News From the Grove. April Mark Bowyer, Pastor 668 Wakemans Grove Road Edinburg, VA Phone:

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1 News From the Grove April 2018 Mark Bowyer, Pastor 668 Wakemans Grove Road Edinburg, VA Phone: Web Page: Is Christ at Home in Your Heart? Part III The Dining Room We continue this month with the wonderful illustration written by the late Robert Boyd Munger of Fuller Theological Seminary, My Heart Christ s Home. Munger presents discipleship as a visit by Jesus to every room in the home of our hearts. I will be presenting these in successive newsletter articles and sermons in the coming weeks and months. I pray that these articles and messages will help you answer the question, Is Christ at home in my heart? As a followup to last month s article about the dining room of the mind, Jesus now enters our living room Munger writes: The Living Room We walked next into the living room. This room was rather intimate and comfortable. I liked it. It had a fireplace, overstuffed chairs, a sofa, and a quiet atmosphere. He also seemed pleased with it. He said, "This is indeed a delightful room. Let us come here often. It is secluded and quiet, and we can fellowship together." Well, naturally as a young Christian I was thrilled. I couldn't think of anything I would rather do than have a few minutes with Christ in intimate companionship. He promised, "I will be here early every morning. Meet me here, and we will start the day together." So morning after morning, I would come downstairs to the living room and He would take a book of the Bible from the bookcase. He would open it and then we would read together. He would tell me of its riches and unfold to me its truths. He would make my heart warm as He revealed His love and His grace He had toward me. These were wonderful hours together. In fact, we called the living room the "withdrawing room." It was a period when we had our quiet time together. But, little by little, under the pressure of many responsibilities, this time began to be shortened. Why, I don't know, but I thought I was just too busy to spend time with Christ. This was not intentional, you understand; it just happened that way. Finally, not only was the time shortened, but I began to miss a day now and then. It was examination time at the university. Then it was some other urgent emergency. I would miss it two days in a row and often more. I remember one morning when I was in a hurry, rushing downstairs, eager to be on my way. continued on Page 7

2 PAGE 2 Happy Birthday!!!!!! April 2 Josiah Frenchak 2 Rebecca Mason 3 Jennifer George 5 Susan Neff 6 Ronda Mace 6 Kristina Fix 6 Shane Ritenour 8 Kara McRae 8 Ashton Anway 11 Lauren MacLeod 11 BC Andrews 12 Jessie Myrtle 12 Carolyn Tusing 13 Amanda Myrtle 14 Cindy Burner 14 Gary Meeds 17 Alisa Eberly 17 Anna Hopkins 18 Daron Dodson 18 Angelina Funkhouser 18 Kathy Wakeman 20 Terry Wakeman 21 Lily Bowers 22 Elijah Frenchak 25 Kyle Foltz 26 Dawson Lear 27 Kay Townshend 28 Lilly Tharp 30 Lilah Wilkins Anniversaries: April 15 Mr. & Mrs. Darrin Markley 15 Mr. & Mrs. Eddie Wood 19 Mr. & Mrs. Billy Williams 20 Mr. & Mrs. Galen Kohne 20 Mr. & Mrs. Ronnie Wilkins 25 Mr. & Mrs. Nathaniel Dirting 26 Mr. & Mrs. Eric Estep 30 Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Minnick Winter Worship Schedule: Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. The winter worship schedule continues through Sunday, May 27. Remember Summer Schedule is 9:30 am Sunday School & 10:30 Worship starting June 3. We regret missing any birthdays or anniversaries this month. Please contact Dawn Baker with additions or corrections. 25th Annual Shenandoah District Disaster Response Auction Friday & Saturday, May 18th and 19th, 2018 Rockingham County Fairgrounds Our faith and deeds are putting God s Word into action. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Special note of thanks to the Nurture Commission who recently purchased new balls for recreation purposes, for the youth. 2 Footballs, 2 Basketballs, 2 Volleyballs and 2 Kickballs. The balls will be stored in the Fellowship Hall in a special ball bag. There is also a new ball pump to go along with these balls! So, when you see Jean Kohne, Cindy Burner, Nathaniel Dirting or Kim Dodson, please extend your THANKS!

3 PAGE 3 HOSTING FAMILY PROMISE FAMILY On April 15 22, Wakemans Grove will host our guests of Family Promise. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help this week. The response has been wonderful, but it is not too late to join in the fun. We need a few more people to spend the night from 8:30 pm to 6:00 am. Sleeping-the easiest job of the week! Please consider if this would be something you could do and contact either Lesley Bowyer or Barbara Garber. THANKS! GOOD FRIDAY SERVICES 7:00 pm Easter Drama - The Choice EASTER SUNDAY SERVICES 7:00 am Early Service with Pastor Mark GREENFIELD SCHEDULE: April 15 - TBD May 20 - Junior Choir June 17 - Seeker s I Sunday School Class July 15 - TBD August 19 - Gospel Brothers September 16 - Adult Class October 21 - A Cappella Bellas November 18 - Adult Choir December 9 - Jr Highs/CBYF The Witness Commission would like to thank each group for their willingness to serve and share Christ with the residents of Greenfield. 8:00 am Breakfast 9:00 am Sunday School 10:00 am Worship Service with Pastor Mark 7:00 pm Easter Drama The Choice New Address for Jack Dodson: Skyline Terrace Assisted Living Facility PO Box 558 Woodstock, VA ROOM #36B

4 PAGE 4 BRETHREN WOODS Spring Festival Saturday, April 28th The Spring Festival is Saturday, April 28. Dawn Baker has agreed to Kiss the Cow IF $1, can be raised and WOW! - you are off to a great start! A donation jar will be placed in the vestibule for your convenience. So, if you want to see funds being raised for the camp during the Spring Festival for this event, please consider donating! There are many other fun events taking place during the spring festival at Brethren Woods besides the Kiss the Cow contest. There will be a petting zoo, dunk-the-dunkard dunking booth, a fishing tournament, an auction, children's games, paddle boat rides, lots of food and other activities as well. This Spring festival is not only a fun time for the family, but also a major fundraiser that helps the camp meet its yearly financial needs. It is a great way to get acquainted with Brethren Woods if you are unfamiliar with the camp and also have fun at the same time. Register for Summer Camp! Registration forms and information for summer camp at Brethren Woods can be found tacked to the Camp bulletin board in the vestibule at church. Feel free to take one home. More information and registration options for summer camp, the Spring Festival and Family Camp coming in August, can be found on the Camp website: brethrenwoods.org. Feel free to contact Keith Zirkle by phone or with any questions you may have about Brethren Woods as well. (540) keith@shentel.net For more information or registration forms for these program opportunities, contact Brethren Woods at , camp@brethrenwoods.org, or on the web at

5 PAGE 5 CBYF Report The CBYF had the opportunity to work with the Jr. Highs during their Easter Egg Hunt by providing a Touch-A-Truck. For those who haven t heard of this before, trucks and tractors are open to the kids to climb in and drive. It is much like sitting on the tractors at the County Fair which every kid loves to do. All the kids, young and old, had fun sitting in the tractors, dump trucks, loaders and firetrucks! They even let us honk the horns!!! We will be providing lunch before the Congregational Business meeting on April 8. We will have a soup and sandwich menu. Parents of CBYF members, please see me to sign up for what you would like to bring. A freewill offering will be collected to help with our trip to Momentum. A parents meeting for all CBYF interested in attending the Momentum conference will be held Wednesday, April 11 at 7:00. Please come out and hear the plans that we have for this trip! We will need a commitment from those planning to attend by Sunday, April 22 in order to get a reduced rate on our fees. Thank you for your support of our youth! They are truly growing in their faith by watching each of you. We had many who were members attend Love Feast and several who are not members came or expressed interest in observing. Beware they are watching you all the time and using each of you as their guides in what they need to be when they grow up. What wonderful examples they have in the members of this church!! - Adam & Kristi Zirkle, Advisors Jr High Corner: The Ham Pot Pie supper was a success, thank you to all that helped and attended, the kids and adults had a great time! We also hosted the Easter Egg Hunt this year the week BEFORE Easter, Saturday, March 24 along with the CBYF hosting a Touch a Truck at the same time, and a light lunch for those that attended. We hope that everyone enjoyed it a week earlier and the added touch a truck?! We appreciate feedback, it was also a HUGE outreach, we had more community involvement this year than we have ever had! A BIG THANK YOU to Amber Foltz for such an organized and fun event, she spent a lot of hours in planning. The Jr. High s and CBYF kids and parents were also great help. It was a cold morning but a fun filled time. We are working on upcoming events for the year, we would like to take the kids camping and maybe do a joint event with the CBYF, still working on details. If you know of any projects that may need to be done and you need some assistance, please let us know and we can see what we can work out. We also would like to highlight a member every month here in the newsletter and also on the Youth bulletin board in the hallway at church, so you as a congregation member can get to know them better and see what their outside interests are and all that they are involved in and what may make them who they are. So this month s members are: Tucker Markley and Majesta Good. Majesta is 12 yrs old and in the 7th grade at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School. Her parents are Frankie and Evelyn Good. She has 3 brothers: Dravon (18), Maveric (15) and Navayis (8). Kenneth Bowman is her grandfather. She enjoys art and singing in the PMMS chorus as well as the junior choir at Wakeman's Grove. She is always willing to help with anything the Jr. High group is involved in, as advisors we are glad that we will have one more year to get to know her even better. Tucker Markley is an 11 year-old 6th grader at Peter Muhlenburg Middle School. His parents are Darrin Toby and Holly Markley. He has a sister, Whitney Markley and his grandparents are Gary and Gloria Markley, whom all attend church here at the Grove. Tucker enjoys playing on local sports teams for football, basketball, and swimming. For the past 2 years he has had speaking parts in the church Christmas play, which he has done well. He is actively involved in the Jr. High group here at church and actually preached the sermon for our National Jr. High Sunday back in the fall. He did an excellent job and everyone was very proud of him for stepping up and trying something new. Tucker is also active in the 4-H. He works hard to raise his goats to sell them at the Shenandoah County Fair. Tucker also attends Wyldlife at PMMS. He enjoys breaking the handles out of his Dad s and Uncle Jimmy s axes. Jimmy & Missy Hollar and Daniel & Amber Foltz, Advisors

6 PAGE 6 TENDERLOIN SUPPER The Men s Fellowship will be sponsoring a Tenderloin Supper here at the Grove on Saturday, April 14th, starting at 4:00 pm. Prep day is Friday, April 13 th beginning at 9:00am to peel the potatoes, make the coleslaw, set up the dining hall, etc. All help will be appreciated, as well as donated items such as sheet cakes, milk, bread, paper towels, etc. You may be contacted to donate, if you are not, it means that we have already obtained all of the items needed. Your help is needed and will be GREATLY appreciated. The menu will include: fried tenderloin, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, coleslaw and cake. If you have questions concerning the supper, please feel free to ask Kenny Wakeman or Gary Shipe. Pregnancy Center Banquet Do you need seats for the upcoming support-raising banquet for the Shenandoah County Pregnancy Center? Or, if your church doesn't already have a table, would you like to host a table for 8 guests from your church who are interested in the Pregnancy Center's ministry? I know our guests will enjoy the client testimonies, updates on the ministry.and our guest speaker,. The banquet is Saturday April 21, 2018 at 5:30 at the Moose Lodge in Woodstock. Please contact Jean for tickets or to host a table. Call or pregnant@shentel.net. Thank you, SCPC WEDNESDAY PIECEMAKERS April 2018 Threads That Bind Us We still continue working on many projects to serve our community Lap robes for local organizations: Hospice, Hospital (Angel Cart), Pregnancy Center, Response, A Small Hand, our Church family & many others. Supporting a project for young women in Ghana, West Africa School bags for young children in other countries Children in cancer therapy, UVA, Charlottesville Continue giving lap robes to church & community patients This month we collected items for Family Promise and gave a lap quilt to a terminally ill patient in our church family. We have good fellowship and enjoy what we do, we invite you to come join us!

7 PAGE 7...Continued from front cover As I passed the living room, the door was open. Looking in, I saw a fire in the fireplace and Jesus was sitting there. Suddenly in dismay I thought to myself, "He was my guest. I invited Him into my heart! He has come as Lord of my home. And yet here I am neglecting Him." I turned and went in. With downcast glance, I said, "Blessed Master, forgive me. Have you been here all these mornings?" "Yes," He said, "I told you I would be here every morning to meet with you." Then I was even more ashamed. He had been faithful in spite of my faithfulness. I asked His forgiveness and He readily forgave me as He does when we are truly repentant. "The trouble with you is this: you have been thinking of the quiet time, of the Bible study and prayer time, as a factor in your own spiritual progress, but you have forgotten that this hour means something to me also. Remember, I love you. I have redeemed you at great cost. I value your fellowship. Now," He said, "do not neglect this hour if only for my sake. Whatever else may be your desire, remember I want your fellowship!" You know, the truth that Christ desires my companionship, that He loves me, wants me to be with Him, wants to be with me and waits for me, has done more to transform my quiet time with God than any other single fact. Don't let Christ wait alone in the living room of your heart, but every day find some time when, with your Bible and in prayer, you may be together with Him. Questions to consider: If Jesus were to write out your weekly schedule for you, when would he pencil in His quiet time with you? How many times a week? What might you talk about as you meet together? As you consider these questions, remember His grace! I would be more than happy to meet with you regarding these questions, or any concerns or joys you might have! In His love and mine, Pastor Mark ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Women s Bible Study Begins! Have you ever wondered what your gifts are or what your place is in the body of Christ? You are invited to a Bible Study where we will search out who we are in Christ. We will discover that we are chosen by God and what that means to us today. The Bible Study will be held weekly beginning on Tuesday, April 10 at 1:30 p.m. at the home of Ken & Brenda Kline 76 Birdsong Lane, Edinburg, VA Please bring your Bible and something to take notes with. Please contact if you intend to join us for Bible Study so she may order an additional book.

8 PAGE 8 April 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 HAPPY EASTER! 7:00a Early Service 8:00 Breakfast 9:00 SS 10:00 Worship 7:00p The Choice 2 7:00 Worship 3 7:00 Nurture 4 9:00 Piecemakers 7:00 Witness 7:00 Band/ Prayer Mtg 8:00 AdultChr :00 FPSC Steak Dinner/ Silent Auction Woodstock Moose Lodge 8 12:00 Soup/ Sandwich Lunch 1:00 Spring Congregational BusinessMtg. 9 5:00 Grandparents Raising Grandkids -FPSC 7:oo Executive Committee 10 1:30 Womens Bible Study 7:00 4-H 11 9:00 Piecemakers 7:00 Band 7:00 Prayer 8:00 Adult Choir :00 Supper Prep 14 4:00 until Tenderloin Supper 15 FAMILY PROMISE HOST WEEK 16 Family Promise 17 Family Promise 1:30 Womens Bible Study 5:30 Girl Scouts 18 9:00 Piecemakers 7:00 Band 7:00 Prayer 8:00 Adult Choir 19 Family Promise 9-3 HIS Group 20 Family Promise Brethren Prayer/ Worship Summit Rockingham Co 21Family Promise 5:30 Pregnancy Center Banquet Wdst Moose Lodge Prayer Summit Family Promise Host Week Ends 1:30 Womens Bible Study 9:00 Piecemakers 7:00 Band 7:00 Prayer 8:00 Adult Choir NEWSLETTER ARTICLES DUE BW Spring Festival 29 Bring-A- Friend Sunday Dessert Bar FOLLOW- ING worship! 30

9 PAGE 9 THE LIBRARY BOOK REPORT: The Library Committee recently conducted a survey on library use by the church members and what you would like to see more of. One result is that we will be removing old 8-track tapes from the shelves and replacing as many as possible with DVD s. We have already eliminated the old children s 8-track movies. We also plan to replace old paperback books with newer books and more up-to-date publications. However, we will continue to uphold and promote the Christian values we feel the church has charged us to do, within our library. If you didn t do the survey but have some ideas on how to improve it, or have some special books/dvd s, etc., that you would be interested in, please talk to a member of the Library Committee. Librarian, Barbara Garber BRING-A-FRIEND SUNDAY Sunday, April 29th Dessert Bar following worship! All are welcome...branch out and invite someone new to church! ~Sponsored by the Witness Commission~

10 National Day of Prayer May 3, :00 Noon Emmanuel Lutheran Church (127 East High Street, Woodstock, VA) Behind F&M Bank. This is a ecumenical event that has no political motivations but is simply an opportunity for citizens to come together to pray for our towns, our county, our Commonwealth, and our Nation. Various pastors will lead prayers. CONGRATULATIONS to Todd Crowder!.. Effective January 1, 2018, Todd was appointed Pastor of Maurertown Brethren Church upon the retirement of Pastor Richard Craver. May God continue to bless Todd and Celeste as they minister in this new capacity. MEMBERSHIP CLASSES Anyone interested in exploring baptism, membership or more about the Church of the Brethren, please prepare yourselves for upcoming Membership Classes date TBD! Please see Pastor Mark for more information. WAKEMANS GROVE CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN 668 WAKEMANS GROVE ROAD EDINBURG, VA 22824