Saving Graces. United Methodist Church. Newsletter. September Christ Has No Body

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1 United Methodist Church Newsletter September 2018 Pastor: Rev. Mark Whitley Administrative Council Chair: Steve Leslie Lay Leader: Dolly Kirk Trustee Chairperson: Ray Roberts Office Hours: Monday thru Thursday 9:00 am - 3:00 pm Church Office Closed Friday Saving Graces As I emphasize discipleship in my preaching for the next few weeks, Here is a favorite spiritual reflection written by one of my favorite historical spiritual giants, St. Teresa of Ávila ( ). Teresa was a 16th century Spanish Carmelite nun, mystic, theologian, and instructor in contemplative practices. Teresa is perhaps best known for the following prayer. I first heard it in Baltimore, MD, where I spent a week training to become a leader/trainer for Stephen Ministry, an intensive lay pastoral care ministry. The version I heard was a stunningly simple, and beautiful rendition put to music by former country-rocker-turned- Franciscan-priest, Fr. John Michael Talbot. Here is a link to John Michael Talbot s version. I also have this song and much more of his music on cd if someone wants to borrow it. watch?v=wubxoli4hci Be blessed, Pastor Mark Christ Has No Body Christ has no body but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world; yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet; yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours East 146th St. North Collinsville, OK (918) Yours are the eyes with which he looks compassion on this world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

2 Greetings in the name of The Risen Christ! Our denominational mission statement is simple and concise to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. So exactly what is a disciple of Jesus Christ? And how does one go about transforming the world? For the next few weeks, my preaching emphasis will be on discipleship. The following is an excerpt from my sermon Feeding the 5000 from Sunday, August 26th. I will be preaching four discipleship sermons using this story, emphasizing the differences as the story is told in each of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. So...what is a disciple? In short, a disciple is a student. A disciple is one who disciplines himself in the teachings and practices of another. The word disciple, like discipline, comes from the Latin word discipulus, meaning pupil or learner. Consequently, to learn is to discipline oneself. For example, if one is to advance in the arts or the sciences or athletics, one has to discipline himself and to learn and follow the principles and fundamentals of the best teachers in that area of study. So it was and is with the disciples of Christ. A disciple follows Jesus. Under that definition, not all who call themselves converts or saved are disciples. Not all who call themselves believers are disciples. And certainly, not all who call themselves Christians are disciples. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, one must be more than a convert. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, one must be more than a believer in Jesus Christ. To be a disciple of Jesus Christ, one must do more, much more, that simple identify as Christian. To be a true disciple of Jesus Christ means to follow Jesus Christ, to be a constant learner and student of his teachings, and to be a practitioner of one s faith, as Jesus was a practitioner of his faith. To be a true disciple of Jesus Christ one must be disciplined as Jesus was disciplined, to do what Jesus did, as the definition above read, A disciple is one who disciplines himself in the teachings and practices of another. Using this definition, a disciple of Jesus Christ is one who disciplines himself in the teachings and practices of Jesus Christ. But there are many, many converts, believers, and Christians who know nothing of discipleship, for they do not follow Jesus Christ, they do not subject themselves to his authority in their daily lives, they do not actually follow Jesus Christ s leadership, they do not practice the disciplines of prayer, devotion, service, worship, and faithfulness of Jesus Christ, they do not listen, learn, and put into practice the teachings of Jesus Christ. The reality is this, no one ever completes the discipleship journey. No one is ever completely formed in the image and practices of Jesus Christ. There is always more to learn, more ways to be spiritually formed, and more ways to be active in your faith in mission and ministry. The way I understand it, and the way it has lived itself out in my life and in the lives of many, many others, there are three essential pieces or parts of the process that go into making a mature disciple. I just named them, but I want to repeat them. The first is being in active instruction to the teachings of Jesus Christ. When was the last time you participated in a bible study or any other kind of adult Christian education? When is the last time you read a book to edify your faith? The second is spiritual formation. Because God is spirit, there is more to faith than just learning about God. A disciple attends not only to matters of the mind, but to matters of the spirit what some would say are matters of the heart. Not emotions, but something deeper, more intimate. The third component is a transformational mission experience that takes you out of your comfort zone and allows you to look face to face to the poor, the brokenhearted, the least, the last, and the lost, and there to find Jesus. Those are the three sides of the disciple-making triangle, transformational learning, spiritual formation, and transformational mission experiences. Does your faith life look like a triangle? If it does, strengthen the weakest side. If not, what sides could you be working on to help you become a more effective disciple of Jesus Christ for the transformation of your little corner of the world? Blessings, all! In Christ, Pastor Mark 2

3 K C Kidz at the Creek, our group for 3 rd thru 5 th graders, is headed for the Tulsa Zoo!!! On Saturday, July 15 th, we will be meeting at the church at 9 am to visit the zoo. Bring a sack lunch and we will eat there after we visit all the animals. The cost will be $6 per child. Contact Darren for more idz details at the reek or at darren.johnson.253@gmail.com. (by Darren Johnson) Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. - Matthew 19:14 Kidz at the Creek, our group for 3 rd thru 5 th graders, meets monthly and has a great time learning about God and Scripture as well as just playing around! We play games, have projects, and even go on outings. In September, we will be meeting on the 16 th from 2 to 3:30 pm. Contact Darren for more information at darren.johnson.253@gmail.com or by texting or calling Meadowcreek Youth Group doin s (by Darren Johnson) The youth of our church want to let you know about our Youth and Children s Sunday coming up on September 30 th. We will have a combined service and the choir will be providing music while the youth and children lead in the service. Our own Will Boyer will be speaking and we are planning a special skit for you! Please join us! Also in September, the youth will be doing some work around the church on the 9 th. This is our service project for the month. The youth have planned a project for each month and have almost booked the entire school year! Youth Bible Study will be starting up again on September 5 th from 6:30 pm until 7:30 pm in the Youth Room. This is an earlier time than last school year, so please note the change and plan on coming. If you need any information about these events please let Darren know by at darren.johnson.253@gmail.com or by texting or calling

4 St Yootz Day The youth and many adults of our church went to an Oklahoma Conference Youth Event in Oklahoma City this past month at Frontier City amusement park. The event, called St. Yootz Day (I don t know why), is sponsored by the Conference and takes place every year as a fundraiser for the Youth Service Fund, which provides funds to help youth and youth groups do mission work in the state and beyond. There were eleven from our church that attended the event and rode rides, saw shows and ate good food all day until they were very tired. They voted to skip the concert that night and instead headed to Dianne Mears house to swim in the pool, get in the hot tub and eat snacks! Dianne is Cindy Johnson s mother and has hosted Darren s youth groups every year for this event. Thanks Dianne! We all got up on Sunday morning and headed to worship at Wickline United Methodist Church in Midwest City. We had a great worship and filled up two pews!! Everyone at Wickline was very gracious and said to tell the Clarks hello! (The Clarks transferred from Wickline!) We then headed to Penn Square Mall to eat at the food court and shop a little before heading home. The experience was really positive (except for Cindy breaking two toes while cooking breakfast Sunday morning) and the youth were able to bond and experience worship in a different church. Thanks to all who went and the sponsors. We will do it again next year, God willing! 4

5 Jellystone Park Jellystone Park was the setting for a fun family outing on August 26th when several families went to Keystone Lake to swim, canoe, and ride water slides on a warm Sunday afternoon. The park trip was a repeat of last year s trip we made after the youth float trip got cancelled. Instead we found Jellystone Park and decided to come back this year with church families invited instead of just the youth group. The park has a floatable, inflatable playground just offshore on the lake with lots of things to climb on, jump from, bounce on and generally fall off of into the water! Seriously, it was hard to just keep your balance! They also have a swimming pool with waterslides and volleyball and we all plan on going back next year! Thanks to all the families who went and we hope to plan more family events like this in the near future! 5

6 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 8:30 AM Traditional Worship Service 9 8:30 AM Traditional Worship Service *Service Proj. 6:15 PM Trustees Meeting 16 8:30 AM Traditional Worship Service 2:00-3:30 Kidz at the Creek 23 8:30 AM Traditional Worship Service 30 Y OUTH S UNDAY 8:30 AM Traditional Worship Service 3 Labor Day Church Office Closed 4 5:30 PM Hooks & Needles :30 PM Boy Scout Meeting 5:30 PM Hooks & Needles 7:00 PM Evangelism Meeting *All are encouraged & invited :30 PM Boy Scout Meeting 5:30 PM Hooks & Needles :30 PM Boy Scout Meeting 5:30 PM Hooks & Needles :00 AM Lay pastoral care training with Pastor Mark for visitation ministry 13 7:00 PM Finance Meeting 7:00 PM Admin. Council Mtg. *No meeting in November & December Mtg. is on 12/6/18 7:00 PM Ladies NIGHT out :00 PM Kidz at the Creek (3rd - 5th Grade) First Day of Fall September October Marc Pearson 09/03 James Harman 09/05 Braden Hentzen 09/08 Eric Baker 09/09 Janie Alonzo-Bretanus 09/16 Sophia Roberts 09/16 Aiden Risley 09/18 Carri Yount 09/20 Rachel Brewer 09/26 Brenden Schubert 09/27 Jeanne Doss 09/28 Van McVicker 09/30 Brian Patete 09/30 Patty Rule 10/03 Elizabeth Sanford 10/03 Becky Vasey 10/03 John Fuser 10/05 Kathy Flanagan 10/08 Sherry Prather 10/09 John Odom 10/10 Owen Roberts 10/11 Lynn Tyler 10/13 Mike Worstell 10/13 Carol Mathews 10/17 Mark Prather 10/18 Steve Leslie 10/20 Susan Worstell 10/20 Jesse Brewer 10/21 Gene Etchison 10/22 Sharrese Bishop 10/23 Idalia Harrington 10/27 Lester Alcorn 10/29 Johnny Horton 10/30 If your birthday does not appear on this list of church members, please contact the church office, and we ll be sure to add you to the list for next year! 6