Community. Glorify God. Encourage One Another. Share Jesus. United Methodist Church. the newsletter of. All Things Considered.

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1 the newsletter of Community United Methodist Church Glorify God Encourage One Another Share Jesus All Things Considered March 2017 Grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ! Grace that provides divine assistance for daily living, and peace to comfort us through all circumstances of life through the power of the Holy Spirit! Last I remember we were finishing up Christmas, and now the Christian season of Lent will start! Did you know that Lent also means spring in German? I don t know about you, but I have been thinking a lot about spring lately, not that we have had a hard, cold winter or a lot of snow! But Spring is my favorite time of year, the world turns into a bright fresh green and the world explodes with life as plants and trees bud, blossom and bloom. But winter is not over yet did you know that the bible speaks a lot about Snow? The bible likens it to that which is pure, clean, and righteous. The crystal formations of snowflakes are very beautiful, there are innumerable variations to the shapes and sizes of snowflakes; amazingly, each and every one is unique. But did you know that despite their uniqueness, snowflakes have one common thing: dirt at the core. Oddly enough, snowflakes start as tiny dust particles, which serve as the center of the snowflake. Like snowflakes, we have been beautifully created by God. We are the greatest of all God s creation. We are his pride, and his joy; and like snowflakes we are all created uniquely. Yet, like snowflakes, we too have dirty hearts. We re all marked by sin and stained at the core of our being we re all dirty in the middle. But that is no surprise to God! That is why Jesus Christ came, that through Him, we can all be made clean. The dirt at the core of our being can be washed way, and we can be made pure in Christ Jesus! And that is why we celebrate the Christian Season of Lent! Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and concludes Maundy Thursday. Lent is the 6 week period of spiritual preparation for Easter where Christians recognize our need for repentance and our depravity apart from God, and we draw closer to the Lord and be cleansed. You can think of Lent as a time of Spiritual Spring Cleaning! If a Christian chooses to observe Lent, it should be out of a heart that desires to truly appreciate the abundant grace of Christ s saving work on the cross. By reminding him or herself of their need for the Lord and willfully submitting to Christ s authority, a Lenten observer prepares their heart to celebrate Easter with a renewed sense of joy and amazement. Part of preparing one s heart for Easter is to realize his or her desperate need for God s grace and power in life. This includes the reality that each of us are truly as unique as a snowflake and that we have been created for a specific and divine purpose! But part of our sinful nature is the desire to work out our purpose on our own and without the Lord s will or direction. In an effort to help prepare for Easter and draw closer to the Lord, we will be offering in 40 Days in the Word. During these 40 days of Lent, you have the opportunity to enjoy fellowship with other believers, discover new (or renewed) ways to read and study and connect with our loving Triune God of grace! You can find out more information in the Newsletter and Sunday Bulletin, and of course you can sign up through the Connect Card found in the Bulletin. If you have any questions, please contact the office, and may God bless you this Lenten Season! God bless! Pastor Bill

2 MARCH/APRIL THEMES 40 Days in the Word - Lenten Sermon Series March 5 Why Can I Trust The Bible? 2 Timothy 3:10-17 March 12 How the Bible Changes Us? Hebrews 4:12-16 March 19 Seeing What God Wants Me to See Ephesians 1:15-23 March 26 How to Study a Bible Passage Philippians 2:19-30 April 2 Understanding the Meaning of a Text John 15:1-17 April 9 Integrating God s Word into My Life Psalm 119:9-24 Communion March 5, 2017 Books are $10 Sunday, April 16 8:45-10:45 AM Join us for Easter Breakfast before Second Service or after First Service **Breakfast will not be served after second service. Good Friday Service Friday, April 14 March 1 at

3 Trustee Update Happy March CUMC!! Here is some of what we ve been working on We began and finished the needed prep work /pre-wiring for our new phone system and are in the process of aligning several schedules for final system installation/change over. In addition to completing the needed phone/network pre-wiring, while we were climbing around the attics and playing in walls and ceilings, we were also able to complete the pre-wiring needed to expand our existing Card Access (electronic key) system as well as pre-wiring for a security camera system that was donated some time ago. We will soon be able to enter through all 4 of the glass door sets using our access cards and key fobs instead of just our basic keys. Key-holders please take note: Once this is completed, we may ask you and/or your group to trade in your key for an electronic version. Thank you in advance for your participation in our Continuous And Never-ending Improvements. Feel free to contact me with any questions. The Card Access expansion and camera system are sure to not only increase ease of building use, safety/security and comfort for our preschool, staff, congregation, and guest organizations that use our building, but also help secure and protect all of the physical assets and resources we are so blessed to have at CUMC. A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to the few people that were able to carve time out if their busy schedules to assist me with the all the prep work mentioned above. Through their help, we were able to save a significant amount of money on these projects by completing the hard part on our own. It was fun working with you! In closing, spring is right around the corner so stay tuned for info on our annual Spring Cleaning Day! We welcome any and all helping hands to help make our property Shine for Jesus! Bring the family! If you feel led to serve and have some free time, you don t have to wait until then to get started There s always something that can be done or in need of a deep cleaning. Thank you for your time! May you see God s glory in all things throughout the month of March! ~In His Service, Bob Wright MANY of the old football and baseball stadiums these days are being torn down, and new ones are being built in their places. The older ones were okay, but they had features in them that have improved with modern technology. One of the problems in many of these older stadiums was that much of the seating in certain areas had an obstructed view where the fans became somewhat disconnected from the activity on the field. A beam or a post would block full participation in the sporting event. Oftentimes, if someone were seated in one of these seats behind a column, a fan would ask another person what happened. They d have to get secondhand information because they couldn t see it for themselves. They could hear the noise. They could hear the shouts. They could hear the excitement, but the column kept them from being a full participant in the activities. Many of you spend time in a similar stadium called church. You come early every week, try your best to get good seats, participate enthusiastically in musical worship, listen attentively to the sermon, and then go home feeling emptyhanded. You came hoping to experience God, but somehow, it seemed as though you were just going through the motions. You sensed that others around you were getting more out of the service than you did, but it was difficult to say why. First, let me say that most of us have been right there before. It might be safe to say that we tend to mistake an emotional or inspirational encounter with the divine experience. We convince ourselves that if we sing loud enough, memorize the right Scriptures, and give enough money when the plate comes by, God will slide up beside us and say, Well done, my good and faithful servant. So when that doesn t happen, it is easy to become disillusioned. The only problem with this kind of thinking is that experiencing God is so much more than a pick-me-up at the end of a church service. Psalm 34:7 reads, The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them. The first thing you should know is that the angel of the Lord is no ordinary angel; throughout the Old Testament, He is worshipped by many and does things that only God can do. He is Jesus, our Deliverer. You should also notice in this verse that He is always near those who fear Him. His protection and His presence are very real, and they aren t dependent on loud singing or how many notes were taken during a sermon. In other words, experiencing God has a lot more to do with fearing Him than boisterous church activity. But another truth to consider is that, just like those fans in the stadium who couldn t see the activity on the field because they were sitting behind the columns, many of us come to church trying to experience God while failing to remove our own obstacle called sin. We show up at church Bible-in-hand paying little mind to the truth that we failed to touch it all week. We sing a little louder on Sunday to make up for the fact that we lived like pagans Monday through Saturday. Isaiah 59:2 reads, But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. That means it is impossible to enjoy the fullness of God and benefit from His blessings if we are separated from Him. Because we fail to deal with our sin seriously, we short-circuit any chance of experiencing God s mercy or His love. In other words, we get used to sitting behind columns and leaving empty-handed. Reverence toward God includes repentance of our sin. It means letting our sins go. We don t hold on to them nor do we hide them in a closet. God wants you to truly experience Him, and He s only going to do that if you have given Him your whole heart. So, let me encourage you today twofold. First, experiencing God means experiencing His blessings, mercy, protection and even correction, all of which flow from an ongoing fear or deep respect of Him. Second, once you begin acknowledging your own sin with the same seriousness that God does, you will have removed that which has been obstructing your divine experience.

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5 Youth Ministries - Dinner (every week!) WiReD 7-8:30 PM Jr High - Grades 6-8 Sr High - Grades 9-12 Invite your friends to Youth Group! Sunday School 6th - 8th grade 9:30 AM in the youth room There are Sno w many ways you can get involved here at Community UMC! Check out our Connect Corner to find an area that is a good fit for you!

6 The Noisy Can Collection will be taken on second Sunday s Noisy Can Honduran Orphanage March 12, 2017 Impact Ministries International (IMI) was founded by Tom Stamman to help him expand his evangelistic ministry in the late 1980 s and all over the world. The IMI Orphanage started in 2003 when Tom went to Honduras to preach a revival and saw a horrific scene of starving orphans and widows combing through the hot and foul garbage dumps around Comayagua, searching for food and recycling items. IMI has many aspects to it, but we focus on how they are building a selfsustaining city around the orphanage, the city is called the City of Refuge. Through this Christian Community, they provide coaching and mentoring, Christian bi-lingual education that is open to the surrounding community, entrepreneurism, prayer, feeding poor children and widows, mission trips, caring for orphans, ordaining ministers, cabin rentals, and a bed and breakfast. Recently they have completed a Medical Clinic. They offer opportunities to save lives through sponsorship, donations and mission trips. Grief Recovery Support Group Monday s, January 9 - April :15-8:15 PM. Your journey from mourning to joy! Grief Share is a weekly seminar/support group for peoplegrieving the death of someone close. It is a place where you can be around people who understand how you feel and the pain of your loss. At Grief Share, you ll learn valuable information thatwill help you through this difficult time in your life. You are welcome to join this group anytime. We know it hurts, and we want to help! $15 Registration Fee includes workbook. Contact Ron or Fay Tichy for details - Ron , Fay Men s Breakfast Saturday, March 4 at 8 AM Invite someone Giving Made Easy! Options for Giving Place your envelop in the Offering Basket as it passes. You can arrange Automatic Giving through your personal bank. You may simplify your giving by filling out an Automated Giving Enrollment. Form that is available on the back counter in the Sanctuary. New in 2017 you can Give through our website extremefaith.org & giving by Mobile Pay!!! Download a free QR Reader App to your smart phone & pay by scanning this code Give by text is available. Stop in the office for directions! Thank you for supporting the ministry of making disciples of Jesus Christ through the The Newsletter is available by and on the website at If you would like to stop receiving the newsletter by mail contact the office at or office@extremefaith.org to let us know. Meets every Tuesday evening at, in room 13 on the lower level here at CUMC. My Grace is Sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness 2 Corinthians 1:9

7 February Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday AM 4-5:45 PM Men s Food Pantry Breakfast Practice 9-11:00 AM Ash Wednesday CR Step Study Service Groups Communion WiReD Dinner at 6:30 PM WiRed at 7-8 PM 12 Noisy Can Collection for the Honduran Orphanage WiReD Dinner at 6:30 PM WiRed at 7-8 PM 6 6:15-8:15 PM Grief Share 13 6:15-8:15 PM Grief Share Prayer Gathering 7 Worship Committee Meeting Celebrate Recovery Glory Singers Rehearsal 14 7:00 PM Trustee Meeting Celebrate Recovery Glory Singers 8 9 Noon Pork Chop Dinner :45 PM Food Pantry Alzheimer Caregiver Support Group Practice 16 Practice :00 AM CR Step Study Groups :00 AM CR Step Study Groups WiReD Dinner at 6:30 PM WiRed at 7-8 PM 26 WiReD Dinner at 6:30 PM WiRed at 7-8 PM 6:15-8:15 PM Grief Share Adult Ed Meeting 27 6:15-8:15 PM Grief Share Prayer Gathering SPRC Meeting Glory Singers Celebrate Recovery 28 Church Council Meeting Glory Singers Celebrate Recovery Practice Practice :00 AM CR Step Study Groups

8 Community United Methodist Church 455 S. Jefferson St. Waterford, WI Pork Chop Dinner Thursday, March 9 at Noon RSVP by March 6 Contact Ann Dirks at or the church office at All are welcome! Invite a friend! Church Office Pastor Bill Busch or pbbusch@gmail.com - like us on facebook - office@extremefaith.org Worship Services at 8:00 & 9:30 AM The Way to Grow Preschool thewaytogrowpreschool.org