A Word from Pastor Jim:

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Joel Smith
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1 Motley Free Methodist Church, 33 Wellwood Street E, Motley, MN Mar Pastor Jim Johnson: A Word from Pastor Jim: Mark 15:33-34 At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice; Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani-which means, My God, my God why have you forsaken Me March is the month we celebrate the Empty Tomb, we celebrate the Risen Christ. This month we will be reminded of the triumphal entry (Palm Sunday). We will be reminded of that awful Friday (Good Friday) then Resurrection Sunday! All glory to God the tomb is empty, Jesus is Alive! Heaven is rejoicing and so do we. Death, the grave and sin has been conquered! Have you ever felt forsaken? Have you ever felt like crying out to God these same words of Jesus? Have there been times in your life when you have wondered; where are you Oh God? INSIDE THIS ISSUE Words from Pastor Jim 1 Upcoming Events 2 Small Group Information 2 Women s Ministry Information 2 Children s Programming Information 3 Nursery Schedule 3 Youth News 4 AWANA Update 4 Board of Administration Meeting Minutes 5 Calendar of Events 6 God is never any further away than your call, did you know that? The enemy (devil) will whisper to you and I from time to time, He doesn t hear you..but God hears your cries, friend. Call upon Him today for salvation, for comfort, for forgiveness, for healing, for life. Pastor Salik will be visiting us from Pakistan next Sunday (March 6 th. ) He will share with us Sunday morning from scripture and some of the updates in the ministry there. Sunday evening he will speak to Islam in America again. On Sunday March 13 th Richard will share, as Jim will be out of the office that week. Palm Sunday (March 20 th ) Richard will share again. So you will get a break from Pastor Jim those 3 Sundays. On Sunday evening March 20 th there will be a prayer gathering at the Church of Christ in Staples. This event will include some other churches as well, as we finish up the 40 days of praying through our prayer books; Seek God for the City. On Friday evening (Good Friday) March 25 th, we will celebrate communion and remember the Cross of Calvary and Jesus words there. Then on Resurrection morning (Easter) we will celebrate the empty tomb and Christ, risen from the dead. We will have 2 services that day as usual. Breakfast will be served from 8:00 until 10:00 am that morning in the fellowship hall, by the men s group. I look forward to this celebration again this year. If you haven t invited anyone to church lately, why not invite them to join us some times in March and celebrate Jesus? I want to say Thank you, again, to you all for your prayer support, financial support, food and care for our family during this time of Catherine s illness. God bless you all. Please continue to pray for her and Jessica and Tim and the children as we journey down this long road. Thank You Craig Weigel for leading the youth group. Thank you Mary Duberowski for leading the praise team during this time, and Kathy B for filling in at piano. Thank you Val and Richard and Sue and Dan Rydbom for continuing to see VBS through. God bless you and everyone else for picking up things that need to be done. March is also Food Share month. That means we (MFMC) will support the Motley Food shelf in several ways. We, the church, send them $1200 each March. Our AWANA kids and youth group have food drives to assist in food items for the food shelf. Thank you. There are some envelopes on the back table if you would like to make a donation to the food shelf in March too. How is your bible reading going? Are you taking time to fast and pray and seek the face of God in more and in new ways this year? I want to encourage you to spend time reading God s word. I want to encourage you to be a part of some small group study, in order to learn and grow. There are lots of weekly opportunities to discuss and learn and grow in the word. I want to encourage you to pray. Pray for our nation, pray for the elections this year, pray for our kids and young people, pray for pastors and church leaders, pray for marriages and single people, pray for the addicted and pray for widows, orphans and aliens. God bless you all. Serving Jesus and serving you, pastor Jim

Upcoming Events: *Mar. 6-Pastor Salik Here *Mar. 12-CMA Training in the building *Mar. 18-Youth Movie Night *Mar. 19-Women s Meeting 10 am *Mar. 19-VBS Meeting 11 am *Mar.21 -BOA Meeting 6:30 pm *Mar.

2 Upcoming Events: *Mar. 6-Pastor Salik Here *Mar. 12-CMA Training in the building *Mar. 18-Youth Movie Night *Mar. 19-Women s Meeting 10 am *Mar. 19-VBS Meeting 11 am *Mar.21 -BOA Meeting 6:30 pm *Mar. 25-Good Friday Service 7 pm *Mar. 27-Easter Sunday & Breakfast! Small Group Information: As a part of a growing body, the best way to have a more intimate fellowship and Bible study is to be involved in a small group. Here at the Motley Free Methodist Church we currently have 9 small group opportunities Sunday morning at 10:30 in the old sanctuary, see Chris Neal or Dan Rose Sunday Evening Service-6:00 pm Sunday Evenings at the Niemi s home The Truth Project at 6:30 pm Tuesday afternoon Women s Bible study at 1:00 pm at the church, The Names of God! Tuesday evening Bible Study starting at 6:30 pm studying the book of Hebrews Wednesday mornings at 9:30 am in the church basement studying the book of Zachariah Wednesday afternoon intercessory prayer team at 12:00 pm Saturday mornings at 8 am Men s Group at the church studying God s at War. Saturday evening prayer group at the church at 6 pm with Pastor Les Crider Please pray about which group you can be a part of or if you would be willing to lead a different small group please see Patric Doyle or Pastor Jim! What s Happening in the Women s Ministry Kitchen? Let s draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another and all the more as you see the day approaching. ~Hebrews 10:22-25 I am so encouraged when we meet together and carry one another s burdens and the cares of those in our community who are in need. The generosity that flows from this group is so uplifting. We are a blessed church. MN Adult and Teen Challenge left our church in February with FULL tummies and arm loads of care package goodies that we gathered together. Thank you all who brought in donations and food. Craft Day was a good day. We learned how to knit, crochet and do some other fun crafting. Plus as a bonus, had a fun afternoon fellowshipping. The ladies group took on a week of cleaning our church as well (2/25). Thank you all who participated! Brewing on the front burners Easter is coming at the end of March and the men are going to be cooking us breakfast again! There will be a sign up sheet on the back table of the church for you to see what items are needed for this. We will also be putting a signup sheet on the women s bulletin board with ideas to help out the Johnsons/Judd s in the near future once they figure out some details. We will keep you posted on that. Keep checking the Women s Ministry board by fellowship hall. Simmering on the back burners We are trying to plan a day to do a fun Traveling Art project here at the church in April. Watch for more details on that coming soon. Questions on this you can ask Angie Niemi. May will be crazy full of events. One in particular is the Ladies Tea and if you feel led to speak/share or have an idea, please let me know. Our next Women s Meeting will be on March 19 th at 10am. That is one week later than usual due to the CMAs have the building for the day. Hope to see you all there. And as always, if you have any questions, thoughts or concerns, please let me know. I would love to chat with you! Kathy Broberg ~ or or brobsrk@yahoo.com or Richard n Kat Broberg on fb

3 Children s Programming News: iday In the children s programming news *Preschool/Kindergarten age class is lead by Kripa Reese in the back corner room every Sunday from 10:30-11:30 am *Early Elementary Class is led by Jason Caldwell with help from Morgan Swecker, this class is for our 1 st and 2 nd graders *Elementary Age class is led by Barb Hirshey and Dee Calrson for our 3 rd -4 th graders *Upper Elementary/Youth class is led by Danny and Sue Rydbom for our 5 th grade and older kids! We greatly appreciate our teaching staff and how they love and care for our children each and every week! Teaching them God s word and showing them the love of Jesus! Thank you Barb for the fun event with your class and the adults on Feb. 14 th! In Nursery News: We are thankful for our rotating staff of nursery volunteers! It is such an important ministry to have good quality nursery care for the babies of our body. This ministry allows parents to be able to hear God s word! Thank you! If you have any questions regarding nursery or the nursery schedule please see Renee House! VBS: This year s vacation Bible School will be here before we know it! Our theme is Cave Quest, it will be held June 20-24, 2016 from 4:30-7:30 pm! The first VBS meeting will be held Saturday, Mar. 18, 2016 at 11 am following the women s meeting! We always look forward to a wonderful year at VBS an outreach to our community and beyond! Please start praying as to where God may be calling you to volunteer this year! Signup sheets for volunteers and donations needed are both on the back table in the church foyer! Thank you! YOUTH NEWS: The month of February brought about some temporary changes for our youth! The group attended a new event called Dare2Share, 18 youth with 5 adults attended this overnight event in Eden Prairie, MN! This event was an evangelism training for our youth. We also had four youth recently ask Jesus to be Lord of their life! Praise God for what He s doing in our youth! Craig took on leading our youth for a few weeks in February as Tim and Jess had to step away to care for their daughter Catherine, who was diagnosed with Leukemia. Tim purchased a curriculum while at the training called Shine. It s a six week curriculum to encourage kids to share their faith! The youth will be having a movie night in March on Friday, March 18 from 6:00-8:30 pm! They will be watching the War Room. If you have any questions regarding this event please see Craig Weigel! If you ever have anything questions prayer requests, etc please feel free to talk with Tim, Jess Judd or Craig Weigel jessleejohnson@yahoo.com or , we look forward to God s guiding and watching what He does in the hearts and lives of these young people!! Nursery Schedule: March 2016-Frist/Second Service: Mar. 6-Kripa & Kristen O/Sandy & Chris V Mar. 13-Tammy & Dale R/Ken & Hope J Mar. 20-Emily & Patric/Chloe & Jenelle C Mar. 27-Linda J & Brenda R/Sam & Dayton B April 2016-First/Second Service: April 3-David & Nancy S/Lori & Tayah S April 10-Lonna & Nick/Renee H & Callie B April 17-Diane J & Debbie C/Diane B April 24-Logan & Jennifer M/Brandi & Margaret F May 2016-First/Second Service: May 1-Sue & Ian N/Renee & Lilly N May 8-Steve & Maggie D/John & Angie N May 15-Craig & Carol W/Teri B & Grace J May 22-Renee H & Mikayla R May 29-Kripa & Kristen O/Dale & Carla L

4 Men s Ministry Update: Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharps iron so one man sharpens another. We have started meeting on Saturday mornings again, I would encourage all men to come and join us at 8:00 am in the church fellowship hall. I would like you all to be aware of some upcoming events. Easter Breakfast March 27th The men will be serving breakfast Easter morning form 8:00 am to 10:00am. Men we will need help with preparing food and serving. Would Like to thank Wayne Johnson for heading this up! Wild Game Feed This will be on a Saturday night in April, we will let you know all the details ASAP. Any question talk to Alex Griffith or Richard Broberg. Men's Retreat June 10 & 11 and 17 & 18 We will be going up to Leech Lake for a good time of fishing, games and time with the Lord. Any questions talk to Alex Griffith or Richard Broberg. God Bless Richard Seems like February just began and here we are at the end of it already. We have certainly had a great month at club thank you all for your prayers, God is good! February's Family Night was a huge success! God certainly answered many prayers, we had been praying for many families to attend and have the opportunity to learn about missionaries and AWANA around the world. We had 140 adults and children in attendance!! PTL!! Our volunteers shared about their missionary experiences including Tammi Walz: South Africa; Chris Neal: Nicaragua; Frank Tepley: Mexico. Barb H and Estelle P held a "Yummy or Yucky" game where children along with adults also had the opportunity to taste some foods from around the world- a huge success as kids were able to tag an adult to eat the dish they didn't find to appetizing looking. It was a great night and I am so thankful for each and every one of the volunteers that helped including: Wayne Johnson, Charlie Poulton and Frank Tepley who worked in the kitchen to serve 150+ people! A thanks to all that donated money or groceries for this event, we greatly appreciate you and your generosity! Another Praise is we have had 3 families join our club this past month! March will bring us some great ways to reach out and be the hands and feet of Jesus through our annual Food Shelf Drive and another family night with a movie this time. Please continue to pray for our club, our volunteers' health and love for the children each Wednesday night, and as the winter months continue we have many families that get hit with the flu bugs, please pray for their health. Also pray for the children to continue to come to club, keep learning that scripture and try to read their Bibles every day, that their families would feel God's love and want to attend church together. Most of all pray that the Spirit will move in their hearts and they will accept Jesus as their Savior! Upcoming Events: March 2: Regular Night; March 9: Food Shelf Night; March 16: John 3:16 night; March 23: Family Movie Night; March 30: Regular Night; April 6: Crazy Hair and Hilarious Hat Night *VOLUNTEERS!- Please put on your calendar Sunday April 10th after 2nd service as our next volunteer meeting!

5 BOARD OF ADMINISTRATION MEETING MINUTES: Present: Linda, Craig, Pastor Jim, Traci, Kathy, Pastor Richard, Charlie and Pat Guests Present: Valerie and Wayne Johnson and Al Griffith Opened with Devotion and Prayer Old Business: Reviewed January 18, 2016 Minutes. Craig motioned to accept minutes, Kathy seconded motion. Motion carried. Reviewed January Treasurer Report. Charlie motioned to accept report, Craig seconded motion. Motion carried. Noted: Board approved the following three financial requests between January 18 th board meeting and February 22 nd board meeting: 1) Financial help due to medical set-backs (gift card) ( $200) 2) Financial help due to home loss/fire (gift card) ($500) 3) Financial help due to medical set-backs (electric bill) ($315) Discussed January s Handout Six Things Growing Churches Do that Others Don t. Pastor Jim asked for our thoughts. Craig felt that the paragraph stating growing churches value innovation over tradition stood out to him. New Business: Awana Updated by Val with a handout of current and upcoming notes. Al Griffith presented the board with the idea of a Wild Game Feed. With the goal of inviting unsaved friends and neighbors for a fun filled night of food, prizes and a speaker. He has done this with other churches and has a good turnout. Linda felt this would be a great Community Outreach effort which also ties in with our goals for Pat made a motion to move forward with this event in April, Linda seconded the motion. Motion carried. Pastor Salik s Upcoming Visit on March 6 th 1) He will stay at Charlie and Estelle s house, and they will get him back to the airport 2) Discussed financial support. Kathy made a motion to support him ($1000) financially in addition to the offering. Traci seconded motion. Motion carried. Easter Breakfast Men s Group will again put this on. Wayne will be heading this up. Breakfast will be served from 8 am to 10 am. VBS Running June th. Dan and Sue are taking on the materials needed. Staples Alliance Church is willing to create the props this year and borrow to us, as we have borrowed them ours the previous two years. Pastor Richard and Val will plan and be in charge of VBS this year. The first leader meeting will on March 19 th at 11 am after the Women s meeting. Val will head up this meeting. JuneFest Community Worship Service. MFMC was invited to participate in a community worship service on June 19 th. After much discussion, the board voted not to participate this year, as that is the day before VBS kick off. VBS is our biggest outreach program and it was decided we needed to keep all of our efforts focused on that at this time. Harbor House Iowa Safe Home for Youth. Do we want to financially support this endeavor? Discussion tabled until next meeting. New Pathways Linda to head this up again this year. She will be looking for volunteers to help out. More information to come in March. Call Multiplier Issues. Are messages starting over after answering machines pick up. Richard will continue to work the bugs out. Purchase of Upper Cabinets for kitchen/break room, $300-$400 needed. Linda made a motion to purchase them. Pat seconded motion. Motion carried. Richard will pick them up and install them. Richard shared some of his activities throughout the past month were as follows: *Heading up the Men s Group *Multiple visits at the Care Center *Visiting Dan Simon *Visiting others in need *Working on his ordination Handout: The Connection between Motley Free Methodist and the FMC/NCC Conference. Recommended for future reading to educate us. Discussed various ideas and Goals for 2016: Richard closed with prayer.

6 March 2016 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 *1 pm-women s Study 2 *5:30-Youth Group *6 pm-awana 3 4 *1 pm-girl scouts 5 8 am-men s Group *6 pm-prayer Time 6 *Pastor Salik Here *Truth the Nimie s 7 *4 pm Worship Practice 8 *1 pm-women s Study 9 *5:30-Youth Group *6 pm-awana am-men s Group *9am-CMA Training *6 pm Prayer Time 13 *6 pm-evening Service *Truth the Nimie s *1 pm-bible Study 16 *5:30-Youth Group *6 pm AWANA *Youth Movie Night 19 8 am-men s Group *10 am-women s Ministry *11 am VBS Meeting *6 pm- Prayer Time 20 *6 pm-evening Service *Truth the Niemi s 21 *4 pm Worship Practice *6:30-BOA Meeting 22 *1 pm-bible Study 23 *5:30 pm-youth Group *6 pm- AWANA *GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE 26 8 am Men s Group *6 pm-prayer Time 27 EASTER SUNDAY & Breakfast!! pm-bible Study 30 *5:30 pm-youth Group *6 pm- AWANA 31

A Word from Pastor Jim:

Motley Free Methodist Church, 33 Wellwood Street E, Motley, MN. 56466 Jan. 2015 Pastor Jim Johnson: pastorjim05@brainerd.net 218.352.6888 http://www.motleyfreemethodistchurch.com A Word from Pastor Jim: