The Messenger. First United Methodist Church Wellsville, NY. February Through Worship, Bible Study WELLSVILLE FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

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1 WELLSVILLE FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH God s Love Grows Here... Through Worship, Bible Study and Service FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 79 MADISON STREET WELLSVILLE, NY (585) LOVEGROWS@WELLSVILLEUMC.ORG CHANGED SERVICE REQUESTED The Messenger February 2014 First United Methodist Church Wellsville, NY God s love grows here... Through Worship, Bible Study, and Service

2 First United Methodist Church of Wellsville Regular Worship Services 8:30 & 11:00 am Sunday School 9:45 am Phone (585) Fax (585) Web Page: Serving Christ and Community Since 1852 UPCOMING EVENTS: Sunday, February 2 One Worship Service with Holy Communion 9:45 AM Sunday, February 9 Community Singspiration, Wellsville Bible Church, 2908 Andover Road, Wellsville, 6 PM, Fellowship & Refreshments to follow Monday, February 10 Team Meetings 6:15 PM; Adm. Council 7:30 PM Saturday, February 15 Sweetheart Banquet, 6 PM, Dinner at 6:30 PM; $20 singles, $30 couples, Please see sign up sheet at church. Sunday, February 16 Men s Breakfast, 7:30 am Saturday, February 22 Luncheon Meal at Christian Temple, 12 Noon Tuesday, February 25 Naomi Circle, 3 4:30 PM Our Staff: Pastor.Rev. Burton Smith Office Manager Mrs. Kim Smith Music Director.Mr. Evan Farley Organist...Ms. Joy Caldwell Church Custodian...Mrs. Mary Brown Mark Your Calendars! We will be having One Worship Service with Holy Communion the First Sunday of each month through June at 9:45 AM

3 FROM OUR PASTOR FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER OUTREACH/MISSION NEWS Enthusiasm! Grace and Peace to you and yours in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, Chapter 12:11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. For purposes of this letter, I define zeal or spiritual fervor as Enthusiasm What is ENTHUSIASM? Here are some ways people define it: Enthusiasm is from the word entheos meaning God within. Enthusiasm is a kind of faith that has been set on fire. ~George Adams ~Earl Nightingale Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eye, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of your will and the energy to execute your ideas. ~Henry Ford Each of these thoughts depicts the spiritual fervor Paul is talking about. It is an uplifting energy that inspires and moves us to serve the Lord. Charles Spurgeon in his work, Lectures to My Students wrote A blacksmith can do nothing when his fire is out! The same is true of us on our spiritual journey. If our fire is out, the house, the heart, the church can get very cold and we can do nothing. To renew and rekindle our spiritual fervor we need to pray more, read our Bible, attend worship and find a ministry where the God within you can glorify your Savior! The Outreach Team wishes everyone a Happy New Year. We trust that all church members were able to take part in or enjoy the many outreach events that took place during the Christmas season. Again this year, our church supported the Salvation Army s Christmas programs. Many of you took Angel Tree tags and made Christmas morning a happy time for some less fortunate children in our community. Likewise, many of you helped with the distribution of food packages by the Salvation Army. And, finally, our church s erstwhile red kettle bell ringers helped collect $700 on December 14 th. A sincere thank you to all who became involved in these events. The church also sponsored a lighted tree in front of Howe Library, distributed hot cocoa and cookies at the Wellsville tree lighting event, and collected and distributed warm coats and mittens, scarves and knit hats, to those in the area who were in need of such winter wear. And in the midst of all this activity, we prepared and served a luncheon meal at the Christian Temple Church on December 14 th. Again, we thank all those who so generously gave of their talents and time to help spread the joy of the Christmas season. Speaking of generosity, we happily report that the Christmas Eve offering collected $ to be used for relief efforts in the Philippines following the devastating typhoon that struck that country. Thank you for caring! Looking to the immediate future, the church will be preparing and serving another luncheon meal at the Christian Temple on February 22 nd. We start cooking at 10 am and are generally cleaned up and ready to go by 1:30 pm. If you would like to help with this worthwhile outreach activity, please contact Bryan Caldwell. As usual, the Outreach Team seeks your participation in and prayers for all our outreach events and activities. ~Bryan Caldwell In Christ s Service, Pastor Burt

4 UNITED METHODIST MEN At our January breakfast, Alan and Bryan were re-elected to lead the Wellsville UMM. The annual Sweetheart Banquet (entertainment by Evan Farley) will be held Saturday, February 15, at the church. A sign up sheet is available. We will gather at 6 PM and eat at 6:30 PM. $20 for singles or $30 per couple. This is a church-wide event. Our next breakfast will be March 16 at 7:30 AM. Jerry Levitt, Chuck Brocious and John Lewis will be cooking. UMM...where all men and boys are welcome. ~Alan Forsberg/Bryan Caldwell NAOMI CIRCLE NEWS With the start of the new year, the women of the Naomi Circle have made changes, including a new time and a new date for our Circle meetings! We will meet the 4th Tuesday of each month from 3 4:30 PM. This should enable us all to get home before dark. At our first meeting we were able to know Pastor Burt a little better. Our February meeting will be held on February 25. The program will be Michelle LaVoie, the new Director of the David A. Howe Library, sharing What s New at the Library. Anyone needing a ride, please contact Diane at , or Sue at , and we will make the necessary arrangements. ~Sue Sweeting/Diane Forsberg An Encouraging Note from Dot James... How s everyone doing with their New Year s resolutions? A good one would be to praise the Lord more, be in prayer more, tithe, give offerings and alms, listen to what the Lord is telling you, and, of course, reading the Holy Bible more each day! Many distractions happen when we try to spend more time with the Lord. People call, appear at your door, a good spiritual program appears on the TV that we watch, etc. And do we really feel that our former sins are forgiven? Have we actually forgiven ourselves? Jesus forgave all our sins on the cross if Jesus forgave us, then why are we letting negative thoughts come into our minds? Our spiritual battle is actually with our minds. We, ourselves, feel so unworthy to receive from the Lord because of our past. BUT, I have good news for you that Bev Grantier left us with in November. She did a lot of research in the Bible to come up with names that would make us feel that if God forgave and used them, he can use me! So I am reiterating what Bev told us once more: Next time you think God can t use you, just remember Noah was a drunk Isaac was a daydreamer Leah was ugly Moses had a stuttering problem Rahab was a prostitute David had an affair & was a murderer Isaiah preached naked Naomi was a widow Samson had long hair & was a womanizer The disciples fell asleep while praying The Samaritan woman was divorced more than once Paul was too religious Abraham was too old Jacob was a liar Joseph was abused Gideon was afraid Jeremy and Timothy were too young Elijah was suicidal Jonah ran from God Job went bankrupt Peter denied Christ Martha worried about everything Bacchius was too small Timothy had ulcers Lazarus was dead!!! No more excuses now. God can use you to your full potential. Besides, you aren t the message. You are the messenger. One more thing... In the circle of God s love, God is waiting to use you to your full potential! Please be willing to be used by God and Jesus this year to help promote and further His kingdom on earth while there is still time. Remember how much the Lord did for you on the cross. He loves you and so do I!! In Agape Love, Dot James Matthew 6:1-4

5 FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH February Prayer List: 1 Pastor Burt 2 Pastor s Wife & Family, Shut-Ins 3 Youth for Christ 4 Women s Bible Study 5 Jail Ministry (John/David) (Jessie) 6 Worship Services 7 Men s Bible Study 8 Pastor Burt 9 Pastor s Wife & Family, The Hospitalized 10 Gil s Hills 11 Welcome Room Volunteers 12 Jail Ministry (Ron/Alvin) (Diane) 13 Church Families 14 Office Manager (Kim) 15 Pastor Burt 16 Pastor s Wife & Family, The Sick 17 Music Director (Evan) 18 Choir & Praise Team 19 Jail Ministry (Max/Stan) (Eila) 20 AA, NA, ACA 21 Welcome Room Volunteers 22 Pastor Burt 23 Pastor s Wife & Family, The Unemployed 24 Organist (Joy) 25 Custodian (Mary) 26 Jail Ministry (John/David) (Ruth) 27 Healing of Broken Relationships 28 Children s Ministry Volunteers Food Pantry Please bring in your nonperishable grocery donations for the Salvation Army food pantry on the 1st Sunday of each month; the collection box is located just inside the sanctuary to the right. Giant register tape & Campbell Soup label collection bin is located in the Welcome Room. Thanks for your continued help! Altar Flowers To purchase an altar flower arrangement, please sign up on the flower chart by the bulletin board. Choose an available Sunday; be sure to write In Honor, In Memory or In Celebration of, and the person s name, along with your name in the given by space. We order from Hannigan s Florist in Belmont. The cost is $15 each. You may pay with cash or a check made out to FUMC. Place it in the offering plate in an envelope marked Altar Flowers or you may bring it to the Church Office, Mon.-Fri., 9 am 3pm. You may take your arrangement after the 11 AM Service. Thank you for helping to provide beautiful flowers for our Sunday Services! February Altar Flowers Feb. 2nd In Loving Memory of Edith Black Feb. 9th In Celebration of Gloria Hamlin s Birthday Feb. 16th In Celebration of Tom & Shelia Smith s 47th Wedding Anniversary February Greeters Beth Farwell & Judy Winslow February Counters Bill Hamlin & John Lewis Thanks so much for the special "Retirement Send-Off" Thanks for the cards, special cake, refreshments, encouraging words, and the gift of the Allegany County painting by Eila Shea...it is really nice! We are doing well as our Lord leads us! Thanks again and God's Blessings! In Christ's Love, Stan

6 December 2013 DEC Y-T-D Operating Budget Income $ 19,332 $ 181,448 Expenses: Pastor s Package $ 7,102 $ 83,731 Other Staff $ 4,881 $ 70,151 Maintenance & Supplies $ 2,037 $ 21,950 Teams $ 241 $ 3,414 Ministry Shares $ 0* $ 0* All Other Expenses $ 1,540 $ 17,401 Preston Lucas 4 Nancy Levitt 5 David Miller 6 Jan Gustafson 7 Rolly Miles 7 Sidney Allen 7 George Cooley 10 Gloria Hamlin 10 Lois Miller 14 Charlie Hull 16 Clara Cornell 18 Gerald Levitt 20 Diane Forsberg 21 Elizabeth Rifenburg 24 Mary Zimmerman 24 Cathy Vonderheide 25 Myron Zimmerman 27 Barbara Layfield 27 Total Expenses: $ 15,801 $ 196,647 Income less Expenses $ 3,531 $ (15,199) * $3,485 in Ministry Shares have been paid this year by special offering, not out of the operating budget. Ed & Fran Hamlin 10 Art & Loretta Lovel 14 Tom & Shelia Smith 14 Bill & Erin LeBeau 21