January 6, 2013 St. Paul United Methodist Church

Transcription

1 June 2, 2013 January 6, 2013 St. Paul United Methodist Church St. Paul United Methodist Church Unite Even though the early church was made up of different people coming together with diverse ideas, they were able to unite as one, by keeping themselves grounded in God s Word. How can the church of history unite to be the church of the future? Join us for this four week sermon series. Welcome We are so glad you are here for the very first Sunday of this exciting new series, Unite. Please join us again on another Sunday during one of our three worship times; 9:30 Sanctuary Worship, 11:00 Sanctuary Worship, and 9:30 The Fountain Praise and Worship in the Christian Life Enrichment Center. First time here? We hope that you experience the life changing message of Jesus Christ. If this is your first time at St. Paul or you have questions, please visit our Connecting Point in the lobby of both worship sites. It s a place where you can get information, answers and even a free gift! Our hosts would love to help you! What can we do for you? As our guest or regular attendee, please fill out a registration pad, or click on this QR code with your smart phone and let us know what we can do for you and to register your attendance.

2 Glorify God 9:30 & 11:00 Sanctuary Worship THE CHURCH GATHERS Prelude Judi Hurst, Pianist *Opening Hymns Holy Ground Surely the Presence of the Lord Welcome David McKee, Director of Music Ministry Offering Broken For You Sanctuary Choir Prayer of Thanksgiving *Praise Hymn Bind Us Together PROCLAMATION OF THE WORD Sermon Unite: One Purpose Pastor Bob Martin Ephesians 4:1-6, Pastoral Prayer/Lord s Prayer No. 895 Special Music Holy Communion *Benediction *Closing Hymn *Postlude Lord Be Glorified One Bread, One Body Let Us Break Bread Together Eat This Bread There is a Fountain SENDING FORTH Grace, Love and Fellowship *Please stand, if you are able. An usher or greeter would be happy to help you with large print hymnals or hearing assistance. 9:30 Fountain Worship Christian Life Enrichment Center (CLEC) Unite: One Purpose Ephesians 4:1-6 Pastor BJ Foster *If you need assistance, please let a greeter or usher know and they would be happy to help. Next Week Unite: One People When you think of needs in the church, money may be the first thing that comes to mind. But there are other needs that are even more important.

3 Glorify God Please pray for those people listed below with immediate needs: Wilbur Pete Ahrns Dale Anderson Baby Bella & family Ron Barker John Baumgardner Joyce Collins Bruce DeLaura Bill Elliott Stacey Ethridge Grandson Charles & Mary Lou Hamilton Kelly & family Sue Lanning Doris Mahoney Stay and Pray TODAY Stay after worship today and the first Sunday of each month. A prayer team is waiting to pray with you. Meet us in the Chapel following Sanctuary worship or at the altar following the Fountain. Prayer Request Boxes Drop your written prayer request in the boxes located in the Sanctuary lobby or at the Fountain or Sanctuary Altar. These are collected each week and delivered to the Upper Room of Prayer to be prayed over individually. Prayer Requests Online Submit your prayer online at stpaulumc.org. Click on Grow in Faith, then Prayer. Prayer Phone Line Call PRAY around the clock to leave a recorded prayer need. Weekly Prayer Time Hear Our Prayer Geraldine Martin Virginia & Dale McBride Barb McHale Lois Miller Don Mitchell Linda & Jefferson Quansah Cynthia Rickert Lois Rubaii Mary Snyder Beulah Boots Staleton Howard Webber Zachary & Preston Peggy Cameron Eleanor Thomson Join us at 7 p.m. every Thursday evening in the Prayer Room in the Christian Life Enrichment Center to pray over all the requests received the previous week. Flowers If you would like to order flowers for worship, please call Flower Ministry Coordinator, Kathleen Della Rosa at ballstate80@yahoo.com or and give her your desired date and inscription. The cost of the flowers is $40 per bouquet. Watch us LIVE at 11:00 Never be without St. Paul by watching us while you are away! We stream our Sanctuary worship every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. EST at stpaulumc.sermon.tv or stpaulumc.org. Be sure to press the play triangle on the graphic when it is 10:55 or later. Simple Way to Give If you think you may miss worship this summer due to travel or other commitments, consider watching online and setting up an automatic giving schedule. Your consistent support is vital to our ministries, espe ci ally du ring the summe r. Visit to sign up. Another option is to scan this QR code with your smart phone. This will take you to a mobile version of our giving site where you can securely and conveniently give. Missed a Message? If you have missed a message or want to share one you have heard, visit our You Tube channel or our website. Recent sermons are posted and able for you to view when it is convenient. You may also purchase a DVD of the 11:00 Sanctuary message for $5 by contacting the church office. Help Us Be Debt Free The church is working to eliminate the $575,000 building debt through Gideon s Army. For as little as $1917 a unit, with an army of 300, we could be debt free. We invite you to give as much as you can, or you may pledge to sponsor a unit. By coming together and pledging to be a soldier in Gideon s Army you can help St. Paul be debt free. Pledge cards are available in the kiosks of each lobby or you can set up your payment online under the Glorify God tab.

4 Grow in Faith Children infant-5th grade, Sherri Plate, Children s Ministry Director, sherri.p@stpaulumc.org Sunday Nursery-Lil Kidz Care Lil Kidz Care is available every Sunday for infants-4 years old, at 9:15 a.m. in the Children s Ministry Center and the Christian Life Enrichment Center, depending upon where you worship. You will sign in and be given a badge to ensure your child s safety. Sunday Morning-Kidz Konnection Today, children in Kidz Konnection are enjoying an end of the school year Party! Children in kindergarten through fifth grade are invited to Kidz Konnection at 9:30 a.m. in the Children s Ministry Center. Just checkin at the welcome desk outside the South Fellowship Hall. Vacation Bible School Even though summer camp is g e t t i n g s t a r t e d so o n, registration is still open for Vacation Bible School. Kingdom Rock is the week of August 5 from 9:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Unlike summer camp, VBS is for children 3-years-old through rising 6th grade. The week is free, however there is a $15 charge for early drop off and a $60 charge for late pick-up. Children who attended Sky VBS last year, participate in worship. Camp Quest: Discover and Live it! Don t miss out on a fun, affordable, safe place for your kids to grow, learn and make new friends! Spaces are filling up for our summer camp: Camp Quest! You can sign up for one week, a few weeks or all the weeks! June June June July July July 29-Aug. 2 Aug.5-Aug. 9 Days until Summer Camp Character Camp Wet n Wild Camp Missions, Movies, and More Sports Camp Arts Camp Music/Drama Camp VBS: Kingdom Rock Camp Quest hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., early drop off is 7:30 a.m. and late pick-up is 5:30 p.m. at an extra cost. Camp is for rising first-sixth grade. Camp charge is $125 a week per child and that includes field trips, two snacks a day and one lunch. For complete camp information and to sign up visit Son Kissed Summer Camp Preschoolers get to go to camp too! Son Kissed Preschool camp is for children two-years-old by June 10, 2013 through kindergarten age. Camp hours are 9:00-2:00 p.m. Cost is $100 a week. You can sign up for all nine weeks or pick and choose your weeks. For more information call the preschool at

5 Grow in Faith Youth 5th-12th Grade, Alison Van Duyne, Youth Ministry Director, Sunday Night Youth Group TONIGHT: Graduation Party Join our students as they celebrate the Class of 2013 tonight in the Youth Room from 7-9 p.m. Hear advice from the grads and watch parents share their words of wisdom, not to mention cute baby pics of the graduates! Sunday Morning A Source Group (small group) for sixth through eighth graders meets at 9:30 a.m. in the Youth Room of the Christian Life Enrichment Center (CLEC). First Remix Our first Wednesday Night Remix is June 12! Below is a list of the fun Remix nights. Be sure to invite your friends. Flyers are available in the CLEC and Sanctuary lobby. NEXT SUNDAY: Simple On Sunday, June 9 we begin a new series, What You See is What You Get. Jesus seemed to make it pretty simple when it comes to what following Him would be all about: love God and love others as you love yourself. But this simple command gets a lot more complicated when we don't see God, ourselves and others as we should. On June 9 we also start meeting earlier. Students meet for dinner for $4 at 5:30 p.m. (instead of 6:30) in the Mariposa Café. Youth time follows in the newly renovated Youth Room in the Christian Life Enrichment Center. We will be finished at 8:00 instead of 9:00. Teen Valley Ranch Retreat The deadline is coming! All students attending TVR July 7-13 in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina need to have the parental consent forms filled out by Sunday, June 9. Help Wanted We know that retreats are pricey so we are giving our students a chance to earn money towards their next retreat by helping in the youth office. Opportunities are limited so if you are interested fill out an application now online at under grow in faith. June 12 Gatti Town-5:30-9:00 p.m. $10 for pizza buffet & game card June 19 Middle School Pool Party-6-8 p.m. $2 for pizza and snacks High School Coffee/Open Mic Night 8-11 p.m. Bring money for drinks and desserts June 26 Monsters University Movie $9 for movie Youth Week in August Save the dates now! Youth Week is August It s a fun-filled time with fun events each day/night of the week before school starts. More details will come soon! Young Adults Felix Koutsourais, Ignite Ministry Leader, c24go1@aol.com Ignite College age young adults are welcome to join us tonight or any Sunday night at 7:00 p.m. in room 207 of the southwest campus. We gather for social time, study and missions with off-site fun activities here and there! To stay up to date on all of our happenings, like our page on Facebook.

6 Grow in Faith New Time for Rachel-Lydia Women s Group Join this dynamic group at a new time, 10:30 a.m., the second Thursday of the month in Carpenter s Room of the Christian Life Enrichment Center. On Thursday, June 13 we will enjoy guided Bible discussion of Philippians 4:13 and hand-crafting of items for our pediatric medical mission. JOY (Just Older Youth) on Tuesdays Our older adults are invited every Tuesday morning at 10:30 to the Christian Life Enrichment Center for fellowship, lessons, and prayer. A lunch may be ordered ahead of time for $6 or you may bring your lunch. Contact ext. 233 to order your lunch or sign up at JOY for the following week. The June 4 leader is David McKee. Lunch is a chicken salad sandwich, chicken orzo soup and a cookie. Adult Sunday School Everyone is invited to Grow in Faith at one of our four Sunday school classes at 9:30 a.m. for adults of any age. (CLEC-Christian Life Enrichment Center) Spectrum-CLEC, Rm. 248 Inspirations-CLEC, Rm. 101 Crusaders-Children s Ministry Center, Rm. 100 Friendship-CLEC, Rm. 201 Men s Group Join the Soaring Eagles Men s Group for their last meeting until the fall, this Saturday, June 8 at 8:00 a.m. in the Christian Life Enrichment Center Room 201. They will take the summer off, and meet again September 7. All men are invited to this fun and uplifting time. Help the Wounded In 2003, David Rozelle, (pictured right), then a captain in the army, lost part of his leg in a landmine while p a t r o l l i n g i n Fallujah, Iraq. D u r i n g h i s recovery, Captain Rozelle decided he needed to be Major David Rozelle, Courtesy University of Colorado equipped to reach out to fellow soldiers going through the struggles of war, so he trained to be a Stephen Minister in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His mission was to minister to other soldiers and wounded warriors because at that time there was no established support system to take care of wounded soldiers like Captain Rozelle. Rozelle said, there are never enough chaplains to cover the needs of our soldiers. He returned to active duty as a stronger and more mature leader and as the first soldier in history to return to active duty as an amputee. He is now a Lieutenant Colonel and still serving in Stephen Ministry. We have wounded people all around us. People who are suffering from physical disabilities, emotional trauma, life struggles and there are never enough pastors to cover the needs of our folks who need attention and love. Stephen Ministry allows us to serve others while serving God. We don t have to be strong, we don t have to be perfect, we don t even have to be whole all it takes is the ability to care, to share your faith and to listen. Won t you consider and pray about Stephen Ministry as your place of service? It is not a ministry for personal glory but is filled with God s blessings. Contact the church office if you are interested.

7 Give in Love Open Arms Food Drive Drive by on Saturday, June 8 and drop off your nonperishables to restock the shelves of Open Arms Resource Center. Come by between 9 a.m. and noon. They always need baby products and canned goods like vegetables and meats. Summer Mission Trip Mark your calendars now for July 8-12 and be the hands of Jesus! In order to fulfill our strategic initiative to meet the needs of our local community, the Service and Outreach Team is planning a mission trip in our backyard. We will serve our community each day and at night, stay at the church for devotional time, fellowship and spiritual growth. More details are coming but we wanted you to plan on this trip now! S l e e p i n g Mat Ministry R e c e i v e s Help The Sleeping Mat Ministry recently received more than 2,700 plastic bags from a local Girl Scout Troop. These bags will be made into seven plastic mats. The first step is making the bags into yarn for making our sleeping mats, as seen in the photo. Thanks Girl Scouts! Feed the Homeless Did you know we feed the homeless in Clearwater every Sunday afternoon? Come and be a part of the feeding and/or food preparation. We leave from the church at 3:30 on Sunday near the office entrance of the Christian Life Enrichment Center. Even better, sign up your Source Group to take a Sunday. Contact Michele Wolfe at m.wolfe10@verizon.net. Host a Party There are a ton of fun activities for our students this summer and two of them are pool parties! If you would be interested in hosting a pool party at your house on June 19 or July 17 contact the Director of Youth Ministry at Alison.v@stpaulumc.org. Golf Tournament Help raise funds for our softball team by playing in our upcoming golf tournament, sponsoring a hole or donating door prizes. The tournament is June 29 at East Bay Country Club. To sign up or help call John Hamilton at or pick up information in the lobby. Summer Fun for Adults too! Have fun this summer and help community kids at the same time! Vacation Bible School: Kingdom Rock is looking for helpers. Join us for this fantastic week of camp August 5-9 from 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. VBS is completely run by volunteers so that we don't have to charge children to attend. The following VBS area leaders are needed: Hospitality/Decorating Coordinator Preschool VBS Coordinator Bible Story/Drama Center Leader Craft/Science Center Leader Recreation Center Leader If you can help in any area or have questions about volunteering, contact the Children s Ministry at , ext. 238 or sherri.p@stpaulumc.org.

8 Glorify God Open Arms Food Drive-June 8, 9:00 a.m.-noon Drop off your non-perishables at our Open Arms Resource Center. PMS: Popcorn, Movie and Sweats-June 14, 7:00 p.m. The Women s Ministry of St. Paul invites you to come enjoy a girls night out in South Fellowship Hall to watch the comedy/romance movie, Because I said So with Diane Keaton, Mandy Moore and Gabriel Macht. Your donation of $5.00 per person provides the movie, popcorn, candy and drinks. Remember it s good to laugh and have sisterly comraderie afterall..our friends are the chocolate in the cookies of life! Dad s Day Dodgeball & Cornhole-June 16, 10:30-11:00 a.m. You re invited to our special dad s day event in the Mariposa Café and the gym. Children may bring their favorite fella to enjoy snacks in the café. Wear your favorite sports team attire! Tuesday & Thursday-Parent s Morning Out Take a little time for yourself and drop your children off Tuesday and/or Thursdays in the Lil Kidz Nursery in the Children s Ministry Center. You know they are cared for, loved and are having fun. It s $8 per child, from 9:00 a.m.-noon. Please reserve your spot by contacting the Children s Ministry Office at , ext St. Paul s Strategic Initiatives for 2013 Focus on community outreach and missions primarily in the Tampa Bay area. Build stronger ties to God and each other through Christian fellowship, studies, and small groups. Sunday, June 2 Lil Kidz Nursery 9:00 AM Fountain Worship 9:30 AM Sanctuary Worship 9:30 AM Sunday School 9:30 AM Sanctuary Worship 11:00 AM Homeless Feeding 3:30 PM Youth Choir 5:30 PM Youth Group 7:00 PM Ignite 7:00 PM Monday, June 3 Handbells 5:30 PM Drama Ministry 6:45 PM Stephen Ministry 6:45 PM Adult Baskteball 7:00 PM Tuesday, June 4 Sonrise Men s Study 6:30 AM Parent s Morning Out 9:00 AM Pew Committee 9:00 AM Joy Fellowship 10:30 AM Adult Basketball 8:30 PM Wednesday, June 5 Handicapable Ministry 6:15 PM Preschool Graduation 7:00 PM Adult Co-Ed Volleyball 7:45 PM Submit or view an event online: Thursday, June 6 Men s Bible Study 7:00 AM Parent s Morning Out 9:00 AM Prayer Shawl 5:30 PM Women s Ministry Mtg 5:30 PM Choir fellowship 7:00 PM Friday, June 7 Church Office Closed Adult Basketball 7:30 PM Saturday, June 8 Soaring Eagles 8:00 AM

9 Good News Record Attendance at Handicapable Worship Featuring Special Guests On Wednesday,May 22, Handicapable had a record attendance of 215. On top of that, we were truly blessed by the Children s Ministry, under the direction of Sherri Plate, who did a wonderful lesson for our group (photo right). Not only did we receive a powerful spiritual message about M&Ms, but each attendee was given a bag of M&Ms as well. Congratulations Children s Ministry participated during Handicapable Worship! Congratulations to proud grandparents, Jim and Mimi Steele. Kristen and David Steele welcomed Jacob on May 12, Mom and baby are doing well and grandparents are thrilled to have their first grandson. Way to go Ethan Grantges! Ethan recently stepped in and taught Sunday school when his parents, the scheduled facilitators, were not able to make it. It s been awesome to see Ethan lead by teaching, playing in the praise band and being confident enough to lead other students in prayer. Praise God for his leadership! Handicapable Ministry Shines at the Special Olympics State Games State games for the Special Olympics were held on May 17 and 18 at Disney World in Orlando. Six members of the Handicapable Ministry participated and came home with numerous medals. We are so proud of our star athletes and our coaches who make these forever memories possible. Homeless Feedings Every Sunday afternoon a team of devoted volunteers led by Shaun Powers and Michele Wolfe help to feed the homeless in downtown Clearwater, From food preparation by Carolyn Goodwin to set up and serving, it takes a small crew to do this week in and week out. We are thankful for our volunteers and for those who serve every week to provide a hot meal and lunch to those families who are in need. St. Paul United Methodist Church The Reverend Bob Martin, Senior Pastor The Reverend Bette-Jo Foster, Associate Pastor 1199 Highland Avenue, Largo, Florida 33770, church@stpaulumc.org, Office Hours: 8-5, Monday-Thursday Phone (727) Fax (727) Prayer (727) 559-PRAY CLEC (727)

10 Note from Pastor Bob While change may be difficult while you are in its midst, it also opens the doors for so much opportunity. In this third installment of our frequently asked questions we are taking a look at the awesome opportunities we have before us to participate in ministry and bring more people into God s kingdom. Is it possible for all of the needs of the church to be met by one Pastor? This is a great question! Caring for the needs of the church family and those outside of the church has been accomplished well in the past and we do not see any deviation from this in the future. It does create new opportunities for the church family. Pastor Bob believes in Paul s words written in Ephesians 4:11-12, whereby the role of the ordained clergy is to empower the saints (the church laity) to do ministry. When Jesus came to the world to disclose the Father s plan He modeled what ministry is to look like. Notice the Scripture does not teach that Jesus did the entire ministry Himself; He taught disciples how to do it. In the Feeding of the 5,000 the story demonstrates this model of ministry. The disciples ask Jesus, Where will we find the food to feed all of these people? What was Jesus response? He said to the disciples, You feed them. Doing God s ministry is not reserved for the pleasure of the ordained clergy. It is God s gift given to all of His people and as Christians we are taught to do His ministry. Oftentimes it is heard, I am leaving my church because I m not being fed. In more times than not, this is usually meant to say the pastor is not feeding the sheep. In John 4:34, we learn the opposite. Jesus says clearly, My food is found in doing the will of the Father. Simply put, when a Christian feels they are not being fed the Lord says they must look at themselves and ask, Am I doing the Father s will? When we all serve God and operate in His will for the Kingdom s purpose we will never hunger. The more involved we are in serving the Lord and others through His church the closer we come to His presence and the fuller we become We have always had many pastors. How will we operate as a church with only one? By looking at how we do ministry this becomes possible. Whereas in the past it may have been a priority for the ordained pastors to do the ministry of the church, our focus for the future is to move in another direction. Paul writes in Ephesians 4 the role of the ordained is to, Empower the saints (the laity) to do ministry. By moving into this Biblically based direction we embrace what the writer of Hebrews calls, The priesthood of all believers. With the excitement of all worshipers serving the Lord using their gifts, graces and resources this way of doing ministry is totally possible. Why aren t we going to have an Associate Pastor? With the staff realignment and the addition of our Senior Leadership team the Staff Parish Relations Team communicated to the Bishop that the appointment of an Associate Pastor was not needed at this time. This does not mean we will not ever have an appointed Associate Pastor but that each year we will evaluate how we are functioning, and make a recommendation if an appointed Associate is needed at that time. The good news is this opens up so many new opportunities for the family of St. Paul to become involved in ministry. Clergy alone cannot take care of a church and it is not Biblical for the ordained or church staff to shoulder the burden and pleasure of doing ministry. Scripture says it is a privilege shared by all of God s people to serve. How will our church visitation needs be accomplished with only one pastor? We are extremely blessed to have many qualified and caring people who are providing visitation support for our church family. Visitation and hospital coverage has been handled very well in the past. We do not see any change in visitation as this is currently being accomplished by our Stephen Ministers, Source Groups, Lay Ministers, Church staff, parishioners, ministry teams and our pastor. The Pastor will likely become more involved in times of significant need such as: crisis visitation, death, emergency hospitalization or other times that are extreme. With the advent of Source Groups and the growing awareness of care needs, more people are finding comfort in their time of need. Will I still be able to meet with the pastor? There is likely no change in the way meetings with the pastor are currently scheduled. We highly recommend that if you wish to see the pastor, you contact the church office so that an appointment may be confirmed. This ensures you will have appropriate time and attention to your request. In cases of an emergency, we ask that you keep your calendar open so that the first available time may be scheduled