Newsletter. From the Pastor s Desk. First Church of God... Striving to Make Jesus Known, Nurture Believers, and Reach the Community for Christ!

Transcription

1 From the Pastor s Desk September 2017 Newsletter First of God... Striving to Make Jesus Known, Nurture Believers, and Reach the Community for Christ! September 2017 We live in a world that is filled with chaos and disorder. Daily we are bombarded with news that strikes fear and worry into the heart. Millions of people in Texas and Louisiana are losing everything due to Hurricane Harvey. The threat of war, possible nuclear war, shows up in our newsfeeds each day. Our nation is being torn apart by racism and hatred from both sides of the spectrum. Thousands of Jesus followers are being persecuted and martyred around the world. Human trafficking is threatening men, women, boys and girls around the globe each minute of the day. These, just to name a few, are contributors to the suffering, anxiety, chaos, and disorder that are being felt by people, not only in the US, but around the world each and every day. However, in the midst of all of the tragedy and hopelessness, there is this promise, The Lord himself goes before you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. God s people have to hold on to that promise. Our faith must not waver. No matter what the world throws at us, we must know that our God is bigger. We must proclaim hope to the hopeless. Jesus never promised us that life would be easy. He did promise that He would always be with us. Even though there may be times we don t feel that presence, we must hold on to our faith. That faith will see us through, even if it isn t with the desired outcome we long for. I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E 2 Schedules and Prayer Concerns 3 Calendar of Events/News 4 Notes and News As John the Baptist was in prison, facing death, he sent some of his followers to Jesus to ask if he was the one to come or should we expect someone else. Doubt is normal, fear is normal, but Jesus is far from normal. Jesus response to John was this, Go back and report to John what you hear and see: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me. Matthew 11:4-6. Jesus was telling John: You ve accomplished your mission. You have done your job. Now, the gospel is going forward. John, I m not coming for you. This is the path you have to take. Hold on, stay the course, and great shall be your reward., let us stay the course. Let us run the race that is marked out before us. Let us run in such a way as to get the prize. And, let us remember the race we run is not a sprint but a marathon, and we do not run alone. In the midst of the storm, He is there. He is our Living Hope. Let us live out that hope. Pastor Don Other News: Please see the bulletin board for Info on: Susie Doll s new address & telephone number Becoming a Hospice Volunteer The Grape & Fall Festival Gospel Sing The First Assembly of God Cincinnati Trip to the Ark Encounter & Creation Museum Newsletter 1

2 Weekly Schedule Sunday Worship Team Practice 8:00 am Fellowship Coffee 8:45 am Sunday School 9:00 am Worship Service/Pre-School 10:00 am Children s dismissed from service Tuesday Ladies Bible Study/Prayer Group Wednesday Discovering the Family activities Adult Prayer Meeting/Bible Study Children s Ministries DRIVE Student Ministries 9:00 am Thursday Men s Prayer Breakfast at 6:30 am Country Bob s (Nursery Available Sundays and Wednesdays) SEPTEMBER SCHEDULES SUNDAY NURSERY: Room 1 Sept 3 Erin Spurgeon & Kathleen Jordan Sept 10 Melissa Persicke & Jordan Parker Sept 17 Elizabeth & Tyler Roberson Sept 24 Ashley Lind & Stephanie Baker Room 2 Sept 3 Hailey & Taylor Roberson, Lynette Carson Sept 10 Debbie Hughes & Jessica Roy Sept 17 Beth & Esther Lepich, Sue Baldwin Sept 24 Hailey & Taylor Roberson, Tiffany Dickens TELLERS: Sept 3 Larry Romine Sept 10 Shirley Hofstetter Sept 17 Donna Kreisler Sept 24 Janice Cunningham PROPRESENTER: Sept 3 Kim Terrill Sept 10 Nathan Morton Sept 17 Kim Terrill Sept 24 Rhonda Teague USHERS: Sept 3 Jeremy Clark, Betty Jones, Josh Lepich Keith Hughes, Linda Bramel, David Gray Sept 10 Wayne Rapier, Larry Romine, Jim Duncan Bob Laney, Harlen Honse, Kevin Bock Sept 17 Jeremy Romine, Bob Laney, Josh Hitch Zack Rogers, Richard Witt, Jim Welch Sept 24 David Roy, Kent Bramel, John Gibson Bill Dunkus, Brian Kleffner, Connie Baldwin BUILDING SECURITY & TELLER: Connie Baldwin TODDLERS CHURCH: 1 st & 3 rd Sun Zack & Jade Rogers 2 nd Sun Ardella Hauck 4 th & 5th Sun Beth Lepich CHILDREN S CHURCH 1 st Sun Stephanie Baker & Beth Lepich 2 nd Sun Shirley Megill & Paula Laney 3 rd Sun Rachael Hitch & Ashley Lind 4 th Sun Mary Dunkus & Linda Spurgeon SEPTEMBER SCHEDULES (Con.) GREETERS: Sept 3 Sunday School Betty Morrison west Donna Kreisler - east Brian & Shannon Kleffner-west Dave & Tonia Mendenhall-east Sept 10 Sunday School Don & Artie Hughes-west Tommy & Julia Burkett-east James & Donna Kreisler-east Keith & Debbie Hughes - west Sept 17 Sunday School Bob & Paula Laney west Brenda Acosta - east Heather & Dennis Van Saase-east Kent & Linda Bramel-west Sept 24 Sunday School Dorothy Rodgers-east Helen Welch - west George & Mary Schowengerdt-east Kathleen Jordan-west PRAYER CONCERNS Our Shut-Ins Jimmy Wasmer Linda Stockton Diana Cornick Bob Pankey Melvin Jones Jack Smoot Ellie Kowalski Billie Dawson Mary Wood David Allen Mary Spurgeon Shawn Satterfield Allen & Jan Satterfield Marty Waggoner The Renaud Family Nadine Moreland Larry McDowell Shirley Cook Bryan Bushley Linda Williams Jayne Gilpin Levada Campbell Bev Romine Hanse & Fern Rinehart Delores Bailey Shannon Wick Glendon Klossner Curtis Adams Shannon Corliss Steve Ortiz Joy Case Robert Blue Barbara Davis Dale Benton Mary Gann Karne Dixon Shannon Wiley Gene Whitaker (Jordan Parker s grandfather) Family of Tania Wilmurth (Diana Cornick s Cousin) Gail VanMeter Russell Papizan Vickie Dawson Jackie Chandler *Those Who Do Not Know Christ Our nation & military: David Griffin, Justin Wycoff, Noah Wills,Chris Lurvey John McLawhorn, Larry McCallister, Ryan Burk Michael Skaggs, Fernando Horta, Denny Smith, John Stone, Josh Goodenough, Josh Rubach John Stanley, Dylan Van Asdale, Matt Lowder Dwight Waggoner, Tim Wells, Robert Holguin David and Micky Stoner, Brian Stockton, Megan Burns, Brittany Persicke, Charles Waggoner, Michael Burns Newsletter 2

3 C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T S (PLEASE REMEMBER TO CHECK WITH THE OFFICE BEFORE SCHEDULING ANY ACTIVITIES.) POTATO BOOTH FUNDRAISER DATE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 TO SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 PLACE GRAPE & FALL FESTIVAL DRIVE Student Ministries will be having a Potato Booth at the Grape & Fall Festival, September 8 & 9. Make sure you visit the booth and have one of their delicious potatoes with all the fixings to support our youth group. MISSOURI CHURCH MEN S RETREAT DATE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8 TO SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 PLACE CAMP SHARON TIME SEE INFORMATION AT cogamo.org Please see all registration fees and information on the bulletin board or at the website listed. The speaker this year is Mark Shaner, one of the pastors at the East Side of God in Anderson. NURSERY WORKERS MEETING DATE SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 PLACE FELLOWSHIP HALL TIME FOLLOWING THE MORNING WORSHIP SERVICE There will be a meeting for all nursery workers following the morning worship service on Sunday, September 10. Please make every effort to attend. BOARD MEETING NIGHT IS SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 WOMEN S BIBLE STUDY DATE WEDNESDAYS BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 13 PLACE HERE AT THE CHURCH TIME 6:30 TO 8:00 PM The Christian Women s Connection is starting a new Women s Bible Study by Melissa Spoelstra, "Numbers - Learning Contentment in a Culture of More. This is a 6-week study. Participant Workbooks are $ Please let Kathleen Jordan ( ) know if you plan to attend by Sunday, September 10. Please sign up at the Information Center. CHILDREN AND YOUTH WORKERS If you work with the children or youth, please fill out a new background check form and turn it into the office. They are at all three church entrances. DRIVE STUDENT MINISTRIES ACTIVITIES Saturday, September 23 City Museum Trip Saturday, September 30 MYF Early Registration is Due!! $25 deposit by this date saves you $15! Please contact one of the members of the youth leader team or check out the DRIVE Student Ministry Parents Facebook page. CHRISTIAN WOMEN S CONNECTION PRAYER RETREAT DATE FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1 PLACE CAMP SHARON The CWC Prayer Retreat will be at Camp Sharon, September 29 to October 1. Registration is $75. Registration forms can be found at or at the Information Booth. Please let Kathleen Jordan know if you plan to attend. CHURCH YARD SALE DATE SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 PLACE HERE AT THE CHURCH It's time to start bringing in items for the Yard Sale that will be held October 7, We are looking for useable, clean items that you are willing to part with. No TV s or computers will be accepted. Please make arrangements with Mary or Pastor Don before bringing your items to the church. They will be able to direct you as to where the items go, as well as provide a receipt if requested. All proceeds from the sale will go to "Helping Hands" for the schools in India. Small Group Ministry If you re looking for a way to build relationships, become more active in the church, and to deepen your faith, then our small group ministry is for you. Information about this exciting ministry is located at each entry of the church. Kickoff date for small groups is Sunday evening, September 17. Child care is provided at the church. For more information, contact Josh or Ashley Lind through the church office. There are also forms at each church entrance. OLD IRON WORKS DAYS Volunteers are needed to supervise games at the Old Iron Works Festival on October 14 and 15. All workers get free entrance to the event. In you are interested in volunteering for a shift, please see Debbie Hughes. Newsletter 3

4 Missions/Outreach News A big thank you to the Mission/Outreach Team for putting together a fantastic BBQ luncheon this past Sunday. The food and fellowship were amazing. The proceeds from the meal will go to Project India, a project we have undertaken to help to schools in India remain open after losing their funding. The Mission/Outreach team set a goal of $1000. Thanks to your generosity, that goal was met. Your donations totaled $1,220. Two other Project India fundraisers we are involved in are the Project India Photo Sessions. Our own Jordan Parker of Jordan Parker Photography is offering sessions in which all donations will go to these schools. If your family is looking to have some amazing pictures taken, be sure to contact Jordan through the church office. Packages are valued at $125; however, all donations are taken. The second will be our Mission/Outreach Rummage sale which is scheduled for Saturday, October 7, here at the church. Donations are being accepted now. Please contact the church office to arrange the drop off of your donated items. NO televisions or computers please. First Serves is a ministry sponsored by our congregation. This ministry is designed not only to assist members of our congregation, but also members of the community. If you, a loved one, friend, or neighbor needs assistance with a task that you are unable to do for yourself, please contact our church office. A member of the congregation will set a date and time to provide assistance. Our first work day is scheduled for Saturday, September 16. If you can help serve, please contact the church office. Hurricane Harvey Relief We have had several people contact us about helping the victims of Hurricane Harvey. We are in contact with of God Ministries and other organizations about how and when we can be of the most assistance. More details to come soon. Notes Dear of God Friends, Thank you so much for providing breakfast for our staff during convocation. Your continued support and partnership with our youth means a great deal to us! Sincerely, Cathy Wells, Assistant Superintendent Dear Family, Thank you for lifting our family up during the loss of my two sisters, Virginia Ballard and Sue Malone. Your prayers, cards and memorials of Gideon Bibles was comforting to our family. Your kind acts were a comfort to us during those times of sorrow. We praise God for you. In Christ Always, Robert & Paula Laney Thank you so much for allowing us to use your dining hall for our Celebration of Life dinner for our family. We appreciated it very much. God Bless, Lisa Ammerman & Family Calvary Apostolic First of God 615 W. James Blvd St. James, MO Office Hours: 9:00 am 4:00 pm Website: stjcog.com Phone: Don Carson Pastor Newsletter 4

5 Insert