Women Stirring Up Their Gifts From God

Transcription

1 VOLUME XXXI, ISSUE IV FROM THE PASTOR S PEN: Summer 2017 Women s Weekend 2017 Women Stirring Up Their Gifts From God DuPage African Methodist Episcopal Church 4300 Yackley Avenue Lisle, IL fax info@dupageamec.org Pastor Miller & Rev. Lana For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you... -II Timothy 1:6 Rev. Dr. James F. Miller Senior Pastor Women have been stirring up gifts for the village since the beginning: from nurturing children, to encouraging men, to comforting each other. Women have always been stirring up gifts. It s time to celebrate the position women hold in our lives, our church and our community. And it s time to affirm and empower our women, as they seek their true purpose, meaning and joy. Rev. Lana Parks Miller Executive Pastor Rev. Albert D. Tyson, III Presiding Elder Rt. Rev. John F. White, Sr. Presiding Prelate Sunday, June 25th is our Annual Women s Day. Our sanctuary will be resplendent in purple as this year s color adorn every queen and princess, (and maybe even some kings and princes too!). Witnessing our annual Women s Day Chorus Singing 150 has become an annual highlight. Our guest preacher this year is the Rev. Dr. Gwendolyn E. Boyd a prolific international leader in STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) and an awesome preacher! You don t want to Rev. Dr. Gwendolyn E. Boyd miss Dr. Boyd! Inside this issue: New Members 2 Class of Annual Youth Day 5 Vacation Bible School 8 Quarterly Calendar 11...and more Saturday, June 24th will set the stage for our Holy Ghost Women s Day. Our first church wide women's conference on Saturday will allow an out pouring and an overflow of release. It s time for healing, wholeness and peace. Don t jut plan on coming to an event, prepare to come to renew and reawaken your spirit. Women s Day is not only a great festival time, it is a primary economic infusion for our annual church budget. Your financial support insures that our various ministries and programs continue. Please include your associates, friends and loved ones. And let s get ready for a new victory as we stir up our gifts. Pastor Miller

2 VOLUME XXXI, ISSUE IV PAGE 2 WEL COME TO OUR NEW MEMBER S We welcome the following New Members to our DuPage AME Church family! May each of you always be open to the ministry of the Lord s church. Remember: Active Christians create churches that are alive! Meiosha Brooks & Eli Woodall Nelda Akinbile Naperville Oakbrook Sharon Sanders Lewis Himes, Jr. Matteson Aurora CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2017 Kalen Thigpen Sydney Taylor Erika Sims Ciara Holloway Skyler Wilburn Emery Barnes W. Sean Keys Elise Barnes Michaela Wright Sydney Baker Abriana & Ashley Green-McCant Brooke Lindsey Michael McPherson Joseph Steele Yolanda Stovall Kennedy Jordan Kenneth Johnson, Jr. Demi Dorsey & Naseer Sleets Serena Bailey Milan Williams Mary Jones THE NEWSLETTER is a publication of DuPage AME Church, 4300 Yackley Avenue, Lisle, IL 60532, , Editor Rev. Lana Parks Miller. Staff Rev. Morgan Dixon & Brooke Denham , info@dupageamec.org. Ted McKee, photographer. Rights reserved to edit for content and space. Our aim is to communicate with you, provide an outreach to you, and truly reflect the spirit of the congregation and it s leadership. THE NEWSLETTER is published quarterly.

3 PAGE 3 CONGRATULATIONS CLASS OF 2017 Praise The Lord! We, your church family, honor you for your academic accomplishments, and for your contribution to the life of the church. We pray God s continued blessings for your future! Cameron Taylor Douglas J. Howard McKenzie Cooper The LORD goes before you and will be with you; God will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. ~Deuteronomy 31:8 KINDERGARTEN GRADUATES Matthew Baker Bryson Bray Cameron Dionne' Taylor 8 TH GRADE GRADUATES Serena Bailey Ahmaya Johnson Sydney Baker Arianah Baylark-Lange Kennedy Coats LeVern Danley, IV Avari Durant Kennedy Jordan Brooke Lindsey Zion Odoh Tre Spencer Joseph Steele HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES Avery Alabi Kelvin Kirksey, Jr. Demi Dorsey Kiersten Rasberry Asan Hawkins Douglas J. Howard Isaiah Hunter Kenneth Johnson, Jr. Mary Jones W. Sean Keys Skyler Wilburn Tremaine Roberts Naseer Sleets Sydney Taylor Kalen Thigpen Ahmad Ward Milan Williams Matthew Baker Bryson Bray Kiersten Rasberry Michelle Mann Avery Alabi Emery Barnes (Butler) COLLEGE GRADUATES Charles A. Jones, Jr. (Hampton) Charles Jones, Jr. McKenzie Cooper (Iowa) Abriana Green-McCant (Mizzou) Ciara Ch Nalle Holloway (CCC) Michelle Mann (Notre Dame) Erika Sims (Jackson State) Michaela Wright (Lane) ADVANCED & OTHER DEGREE GRADUATES Elise Barnes, MEd Ryann Morrison, MS Ryann Morrison Michael McPherson, MBA Ashley Green-McCant, MS Nia Rayford, MA Yolanda Stovall, EdD Zion Odoh

4 PAGE 4 WE WILL FLOURISH THIS SUMMER They shall again live beneath My shadow, they shall flourish as a garden. ~Hosea 14:7 Take a moment to think of God's blessing to you as you plan your summer. Do you have a trip planned? Is there a special family gathering that will take place? Are you anticipating any moments of seasonal rest and relaxation? God continues to be good to us through God's Undying Love. While these special blessings may affect the spiritual discipline of your regular worship, they also present an opportunity for your faith to shine. Purpose in your heart right now that even though your attendance may be interrupted, continue to give regularly. You understand that the ministry must go forward and your support of God's work helps us to do just that. Here are some suggestions to insure your faithful support remains strong. 1. Pray every day. Talk with Jesus every day. Say amen in prayer every day, affirming that you are a strong Christian. 2. Check out all your options for seeing that your tithes and offerings are here even when you are not, through: Online giving via the church website, automatic giving via your bank, text to give, etc. See how the Spirit directs you. (This faith exercise will bless you.) 3. Envision how the Spirit is directing you to support your church this summer. Commit to and set up your system of faith giving, and enjoy the summer in peace, knowing you continue to do the best job for the Lord that you know how. HAVE A SAFE AND BLESSED SUMMER EVERYONE! Congratulations 2017 Scholarship Winners The Fields Scholarship Kiersten Rasberry The Andriess Walker Scholarship Milan Williams The Mary Lou Finley Scholarship Avery Alabi The James Ferguson Scholarship Douglas Howard The Brotherhood Scholarship Isaiah Hunter The Sylvarose Scholarship Kalen Thigpen The Ron Allen Scholarship Sydney Taylor The James & Lana Miller Scholarship Douglas Howard Missionary Scholarship Asan Hawkins Missionary Scholarship Demi Dorsey Missionary Scholarship Kelvin Kirksey, Jr. DuPage AME Church Gift Award Ahmad Ward, Sean Keys

5 PAGE 5 ANNUAL YOUTH & PROMOTION SUNDAY Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray. ~Proverbs 22:6 NRSV Rev. Kabrielle Baker Do you love children? Do you love to see children having fun? Does it encourage you to see youth growing as Christian leaders? Do you have children you want to be sure know about God & Jesus? On Sunday, June 11 th, we will celebrate our youth and encourage our youth ministries. Our youth ministries go all year long, constantly teaching and growing our young people in biblical wisdom and Christian compassion. We are doing what we can to make sure holiness stays in the world and our young people are dy-no-mite! On Youth Sunday our guest preacher will be Rev. Kabrielle Baker. Rev. Kabrielle is preparing to receive her ordination as an itinerant elder in the AME Church. She has served on all levels of the AME Church including sitting on the Connectional executive board of Young People & Children's Division of the Women s Missionary Society. Rev. Baker really blessed us last year as our YPD Day speaker and we had to have her back to bless us again. All of our youth choirs will sing. This is an excellent day to invite your family and friends to see your child participate in church. It takes the whole village to support and affirm good efforts. During our Sunday School hour even those without children, we need you to come out. You are important in the village. Our students will be given oral exams and rattle off the Bible s mysteries, is truly mind boggling to see. You ve got to witness how much our young people have learned about the Christianity and the Bible. Each year we are blessed to be able to share in the joy of our children s spiritual growth and accomplishments. We are acknowledging and recognizing students promoting from Preschool, Primary, Junior and Intermediate SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASSES; as well as our high school graduates. Preschool Class: Jessica Bell, Zion Cummings & Kennedy Nesbitt Primary Class: Aliyah Akinbile Junior Class: Linwood Johnson, Jr. & Zöe Williams Intermediate Class: Sydney Baker, Eric Brackenridge, Christian Chilinski, Cade Clark & Tré Spencer High School: Avery Alabi, Demi Dorsey, Asan Hawkins, Douglas Howard, Isaiah Hunter, Kenneth Johnson Jr., Sean Keys, Kelvin Kirksey II, Kiersten Rasberry, Sydney Taylor, Kalen Thigpen, Ahmad Ward & Milan Williams Kudos and commendations to Rev. Brazier, Rev. Connie, Rev. TiShaunda, Rev. Morgan and all of our ministry coordinators, chaperones and volunteers. We are raising a nation of leaders to help the world find salvation. The DuPage AME Church Youth Ministries include: Youth Leadership Development & Community Service Y.P.D. (Young People s Department); Musical Expression Sunbeam Choir (ages 2 6), Inspirational Choir (ages 7 12), Voices of Tomorrow (ages 13 18), and G.O.N.E.; Scouting Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts; Liturgical Dance/Step Expression Sisters of Praise and S.T.O.P.; Bible Study/Spiritual Development Sunday Church School, Angel Church, 3D(DuPage Divine Dreamers) and TS3 (Teens Seeking Soul Salvation); Christian Fellowship Golf for Christ League. All youth of DuPage AME Church are welcome!

6 PAGE 6 As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear the Lord. ~ Psalm 103:13 IN-HOME BIBLE STUDY Food Fellowship & Faith! Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts ~Acts 2:46 Join with a group in someone's home near you, share a meal and sit down together for a one hour Bible study. On Friday, July 14 th at 6:30pm, our entire church is called to gather in small groups at homes in various communities. We will go over our Bible study lesson. After dinner we will return home closer to God and each other than we were before. This is truly the church being the church. Members will have an opportunity to volunteer their home for gathering, or to be a teacher or facilitator for that night. Our youth and young adults will have special places for gathering. This has become a special way to get closer to God and each other. That is what God s first and second commandments direct us to do. Mark your calendar and prepare your family for this simple blessing: Friday, July 14 th! Consider hosting a group in your home! Let s make heaven happy by growing together living out our faith. Sign up begins soon. Watch your bulletin!

7 PAGE 7 BACK TO SCHOOL CONSECRATION SERVICE As summer ends and another school year begins, we will consecrate and put our students under the prayer covering of Jesus Christ. We take nothing for granted and know that a moment of prayer is a sure victory. On Sunday, July 23 rd, we will have a special altar call and special gifts for all our students who are going to college. In this world where no one is safe anywhere, even on a college campus, we call on the Lord to protect our sons and daughters. We pray for initiative, industry, productivity and progress. We pray success for the students and fulfillment for the parents and guardians. We pray for internships and job offers and careers spanning the globe. Be present students and parents, we are in this village together and God is right there with us. Hallelujah! SUMMER ACTIVITIES FOR GOLF FOR CHRIST 2017

8 PAGE 8 Vacation bible school In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. ~ Matthew 5:16 One of the greatest traditions of the Church is annual Vacation Bible School. Churches across the land take a week to study, enjoy great fellowship and share a meal each evening. We have a spectacular VBS each year and this year we continue the tradition. Monday, August 7 th -Friday, August 11 th at 6pm each evening, the general session begins with rowdy, exuberant praise! Classes for all ages will be available to be enjoyed by all. Vacation Bible School will be 5 days of Bible Study, spiritual growth, praising the Lord and yes lots of food and fun for everyone of all ages! MARK YOUR CALENDARS! INVITE YOUR FRIENDS. ENJOY OUR FELLOWSHIP! COMMUNITY EDUCATORS DAY Coordinated by the Louis A. Garland Jr. Lay Organization "If You Get, Give; If You Learn, Teach" Instruct the wise, and they will be wiser still. Teach the righteous, and they will add to their learning. ~Proverbs 9:9 On Sunday, August 13 th, the President of Shorter College, Little Rock, Arkansas will be our guest preacher! Dr. O. Jerome Green, is an Alabama native with a background in university public relations. Dr. Green says his work with Shorter College has helped him Dr. O. Jerome Green achieve what he believes is God s purpose for his life: to help people better their lives through access to education. Dr. Green transformed this small HBCU from an almost deserted campus to a bustling hub of energy and activity. Dr. Green will have the honor of preaching to our DuPage AMEC special guests of the day. We are inviting our DuPage community educators, specifically: elementary and high school principals and administrators and college professors and administrators. Local college presidents will also be invited. Of course, we want to flood the building with the front line warriors, all the class room teachers we can find!!! Let s take this opportunity to not only honor our local educators, but to say a prayer and honor the life of those teachers who blessed us along the way.

9 VOLUME XXXI, ISSUE IV PAGE 9 DUPAGE AMEC SUNDAY SCHOOL SPRING RECAP Children are a gift from the Lord ~ Psalm 127:3 Before we look ahead to Summer let s take a minute to celebrate the blessings of Springtime in Sunday School! Easter Resurrection Sunday School Program: The Sunday School and the DuPage Theatre Group collaborated and together they presented What Jesus Did For Me an Easter program that was riveting leaving a lasting spiritual impression. This April The Sunday School kicked off its Thinking Theologically 5th Sunday Academic Lecture Series. Rev. Dr. Trina Armstrong of the Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston was the guest lecturer and the facilitator of the Adult Sunday School Class. She spoke on the subject of God s Love. Also in April, refreshments were served to our youth in Sunday School. Thank you to the volunteers from the Adult Sunday School class for supporting this ministry of feeding our young people s bodies, minds and spirits. Welcome to our Rev. Dr. Trina Armstrong We invite you, your entire family and friends to join us for Sunday School! Every Sunday at 10:00 am newest Sunday School Teachers JUNE FOCUS: June 4 th Deborah & Barak Judges 4:1-10 June 11 Gideon s Call Judges 6:11-18 th Brandi Reese Primary Class Sally McGinnis Preschool Class June 18th Jephthah Answers The Call Judges 11:4-44, June 25th Samson s Call Judges 13:1-7, 24-25

10 PAGE 10 THE PRODIGAL STEWARD BY PATRICIA WILSON BAKER The Art of Letting Go Jesus said, If you want to be perfect, go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me, When the young man heard this, he went away sadly, for he was very rich. ~Matthew 19:21-22 LAB What does it take to separate ourselves from our money? Desire! The art of letting go requires us to desire one thing over another. There is a commercial on television for an app where you can post your possessions and sell them on-line. The jest of the commercial is that folks are unknowingly hindered by their objects and will do much better in life if they just let go. It s always someone other than the holder who recognizes that they just need to let go. It s not easy to let go of what you have in hopes of what you can t see. This is, however, exactly the point Jesus was trying to make to the young man. It takes faith to walk with Jesus. Just as the young man, we want to be perfect. We want our lives to be pleasing to Jesus; we want the assurance of going to heaven when it s our time, but what we don t want is to sacrifice all that we possess now. We desire good things in this life and the next; and we want to do it our own way. Jesus challenges us to develop spiritual faith. If you are not a consistent, steady giver you are a great candidate for growth. Notice in the scriptures Jesus never asked the man directly for money, he didn t put a dollar amount on what the young man should give, but he guided the young man into a deep soul search of desire. By looking inside, the young man assessed himself and decided that all his possessions were of greater value to him at that time than the hope of having treasure in heaven and following Jesus. When we give our tithes and our offerings, we give in faith. By giving to the church and sustaining its existence, we are helping to maintain a place of worship for the poor in spirit. In essence we are helping ourselves. I can t imagine my world without the comfort of the church or the fellowship of the saints. I look forward to Sunday mornings and the opportunities to gather with other believers to worship God, feel His presence, sing to His glory and experience healing for my soul. Oh, what a joy it is! So, let s learn from the rich, young man. The main point was to challenge the man s willingness to sell all that he had if it was a hindrance to him following Jesus. God challenged Moses when He instructed him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac in much the same way. Fortunately, God was sufficiently satisfied that Moses was self-less and had great faith so He provided a ram in exchange for Isaac s life. We cannot know all the consequences of our giving to God s church. We have no way of knowing the lives, besides our own, that will be impacted by our sacrifices for years but our challenge is to make the sacrifices today that will secure treasures in heaven.

11 PAGE 11 R.E.A.C.H. FOOD BANK When I was hungry you fed Me ~Matthew 25:35 We thank all the many volunteers who assisted with the Food Bank in 2017! Upcoming dates for serving: Friday June 9th 4 pm-6 pm Friday, July 7 th 4 pm-6 pm Saturday, August12 th 10 am 12 Noon Please make a contribution of your service! Assistance is also needed prior to truck days. Pray about how you can be a blessing to someone in need. To volunteer please contact Loleta at Your assistance is greatly appreciated! Thank you! DATES TO REMEMBER JUNE 4 Pentecost Sunday 11 Annual Youth Day 18 Father s Day Women s Weekend JULY 14 In-Home Bible Study 16 New Member Fellowship Day AUGUST 7-11 Vacation Bible School 13 Community Educators Day 26 Brotherhood Cook Out Sunday School Honorees at the Roy L. Miller Scholarship Banquet Ayomide Cooper and Caleb Harris were selected by the Sunday School Board as our church s honorees at the 2017 Roy L. Miller Scholarship Banquet. This North District event, which occurred in March at Brown Chapel AME Church in Joliet, provides college scholarships to aspiring students to further their education. Ayomide Cooper is an active participant in the Junior Class. He also serves on the Usher Board and sings in the Inspirational Choir. Ayomide loves the Lord and is not afraid to publicly share his faith. Caleb Harris has been a member of the Sunday School since pre-school. Caleb is a current member of the Teen Class, the YPD, and the Usher Board. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout in We are proud of both of our honorees!

12 DuPage AME Church 4300 Yackley Avenue Lisle, IL Blessed To Be A Blessing WOMEN S CHOIR REHEARSAL SCHEDULE Monday, June 5 th - 7pm Tuesday, June 20 th - 7pm Saturday, June 10 th - 2pm Friday, June 23 rd - 7pm Thursday, June 15 th - 7pm YouTube Playlist: search 2017 Women's Day DuPage AME Church