 8 th and 9 th. Check the youth bulletin board for more info. ALTAR FLOWERS The Leadership Team (Board of Ministry) have decided to do flowers different this year to cut down on cost. There is a sign-up sheet on the bulletin board by the offices. If you would like to sponsor flowers this year please sign up and then there will be two options for you. The first being you can have the office order the usual flowers from Royer s for $30 and we would need the money and the office notified by the Thursday before the Sunday you wish to sponsor flowers. The second option is for you to order flowers on your own from your own florist and to let the office know what you want in the bulletin for information. If you have any questions, please call the office. ( )

4 Thinking Out Loud by Rev. Blaine R. Wenger The Day Before Valentine s Day For weeks now, I have been seeing ads by all kinds of businesses, reminding me that Valentines Day is fast approaching. Everyone from grocery stores to restaurants and flower shops are hoping that I will buy plates of extravagantly coated chocolate strawberries, bouquets of roses and special meals. But it is not limited to these kind of stores. Big retailers have their Valentine specials as well. No one it seems, wants to miss out on my spending my money for this big occasion. I m not sure how electronics say love but apparently they do. I guess love, like beauty, is in the eye, or is it the heart, of the beholder. Valentines Day has to be one of the oddest holidays. It was originally named as the day to remember a Christian saint on the day of his death. He was a man of faith who opposed the Roman emperor. The thing that seems to have led to his death is that he defied the emperor and would perform weddings for soldiers who wanted to get married. Marriage was forbidden for soldiers in this time. So, there is a connection with love on this day, the day of St. Valentine s death. My first memories of Valentines Day were from elementary school. Each year we would make a trip to the store, buy a box of Valentines and then dutifully fill out a Valentine for each person in class. On Valentines Day, there was some arrangement whereby each student would put a valentine for each other student into a mailbox. Often there was a paper bag that we could conveniently use to tote them all home. I think those Valentines were the first form of participation trophy I ever got and gave. Everyone in the class got one. It was not just expected; often it was instructed. It wasn t until middle school when this practice got dropped. Then, I remember that we got to choose not just who we gave to, but if we would give Valentines. If we were so moved, in middle school and high school I remember things sponsored by the student council or some other group where we could send little bags of Hershey Kisses or maybe a flower. Valentines Day became a day of anticipation and dread. Would you get anything? How many? From whom? Not everybody did. No more participation trophies. Now it was obvious, there were the popular and the unpopular, the loved and the unloved. But this is life, right? It is normal. It is fair. We get to choose. Well, some of us get to choose. If you call yourself a follower of Jesus, I am afraid it isn t that simple. How many scriptures are there that reference love? It is a lot. There are lots of scriptures that talk about God s love for us. And there are lots of scriptures that talk about how we are supposed to love. We are supposed to love God, of course. And, we are supposed to love each other, meaning other believers. We are even supposed to love our enemies. There really is no one left out of who we are supposed to love, because the world is supposed to know us by our love. If we don t love on all, then some will see our love as favoritism toward others. In short, as far as we are concerned, everyone, and I mean everyone, should get a Valentine. But it is still not that simple. As followers of Jesus, love is everyday. Still, I guess there is something to the idea of having a special day to remember. After all, we have Mother s Day, Father s Day, Veteran s Day, Memorial Day, etc. But, I would suggest to you a different approach this year. Rather than trying to come up with a big expression for one special person, how is it that you can tell, or show, as many people as possible that you love them? What can you do, to effectively give everyone possible a Valentine? Those teachers in elementary school just may have been on to something! I don t mean you need to go literally buy boxes of Valentines, unless you want to. But what can you do, what will you do, to remind as many as you can, about love this Valentines Day? Better get started! Didn t you hear? The big day is almost here. Grace & Peace, Pastor Blaine

5 RUHL S CHURCH CALENDAR Sunday, February 17th 8:00am Traditional Worship Service 9:15am Sunday School for All Ages 10:30am Worship Service 6:00pm Youthful Praise (music ministry for kids & youth) 6:30 8:00pm IGNITE for all Youth Monday, February 18th 7:00pm Leadership Meeting Tuesday, February 19th Wednesday, February 20th 6:30pm Bible Study on Romans with Pastor Blaine 7:30pm Choir Rehearsal 8:15pm Praise Band Rehearsal Thursday, February 21st 10:00am Ruhl s Church Prayer Walk (Come and pray for Ruhl s) Friday, February 22nd 10:00-11:00am Women s Prayer and Share Saturday, February 23rd Sunday, February 24th 8:00am Traditional Worship Service 9:15am Sunday School for All Ages 10:30am Worship Service 6:00pm Youthful Praise (music ministry for kids & youth) 6:30 8:00pm IGNITE for all Youth Looking Ahead Pleasant View Retirement Community Communion Feb. 25, 1:30pm Indoor Yard Sale - March 2, 7-11am Faith and Family Night March 16, 7:00pm Pot Pie Dinner March 23, 4-7pm What s Happening in East PA. Conference/West District See Pastor Blaine for Details Tools for Ministry, March 2nd, 8:30am-12:30, Lititz UMC (Check West Weekly/West District website for list of workshops) GIANT Yard Sale for Anchorage Breakfast Ministry, March 30, 7:30am-1pm Lancaster Brethern in Christ, Fruitville Pike District Conference May 5, Location TBA Equalizing Delegate must submit name to District Office by April 28