Lamentations 3: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning;

Transcription

1 Christ Presbyterian Church of Monrovia 1580 Jeff Road NW, Huntsville, AL Phone: Website: Address: Sunday School 9:00 am - Worship Service 10:15 am The Reverend Cardelia Howell Diamond, pastor Come Experience Christ with Us! August 2015 Issue 8 Summer is coming to a close. The kids go back to school on the 3 rd! (Is it me or is that just SUPER early?) Vacations are being wrapped up and the regular routine is looming. It s backto-the-grindstone time once more. Often times these changes can lead us to a slump, a sense that life is not how we want it and we are trapped in a pattern we don t particularly like. We can let these slumps get us to a point of disinterest or worse, depression. But as with many things in life, it is a matter of perspective. Your routine everyday activities are just that, YOURS! That means you have the power to set them, to break them, to maintain them, to CHANGE them! There are countless books, website and lists that might help you set a new routine, but here is the one that helps me the most. Lamentations 3: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. God has given us new mercies every morning. That is where I place my hope, my faith, especially on those dreaded days after. You know those days, the day after you broke your eating plan. The day after you got bad news. The day after you blew your top. The day after you skipped your exercise. God s mercies are new EVERY morning! As we all get into the routine of life, let us make healthy changes to our routines. Let us include the things we need: daily time with God, enough sleep, plenty of water and 30 minutes of activity a day. And let us all remember, each day we are offered new mercies by God! Grace and Peace, The Reverend Cardelia Howell-Diamond

2 The weekly Bible Study will not meet during the summer months. The study will resume meeting in the fall. The fall study will be Ann Voskamp s One Thousand Gifts. We hope you will join us! Please be in prayer as your session meets Sunday, August 9, at 12 pm. They will be meeting to work on the business of the church, but also to pray for the church mission, congregation and goals. If you have anything, you would like the session to discuss, please contact your elder. Meals are provided for our Young Adult Bible study on Wednesdays at 5:30 pm. See Vanessa Suggs if you would like to be added to the rotation. What a blessing to feed these young adults as they gather to feast on the Word! July 29 Jerianne Trammell August 5 Beth Agee Aug 12 Martha Fisher Aug 19 Vanessa Suggs Aug 26 Lynn Ashby Sept 2 Frances Dawson Sunday school is available for all ages beginning at 9 am. Our nursery is open at 8:45 am for our youngest children. Our school age children meet with Mrs. Martha in the orange classroom. Your session has been prayerfully going over the finances of the church. We believe we are in a position to begin asking for your prayers and support in the matter of our building fund. We would like to be able to begin placing money on a regular basis into this fund so that we can be prepared when the need arises to add on to our campus. If you would like to make any designated gifts to the building fund, you may place them in the offering plate with notation or give to elder Steve Norris. Let us pray together for God s continued guidance and blessing. Please remember to check the sign-up sheets in the Fellowship room to see where your help is needed. Our Adults meet with Doug in the back class room. Please make plans to join us!

3 August Downtown Rescue Mission September SNAP October Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes November Inside Out Ministries (food drive) and Loaves and Fishes December Angel Tree and Gift to the King January 2016 Guatemala Church Build Keep up with Christ Church s upcoming events. We are always looking for extra hands for our Ministry teams. If you would like to sign up for a team please see the elder over that ministry. This is a great way to share the many gifts and talents we have been given. Steve Norris Finance Doug Agee Missions and Outreach Scott Caldwell Building and Property Vanessa Suggs Fellowship and Member Care Joel Bridges Worship and Christian Education Christ-Presbyterian-Church- Monrovia byterianchurch

4 The Women and Men s Ministry Groups will not meet during the month of August. The Women s group will resume their monthly meetings on Sunday, September 6, following worship. If you plan to attend please bring your favorite finger food or dessert. The Men s group will gather for breakfast on Sunday, September 13 at 8 am (cooking will begin at 7 am). On Sunday, August 2 we will celebrate and pray for the children and youth of our church as they begin a new school year. We will also pray for the teachers, support staff, librarians and others among us who are involved in area schools. Students and teachers are encouraged to bring to their backpacks, totes, or messenger bags to worship. As many of you know, this past Sunday our Church Session joined with the Church Street CPA Session for a joint meeting. The meeting was very enjoyable for all in attendance. We discussed many topics from how much both of our congregations had in common, to joint activities for our children, to the big topic of Church Unification. We have been joining each other for several years during our Pulpit swap, Crop Walk and other activities. The common belief between everyone in attendance was that our two congregations are way ahead of the curve from other CPC and CPCA churches that share communities around the country. We discussed new ways to connect our congregations together with joint activities such as picnics, softball games, pot luck dinners and joint worship services. The Church Unification process has been going on for several years to try and combine our CPC congregations with the CPCA Churches. God has called us to love all of our brothers and sisters in Christ, and to help and minister to all non-believers. Please join us all in prayers for these efforts to proceed. Please feel free to bring up any ideas you may have to help with this effort. We have already set up our second meeting with Church Street on October 18. Please add the Reverend Mitchell Walker and the Church Street Session to your prayer list as well, as they also are 100 % behind this effort. Blessings, Scott

5 On Sunday, August 2 we will enjoy a Back to School potluck lunch, as well as the year in review of Christ Church following worship. We hope you will mark your calendars and join us. The Senior Adult Group will meet for lunch on Sunday, August 16. If you would like more information or have a location suggestion please see Scott Caldwell or Judy Dufrene. We as individuals and as the church have been abundantly blessed with God s love and mercy. We are called to share God s love. One way in which we can do that is by returning a portion of our gifts to the church. As we enter into the summer months and enjoy our vacations and time away let us still remember to be faithful stewards. Please continue to keep the needs of the church in your prayers as we move forward as a congregation spreading God s love to those near and far. During the month of August our Outreach Project will be the Downtown Rescue Mission. Please see the list below of their current needs. Donations may be placed in the Moses basket, in the Great Hall. The Downtown Rescue Mission will be included on our prayer list for August; they ask that we pray for the salvation and spiritual growth of the men, women and children on their campus. Items Needed: Men s underwear all sizes Women s underwear medium and large Diapers sizes 4, 5 and 6 Pull Ups all sizes Baby Wipes Feminine Products Toothbrushes Toothpaste

6 During the month of August we will be collecting monetary donations to purchase a gift card for our nursery worker Kathryn Kat Herron. Kat and her fiancé, Carter will be married on Saturday, September 5. Please give donations to Vanessa Suggs. Rosa Myers 9 Kaella Thornton 12 Brad Suggs 15 Chuck Dawson 18 Liam Locy 19 James Agee 21 Chris Luelf - 26

7 PEOPLE FOR WHOM WE ARE PRAYING Church Friends: Sympathy to the family of Craig Williams Adams. Bubba Judy Dufrene s cousin Betternight, Nicole friend of Vanessa Suggs Biddlecombe, Kathy friend of the Agees Brown, George brother of Tammy Norris Burdick. Carol Joyce Thornton s sister Caldwell, Jo aunt of Scott Caldwell Cruzado, Katie friend of the Luelfs Deinhardt, Jenifer- cousin of Cheryl Caldwell Diamond, Jim Steve Diamond s father Eifert, Teresa friend of Amanda Newton German, Melissa friend of Lynn Ashby Gonce, Betty and Richard Beth Locy s parents Hack, Jamie Jerianne Trammell s sister Hayward, Wendy friend of Terri Burant Hendricks, Cole friend of the Luelfs Heberer, Dave friend of the Sanders Hibner, Ed friend of Doug Agee Holmes, Landon friend of the Luelfs Howell, Sonny and Linda Hudson, Bobby Donna Faulkner s uncle Jackson, Harper Kincaid Family friends of the Trotters Mayes, Anna grandmother of Jeremey Hodges Nelson, Carissa- Frank and Loreta Brown s grandniece Perry, Cindy McNown friend of Pat Heinsohn Pritchett, Kayleigh and Eric Jerianne Trammell s family Reischman, Joe Chris Sims uncle Russ, Robin friend of Cardelia Howell-Diamond Salingo, Nancy friend of Lynn Ashby Sharber, Ashley friend of Donna Faulkner Smalley, Greg Stephens, Sue Carla Sims mother Stever, Doris Bob Stever s mother Thomas, Carl and Diane parents of Cheryl Caldwell Thompson, Quintavious Tillman, Margaret friend of Jeremey Hodges Trammell, Trey son of Jerianne Trammell Wester, Jay friend of the Agees Homebound members: Jim Barlow Hwy 251 Athens, AL Carla Sims 110 McClellan Lane Harvest, AL Jerry Thornton Jones Road Athens, AL 35 Monthly Outreach Downtown Rescue Mission Church Family: Agee, Doug and James Ashby, Artie and Lynn Barlow, Jim Cook, Willie Fisher, Jerry Duncan, Everett Heinsohn, Pat Norris, Stephanie Sims, Carla Thornton, Jerry and Joyce