LAMPLIGHTER. Revelation A Wash and a Prayer EVENING PRAYER SERVICE JUNE 22 ND 7PM. June 18, 2017

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1 LAMPLIGHTER June 2017 WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH EVENING PRAYER SERVICE JUNE 22 ND 7PM June 18, 2017 Revelation A Wash and a Prayer Thank you to those who came out and supported the Revelation Youth Group car wash on May 27, We raised almost $600 dollars for our mission trip to Brooklyn this July. God provided a beautiful day with enough sun and pollen to encourage people to stop in the midst of their busy holiday weekend to get their car washed. We took the opportunity to talk to people about our mission trip and to offer to pray for them while we washed their car. It was a great opportunity to display the love of God. After the car wash we headed to church to make dinner together. After we enjoyed tacos we sat together and did a devotional on how to be instruments of God's peace based on the peace prayer of St. Francis of Assisi below. It was a great day in every way. Thank you to the congregation for supporting the youth programs in this church. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen We will continue to have two worship services during the summer.

2 A Word from Pastor TJ surprisingly, he doesn t address the actual conflict, or say anything about who is right or wrong. In fact, before he even gets to the conflict, before he even explains how to be united, he reminds them where unity comes from. He does so in a surprising way. If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Philippians 2:1-2 Unity is hard. I m reminded of this simple truth on a regular basis in many ways. I see it nearly every day when my kids start to play a game together. After a while (like two minutes) they end up arguing about how to play the game instead of actually playing it. Of course, the stakes are pretty low in Candy Land, so this lack of unity has few consequences. But the same thing is true even when the stakes are high. Consider the most famous problem in the world, peace in the Middle East. Some of the smartest people in the world have spent 40 years trying to find a way to bring even a little unity to the region. The consequences are huge. Hundreds, maybe thousands of lives could be saved every year by a simple peace treaty. Every side could benefit from an end to the violence. And yet, no solution has been found. It turns out finding unity is hard, even when the stakes are high. The same is true when it comes to the church. We come together as one church made up of individuals with different priorities and values. When those priorities and values come into conflict, unity can sometimes be the first thing to go. This should be no surprise. After all, there s a reason the Bible reminds us again and again that we need to work to be united, to be one. But how do we do it? In Philippians 2, Paul explains that it starts with remembering the source of our unity. Paul is writing, here, to the church in Philippi because a fight has broken out between two church members. But, He reminds them that they have encouragement from knowing Jesus. He reminds them they have peace and comfort from being loved by God. He reminds them they have a connection to God through His Spirit. In other words, he reminds them of all of the beautiful promises of the Gospel. He reminds them that they have been forgiven and received grace, that they are given joy and purpose and the promise of eternal life, all through Jesus. The point is that it is Jesus that holds them together and makes them one. It s not the church building (they probably didn t have one anyway), or shared preferences, or anything else that unites them. They are united because each of them are connected to Jesus. It is because of this connection that they can be like-minded and share the same ultimate priorities of worshiping Jesus, serving Jesus, and carrying on his mission to make disciples of all nations. A friend recently told me about an interesting experience she had while living overseas. She was at a birthday party and, when they brought out the cake, she started to sing Happy Birthday, the version that we all know. Except, nobody knew it in that country. As she started singing it she realized that only one other person was singing. It was another American, someone who wasn t from the same part of the U.S., didn t have the same background or experiences or opinions and yet, someone who knew the same song. So they sang it together. The song united them, even if only for a moment, in a place that wasn t home. Jesus is the song that unites us in a world that is not our home. Let us embrace him again. Let s remember all of the wonderful things he has promised us in the Gospel and find great joy in them. Let s let go of the temporary things of this world. If we do we can find our way to being one, because he will hold us together.

3 Communion for June Because of the added complications of Duck Pond Day, Communion for June will be on Sunday, June 18 th. Confirmation Sunday will be on the 18 th as well. Celebrating Sarah s Families On Thursday May 25, 2017 members of the Revelation Youth Group and Women s Ministry piled into the church van and headed to the First Baptist Church in Greenport to assist with their end-of-year celebration for Sarah Benjamin and her Parent Child Home Program on the North Fork. After unloading gifts for mothers and family-sized chocolate chip cookies (baked and wrapped by the Women s Ministry members) for each of the 43 families, we set up and prepared for the celebration. It was a joy to watch as the young children and their families arrived at this beautiful old church. Each of the children receive a new book and the program graduates receive a brand new back pack to kick off their transition to school in the fall. Women s Ministry Scholarships for College Bound Seniors If you re a college-bound senior and would like to apply for a Gladys S. Jackson Memorial Scholarship, please write a paragraph or two, listing your contributions to the life of the church, as well as your future plans. Please put them in the Women s Ministry mailbox upstairs. All letters should be submitted by Sunday, June 4 th. The scholarships will be awarded on Sunday, June 11 th during the 10:30am service. If you have questions, please see Nancy Bosseckert. End-of-Year Dinner Tuesday, June 13 th at 6pm at the church. Cost will be $15.00 per person. ALL women of the church are welcome! Bring a guest! Enjoy an evening of fun, food and fellowship. Please sign up in the parlor. The Parent Child Home Program nurtures parent-child relationships with proven results in the area of student success in school and later in life. The vast majority of the individuals in this North Fork program are immigrant families who are living in poverty right here in our backyard. The celebration gave the students who assisted the opportunity to practice their Spanish. Sarah sends her warm thanks for the long-time and ongoing support from Wading River Congregational Church. Matthew 25:40 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.'

4 Save The Date... Vacation Bible School 2017 July :00 pm to 8:45 pm VBS Work Meeting Dates June 2 7:00 10:00 pm June 3 9:00 12:00 pm June 5 11:30 am 2:30 pm June 6 7:00-10:00 pm June 7 11:30 am 2:30 pm June 8 7:00-10:00 pm June 9 7:00-10:00 pm June 10 9:00 am -3:00 pm June 13 6:00-9:00 pm June 14 6:00-9:00 pm June 17 3:00-9:00 pm June 19 11:30 am- 2:30 pm June 27 6:00-9:00 pm June 28 6:00-9:00 pm (tentative) June 29 6:00-9:00 pm (tentative) June 30 6:00-9:00 pm (tentative) July 1 9:00 am-3:00 pm (tentative) July 3-10:00 am -2:00 pm July 4-9:00 am to noon July 5 6:00 9:00 pm July 7 6:00 9:00 pm July 8 9:00 to 5:00 July 9 11:30 to finish

5 June Birthdays 2 Chris Jones 6 Alan Hurley 8 Helga Guthy Art Lederle 12 Jessie Hertling Abigail Lutz 23 Rick Rowehl 28 Linda Rundlett The Fruit Cup By Kerstin Turner Confession: I despise packing lunches. I truly do. I also hate cleaning out lunch boxes. Yogurt smeared into a lunchbox zipper is right up there with ironing. Ugh. I m glad we have an active PTO that brings in a few lunch options each week but our school has no cafeteria so I pack two lunches every day. Two lunches that started the school year with great, wholesome intentions. Fresh fruits and vegetables and VARIETY. Ooh! My kids will eat a salad at school. HA! But let s be honest, one of them gets a peanut butter sandwich four out of five days a week. Usually there is a squeeze applesauce, maybe some other fruit or baby carrots and that. Is. It. I used Pinterest to find oodles of nonsandwich lunch ideas for picky eaters and tried many. But here we are: peanut butter and squeeze applesauce, pressing towards the end of school. At one point I got a pack of mandarin orange cups because my kids eat mandarin oranges at home and at restaurants but apparently not in their lunch box from a little cup. One cup in particular was packed multiple times, but always came home. I would draw a smiley face on it or use a sticker (why I thought this would help, I have no idea, I got desperate), it still came home. Sent it with the other kid, came home. This happened enough that it got really funny for me. Eventually I just put it back in the fridge until one day I opened it, drained the juice and put the slices in a bowl and miraculously, they were eaten..and ENJOYED! Ironically, I was not happy. I was ticked off. I could feel the red lava boiling up and the steam collect in my ears. Really? Really? You could have eaten this weeks ago, but instead it became the most-traveled fruit cup in Miller Avenue. I didn t say this out loud. I smiled and said: See? These are good! I ll pack them tomorrow for you. The kids learned their lesson, but I really learned mine. That was what my friend Reagan likes to call a Bible Slap. Where you get slapped with some biblical truth, seemingly out of nowhere. God shakes your shoulder and says listen up, sheep! I give you fruit cups every day and you ignore them, too. I do this very same thing with Jesus and my faith. I do this with the Bible and prayer. I do this with so many things I take for granted. Things right under my nose that I need (like the traveling Vitamin C-laden cup of oranges) and that s good for me. Things GOD HIMSELF gives me. I just overlook it. I don t want it. When it s in my lunch next to cheddar popcorn I ll go for the popcorn. We all overlook the obvious good things in our lives but this one struck me in particular as it reminded me of the importance of spending time with Jesus. A few minutes of prayer, a few minutes in the Bible, a few minutes here and there and boom before I know it, I ve eaten the fruit cup and had a dose of Vitamin C. Don t overlook the fruit cup. The Thrift Store is still looking for Saturday volunteers. If you re able to help out on ANY Saturday of the month please contact Nancy Swenk at (631)

6 It is hard to believe that it s that time again! Join us July 10 through 14, 2017 from 6:00 to 8:45 PM for Maker Fun Factory as we help kids in our community understand that they were built by God and made for a purpose! VBS is open to children entering kindergarten through entering 6 th Grade. We welcome youth older than that to come and be junior helpers. PLEASE REGISTER so that we can be prepared with snacks, supplies and of course T-shirts for the week. Registration forms for participants and helpers can be found on the youth table in the parlor. Helpers 18 years and older must also fill out paperwork for a background check. These forms can also be found on the table in the parlor. VBS Needs Please check our VBS board in the parlor for snack donations that are needed for the week. Also we can use the following items: - Cardboard boxes - Large pieces of cardboard - Peg boards (will return, please label) - Portable clothes racks (will return, please label If you re looking to get involved there is a place for you to use your gifts at VBS. We need youth and adult volunteers that week to lead crews and organize the six different stations that the kids rotate through. We also need helping hands and creative minds between now and then to help us prepare and decorate the different spaces of the church. Please check out our meeting dates located in this edition of the Lamplighter or on a flyer in the parlor. This ministry has evolved over the years to become a wonderful outreach to the families in this community. It is also a great opportunity for the youth (and adults) of this church to demonstrate their love for God to the children and adults who walk through the doors that week. Come and be God s hands and feet! We also need hands between now and then to help us prepare and decorate the different spaces of the church. Please check out our meeting dates located in this edition of the Lamplighter or on a flyer in the parlor. VBS Helpers Important Notice If you are over the age of 18 and will be helping THE WEEK of VBS, please be certain to complete the additional forms for background checks located on the Kids Ministry table in the parlor. Thank you!

7 United in Prayer By Estera Pirosca Escobar "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. John 17:20-23 A Chinese couple, a South Korean couple, and my Mongolian friend and I had the privilege of praying together every morning for nearly an entire year. This experience brought us together in unity as brothers and sisters in Jesus, made us more aware of the glimpses of truth He had placed in each of our cultures, and gave us strength and boldness to be light to those around us. It was a sweet taste of the unity Jesus prayed for in John 17. In His prayer, Jesus revealed His heart in a truly powerful and distinct way. He prayed for His disciples, as well as for all the believers. He said, My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you (John 17:20-21). This means he prayed for all those who believe in Him today! Jesus prayed that they would experience such perfect unity that the world will know that [God the Father] sent me (John 17:23). He was looking ahead to the time when people from every nation, tribe, social class, culture, and language would bow their knee and pledge allegiance in unity to the great I AM (Revelation 7:9-10). Jesus was implying that the unity of the believers would convince people the gospel is true. Over the centuries, despite what Jesus prayed, believers have not always walked in unity. My experiences with my Chinese, South Korean, and Mongolian friends, however, give me hope that we can be united in Christ. May we live out a deep belief in what Jesus said to His Father: Your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them (John 17:26). Our unity presents the beautiful union of our triune God. From Our Daily Journal, May 22, 2017, united-in-prayer/

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9 Wading River Congregational Church 2057 North Country Road Wading River, NY Phone: Visit us at: Follow us on Facebook: WadingRiverChurch/ TJ Turner, Pastor - pastortj@wadingriverchurch.org Donna Rassner, Administrative Assistant/Bookkeeper donnar@wadingriverchurch.org Deacons deacons@wadingriverchurch.org Katrina Blunnie Joe Burgess Jeanne Carle George Schmidt Jane Throwe Walt Vogel Trustees trustees@wadingriverchurch.org Curtis Barnes Pat Burgess Janice Elliott Chris Jones (co-chair) Joe Nocerino Diane Schembri Judy Schroeder Greg Von Brook (co-chair) Mike Wing Sunday School kids@wadingriverchurch.org Kim Schmidt, Superintendent Treasurer Bill Radonavitch Clerk Ann Otten Asst. Treasurer Lana O Toole Asst. Clerk Molly Lutz Family Ministries Coordinator kids@wadingriverchurch.org Julie Lutz Women s Ministry Team Ann Otten Kerstin Turner Julie Lutz Nancy Bosseckert Senior Ministry Rosemarie Schulz Food Pantry: Carolyn Baier Joe Baier Craig Baier Youth Leadership Abigail Lutz Ryan Radonavitch Noah Blunnie Welcome Ministry Finn Mauritzen Organists: Diane Hanwick Jean Elliott WADING RIVER CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH 2057 N Country Road Wading River, NY June 2017