Geneseo United Methodist Church HAVE YOU CHECKED THE SOCK DRAWER?

Transcription

1 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 8 AUGUST 2013 Geneseo Voice INSIDE THIS ISSUE: WORSHIP ASSISTANTS 2 Geneseo United Methodist Church HAVE YOU CHECKED THE SOCK DRAWER? BIRTHDAYS & ANNIVERSARIES CHILDREN S PAGE 3 SERMON SERIES 4 CHURCH COUNCIL SUM- MARY PRAYER CHALLENGE 5 CALENDAR 8 SCRIPTURES August 4- Hosea 11:1-11 Colossians 3:1-11 Luke 12:13-21 Diana Sash Preaching August 11 Ephesians 6:10-13 Luke 4:31-37 A Four Letter Word August 18- Genesis 3:1-7, Psalm 73:1-2, 10-20, Isaiah 53:1-3, Yahweh vs. Evil August 25-1 Corinthians 15:3-5, Mark 14: Jesus vs. Evil 2 5 I am in the midst of reading an enjoyable memoir from a Jesuit priest entitled My Life With the Saints. The author begins by recalling his boyhood love of ordering little trinkets through the mail from the back of cereal boxes, comic books and magazines. Many of these treasures turned out to be disappointing (especially the Sea Monkeys ) but some were pretty cool. One of the purchases he recalled was a little plastic statue of St. Jude that he ordered from an ad in a magazine. He couldn t remember why he felt compelled to order the figurine the author s parents attended mass, but his family wasn t overtly devout. And the only thing the young man knew about St. Jude was that he was the patron saint of lost causes. But when the saint arrived (complete with a booklet of prayers, one even in Latin!), he was given pride of place on top of the boy s dresser. The boy prayed off and on directly to God, especially when he was in need of something like an A on a test. But when his requests to God went unanswered, he figured that it was time to pull out all the stops and call on St. Jude. (If the request was really big, he d even pray the Latin prayer three times on his knees.) The boy developed a kind of fondness for the little saint who remained on his dresser for a long time until the boy became a teenager. What would my friends think, he then wondered, if they saw the strange plastic statue on my dresser? So eventually St. Jude got banished to the young man s sock drawer and was only allowed out on special occasions. I can relate to the sock drawer. Now I can t say that I ve ever stuffed St. Jude into my dresser, but I certainly can recall times when I ve been afraid of what others might think of me if they knew I was one of those religious nuts. Stopped myself short before blurting out something about how much I enjoyed a church event. Quickly plopped a magazine on top of an open Bible when unexpected visitors stopped by. Smiled weakly instead of challenged a joke made at the expense of the faithful. It is relatively easy to be open about our faith in God when we re by ourselves or surrounded by like-minded folks but all too easy to stash God in the sock drawer when we want to fit in (only to quickly retrieve Him when I need to ask for something.) No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven, Jesus said. How do you like that? Jesus knew about our sock drawers, too! May we learn to quietly and humbly bear witness to God with our honest words, caring attitudes and loving deeds. And may God remain on top of our dressers! Your loving sister- Pastor Christie John

2 GENESEO VOICE PAGE 2 AUGUST WORSHIP ASSISTANTS Coffee Servers: LuAnne Pritchard Sheryl Brandt Flowers: Jean Beenken Communion Helpers: Craig and Diane Mitchell, JoAnn Higgins Treasure Table (Produce Table): Sandy Boomer, Heather Chingren, Dixie Christian, Donna Kersten, Donna Lindeman, LuAnne Pritchard, Norma Owens, Delores Reints Readers: Dennis Reding(4), Diane Mitchell(11), Marlys Mitchell (18) Technicians: Maggie John (4), David Sash (11), Mike Chingren (18) Song Leaders: Tony John (4), Paul Lindeman (11), Diana Sash (18) The best prayers have often more groans than words. John Bunyan CELEBRATION DATES BIRTHDAYS JoAnn Higgins Burk Miehe Anne Cook Craig Holub Olivia Sash Bob Hill Sandy Boomer Caroline Mitchell Renee Messmore 2nd 2nd 4th 4th 8th 13th 16th 20th 22nd Shellie Morrison Larissa Morrison Diana Sash Wayne McQuilkin Kim Howard Jean Beenken 23rd 24th 24th 25th 26th 27th ANNIVERSARIES Jason & Linda Sash 7th Galen & Pat Peckham 12th Jammie & Kim Howard 17th Bob & Pat Hill 23rd Duane & Dixie Christian 28th Matt & Angela Coverdale 28th Bob & Delores Reints 28th PRAYER REQUESTS For God's Healing Touch Deb & Kelsey Mumm, recovering from auto accident. Page Messmore, recovering from a infection after a dog bite. Living With Cancer Bill Wells, brother of Diana Sash Larry Parizek, father of Kalyn Putz Continued Prayer Support Norman and Doris Mitchell, living in Friendship Village, Waterloo Hazel Minkel, living in Sunrise Hill assisted living, Traer Ed Whitmore, living with Alzheimers Congratulations Mattison Coverdale upon her baptism July 14th. We rejoice with proud parents Matt and Angela Coverdale and sisters Alex and Lyric

3 GENESEO VOICE PAGE 3 CHILDREN S PAGE

4 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 8 PAGE 4 SAVE THE DATE The 2013 Geneseo UMC Charge Conference our annual all church meeting will be held on October 9, 6:30 p.m. here at Geneseo. This year we will have our own charge conference with District Superintendent Rev. Jackie Bradford who is looking forward to hearing about our experience with the Healthy Small Church Initiative. We will also spend some time talking about the Strategic Priorities adopted at this year s Annual Conference and looking at the connections between the Conference and our local church ministries. In addition, we will officially adopt our 2014 ministry goals, elect and affirm church leadership for the coming year, decide on 2014 pastoral support as recommended by the SPRC and receive reports from administrative committees. Please plan to come and celebrate all that God has done and look forward to what God may have in store for the coming year! THANK YOU Thank you so much for your gracious words and gift in recognition of my re-appointment to Geneseo United Methodist Church for the appointment year. It is a delight and privilege to serve you and serve with you may God continue to bless our ministry together as we reach out to our community and our world with Christ s love! - Pastor Christie UPCOMING SERMON SERIES Deliver us from evil we say each Sunday morning as we join together in the Lord s Prayer. Even nonreligious folks use the word evil to describe heinous wrongdoing, corrupt systems or the worst of criminals. What do we mean by evil.? Is it another word for human weakness and sin? Is it a power that threatens God s rule over creation? What are Christians supposed to make of the Biblical stories that talk about Satan and demons? From August 11 September 8 we will explore what the Bible says about evil, how to understand it and what to do about it. During the same time, Pastor Christie will offer an adult Sunday School class after worship to answer questions and to further explore this topic. Come and learn what God is doing and how God empowers us to fight evil whenever and wherever we find it. YOUTH GROUP UPDATE MISSION TRIP 2013 Please pray for the youth who are going on a mission trip to Joplin, Missouri August 4 August 10 Dalton and Colton Adams, Lyric Dutton, Krystal Putz and Valerie Ryan - and for mission trip leaders Trent Ryan and Pastor Christie. Pray for safe travel and work, openness to do whatever is asked of us, joyful times with friends old and new, and the ability to see the face of Christ in everyone we meet. Thank you for your continued support of our amazing youth!

5 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 8 PAGE 5 CHURCH COUNCIL SUMMARY July 22 Pastor Christie and six members were present. Ministry of Leadership: Discussion centered on John 4:7-26 and Transformational Worship from The Healthy Small Church. Ministry of Management: Marlys Mitchell presided. Pastor's Report: An August 4-10 Youth Mission Trip to Joplin, MO is planned. Pastor Christie and Trent Ryan will accompany six youth members. Charge Conference will be held on October 9 at GUMC. Scheduled Committee Meetings: August 1, Community Education; August 15, Perishable Food Distribution; August 15 September 15, Prayer Walk/Drive. Board of Trustees: The playground surface has been reinforced with a blanket of wood chip mulch to prevent the original rubber chips from discoloring the shoes etc. of the children. A more permanent upgrade is planned for spring, The Trustees and Technology Committee are planning the structure that will house the church sanctury Technical Center. Ice Cream Social: September 15 - Heather and Mike Chingren will be joined by Sheryl and Joe Brandt to plan this event. Awareness of the divine begins with wonder. Abraham Heschel SCHOOL INGATHERING KITS This is the best time of year to purchase supplies for School Ingathering kits with all the "Back to School" sales. The UM church sends these school kits to children all over the world. You can purchase all the items needed for one or more kits and place them on the mission table in the fellowship area. Thanks for helping to educate God s children everywhere! School Kit 3 pads wide-ruled paper* (spiral or bound, single subject, standard size) 1 box of 24 crayons 6 unsharpened pencils with erasers 1 hand pencil sharpener 1 2 1/2" eraser 1 blunt scissors 1 30 cm metric ruler * this is a change from what was previously printed in UMW booklets FALL PRAYER CHALLENGE One of the most important ways that we serve our community is through the ministry of prayer! There is no doubt that God has placed us in Geneseo township to be a channel of God s grace as our prayers for our neighbors reach to heaven and God s love pours out to them through our loving words of blessing and acts of service. Prayer is our privilege. Prayer is our responsibility. Prayer is powerful. Prayer changes things. At our last Healthy Church Initiative workshop, we felt the Spirit move us to set an audacious goal - to have every home within a five-mile radius of our church prayed over by someone from Geneseo UMC within a one- month period! From August 15 September 15 you are invited to walk or drive a section of our prayer map area and pray for every house or business you see. You do not need to knock on any doors or pray out loud. A suggested prayer will be provided for you but you are welcome to pray for any need or concern that you are aware of, or however the Spirit leads you. If you d like to participate or find out more, sign up in the fellowship hall after worship or talk to Pastor Christie, Heather Chingren, Donna Lindeman, Dennis or Marlys Mitchell or Delores Reints.

6 GENESEO VOICE PAGE 6 WOMEN OF FAITH The Women of Faith Believe God Can Do Anything tour is THE lifechanging, live Christian event for today s woman, where chart-topping music artists and world-class authors and Bible teachers create an unforgettable, day-and-a-half experience for women from all walks of life. You ll hear stories that strengthen, practical Bible teachings that can transform your everyday living, and experience authentic praise and worship with music that moves you closer to God, opening your heart to know what it means to truly Believe God Can Do Anything. The tour is coming to Des Moines Friday night through Saturday evening, August 23-24, I would love to gather a group of women to travel to this event together, sharing in hotel and travel expenses (I m hoping to keep the cost at no more than $150 per person plus meals.) Let me know if you would be interested in attending! Pastor Christie No life of faith can be lived privately. There must be overflow into the lives of others. FOOD MINISTRY BEGINS SOON Eugene H. Peterson We are beginning an exciting new ministry at Geneseo to reach out with God s love to our neighborhood, help families stretch budgets and be good stewards of our food resources. In partnership with the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, we d like to begin a oncea-month food distribution ministry featuring bread, fresh produce and other perishable foods from area stores that can no longer be sold on grocery shelves but are still too good to throw away. Right now, we are envisioning setting up the distribution for just one Saturday morning each month. There would be no income requirement for people to receive food and the only thing people would need to provide to us is their name and phone number (for reporting purposes.) We will also accept free will donations which could be used to purchase additional products at the Food Bank. To make this ministry a reality, we need a leadership team ready to make a difference in our area for the sake of Jesus Christ. An informational meeting will be held on Thursday, August 15 th at 7:00 p.m. for anyone who d like to help or know more! VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL YEE HAW! We had a rip-roarin good time at our 2013 Vacation Bible School and VBS Celebration Sunday and Community Brunch! Over thirty children and youth assistants plus a whole bunch of adult volunteers helped us learn about God s ultimate love at SonWest Roundup. We created cool crafts, sang great songs, enjoyed terrific meals, played awesome games, heard amazing stories and even went on a hayrack ride! We also collected over $ from our noisy coin offering for Camp Courageous! A HUGE thank you to all who helped to make this Vacation Bible School a great success especially our VBS Director Extraordinare Jana Ryan! SERVING OUR NEIGHBORS Geneseo UMC has a long history of serving our township as a community center a place for fellowship, education and all kinds of public gatherings. We would like to embrace and build on this tradition by hosting community education events that are offered by area agencies and businesses. For example, the American Red Cross, County Extension Services, Hawkeye Valley Area Agency on Aging and others are happy to provide classes and workshops on topics like cooking, gardening, budgeting, parenting and more. Our hope is to host quarterly or monthly classes that are free and open to the public. This is a wonderful outreach that reminds folks in our area that we are here and committed to serving our neighbor. A team is being formed to research and schedule classes, coordinate publicity and organize light refreshments (cookies and coffee) for these events. If you d like to be part of this outreach ministry, you are welcome to come to an informational meeting on Thursday, August 1 st at 7:00 p.m.

7 VOLUME 2, ISSUE 8 PAGE 7 Pastor Christie will be on youth mission trip August 4th August 10th. While she is gone, please contact the church office or Rev. Linda Butler of Dysart 2013 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday :00 p.m. Community Ed Ministries Meeting 4 9:00 a.m. Worship 10:00 a.m. Fellowship Youth Mission Trip to Joplin 11 9:00 a.m. Worship w/ Communion 12 6:30 p.m. Nurture Committee 13 7:00 p.m. Finance Committee 14 5:30 p.m. Youth Group 15 7:00 p.m. Food Distribution Ministry Meeting :00 a.m. Prayer Walk 18 Golden Cross Sunday 9:00 a.m. Worship 19 6:30 p.m. Outreach and Witness Committee :00 a.m. Salvation Army 5:30 p.m. Youth Group 7:00 p.m. Praise Band Women of Faith :00 a.m. Worship 26 6:30 p.m. Church Council Committee 27 7:00 p.m. Worship Committee

8 Geneseo United Methodist Church Geneseo United Methodist Church th Street Buckingham, IA Phone: THE MISSION STATEMENT OF THE GENESEO UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Our Christ-centered mission/purpose weaves God and persons together in an on-going journey of reaching out, receiving, relating, nurturing, and sending out to live as faithful disciples. As children of God, we embrace this mission in forgiveness, friendship, community, and love. Geneseo United Methodist Church th Street Buckingham, IA RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED