ALL IN THE FAMILY. A Resource for the Chestnut Grove UMC Congregation MARCH 2016

Transcription

1 ALL IN THE FAMILY A Resource for the Chestnut Grove UMC Congregation MARCH 2016 Pastor: Michael A. Druck Church Office: Church cgumcchurch@verizon.net Sunday Worship at 10:10 AM Heavenly Hands Daycare: heavenlyhands5@verizon.net WE ARE: A Real Church of Real People Loved by the Real Savior, Jesus Christ Who sends us into a real world To share His real Love SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES Every Sunday at 9:00-10:00AM, All Welcome! Feel free to call the Leader for more info! WOW Adults Fellowship Hall. Current Bible Study: Exodus ; Leader: Sherry Spencer Women s class - I Blame Eve (see description on p. 7) Library; Leader: Tammy Strayer PRAYER CHAIN PHONE CHAIN: Activate by calling Pastor Mike at CHAIN: Will be activated automatically by the phone chain. For only, contact Pastor Mike at mad4him@verizon.net. BIBLE STUDIES Men s Group - Every Tuesday, 7:00 AM at Brothers Restaurant. Women s Bible study - Wednesday evenings, 6:30 PM - 8:00 PM. Studying Revelation. CHOIR & SPECIAL MUSIC Contact Laurie Bush if you would like to sing with the choir or share special music (vocal or instrumental) with the congregation. Choir practice is held most Sundays immediately following worship. Opportunities for Children during worship Nursery is available for children under the age of 3 following the Lamb s Talk portion of the worship service. Children s Church is available for children ages 3 (potty-trained) and up! The children are learning age appropriate Bible lessons and songs and having a great time together! Page 1

2 Where to find information about church activities: Our Website can be found at: To view the church calendar: Go to the website ( then click the OUR CALENDAR tab. - CLICK on a listed event to get more details (EXAMPLE: some Sunday Worship Services involve special events that you can t see till you click on them) -NAVIGATE to the MONTH by clicking the small right & left arrows located near the upper left corner of the menu. HOW TO SHARE INFORMATION WITH THE CONGREGATION TO ADD ITEMS TO THE CHURCH BULLETIN: the church TO SUBMIT NEWSLETTER ARTICLES: the church AND Kathy Bennett TO HAVE INFORMATION DISPLAYED ON THE CHURCH WEBSITE: the church AND Joe Bennett CHILDREN S CHURCH VOLUNTEER SCHEDULE Teacher Helper MARCH 6 - Dee Gerber Carol Clayton 13 - Connie Gettle Steve Myers 20 - Denise Newhard Candace Gerber 27 - NO COVERAGE---EASTER CANTATA APRIL 3 - Barb Druck Joe Bennett 10 - Kathy Bennett Carol Clayton 17 - Laurie Bush Ken Orth 24 -Dee Gerber Steve Myers MAY 1 - Connie Gettle Candace Gerber 8 - Denise Newhard Kyra Gerber 15 - Tammy Strayer Cameron Trowbridge 22 - Dee Gerber Allen Gettle 29 - Barb Druck Ken Orth Thanks to all those who volunteer to serve in this position! If you find you will be away a week you are scheduled to serve, please arrange for a substitute or call the church office if you are unable to find a substitute. FACILITY USE REQUESTS TO SCHEDULE EVENTS OR REQUEST FA- CILITY USE: or call the Church Office: (cgumcchurch@verizon.net ) Someone from the church office will contact you to let you know if the space you need is available and to ask you to complete a form so that the use can be approved by the appropriate group and placed on the church calendar to make sure there are no scheduling conflicts. LITURGIST SCHEDULE: Mar. 6 Barbara Druck Mar. 13 Allen Gettle Mar. 20 Connie Gettle Mar. 27 Jack McCoy April 3 Keith Albert April 10 Blain Bargo April 17 Kathy Bennett April 24 Kathi Chambers Page 2

3 WOMEN S SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS The Women s Sunday School Class is studying the book "I Blame Eve" by Susanna Foth Aughtmon. "When Eve ate the fruit, we lost out on the perfect life. But that doesn't stop us from trying, does it?". What would happen if we stopped trying to be perfect and started trying to be his? LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! Chestnut Grove UMC has a BRAND NEW FB PAGE. Help us grow. Please Like our page, and watch for news about what's going on, plus photos and updates. Post a comment, if you like! OPPORTUNITIES FOR MISSIONS AND MINISTRY We are committed to sharing the good news of God s salvation in Christ with all. Our mission program extends from our local community to nursing homes to missionaries around the world. The youth and adults of the church participate in the yearly week-long area Work Camp and occasional day missions. LADIES NIGHT OUT! Our next Ladies Night Out Dinner will be on Wed. Mar. 16, 6:00 PM at Cracker Barrel in Mechanicsburg. Shirley Fetterolf will make the arrangements. Plan to join us and bring a friend - everyone is welcome! SUMMER CAMP SEASON IS APPROACHING! There are camp opportunities for adults and families as well as children - check out the online brochure at: SC%20camp%20booklet% pdf Online registration is also available. UPCOMING FELLOWSHIP MEAL(S) The next Fellowship Meal will be held on March 6 following worship. Place settings and beverages are provided. Please bring a covered dish to share. Page 3

4 Clarification concerning the 2013 Projects Appeal It seems there is some confusion about the action taken by the Ad Council related to 2015 s Appeal. The rumor is we spent Appeal money on current expenses. Herein is a precise accounting of what happened: -$15,001 was contributed by you, our generous congregation members, in response to our 2015 Appeal to cover our 2013 Projects goals, including paying back the loan made from the Heavenly Hands Daycare. Among those funds was the Easter Egg Candy Money that was directed by those who raised the money to this cause. -Shortly after the conclusion of the appeal, the Ad Council became aware that our normal operating expenses were outstripping income. The Ad Council took the following actions to sustain current bill payments, secure the Appeal funds raised, and maintain some reserves for emergencies: a. Suspended promotion of our 2nd Mile Mission Giving (this is still in effect). b. Temporarily Suspended payment of our 1st mile Fair Shares Goals of Ministries and Missions paid to our Conference though 25% had already been paid. NOTE: Pension and Insurance payments were sustained and paid in full to our conference as were all other operating expenses (salaries, utilities, etc.). c. Our $17,000+ Money Market fund was transferred to a Savings Account in an act that secured the $15,001 the congregation gave towards defraying the outstanding commitments related to the Projects. d. Paying off the Daycare Loan was delayed until clarification about the amount of debt still owed was confirmed. In the meantime, monthly payments continued till January 2016 when $6,500 was paid to the Daycare to fully pay off our loan. We are now DEBT FREE! We regret that the number of steps we had to take to honor the congregation s contributors may have caused confusion and hope this clears that up. I am proud as I hope you are of our servant/leaders who, by reasonable estimate, together committed over half of the contributions made to the Projects Appeal. They also wisely protected and distributed our financial pledges and took the necessary steps to secure our on-going financial well-being! Pastor Mike OCC Shoebox Mission Latest News! Can you believe that 11,213,010 Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes were collected worldwide in 2015? Included were the more than 100 boxes collected at CGUMC. Your gifts helped transform the lives of children and their families around the world. Now it's time to start shopping for items for 2016 shoeboxes. Samaritan's Purse has put together a list of suggested items that you could purchase each month. If you shop according to this schedule, you'll have at least one box filled (or nearly filled), when it's time for our shoebox collection. These are merely suggestions, of course. Whenever you're shopping, keep an eye out for sale or bargain items. Remember, however, that quality is important. A child will probably only get one box ever, and he or she deserves it to be full of quality items - nice things that will last and not break right away. The suggestion for January was hats, gloves, and scarves, which are probably now on sale at many stores. February's item was accessories, such as jewelry, sunglasses, watches, hair clips, etc. During March, you could shop for a quality handcrafted item, such as a knitted cap or wooden toy. Watch the bulletin and our newsletter for more ideas for the rest of the year. If you have any questions or you're not familiar with our Operation Christmas Child shoebox project, see Judy Routson (jaroutson@aol.com) or visit Page 4

5 OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE Homebound, Special Needs, & Our Honored Elders Contact List - Copies are available in the plastic rack in the Vestibule for those who wish to keep in contact with them. Forward updates, additions, or deletions to Pastor Mike via (mad4him@verizon.net), phone ( ), or note in his mail box (top left outside of Church Office). Cards of Caring A few seconds of your time can bring cheer to someone. Remember to look on the table outside of the Sanctuary for cards to sign. Send Letters, Cards or Notes of Encouragement to: Graham Michael 1326 E Platte Ave Colorado Springs, CO AM Stacy R. Seik and Garrett Seik 3009 Driftwood Ct Virginia Beach, VA KE3580 Charles A Trimmer, Jr. SCI-Waymart P.O. Box 256 Waymart, PA (note: New rules are, envelopes must be WHITE, your full name must be on the return address, and as always, avoid stickers, including return address labels, tape and glitter!) EASTER EGG HUNT Sun. Mar. 20, 10:10 a.m. Palm Sunday service Sun. Mar. 27, 6:45 a.m. Sonrise Service Join us and bring your friends on Saturday, March 19 at 10 a.m. for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Anyone through grade 5 is invited! 7:30 a.m. Easter Breakbast 10:10 a.m. Easter Cantata Page 5

6 10 Ways to Encourage Spirit Filled Worship If you want to start a spirited discussion amongst Christians, ask them to define/describe Spirit filled worship. For some it is found in the passionate, energetic expressions of worship that bring the faithful to their feet, clapping, singing, even shouting God s praise. Others find it in the overwhelming sense of God s presence as one quietly prays in the places of great reverence and stillness that honor God. Some will want to quote the Bible to you. But which passage? Is it one of the many demonstrating exuberance and power before the Lord, like David dancing in the procession of the Ark or the coming of the Spirit to the disciples? Or do we look at the times when the Spirit comes in stillness, as in a whisper in 1 Kings to Elijah or the woman who washed the feet of Christ with her tears? How can we, as worship leaders, know if our encouragement to others to engage the Spirit in worship is effective if the outward evidence of this worship is so diverse? Here are 10 thoughts and suggestions to focus our hearts on the Spirit in worship so that we can, with confidence, know that our worship is Spirit filled. Be God honoring It can be very easy to lose ourselves in the actions of worship and forget the reason for worship. Allow the Spirit to move in your heart so that words sung and prayers prayed are directed at the One who called us to worship and who is worthy to be worshiped. Be without avarice Don t look at the offerings in worship, be it singing, preaching, praying, etc. as needing to fulfill your personal preference punchcard. When we set aside what we selfishly desire and accept what God has prepared for us, believing God knows what we need, then our hearts are ready for worship in the Spirit. Spirit filled worship is evidenced when we can love God and love others in a community of worship in ways that we could not do on our own. Be moveable So many people come to worship and find fault with anything that takes them away from their comfort zone. Yes, God wants to minister to you where you are through your worship. But, the Spirit wants to lead you to where God wants you to be. Be faithful In todays culture, the norm has become attending worship only when it fits our schedule. God s Spirit can especially fill your worship in the times when you sacrifice your schedule to God s command to be faithful. Be honest We don t only worship when we are happy. The Psalmist approached the throne angry many times, yet always remembered and worship the One who was worthy of praise. Be honest about your feelings before God and allow the Spirit to shape your words and open your heart and mind to receive God s words for you. Be patient Last weeks worship experience stirred your passions and your soul like never before and now you want more. This weeks worship is leaving you flat and uninterested. Ask God s Spirit to awaken your heart and let God stir your soul. Worship is about God first, not you. Be expressive Tell God how you think and feel about God and let the Spirit shape how those thoughts and emotions are ex Be in relationship pressed. This may mean you sing with joy or it may mean you Page 6 Cont d on page 7

7 Cont d from page 6 stand/sit in silence before the Lord because no word or action can adequately convey what you need to bring before the throne. June 26 - June 30 6:00-8:30 PM AGES 4 THRU GRADE 5 (AS OF 2015/16 SCHOOL YEAR) Be humble Don t sing or pray loudly just to hear yourself sing (or just so others can hear you sing). The Bible clearly says we are to humble ourselves before the Lord. Allow the Spirit to give you words to speak and songs to sing so that you can worship God in the power of the Spirit, at whatever volume that may be. Be contrite and forgiven No this is not an oxymoron. We come before the throne with a contrite heart so that we may know the forgiveness of the Lord and worship God in that forgiveness. Allow God s Spirit to open your worship to the power of forgiveness since only the contrite and forgiven can truly appreciate and worship who God is and what God has done. I am sure you can think of many more. Ask God to let the Spirit lead your worship and your worship will always be Spirit filled regardless of how it may look or sound. Join us at Chestnut Grove UMC for VBS It s FUN and it s FREE! Call for information or pick up a registration form at the church! Reprinted with permission from Sharefaith Magazine and the author, Dr. Craig Gilbert Page 7