Pittsburgh District Church of the Nazarene

Transcription

1 Merry Christmas! Pittsburgh District Church of the Nazarene 177 North Road, Butler PA District Office Phone: (724) District Office District Website: David L. Marker, Editor - admarker@comcast.net December 2017 As I walked into my office the other day, I heard music playing in the background. That in and of itself is not uncommon, Deb loves to listen to music as she works. What was unusual about it was the kind of music that was playing, Christmas music. Ever since we have been married there has always been this tension between us that comes at this time of the year. As soon as it gets cooler, Deb thinks it is time to start with the Christmas music. I believe that the music (and all the decorations) should wait until at least the day after Thanksgiving! Please understand that it is not that I am anti -Christmas. I really Rev. Daniel Eddings District Superintendent love the season of Advent and look forward to it every year. My position in regards to how early Christmas music is played, is based simply on the fact that I think we rush too quickly into Christmas and miss out on the opportunity to pause and remember all the blessings that God has given us. In fact, I believe that if we do not take the time to be thankful (and not just on Thanksgiving but every day) we cannot really appreciate what Advent is all about. I hope that you have taken the sometime in the days leading up to Thanksgiving to pause and thank the Lord for all of the blessings in your life. One of the things that I am most thankful for this year is the opportunity that God has given Deb and I to come to this GREAT district and get to know so many of you. From the very beginning you have made us feel like part of the family and we will always be thankful for that. As we now turn our attention to Advent (and it is ok now to turn those Christmas tunes on), I want to challenge you to really pay attention not just to Christmas, but instead to the Season of Advent. For many these days leading up to Christmas are filled with running around and making sure that all the gifts and food have been purchased, as well as attending all of the parties everyone has this time of the year. Then, before we know it, it is Christmas Eve and we have been so busy getting ready for Christmas that we have forgotten to prepare our hearts and lives to receive once again the gift of Christ. That is one of the reasons that there is such a let down felt by many the day after Christmas. Long ago, the church recognized the need to be intentional about focusing and preparing the hearts of (continued on Page 11) Table of Contents Page 1 - DS s Message Page 2 - SDMI Message Page 3 - Prime Time Events 2018 Page 4 - Lancaster Trip 2018 Page 5 - NMI News Page 6 - More NMI Page 7 - Domestic W&W 2018 Page 8 - Hope for the Hopeless, Children s Quizzing and Bible Trivia Page 9 - Bible Brain Teaser and Promoter Mailing List Page 10 - NYC 2019 Page 11 - Educational Offerings and Brain Teaser Answers Page 12 - District Events and District Allocations P R O M O T E R

2 Page 2 - Children s Bible Quizzing Sunday School Discipleship Ministries International Rev. David Smith SDMI Chair PghDistrictSDMIChair@aol.com Home/Office: Cell: SDMI Treasurer: Ron Schaeffer 141 Tressler Drive Confluence, Pa Phone: ronnell62@verizon.net Find Us Faithful We had a great time at our SDMI Engage 2017 in Waynesburg in October. We had 22 breakout sessions that were offered and 88 people participated in the sessions. Everyone there took something from the sessions to help themselves and to help the local church grow spiritually. I and the SDMI council want to thank everyone who did a breakout session. We want to thank the Waynesburg Church for hosting this event; we also want to thank Rev. Ray Stark and Rev. Nate Patnode for organizing all the breakout sessions and setting it up. I want to thank Rev. Dan Eddings for being the key note speaker for that day. Rev. Eddings theme was WE ARE THE KEY THAT GOD WANTS TO USE! He passed out a key to each person that was there as a reminder that God wants us to be the key for him to reach others for Jesus Christ. You and I are the key that Christ wants to use in our churches, in our marriages, in our families, in our Sunday School small groups and in our world, for we are commissioned by Jesus in Matthew 28:19 to Go and make Christ like Disciples. He wants us to tell our story on what He did in our lives and what He is doing now. I am Disciplining a man who came to my church a few weeks ago. He came to church and filled out a visitor s card on a Sunday morning. On Tuesday the next week I called him and asked him if I could meet with him for lunch. We met for lunch and he couldn t believe that someone would take time to take him out for lunch. Since then we meet every other week for lunch. The man is a recovering alcoholic; he goes to AA meeting weekly. I am realizing that I am the KEY that God wants to use in this man s life. He is hurting spiritually and he needs someone to show him the love of Christ no matter what he has done in his life. He doesn t think anyone cares about him because of his old life. (That might be true that some people don t really care, but as a Disciple of Christ, I care and he sees that.) You never know who you might be that KEY to for Christ. There are people all around us that are hurting spiritually. The question is; Will you let the Lord use you to be the KEY to Disciple others? If you are not letting the Lord use you to be the KEY, I encourage you to let him. The Lord might want you to be the Key to talk with that man, women, boy, girl or teenager who is hurting spiritually in life. Let s be that KEY and GO and make Christ-like disciples for Christ. I would like to thank Rev. Christine Siordia for her leadership the past four years serving as our SDMI District Children s Director. Christine has been called to serve on another district as a Children and Family Pastor. We will greatly miss you on our District as the Children s Director. Thank you, Christine for your willingness to serve so diligently and faithfully on our District the past few years. Making the Connection SDMI Chair Person Rev. David M. Smith

3 Prime Time 2018 Events - Page 3 PrimeTime Wednesday at Family Camp will actually be two days this year, Wednesday AND Thursday afternoons! We are currently making plans for a guided 90 minute, pontoon nature cruise at Moraine State Park, Lake Arthur with box-lunch included. The boat is under roof and accommodates 35 maximum passengers. As such pre-registration will be necessary. Choose which day you prefer. Cost will be only $20 for our PrimeTimers (age 55+), with the additional costs being funded through our District PrimeTime department, so this becomes a real bargain. A box lunch is included with your choice of sandwich. Potato Salad & Fruit Salad and a variety of drinks will also be provided. Transportation is on your own. Launch time will at 1:30 both days from the North Shore, McDanel s Launch. Directions from the campground will be available with confirmation of your registration. ******************************************************

4 Page 4 - Lancaster 2018 Registration Form

5 NMI News - Page 5 NMI News Sandy Greenlee NMI President International Work & Witness: El Salvador. February They will be working on a children s building in honor of Marion Lineman. Cost approximately $ seats available. lenbaun@aol.com or Inez, Kentucky W&W Trip - Next June Info: contact Andy and Michelle Russell for details. We are asking God for 30 people to join us on this trip so please Michelle at pgh_work_witness@zoominternet.net for information to secure your spot on the team Peter Roy delivered over 597 pair of shoes and 64 cases of Pal-Paks to Inez KY after Family Camp. There are 10 in a box and the 10 were divided in half so over 1280 students were helped. NMI will be working on taking a team or teams to help out with one of the areas needing assistance. Please contact Sandy if interested in heading up a team or interested in going: or mgreenleesub@yahoo.com. No details at this time when the trip will be. Needed at the District Center: Please call ahead to the District Center for information on where to place them. Crisis Care Kits - Make up 6 and put in a banana box - Please use heavy cardboard on the bottom of box and lay over the top of the box before putting the top on. CRISIS CARE KITS Shopping List: 1 Shampoo (12 to 18 oz.) 2 Bars of Soap (Bath size or larger) 1 Toothpaste (4.0 to 6.4 oz.) 3 Toothbrushes (in original packaging) 1 Box of Bandaids (30 or more) 1 Fingernail clipper 1 Sturdy hair comb 2 Hand towels 4 Pocket-sized pkgs. Kleenex 1 Beanie Baby-sized stuffed toy Each Crisis Care Kit (CCK) should contain only the items/quantities listed. Place all items into a 2-gallon zip-lock bag.

6 Page 6 - More NMI Merry Christmas to all of you on the Pittsburgh District from NMI December emphasis is Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. Nazarene Compassionate Ministries exists in and through the local church. Our primary focus is to support church-led community development and emergency relief in communities around the world. NCM also partners with other organizations as a way to enhance our support of locally led initiatives. Thank you for all the Crisis Care Kits that have been sent in. Please continue to make them and send them to the District Center. Please call ahead to arrange placing them in storage. Send your $18 shipping check to Debby Shutak, 428 Great Belt Road, Butler PA Save the dates: April 14th will be the NMI Presidents Luncheon Sharon Kessler will be our guest speaker. She is our Eastern Region NMI Director. Sharon also is the president of The Fawn Grove Compassion Center, Inc. (FGCC) was recently organized as a 509(a)(1) faith-based, not-for-profit charitable and humanitarian organization. It is located at 5300 Fawn Grove Road, Pylesville, Maryland. In 1996, the Center began its work with volunteers responding to the victims of the Mozambique floods. The people shipped a 40-foot container of high quality used clothing at that time. Since then, more than 400 shipments have been delivered to 22 world areas including the United States. In 2001, due to the high volume of humanitarian aid requested, Nazarene Compassionate Ministries (NCM) brought the warehouse operation under the NCM umbrella to cover the expenses and called it the Fawn Grove Warehouse. In 2011, FGCC was incorporated to manage and enhance the operations of gifts-in-kind procurement and providing those items as humanitarian aid to organizations that serve economically disadvantaged peoples globally. FGCC will continue to partner with NCM and has agreed to store and handle the Crisis Care Kits and School Pal-Paks for NCM. FGCC will continue to provide high quality humanitarian aid to NCM and other non-profit organizations to assist in response to those in need around the world. Come and learn more information and to learn how you may be involved! Monty Cyr, his wife, Bethany, and 17-year old daughter Nkele will be here June 5-17 for deputation. Monty is the Discipleship Ministries Coordinator from Guatemala. Monte serves as the Regional Coordinator for Discipleship Ministries since March His main responsibilities include training leaders and pastors, and working with districts and churches to develop relevant and effective discipleship strategies to make Christlike disciples in the nations. They will be available for all those nights. Please let Sandy know if you would be interested in having them at your church. Call: Serving Pittsburgh District, Sandy Greenlee, Growing in Grace, The Greenlees

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8 Page 8 - Hope For The Hopeless and Children s Bible Quizzing Hope For The Hopeless Like many communities today, ours has an addictions issue. Drugs, alcohol, and other forms of addictions have taken its toll in the form of broken homes, hearts, and lives. For too long the enemy has had almost free reign in our community while many kept their head in the sand pretending like it was not happening. The good news, that s all changing; God is bringing a revival fire into our community, awakening the community to the call of God to break down the gates of hell and take back the territory the enemy has claimed. As I am writing this, my heart is burning from this evening s community prayer meeting. With at least 5 churches represented, over one hundred people gathered around the sanctuary in prayer that God would do something in our midst and he is. For the past month God has been opening doors for our church community to open an outreach center. This Christ-centered outreach center will give a clear and direct response to this great need in our community. With addictions ministries, educational opportunities, therapy, and so much more we are uniting as the Body of Christ. We desire to bring hope to the hopeless, to bind up the broken hearted, to set free the captives, and bring sight to the blind. Please be in prayer for our Next Day Ministries community outreach center in Confluence PA as we press on to fulfill this high calling. Let me close with a challenge; what about your community? Do you face, like so many communities across America, an epidemic of addictions? If so, what can you do, how might the Lord be calling you and your Christian community to respond? Could you make a difference, even in one life? Please feel free to call me anytime to discuss the possibilities for your community. Rev. Kenneth E. Schweter Confluence Church of the Nazarene CHILDREN S BIBLE QUIZZING The November Invitationals are in the bag. Now the kiddos can relax for a couple of weeks and gear up for Christmas. Our next invitational is February 17 to be held at Philipsburg and Gentle Shepherd. We will also have a third, optional, quiz on March 24 at South Hills for anyone missing the February quizzes. Our District Finals will be held on April 14. Joanne Tutor with any quizzing related messages: pghnazquizzers@yahoo.com call or text

9 Bible Brain Teaser and Promoter Mailing List - Page 9 BIBLE BRAIN TEASER: There are names of 16 books of the Bible mentioned in the paragraph below. See how many you can find. (A minister found 15 books in 20 minutes. But it took him weeks to find the sixteenth one. Let s see how much time it takes you.) I once made a remark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lulu; kept people looking so hard for facts and for others, it was a revelation. Some were in a jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalized. But the truth finally struck home to numbers of our readers. To others it was a real job. We want it to be a most fascinating few moments for you. Yes, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require judges to help find them. I will quickly admit it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud lamentations when it is found. A little lady says she brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can compete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this paragraph. Answers on Page 11. On the Pittsbur urgh Promoter ing list? If you want onto the Pittsburgh District Promoter list, please contact: David Marker at admarker@comcast.net. If you are aware of anyone who was getting the Promoter but hasn t recently, let me know - there were some issues with my . The Promoter is published in the months of February, April, June, August, October and December of each year. Copies of all Promoter issues are also available on-line on the Pittsburgh District website at

10 Page 10 - Nazarene Youth Conference 2019 November 1, 2017 Anticipate and make priority this life changing event for students and leadership Pittsburgh District Students and Churches Believe we plan to put together the best experience possible within reach of as many as possible. Understand that district coordinators I'm excited to introduce myself as your Nazarene and NYI Leaders are not independent Youth Conference 2019 [Phoenix, AZ] District contractors as we work together with the Coordinator. As a veteran local church coordinator of USA/Canada Regional NYI three NYC's and attendee of both NYC 2007 [St. Louis] and NYC 2011 [Louisville] I am passionate about the life changing and challenging opportunity that is before The Don'ts you. Not only does the event itself have the potential DON'T wait... START NOW!!! to grow and guide you in your faith... but the literal journey of getting there does as well. As you know, attending NYC will require a commitment to raising the funds necessary. The co$t will comprehensively include the event itself along with So let's start as basic as possible. Let me stress the word START as July 2019 will come quicker than you realize. airfare, lodging, and meals. This is not something easily done in a short period of time... or even a year... which is why we need to start now! In the months ahead I will communicate some ways that have worked Who is NYC for? in the past for both the individual and the local church. High school students and graduates of the class of Some students may need to decide if their NYC will be early in their high school career or summer of their graduation Remember that this is YOUR NYC and God wants to challenge and change you through the process. This is an investment with far greater return than you ever may realize! NYC is also for formal youth ministry leaders. If you are or your church has a formal youth minister on staff I want to greatly encourage you and/or your church to make this as much of a priority for them as you do your students. Think of NYC as a General Assembly of the USA/Canada Nazarene Youth International The Do's Pray: Gather students and their parents to watch the preview video at and hear the testimonies of those in your church who have previously attended an NYC. May prayer and testimony birth a deep desire and commitment in the hearts of our students, families, and churches Sincerely, Warren First Church of the Nazarene Feel free to contact me for any reason: 4JMaier@gmail.com (814) WFCN Office (814) Cell

11 Educational Courses at PDLC and Answers to Bible Brain Teaser - Page 11 Educational Courses at the PDLC 2017 December 22, 2017-January 2, 2018: District Office will be CLOSED 2018 Jan 5-6, Jan and Feb 2-3: PDLC Foundations of Women s Ordination Jan 13 and Jan 27: CLC Exploring Christian Ministry Feb 16-17, Mar 2-3 and Mar 16-17: PDLC Church Admin & Finance Feb 17: CLC Exploring Christian Ministry Mar 3: CLC Exploring Christian Ministry Mar 30-31, Apr and May 4-5: PDLC Global Evangelism May 18-19, Jun 1-2 and Jun 8-9: PDLC The Practice of Christian Ministry Aug 10-11, Aug and Sep 7-8: PDLC Christian Preaching 1 Sep 21-22, Oct 5-6 and Oct 19-20: PDLC Doctrine of Holiness Nov 2-3, Nov and Nov 30-Dec 1: PDLC Biblical Interpretation DS Message (continued from Page 1) believers for this most Holy day. I am reminded of the words of Isaiah found in chapter 40, verses 3: A voice of one calling: In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Enjoying and celebrating Christmas has to be more than just rushing, rushing, rushing, and then sort of crashing into a pile on Christmas Day. There are many resources available both for individuals and families that could be helpful in this preparation. I encourage you as both churches and individuals to, not just observe advent, but also encourage others in your sphere of influence to do the same. My prayer for every believer that reads this article is that as you will find a sense of God s presence, power and love in a new way during this season of Advent. Answers to the Bible Brain Teaser: I once made a re 1 mark about the hidden books of the Bible. It was a lu 2 lu; kept people loo 3 king so hard for f 4 acts and for others, it was a 5 revelation. Some were in a 6 jam, especially since the names of the books were not capitalized. But the t 7 ruth finally struck home to 8 numbers of our readers. To others it was a real 9 job. We want it to be 10 a most fascinating few moments for you. Y 11 es, there will be some really easy ones to spot. Others may require 12 judges to help find them. I will quickly admi 13 t it usually takes a minister to find one of them, and there will be loud 14 lamentations when it is found. A little lady says s 15 he brews a cup of tea so she can concentrate better. See how well you can com 16 pete. Relax now, for there really are sixteen names of books of the Bible in this paragraph.

12 Page 12 - District Events 2017/2018 and District Allocations District Events Schedule 2017 Dec 2: Snowflake Craft Show Dec 9: NYI Quiz Waynesburg 2018 Jan 13: NYI Quiz Brookville Feb 10: NYI Quiz District Center Feb 16-18: NYI Winter Retreat Feb 17: Children s Quizzing, Location TBA Mar 9-10: District Ladies Retreat, District Center Mar 10: NYI Quiz Oil City Mar 14-18: Festival of Life at ENC Apr 14: Children s Quizzing, District Center Apr 19-20: Prime Time Bus Trip to Lancaster May 17-20: NYI Regional Quiz at ENC Jun 15-16: NMI Convention Jun 18-22: Kidz Camp Jun 20-22: ENC Jun 23-28: NYI Teen Camp Jun 29-30: District Assembly Jul 29-Aug 5: Family Camp * Dates are subject to change. District Advisory Board Members: Rev. Leon Blaise, Rev. Rod Johnson Rev. Nate Patnode, Dr. Lois Moranville, David Weible, Laurene Timmons, Darcy Bell, Rob Lute, Sandy Greenlee (NMI), Rev. David Smith (SDMI) and and Colleen Baker (NYI). DISTRICT ALLOCATIONS: Payments can be made to the following: District Ministry Fund: Henry Twentier, District Treasurer 177 North Road, Butler PA Make checks payable to: Pittsburgh District Church of the Nazarene NMI: Debra Shutak 428 Great Belt Road Butler PA Make checks payable to: Pittsburgh District NMI SDMI: Rev. Ronald Schaeffer 141 Tressler Drive Confluence PA Make checks payable to: Pittsburgh District SDMI NYI: Tom Aaron 141 Supervisor Drive West Newton PA Make checks payable to: Pittsburgh District NYI ENC: 23 East Elm Avenue Quincy MA L.T.G.: JoAnn Chase 5759 E. Lake Rd. Erie, Pa Make checks payable to: L.T.G. Club