Clarksbury United Methodist Church General Puller Highway, Hardyville, Virginia September

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1 The Grapevine Clarksbury United Methodist Church General Puller Highway, Hardyville, Virginia September Our Mission: To receive and share God s love through worship, education, service and outreach. From The Desk of Pastor Ken Jeremiah 29:10-14 (NRSV) 10 For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, 14 I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile. So often in life we hear people who have encountered a difficulty, a challenge or a crisis and more often than not worry and anxiety set in. This happens enough times to enough of us that our reaction becomes normal and to be expected when we allow doubt and sometimes even despair to overwhelm us. We have a Father who has a plan and a purpose for us and that is NOT for harm, rather for our welfare and that He plans to give us a future with HOPE! Can you hear that? God has a plan and it is for you and me.to have hope to have FAITH the hope for things not yet seen. God doesn t desert us, in spite of the evil and trouble in the world around us. God has Mercy upon us. If it were not so then he wouldn t have come down in human flesh as Jesus and he wouldn t have hung on a cross till he gave up His life each precious drop of His blood drop by drop to the last. He laid down His life for us and took it back up again and returned to the Father in Heaven. God sent the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Comforter, so that we would know HOPE. God s Plan is for our/your/my salvation. God s Mercy and Love through Jesus Christ is our Redeemer. God s Grace Our Book of Discipline (2012)(page 49-51)tells of a shared belief, with other Christians of grace, justification, assurance and sanctification. John Wesley combines the shared Christian beliefs. Our disciple describes Grace as the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human experience through the ever present Holy Spirit 1

2 We can be assured that God has a plan for us; scripture tells us and our own life experiences often times demonstrate the proof of that. We can be certain of God s Mercy. John 3:16 demonstrates that love that provides a way for our salvation. Jesus tells us, I am the way the truth and the life God s Grace falls down like rain on all creation and us if only we look and see it. The prevenient grace that was there before we realized it consciously which continues in justifying grace and is brought to fruition in sanctifying grace. Now that you have that blessed assurance, what will you/we do with our lives? Because God has a plan for us, yet He allows us free will, how will you serve, how will you give, how will you grow and help others? We have so many blessings, so many opportunities to demonstrate God s love for us and our fellow man, and creation itself. We need to be constantly in prayer; we must call on the name of the Lord, and when we seek God we MUST seek Him with our whole heart. As we seek him we will find Him. We may find Jesus in that child who needs help, that woman who needs assistance, that man who needs comforting or that family who is grieving. In the community around us and even in our own homes there are people who need a reminder or need reminders that God has a plan, God shows mercy and God s grace falls like rain every day, and it begins each new day through each and every single one of US!!! leaves. We have a summer ending and an autumn before us more things changing than just the We start our planning for our Charge conference in November, Committees and leadership and each of us have roles to play we are each blessed with gifts and talents to serve, and lead. Let us work diligently, let us strive cheerfully, and let us demonstrate our gifts according to the grace given us by our Creator. Grace and Peace, Pastor Ken COFFEE HOUR FOR SEPTEMBER September 7 Polly Van Benschoten September 14 Kathy Wright September 21 Becky Foster September 28 Suzanne Ramsburg If you would like to be a part of this church ministry, contact Polly Van Benschoten, Counters for September are Helen White and Gayle Gilliland. Becky and Abigail Foster will serve as ushers. The reader is Gayle Gilliland. 2

3 Greetings Friends, Peggy and I would like to thank you for your wonderful send off and for the beautiful gifts you presented to us as we transitioned from Clarksbury to Fox Hill Central. Our prayers are with you, as well as Pastor Ken and Terry, as you continue to do the work to which God has called you. (Matthew 5:16) In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. God bless you all. PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY By Polly Van Benschoten and Fran Miller The Prayer Shawl ministry here at Clarksbury is ongoing. If you know of someone who should receive a pray shawl, please contact Pastor Ken, Polly or Fran. We have a few on hand; but if anyone has time to knit/crochet a shawl, we could use some extras. Remember, we like to have a few baby afghans on hand for newborns to our congregation as well as grandchildren or great grandchildren. UMM NEWS By Warren Wright, UMM President W e will have our regular monthly business meeting on Monday, September 22, at Our Bible study, God is Closer than You Think, will conclude with Chapter 6 on this date. We will be planning our fall and winter activities and missions at this meeting. Remember that there are no membership or dues requirements to be a part of the United Methodist Men of Clarksbury, just a willingness to serve Jesus Christ within your church and community. Mission-To Help Men Grow In Christ, So Others May Know Christ. Ruth Wilder s address and phone number: 132 Lancaster Drive Irvington, VA

4 NEW CHURCH DIRECTORY By Diane Faulkner, Chairman Suzanne Ramsburg, Carl Tate, Charlie Weis, Kathy Wright Committee Members T he mailing of our proof directory from Lifetouch was delayed due to a question concerning the roster portion of our directory submission. Finally, the proof has been received. This week the committee will go over it to try and catch any errors. However, at first glance, the directory cover is not what we thought it would be. So it appears that there is going to be another delay. We are keeping our fingers crossed that correcting this will not be a lengthy process. As soon as the new directories are received, we will distribute them. Remember, if you participated in the photo session, you are guaranteed a directory. As an additional perk Lifetouch is also furnishing us with a few of what they call "on the go books." These are pocket sized books containing our directory photos along with a phone number. They will be a nice gift to give to our regularly attending guests who did not participate in our photo sessions. Like you, we are looking forward to the day when we can distribute our new directories. Hopefully it won't be that much longer. Thank you for your patience and may God abundantly bless each of you. FALL FOOD PANTRY By Fran Miller Food Pantry Committee A s promised in the last newsletter, a date for our Fall Food Pantry has been chosen. We will be distributing our filled bags on Saturday, October 11, from 9 a.m. to If you know someone who can benefit from this ministry, please let them know. We have put up the sign-up sheets for volunteers in the sanctuary by the organ. If you can help in any way, PLEASE volunteer. After going through our lists of neighborhoods, we decided to deliver 665 empty grocery bags. This is an increase of 65 bags from our original estimate. So as you can see we need your help. Thank you in advance for helping make this another successful Food Pantry Day! September Distribute Empty Bags September 20 Pick up Filled Bags September 22 Repack Bags October 11 Distribution 4

5 CLARKSBURY HYMNOLOGY 101 September 2014 JOYFUL, JOYFUL, WE ADORE THEE (Page 89) is one of Janis Slaughter s favorite hymns. The beautiful lyrics and Beethoven s majestic music combine to make it so. The author of these lyrics was Henry Van Dyke ( ), born in Germantown Pennsylvania. He was a leading Presbyterian preacher during his time. He was also a professor of literature at Princeton University for 23 years, was the moderator of his denomination, became a Navy chaplain during World War I and was ambassador to Holland and Luxembourg under President Wilson. He was a prolific writer of devotional materials, books and poems as well as hymns; many of his books became best sellers. He was the author of The Other Wise Man. In 1907 he was serving as a guest preacher at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and was inspired by the beauty of the surrounding Berkshire Mountains. It has been said that when Van Dyke handed the poem to the president of the college, he said, Here is a hymn for you. Your mountains were my inspiration. It must be sung to the music of Beethoven s Hymn to Joy. The tune comes out of the final movement of Beethoven s Ninth Symphony composed from and published in He was inspired for this work by a poem entitled Ode to Joy by a German poet friend. It is said that when this symphony was first performed in Vienna members of the orchestra had to turn Beethoven (who was profoundly deaf) around to face the audience so that he could hear their acclaim. Beethoven never wrote a tune specifically for a hymn text, but a number have been adapted from his works. This is the most widely used of those adaptations. It was first adapted for a hymnal in 1824 by Edward Hodges ( ), an English organist who served the Trinity Church in New York City. Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love; Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above. Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away; Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day! All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays, Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise. Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea, Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee. Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed, Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest! Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine; Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine. 5

6 Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began; Father love is reigning o er us, brother love binds man to man. Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife, Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life. My lips will shout for joy when I sang praises to you; my soul also, which you have rescued. Psalm 71:23 Music is God s gift to man, the only art of heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to heaven. Walter Savage Landor, English writer and poet A MESSAGE FROM YOUR LAY LEADER By Warren Wright F or the past five months the men of the church have been in an intense Bible Study titled, God Is Closer than You Think by John Ortberg. After each monthly business meeting, we adjourn and go to our Bible Study for at least an hour. John Ortberg has divided this study into 6 thought provoking sessions such as (1) God s Great Desire for People (2) Where is God in My World (3) Partnering with God Today (4) Listening to the Voice of God (5) God Wants a Relationship with you (6) Heaven Breaking. Author Ortberg starts off the book with this: He tells us that today you can see God in action, you can hear God speaking to you, and you can connect to God heart to heart. Intimacy with God can happen right now, a closeness that you can feel, a reality that you can experience for yourself. God is really closer than you think and connecting with him is your own exclusive domain. It s for everyone, busy moms, busy dads, students, business persons, but most of all for you. Spending the day with God does not necessarily involve doing different activities than you already do. It involves learning to do what you already do in a different way, doing it with God. It means acknowledging your dependence on God, telling him about your concerns, and inviting him to share each moment of the day with you. John Ortberg tells us that to be closer to God we need to be proactive in the following ways: Find God where you least expect him. Listen to God s voice. Identify which pathway of relationship you re uniquely designed to travel. Align yourself with the flow of the Holy Spirit. Draw closer to God even when he seems absent. John 29:20-Then Jesus told him, "You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me." 6

7 SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAYS 3 Sydney Funk 3 Sierra Funk 5 Tamar Perkinson 7 Tony Rivas 8 Dawn Crittenden 10 Roegean Speight 14 Ashley Moore 15 Petra Walian 16 Conner Crittenden 19 James Archer 19 Juan Rivas 19 Amber Mauney 19 Brittany Mauney 23 Norman Sibley 23 Bobby Weis 27 Betty Morris 29 Jan Boyd 30 Sue Myers If you know of any additions, deletions or corrections that should be made to the birthday calendar, please let the newsletter editor know. DON T FORGET THESE DATES! By Fran Miller UMW President R emember these dates for EY Circle s September cookie project. Monetary donations (used to purchase items such as Chap Stick, beef jerky, hand cleaner, etc., to include with the cookies and also to pay for postage) should be given to Fran Miller by September 7. Cookies should be brought to the church on Sunday, September 14. Your help with this project to remember service people with connections to our church family will be greatly appreciated. If you know of any service people who are deployed, please let Fran know. "Christ of the Andes," Christ of Everywhere, Great lover of the hills, the open air, And patient lover of impatient men Who blindly strive and sin and strive again, -- Thou Living Word, larger than any creed, Thou Love Divine, uttered in human deed, -- Oh, teach the world, warring and wandering still, Thy way of Peace, the foot path of Good Will! --Henry Van Dyke 7

8 Our Vision: To be a spirit-filled and nurturing church family that reaches out and embraces the entire community. The Grapevine September 2014 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday :40 a.m. Sunday School Communion :40 a.m. Sunday School Distribute Bags for Food Pantry EY Circle Cookie Project :40 a.m. Sunday School :40 a.m. Sunday School 1 2 Soup Ministry Trustees Soup Ministry 22 Repack bags for Food Pantry UMM Meeting and Bible Study EY Circle Marion Miller s Home Chancel Choir Chancel Choir Finance and Church Council Chancel Choir Chancel Choir Distribute Bags for Food Pantry 5-5:45 p.m. Contemporary 13 Distribute Bags for Food Pantry 5-5:45 p.m. Contemporary Pick up Bags for Food Pantry 5-5:45 p.m. Contemporary :45 p.m. Contemporary The deadline for the October 2014 Grapevine will be Wednesday, September 24. Send items to vanben@va.metrocast.net; place them in the office mailbox; or call