The Northern Lights A Lighthouse for Christ since 1854 July 2017

Transcription

1 The Northern Lights A Lighthouse for Christ since 1854 July 2017 The Work and Process of God's Divine Grace John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, believed that how we understand God s grace greatly influences how we understand him. Though found throughout the Old Testament, it s on the New Testament stage that grace takes its place among the leading cast of God s drama of salvation. And the most complete revelation of God s divine grace is the life, ministry, passion, resurrection, and ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As John Wesley often said, Christ is the only means of grace. Receiving God s grace means experiencing his love manifested through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, even though we don t deserve it. This does not mean, however, that God s grace is limited to the citizens of his kingdom. Wesley and the early leaders of Methodism described three dimensions of grace that everyone experiences throughout their lives. The first is sometimes called universal grace. This idea teaches that God is constantly communicating his love to all people even if they are not aware of it. God surrounds all of creation with his love. Remember what Jesus said about the flowers of the fields and the birds of the air (St. Matthew 6:25-33). Yet, because we are created in his image, God s grace not only blesses us with what we need for our physical lives, he also gently guides us toward him by convincing us of his love, convicting us of our sin which inspires us toward confession and repentance. Another dimension of grace we read about in the New Testament that the Lord provides for us Wesley described as justifying or redemptive grace. Through the ministry of the Spirit, this grace overcomes the penalty of sin, restores us to a proper or saving relationship with God, and assures us that we are forgiven and now children of God (Romans 8:14-17). This allows us to accept God s pardon he offers through Jesus, and affords us the ability to know him as our Heavenly Father. There is another dimension of grace that is just as important as the other two. Wesley liked to call it sanctifying or transforming grace. Here, once again, the Holy Spirit is at work in us by overcoming the power and presence of sin in our hearts and transforming our minds. This is necessary so that God can strengthen our faith, confirm our hope, and motivate us toward holy love by filling us with devotion for him and concern for our neighbors. Such grace also inspires and empowers us to join in God s mission through good works. St. Paul speaks about this in his letter to the Ephesian Christians, For it is by grace you have been saved it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10). Salvation is a process and becoming molded into the image of Jesus is its ultimate goal! Grace is nothing less than how our Father in Heaven leads us to union with him, so that we can have the same relationship with him that our Lord Jesus has. All who are in Christ are on this path paved by grace. God, by communicating his power and presence through his Spirit, 1) prepares us for our rescue by revealing his love to us; 2) secures our redemption through Christ and leads us to confession and repentance; and 3) brings our salvation to completion by transforming us into the image of our Lord Jesus. Our salvation begins and ends with God s grace. And that, at the very least, should motivate us toward mission and ministry. Grace and peace, Rev. David 1

2 WOMAN S LIFE CLUB 702 MEETING Woman s Life Club 702 will meet at the church at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, July 3 rd for their monthly meeting. This club is open to both men and women. The Worship committee will meet on Thursday, July 6 th at 7:00 p.m. for the bi-monthly meeting. TRUSTEE COMMITTEE The Trustees Committee will meet Tuesday, July 11 th at 7:00 p.m. Sunday, July 16 th is our monthly Pantry collection. Sunday, July 23 rd is our monthly Noisy/Quiet Offering. Quiet offering will go towards the apportionments, Noisy will go towards Methodist Children s Home CHURCH COUNCIL Will meet on Tuesday, July 18 th at 7:00 p.m., at the church. Newsletter Articles Are due to the church office no later than Wednesday, July 26 th at 9 a.m. Thank you Please contact Sue Stein ( ) if you are interested in attending the Detroit Tigers Baseball game on Friday, September 15 th, Blue Water District Youth Motown Mission Trip July 30 - August 5 The Blue Water District Mission Team is excited to offer a Motown Mission Experience. Any youth, 6th-12th grade (ages 11-18). 2

3 2017 Week #26 Financial Report Needed Each Sunday ~$ 2,650 Received Last Week* ~$ 3,326 Dear Family, At VBS Hero Central, your students will enjoy an interactive, energizing, Bible-based good time as they discover their strength in God. They will become Heroes and explore how to serve God and God s mission for their lives. After a high-energy opening assembly at Hero Central, the Heroes make their way to the Bible Story Headquarters. Interactive Bible lessons reveal Hero Codes to equip your Heroes for an active life with God. Your Heroes will discover a Hero Verse (Bible memory verse) that will remain with them in their faith long after VBS. The students will expand on what they ve discovered by participating in a variety of activities: making their own art projects at Craft Headquarters, singing new songs at Music Headquarters, exploring the wonders of creation at Science Headquarters, playing games at Recreation Headquarters, and enjoying tasty treats at Snack Headquarters. Along the way, the Heroes will hear about our mission project and as their respond to a call for action! Let s go! Join us from August 7 th 11 th starting at 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. Needed Year-to-Date ~$ 68,900 Received Year-to-Date* ~$ 57,003 YTD Below Budget/Week* ~$ 458 YTD Below Budget percent* 17% YTD Below Last Year percent* 8% YTD Oper Transf fr Savings ~$ 3,551 YTD Borrowed fr Savings ~$ YTD Rcvd + Transf + Borrow ~$ 60,554 *Excludes pass-through and non-budget items. *Excludes funds re-paid to borrowed savings. Updated thru 6/26/17 Full Parsonage Mortgage Report New (7/21/15) ARM payment ~$ 915 Scheduled principal paid ~$ 60,177 Extra principal paid ~$ 1,234 Principal balance due ~$127,885 Interest paid to date ~$138,028 Total loan amortization 360 months Months paid since 5/29/ Months loan shortened 2.31 Months remaining to pay (rate decreased 6/21/13) Updated thru 6/21/ Parsonage Mortgage Report Extra principal paid ~$ 572 Months loan shortened 1.04 Updated thru 6/21/17 To register or to find out more about VBS Hero Central, call the church office at

4 IN OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS Joe Alexander Vickie Beauchamp Lori Blakely Cassandra Dailing Ginger Dailing Valerie Durkin Eileen Henry Lucy Johnson Craig & Chelsea Kerr Fern Lester Rev. Bill McBride Dennis McNabb Nancy Osborn Shannon Petrossi Bill Roach Adam Sapple William Sullivan God Bless Our Troops The Blue Water Fest 2017 in Port Huron July 19, 2017 (All Day) to July 23, 2017 Downtown Port Huron Port Huron, MI VBS Planning/Training meetings are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month. Decorating Committee meetings have been scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month. St. Clair County 4-H Fair July 17, 2017 (All Day) to July 22, 2017 Goodells County Park County Park Drive Goodells, MI Hosted by Woman s Life Chapter 702 Saturday, August 5, 2017 ~ Time: 8:30 AM Questions? Contact Sue Stein at

5 UMW District Annual Meeting in Sandusky October 14 Our District Shepherd is Doris Huntoon from Marlette. She is vice-president of the UMW Blue Water District Mission Team. North Street United Methodist Women Mission Projects Health Kits and Supplies for Local Shelters Thank you! Through the many items you have donated, we have 11 complete Health Kits and with lots of extra items. Our goal is to complete 25 Health Kits for our District Annual Meeting in October. We need: 6 bars of soap, 2 boxes of Band-Aids, 10 tubes of tooth paste, 13 combs and 14 nail files to complete the 25 Health Kits. Other UMW news Mission u 2017 at Lake Huron Retreat Center Thursday, August Hands on Mission Experience (a one day event) and Climate Justice: A Call to Hope and Action (1 or 2-day event) This is an annual event of the UMW Detroit Conference. See a UMW member for more details. Reading Program We have a selection of books from all four categories in the shelves in our Reading Program area in the small fellowship hall of the church basement. Our deadline for getting unit recognition is in August. See Lucille Rucker if you have any questions or comments. YARD SALE TRAIL The Yard Sale Trail begins in the eastern thumb and travels down to the southern tip! Twelve Blue Water Area communities from Sebewaing to Algonac await your discovery! The Arc (in Port Huron) is renting out a parking space for you to sell your items. Where: The Arc of St. Clair County When: August 11, 12 & 13 th Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 5

6 JULY SERVICE ASSISTANTS GREETERS 02 Sue Dykstra & Connie Ennest 09 Kathy Evans 16 Margaret Kerr 23 TBA 30 TBA 02 Potluck Luncheon 09 Kallenbach Family 16 TBA 23 UMW 30 TBA COUNTERS 02 Deb Baker Gordon Fisher 09 Bob Malburg Sue Malburg 16 Sue Dykstra Sandy Schott 23 Carol Connell Peggy Nunn 30 Sue Stein Marilyn Roach Liturgist Jr. Church 02 Sue Stein 02 Betsy Egypt 09 Sue Dykstra 09 Deb Porter 16 Eileen Krohn 16 Lorraine Fisher 23 Gordon Fisher 23 Lynn Smith 30 Bethany Burch 30 Lorraine Fisher 02 Betty Simpson 09 Burch Family 16 Kathy Evans 23 TBA 30 TBA 01 Shari Furness 06 Craig Forstner Jr 08 Janet Bopra 10 Clifford Jex 20 Randy Teufel 20 Trish Michaels 22 Jason Ballor 04 Douglas VanConant (1993) 08 Max Kerr (2014) 31 Howard Erdman (2007) 6