Crystal River United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 Crystal River United Methodist Church Pastor's E-Note In This Issue E-Note Emmaus Celebrate Recovery Happy Birthday To You Dear Church, I hear you were blessed last week with God s Word as delivered by Rev. Gene Strange. I know you all blessed him as he shared God s Word with all of you. I am grateful for Rev. Strange and his wife Donna for coming and filling the pastoral duties for the morning. It gave Michele and me a weekend off, and a time to recharge our batteries as we head into the season of Lent. For the next two weeks we are going to look at how God calls us to use our gifts and how He can multiply them for His kingdom. Then we will begin Lent with our Ash Wednesday service on Wednesday, March 5th at 7:00 pm. Then beginning on Sunday, March 9th, we will begin a February 21 Barbara MacNeill February 22 Candice Luce (Tervis) February 23 Lindsey Parrella February 25 Candice Nelson February 26 Marge Harjes Eileen Austin

2 seven week series on the last Seven Words from the Cross, culminating with Easter on Sunday, April 20th. This is a great season in the church as we reflect on the gift of salvation and eternal life that Jesus gives us through His death, burial, and resurrection. Remember this: Without the Resurrection, there is no need for the church or even in following Jesus. All of life becomes meaningless without the resurrection. So let me encourage you to become more of the person Jesus wants you to become, and then live as one who knows there is always a tomorrow, through the power of the resurrection. WEEKEND WORSHIP We will begin our two-week series this weekend: Multiplying Your Gifts. We will look at two important principles: 1) A Gift must be blessed before it can multiply. 2) A Gift must be given away before it can multiply. We will look at each of these principles and seek to discover how God wants to use us in applying these principles in our lives. Our Gifts are more than just finances, but unfortunately many of us are still struggling with giving this area of our lives over to God. Once you have given this area over to God, the other areas of your life tend to work out more smoothly. It really is a trust issue that is at the heart of our letting go. Come and bring a friend and discover what God says about using our gifts. YOUTH MINISTRY NEWS The CRUMY Group is in the process of raising money for their summer mission trip to the Warren Wills Youth Camp to re-roof some of the cabins in late May-early June. They are looking for work, so if you have some work you need done around your home, the youth will come and do the work for a reasonable rate. If you are interested in hiring a youth to work for you, Thomas Kennedy February 27 Gerry Burrell Celebrate Recovery Join us every Friday night, as we Celebrate Recovery! Dinner and fellowship begin at 6 p.m. Worship begins at 7 p.m. "The Inheritance of Grace" Bible Study contnues Sunday, February 23rd at Gary and Margaret Williams Home. Study will be from 6-8 p.m. Contact Helen Mack for further information What is Emmaus, you ask? The Walk to Emmaus is a

3 please call Marie Witte to schedule the work you need completed. You can reach Marie at I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to complete some unfinished projects around your home, and to help the youth raise money for their mission trip to Warren Willis Camp. NOMADS The first team of Nomads have come and gone, and the second team came in last weekend. They have had a busy week working in the community and around the church. Some of the accomplishments the first team completed: 1) They worked on relocating the Nature Coast resale shop and food distribution center. They prepared the new building by painting, building new shelving, and doing some minor electrical work. 2) They worked on several homes in our community, painting, flooring repair and installing new wall coverings. 3) Repaired a fence with new posts, new wood panels, fixed the gate, and bleached the mold off the panels. 4) Fixed and repaired some issues at the Tabernacle. 5) Replaced rotten wood panels, installed doors and windows on the concession/bar-b-q building next to the Tabernacle. 6) Moved the semi trailer filled with construction materials from Eustis to Crystal River. This gives us a place to store materials to use for repair work in the community. 7) Extended the patio area in the court yard next to the sanctuary. 8) Worked at the dental and medical clinic, set to open in several weeks to people in need. It was a busy three week period, and as always, they were a blessing to this community and to this church family. I want to thank everyone who prepared lunch and served the Nomads during their three week stay. If you can help out with the second group, call the front office. We need to cover next Tuesday and Wednesday and spiritual renewal program intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. The program s approach seriously considers the model of Christ s servanthood and encourages Christ s disciples to act in ways appropriate to being a servant of all. The Walk to Emmaus experience begins with a 72-hour short course in Christianity, comprised of fifteen talks by lay and clergy on the themes of God s grace, disciplines of Christian discipleship, and what it means to be the church. The course is wrapped in prayer and meditation, special times of worship and daily celebration of Holy Communion. The Emmaus community, made up of those who have attended an Emmaus weekend, support the 72- hour experience with a prayer vigil, by preparing and serving meals, and other acts of love and selfgiving. The Emmaus Walk typically begins Thursday evening and concludes Sunday evening. Men and women attend separate weekends. The Men's weekend is March The Women's weekend is

4 March then Monday through Wednesday the following week for lunches. Thank the Nomads for all of their hard work when you see them in worship. Thank you for being a community of faith that seeks to make Jesus the center of your focus and love for one another. Michele and I thank you for the honor of serving with you at Crystal River UMC. Have a great weekend and I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday. Blessings, Pastor David A Pleasing Aroma Each weekend we worship God through our singing, our prayers and our serving. We also come to worship each weekend to give back a portion of what God has given us, because it is one way in which we can show God our heart. Another way we can show God our heart is to confess to God our love for Him. Confession is good for the soul, right? Well, I have a confession to make: I love a good cup of coffee in the morning. For more information, please contact Reverend David Rawls through the church office, or by at pastor@crumc.com. A DISCIPLE S PATH New classes are now forming for A DISCIPLE S PATH, a study in what it really means to pledge our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness. If you have not had this class before, please sign up at the Welcome Center. Classes will be beginning in February. Some people like Starbucks. Other people like Dunkin Donuts. You know, America runs on Dunkin. Are you a Folgers fan? The best part of waking up! They tell me true coffee snobs like single origin coffee. I don t think I fit into that category; I just like a good cup of coffee. I am told a single origin coffee is where the coffee bean comes from one particular farm and is roasted to perfection, ground just before they are brewed with filtered water that comes straight out of the deep aquifer. Do you know any of these people? One of my favorite things about coffee is the smell. I love the aroma of coffee in the morning. It smells so good.

5 There is a verse in the Old Testament that talks about Noah building an altar and offering a sacrifice to God. The Bible says God smelled the pleasing aroma of Noah s sacrifice. In fact, a phrase like that is used 39 different times in the Old Testament. People would offer God a sacrifice on the altar and God would say it was a pleasing aroma. Maybe it made God happy the way the aroma of good coffee in the morning makes me happy. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul used similar language to Christians living in the city of Philippi. In Philippians 4:8, Paul told the people that their financial gifts were a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. I love the connection between the Old and New Testaments. I love that God looks at our financial gifts the same way he looks at Old Testament sacrifices. I love that our financial gifts can make God smile. Just something to think about as you come to worship each weekend. Consider signing up for consistent giving by going to This makes giving simple and it provides a consistent gift to the ministries of Crystal River UMC. Be a fragrant offering, acceptable and pleasing to God. Would you, or someone you know, like to receive the weekly E-Newsletter? Simply go to and let us know! We send out weekly information on what is happening in Crystal River United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved. P: E: office@crumc.com