Worship Building Up Reaching Out NWH HAPPENINGS CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF SERVING!

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Volume 34 Issue 3 March 2015 Worship Building Up Reaching Out NWH HAPPENINGS SERMON SERIES: AN AWESOME GOD March 1 Holy Jesus!

Tina Staci Janous and Tina Gast have been teaching together for about 6 months and have been the perfect team. They are both so loving and kind to the children.

March 15 Practicing Holiness I March 22 Practicing Holiness II March 29 Palm/Passion Sunday God in the Hands of Angry Sinners I Matthew 23:2-7, 25-28 2 Corinthians 5:12; Hebrews 4:15 Ms.

1 Volume 34 Issue 3 March 2015 Worship Building Up Reaching Out NWH HAPPENINGS SERMON SERIES: AN AWESOME GOD March 1 Holy Jesus! Mark 4:35-41; Luke 5:1-8 March 8 Holy Living CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF SERVING! 4 Year olds- Ms. Staci and Ms. Tina Staci Janous and Tina Gast have been teaching together for about 6 months and have been the perfect team. They are both so loving and kind to the children. Their love of the Lord shines through and is evident in how kind and caring they are to each of the children. Thank you for sharing your gifts of patience, teaching and empathy with our children. March 15 Practicing Holiness I March 22 Practicing Holiness II March 29 Palm/Passion Sunday God in the Hands of Angry Sinners I Matthew 23:2-7, Corinthians 5:12; Hebrews 4:15 Ms. Sara teaches the smallest of babies about God s great love for them! She teaches through songs, age appropriate manipulatives, story boards and lots of love! Ms. Sara goes above the call of duty and cares deeply about each baby s needs; physical, emotional and spiritual! Because of her background in teaching, Sara brings a high level of quality to the work she does. Thank you for making our nursery a ministry that serves Christ! (continued on page 4) Northwest Hills United Methodist Church 7575 Tezel Road San Antonio TX

2 FROM PASTOR DAVID... David Trawick Senior Pastor In our staff meetings we ve long had devotionals before doing church business, and then finish by sharing prayer concerns and praying together. It is a wonderful gift to have coworkers who count each other as friends, and not just friends but brothers and sisters in Christ, always ready and willing to listen, to offer help, to share joys and sorrows, to pray for each other. If you don t have a circle of Christian friends with whom you meet regularly, you have no idea what you re missing. Don t cheat yourself any longer. Find a Journey Group, an ACTS242 Group, an Emmaus Reunion Group, or start a new group. (If you want help with that, let me know!) For the last few weeks we ve been reading a chapter from The Holiness of God, by R. C. Sproul, during the week and then discussing it at the beginning of the staff meeting. The sharing has been rich, because it s not just been about the book and scripture passages cited in it, but also about our own lives, where we ve encountered the holiness of God, where we ve missed it, where we ve fallen short of the glory of God, how gracious God is to continue loving us and using us in His work. Themes from this book have the Lenten sermon series, but even more so, I think they are shaping our lives. Where have you encountered the holiness of God? When did God show up in such a way that you felt small, you realized the depth of your sinfulness, or you were in absolute awe? What did you do with that experience? Shelve it? Worship God? Confess your sin and seek forgiving grace? Or have you never had such an experience? As a Lenten discipline, rather than just giving up chocolate or something, I hope you ll commit to participating in worship every week and all the Holy Week services leading up to Easter. Dig into this thing of God s holiness, and see what difference it might make in your life. And if you re looking for a good God book to read during Lent, I highly recommend The Holiness of God, by R. C. Sproul. SPRING FESTIVAL & EASTER EGG HUNT MARK YOUR CALENDAR! Saturday, March 28, 2-5 pm. Join in making our very first Spring Festival & Easter Egg Hunt a success. We want the community to get to know NW Hills & NW Hills to get to know the community. We will be offering a variety of fun! Food, music, crafts, face painting, cake walk, blow ups, a silent auction and more, but we need your help! Sign up at the table set out in front of the sanctuary for you to volunteer your time at the festival. We are also asking for donations for certain events. Invite your friends, family, neighbors to come and enjoy a Saturday afternoon at NW Hills. Watch for details in the bulletin for parking on the day of the festival. See you Sunday! MARCH 2015 NWH HAPPENINGS Page 2

PRAYER Phill Bland Associate Pastor SILENT AUCTION Saturday, March 28 2-5 pm It s a mystery to most of us. What s the proper way of doing it? How does it work? Why does it feel so awkward?

3 PRAYER Phill Bland Associate Pastor SILENT AUCTION Saturday, March pm It s a mystery to most of us. What s the proper way of doing it? How does it work? Why does it feel so awkward? I wish I could give you the perfect answer for these questions, but I can t. There is no proper way to do it. There s no formula that makes it work. And the only reason I can give for why it feels awkward is that we simply don t practice it enough; probably because we re not sure how to go about praying or even why we should. The truth is, while there s no formula, there are guides we can use to help us get started. If you listen, you ll sometimes hear me employing them on Sunday mornings. One is an acronym called ACTS. It stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. With this guide, we begin with adoration of our God. Then we move to confessing our sins and shortcomings. We give thanks for God s forgiveness and for the many blessing he s poured down upon us. Finally, we ask for what we need and pray for those who are on our hearts. Another good guide is The Lord s Prayer. We can pray it line by line and then with each line expand upon that idea. For example, one line in the prayer is, Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We can expand upon this idea as we pray. Lord, I have sinned. I have done something you would not approve of. I have failed to do something I know you wanted me to do. Forgive me. Lord, help me to forgive this person for the harsh words they spoke to me yesterday. Another guide I use in my personal prayer life is to pray the Psalms. The first line in Psalm 27 is, The Lord is my light and my salvation so why should I be afraid. As you may or may not know, my house flooded on Feb 1. Every time I began to feel overwhelmed at the disaster area I m living in I would pray, Lord, you are my light and my salvation so why should I be afraid. And over the last few days I ve watched God at work in the midst of this crisis. It s been amazing and I have not been afraid! Ultimately, prayer is simply having a conversation with God. The more we practice it the less awkward and the more natural it will become. There is no right or wrong way to pray, but these formulas I ve mentioned can help get us started with the conversation. Give one or two of them a try. Then come find me and let me know what kind of a difference prayer has made in your life. I don t know why it works, but I do know prayer works! Northwest Hills is having a silent auction in conjunction with our Spring Festival and Egg Hunt on March 28. The funds raised by our silent action will go to our Africa Mission. These funds will be used to support several ministries in Africa that are bringing the Gospel, healing, and hope to the communities they support. We are asking 2 things: 1. Do you have a donation to offer to our auction? You may be a business owner or individual that has something that would make a great auction item. You may be part of a group that could put together a themed basket like, gardening, family game night, Barbie explosion, crafting, and so on. If so, please submit your donation to the church, Attention: Kelly, by March Will you share our silent action event with everyone you know? We would love to have your help to get the word out. Get excited about this and tell your neighbors, friends, family, hairdresser, nail tech, auto mechanic, grocery store check out person, etc.! You get the idea. We already have donations from places such as Splashtown, Chrissy s Dance Academy, Texas State Aquarium, Northside ISD Aquatics, SA Missions Baseball, Rudy s, University Bowl, Acadiana Café, Santikos Theater, Americus Diamond and more. Thank you for joining in and we ll see you at the event! MARCH 2015 NWH HAPPENINGS Page 3

POCKET LENT Jeremiah Carnes Young Adult Minister If you were to turn out your pockets right this moment, what would come out? I just did mine. Want to know what I found?

4 POCKET LENT Jeremiah Carnes Young Adult Minister If you were to turn out your pockets right this moment, what would come out? I just did mine. Want to know what I found? Well, not much really: my wallet, my keys, a mint, my phone, and a bit of lint pretty useful in a survival scenario when I might need some kindling to start a fire! But in all reality, pretty mundane stuff. Then again What all is on that little phone? On mine I can check my , surf the web, play games, read my e-books, listen to music, text, Facebook, or do what the silly thing was invented for and actually make a phone call! That little device keeps me connected, even when I don t necessarily want to be. But if I had to choose the most useful thing I have on my phone, it would be my Bible. The app I use allows me instant access to dozens of translations for comparing verses, innumerable reading plans and devotionals, and it lets me read whenever or wherever I am. It goes with me no matter where I go, because I almost never leave my phone behind. So here is my challenge to you: During the month of March, in the midst of the season of Lent, make your phone go to work for you. Download a Bible app there are many to choose from and most are free and use it to subscribe to a Lenten Devotional or reading plan. Most of them will send you daily reminders to open the app and complete your reading. It s traditional during Lent do give up something as a form of fasting during the season. So how about for this one, you sacrifice twenty minutes of your day? Give up just twenty minutes of your free time to devote to reading the word of God, and I can promise that you will find that it really isn t much of a sacrifice. It will become a daily joy to get to spend that time with the Lord, and the impact it can make on your life will carry on well beyond Easter! MARCH HAPPENINGS These events are for all young adults age 18-35, whether you're a professional or college student, married or single, kids or no kids. Come one! Come all! PAINTBALL EXPERIENCE March 7, 10 am The Young Adults Ministry is inviting you to participate with us in a paintball experience at Predator Paintball Park in Helotes on Saturday, March 7, starting at 10 am. Contact Jeremiah Carnes at jeremiah@nwhills.org or sign up at the Connection Center if interested. Cost will be $20 per person and includes entrance fee, gun rental, face mask, and ammo. DEVOTIONAL WRITERS NEEDED One of the ways our mission teams focus on God and process each work day is through daily Devotions. This summer we have several teams going out to the mission field and we are asking for those on Team Jesus that feel called, to write a devotion for our teams to share along the way. This is such an important request because one of the biggest blessing about this devotional will be the fact that each one will be from one of our team mates back here! The basic outline for a devotion would include a scripture reference and a story or teaching related to it. If you want to include questions to guide our discussion that is fine but not necessary. If you want to participate but don t feel you are a writer, you could prayerfully find a devotion from a book or online source that speaks to you and you think would speak to the mission team. (Please note your source.) If you plan to participate by offering a devotion, please submit it to Kelly@nwhills.org no later than May 3, That will allow plenty of time to assemble the devotional book. Thank you so much! CAUGHT IN THE ACT CONTINUED 3 Year old Ms. Kim Ms. Kim is an amazing preschool teacher who has been with us for 9 years! The children love Ms. Kim so much and become so attached to her. Parents report that their 3 year olds are quoting the Bible to them! Wow! Thank you for sharing your incredible, God-given gifts to our program. We are truly blessed by you. BYOBG POTLUCK March 20, 7 pm Recognizing that the upcoming paintball event (while fun) only has a limited appeal, I'm also organizing a potluck social for the Young Adults group and a BYOBG... That would be Bring Your Own Board Game. More details will follow as to exact location and what foods will be needed, but save the date, Friday, March 20, from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. MARCH 2015 NWH HAPPENINGS Page 4

CHILDREN S MINISTRY Natalie Long Children s Minister Everest VBC 2015 Get geared up for Everest VBC, where kids will learn to conquer challenges with God s mighty power!

Our 5 th grade and middle school volunteers are placed as either assistant crew leaders or station helpers.

The cost is $75 and scholarship funds are available. Children will grow closer to Christ as they experience God in nature, worship, games, bonding with their peers and adult leaders, sports and more!

5 CHILDREN S MINISTRY Natalie Long Children s Minister Everest VBC 2015 Get geared up for Everest VBC, where kids will learn to conquer challenges with God s mighty power! Coming June 15-19, this program is for children ages 3 -grade 4. Children entering 5 th grade are eligible to be helpers. Our 5 th grade and middle school volunteers are placed as either assistant crew leaders or station helpers. We always need a lot of crew leaders and station helpers (high school and adults) so be praying about whether you might be able to serve in this way. This year we will be registering online! There will be paper copies available for those who are unable to sign up online. We are hopeful that this will streamline our process making it easier to register for all parties involved. Registration for participants and volunteers will open on Sunday, April 5. HEB Camp for Kids We will be taking children in 3 rd through 5 th grade to HEB Camp in Leakey, TX on March The cost is $75 and scholarship funds are available. Children will grow closer to Christ as they experience God in nature, worship, games, bonding with their peers and adult leaders, sports and more! Registration closes March 1, so register now. Contact Natalie Long for details at natalie@nwhills.org. Holy Week for Kids Children will experience the fullness of the events that transpired on Holy Week with age appropriate services on Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Holy Thursday service, at 7 pm, the children will experience a re-creation of the Last Supper and will have their feet washed as Jesus did to His disciples. This is a very special service that the children will remember for years and years to come. Good Friday Service, at 7 pm, the children will learn about the tough content of this day but presented in a way they will understand. Nursery Updates Our Nursery Coordinator, Tabitha Campbell, has been working very hard alongside the Children s Minister in developing a nursery welcome packet. This packet contains information about nursery policies and procedures and staff information and will be given to new families to help inform and welcome them. You may notice our nursery staff wearing new t-shirts each week! We thank Sara Perrenoud for creating these cute shirts for them so that they are easily identified as nursery staff. Thanks, Sara! EMMAUS CORNER Tom Bader Emmaus Coordinator The Ladies Emmaus Walk #1777 is now completed. That brings the Northwest Hills Emmaus Community membership to 120. The next Emmaus event will be May 3, La Trinidad will be hosting the quarterly Gathering and will start with fellowship at 5:30 pm. The next NWSA Emmaus Walk will be held in October. This will be for men and we are currently looking for pilgrims and sponsors for Walk #1813, which will be held at Mt. Wesley, Oct Attention, members of the Emmaus Community. If you are not receiving my s, please send me an tbader@satx.rr.com and provide your current address so I can update my address book. I want to keep everyone informed about what is happening in our community and would also like your input on what we can do to provide our support to Northwest Hills and its members. God has blessed us all. Now it is up to us to share his agape love. DeColores ST PATRICK S DAY TRIVIA You may know that St. Patrick used shamrocks to teach about the Trinity, but did you know these other facts about him? St. Patrick wasn t Irish. (His parents were Roman citizens living in either Scotland or Wales.) He was kidnapped and sold as a slave at age 16. After escaping six years later, he joined a monastery in England. March 17 is the date of St. Patrick s death, not his birth. He died in 461 A.D. The color originally associated with St. Patrick is blue, not green. The harp, not the shamrock, is the national symbol of Ireland. MARCH 2015 NWH HAPPENINGS Page 5

Monthly Events CLASS 101, Sunday, March 22 3:00 to 6:00 pm What it means to be a Christian What it means to be a United Methodist What it means to be a member of Northwest Hills UMC This class is for

Class 101 is required before becoming a member of Northwest Hills. Class is led by Pastor David Trawick.

There will be a special guest speaker from Habitat for Humanity which should be of interest to all ages. Please RSVP to Geohampton001@gmail.com or call 372-0969.

6 Monthly Events CLASS 101, Sunday, March 22 3:00 to 6:00 pm What it means to be a Christian What it means to be a United Methodist What it means to be a member of Northwest Hills UMC This class is for anyone wanting to find out more about becoming a Christian, about the United Methodist Church and about being a member of Northwest Hills Church. Class 101 is required before becoming a member of Northwest Hills. Class is led by Pastor David Trawick. MEN S BREAKFAST Saturday, March 14, 8 am Calling all men, young and old, to attend the Men's Breakfast being held at NW Hills, Saturday, March 14 at 8 am in the Fellowship Hall. There will be a special guest speaker from Habitat for Humanity which should be of interest to all ages. Please RSVP to Geohampton001@gmail.com or call There is a sign up sheet at the Connection Center, if you wish to attend the next class or call the church office at to reserve a place. LADIES OF LEISURE Meets Every Friday, 11:30 am The ladies meet each week at a different restaurant just for fun! If you would like to be included in the fun or would like more information, contact May Lang at (210) or maylang@sbcglobal.net. UNITED METHODIST MEN S BREAKFAST Saturday, March 14, 8:00 am See the announcement about a special breakfast this month!. Contact George Hampton at MOTHER S DAY OUT REGISTRATION FOR School Year Open Registration is Saturday, March 21 at 7 am. Our MDO program is wellknown in the community and there will be people waiting in line. For more information about registration, go to our website (nwhills.org) and click on Mother s Day Out. TEXAS RAMP PROJECT Building Freedom for the Homebound Saturday, March 21, 7:00 am. We build accessibility ramps for the homebound. So, if you like working with power tools and get satisfaction in doing a job that betters another person s life, this is for you! Sign up at the Connection Center. For more information contact Ron Gloyd at (210) PRIME TIME POTLUCK LUNCH Monday, March 23, 11:30 am Anyone age 60 and older is invited to attend. Bring a yummy dish to share and stay for a fun activity! March 29 - Palm/Passion Sunday April 2 - Holy Thursday Worship & communion at 7pm April 3 - Good Friday worship at 7 pm. April 5 Easter Sunday with communion Sonrise Service at 6:30 am Worship at 8:15, 9:45 & 11:15 am. MARCH 2015 NWH HAPPENINGS Page 6

Sunday, March 29 - Palm/Passion Sunday 6:30 pm Troop 228 Patrol Leader Council Monday, March 30 9:00 am Mother s Day Out Staff Meeting 11:00 am Mother s Day Out Board Meeting 5:00 pm Board of

Break - There will be no Wednesday Night Activities. Check with your small groups if they will be meeting this week.

7 Sunday, March 29 - Palm/Passion Sunday 6:30 pm Troop 228 Patrol Leader Council Monday, March 30 9:00 am Mother s Day Out Staff Meeting 11:00 am Mother s Day Out Board Meeting 5:00 pm Board of Trustees Sunday, March 1 Monday, March 2 7:00 pm Girl Scout Service Unit Meeting Thursday, March 5 9:30 am Morning Bible Study Sunday, March 8 6:30 pm Troop 228 Committee Meeting March 9-14 Spring Break - There will be no Wednesday Night Activities. Check with your small groups if they will be meeting this week. March The Kids Retreat at HEB Camp 6:30 pm Eagle Board of Review Saturday, March 14 8:00 am United Methodist Men s Breakfast Monday, March 16 7:00 pm Finance Committee Thursday, March 19 9:30 am Morning Bible Study 6:30 pm Boy Scout Armadillo District Committee Saturday, March 21 7:00 am Texas Ramp Project 7:00 am Mother s Day Out Open Registration 9:00 am Reach Out Day 3:00 pm Class 101 Sunday, March 22 Monday, March 23 11:30 am Prime Time Potluck Lunch Sunday: Monday: Tuesday: WEEKLY EVENTS 12:00 pm AA 3:00 pm Youth Choir 5:00 pm The Way Youth Worship 6:30 pm Church Prayer Group 7:00 pm AA Women 12:00 pm AA 1:00 pm Needlecrafters 5:30 pm AA 6:30 pm Boy Scout Troop 228 7:00 pm AA 9:00 am Mother s Day Out 5:15 pm Worship Band Practice 7:00 pm Crew 228 Meeting 7:00 pm AA 7:30 pm Adult Choir Practice 8:15 pm AA Spanish Wednesday: 9:00 am Mother s Day Out 5:30 pm Wed. Snack Supper 6:30 pm Wed. Night Activities 7:00 pm Handbells 8:00 pm NA 12-Step Program Thursday: 9:00 am Mother s Day Out 7:00 pm AA 8:15 pm AA Spanish Friday: 11:30 am Ladies of Leisure Lunch 12:00 pm AA 7:00 pm AA Saturday: 9:00 am AA 10:00 am TOPS Weight Loss 7:00 pm AA Spanish Thursday, March 26 9:30 am Morning Bible Study Saturday, March 28 2:00-5:00 pm SPRING FESTIVAL & EGG HUNT MARCH 2015 NWH HAPPENINGS Page 7

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Worship Building Up Reaching Out NWH HAPPENINGS CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF SERVING!

Volume 34 Issue 11 November 2015 Worship Building Up Reaching Out NWH HAPPENINGS SERMON SERIES: WE BELIEVE November 1 All Saints Day Presence and Power CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF SERVING! Caught the Act of serving