Dear Waynesburg First Family,

Transcription

1 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6 The newsletter of First United Methodist Church of Waynesburg April 2016 Dear Waynesburg First Family, May the grace and peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ continue to be with you in I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. (1 Corinthians 1:3-4, New International Version) May God Almighty bless us and make us fruitful and increase our numbers. (Adapted from Genesis 28:3, New International Version) Some of our presidential candidates have been telling us what they would do their first 100 days as president, if elected. It s a way for them to let us know they our focusing on the future so that we may be convinced that we should vote for them. Something different is happening here at Waynesburg First. According to the final countdown app on my phone, on the day I am composing this letter to you, I have 100 days left in my appointment as your pastor. Yes, I m counting. Why? So that I can focus on what God wants me to accomplish in these last 100 days. If I don t focus on the present, July 1 will be here before I know it and then it will be too late. Too late to tie up the loose ends that God wants tied up so the transition to your new pastor, Rev. David Lake will be as smooth as possible. However, even in the transitions of our lives one constant should remain, our focus on Jesus Christ. Our focus on Jesus guarantees that in everything we do He will be glorified and honored. When Jesus is glorified and honored so is the Father. When we glorify and honor the Father and the Son then others are drawn to them through us and we are enabled by the Holy Spirit to share the Good News of Easter. Through His life, death and resurrection Jesus is inviting us to focus on the Good News and share it with ALL so that they might believe. May we be obedient to this invitation. In Christ s Love, Pastor Gary Pastor Gary Grau s Office Hours: Varied (see bulletin) Church Office Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8:30 am-12:30 pm. Please join us for Sunday Services: 8:30 am & 10:45 am F.I.S.H. Club 9:30 am Children plus Adult Ed Classes First United Methodist Church 112 N Richhill St Waynesburg, PA firstumcpa@windstream.net

2 Sermons and Scripture Lessons for April 3 rd Forgiven? John 20: th Gone Fishing John 21: th Who are These People? Revelation 7: th Write This Down Revelation 2:1-6 Food for Thought I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Revelation 21:1, New International Version Look! I m making all things new. Revelation 21:5a, New International Version April 3 Youth Schedule for April Youth Group with dinner, games, and a lesson from 5-7 pm. Bring a friend! April 10 Youth Group with dinner, games, and a lesson from 5-7 pm. Bring a friend! April 16 Homeless Ministry in Pittsburgh. Meet at the church at 10:30 a.m. and return around 5:30. Bring money for dinner on the way home. April 17 Youth Group with dinner, games, and a lesson from 5-7 pm. Bring a friend! April Pittsburgh Project Weekend Retreat! Cost is $120. *All guys are encouraged to come to a young men s Bible study held weekly on Thursday s at Alex s apartment for Bible discussions and food. We will be going through the book of 2 Peter. This schedule is subject to change. Please don t hesitate to contact Alex if you have any questions! Cell Phone: (724) Office Phone: (724)

3 Call to Prayer and Self Denial on Wed., April 13th at 7 p.m. in the Parish House. Carol Carter will lead the program. All women of the church are invited! Have a used cell phone and don t know what to do with it donate it to the Domestic Violence Center (43 N. Morgan St., Wbg.) Office hours: 8-4 M-F (Can t drop it off bring it to church and we ll see that it gets there.) The Way, is the Mission and Youth newsletter for our church. Grab one now to check out what has been going on with our church s mission and youth programs and to find out how you can get involved in these programs. They are located on the tables in the back of the sanctuary. Opening Spring 2016 Gateway Senior Housing 1-2 Bedroom Apartments at 325 E. High Street, Wbg. Must be 62 + and meet income guidelines Contact Jason at See the flyer on the bulletin board if you are interested. Prayer Focus The Prayer Focus of the Month for April is the group of leaders and students that will be taking part in the Pittsburgh Project s weekend retreat from April They will be doing construction at a home in Pittsburgh. If you would like to help support the group financially by helping cover the costs of the trip, please make a special offering to the church, noting that it is for the Youth Fund Pittsburgh Project. Thank you for your help!

4 Liturgical Colors Easter The liturgical color for Easter is celebratory White or Gold, symbolizing the joy in the light of day. The Easter season continues for seven Sundays after Lent. Applying Bible Principles to Stewardship In the years prior to his assumption of power in Germany, Adolph Hitler was a master of deception. He made free use of the Christian vocabulary and talked about the blessing of Almighty God and the Christian confessions of faith which would become the pillars of his new state. He assumed the earnestness of a man who is utterly weighed down by historic responsibility. He handed out pious stories to the press, especially to the church papers. He showed his tattered Bible to many church leaders and declared that he drew the strength for his great work from the Word of God. According to one pastor, He was actually able to introduce a pietistic timbre into his voice which caused many religious people to welcome him as a man sent from God. As the world learned to its horror in later years, Hitler was an impostor. He had only used these things to mask his real intentions and to fool people. He was what could be accurately labeled the master hypocrite. He said one thing while actually doing exactly the opposite. When it comes to hypocrisy, Adolph Hitler was in a league by himself. None of us desires to be or should ever be compared to him or his despicable actions. However, when it comes to the Christian life, sometimes we, too, say one thing and do another. We pretend to be great students of the Bible, when we actually seldom look at the Book. We give the impression that we spend hours in prayer, when we very seldom engage in prayer except when at church. We pretend to love other Christians, when, in reality, we can t stand some of them. This kind of behavior is also possible when it comes to giving. We might like to convey the impression that we are good givers, and we might be reasonably successful in our efforts since other people usually do not actually see our financial situation and our giving. However, if we are trying to say one thing and do another concerning our giving to the Lord, we will be confronted by our deception every time we look at the register in our checkbook. Here s why: Our checkbook will quickly and methodically strip away our pretense. We can deceive others; we can even deceive ourselves in many areas of life, but our checkbook always tells the truth about what is really important to us. The Apostle Paul summed up this matter of saying one thing and then of doing what we say with this statement: the testimony of our conscience should be that... we have behaved in the world... with holiness and godly sincerity... by the grace of God (2 Cor. 1:12). In other words, by walking in holiness and sincerity that God provides in response to our obedience, what we do will match what we say, including in the area of giving. Think about it: If your checkbook could talk, what would it say about you and about your giving to the work of the Lord at First United Methodist Church? Would it testify that you are walking in holiness and godly sincerity in your giving, or would it have a different story to tell?

5 The café continues to thrive. Over the past 6 weeks, church family and a new cook have helped with the supply of cased bottled water as well as making food prep and clean up run more smoothly. John and Janice work together to pull the meals together. The volunteers arrive to put serving tables in order and set up the side dishes. Young ladies from the café help with setting out salt and pepper and making coffee. A café patron, who is also a social worker, runs the giveaway table. Prayer requests are put on whiteboard and lifted up when ask the blessing. A spring birthday cake was served on March 16. We appreciate desserts left from events and if you would like to bake cookies for us, we need 10 dozen, 2 cookies each, because we normally serve meals including take-outs for shut-ins or family that could not come. We are nearly out of funds due to increased patrons and food costs. We have applied for help from WPA Conference Mission Poverty Team. We have not heard from them yet. We can reapply early for another grant from Greene County Memorial Hospital Foundation. If you would like to support the café financially or through your time and energy, please contact Janice Gottschalk ( ) or any of the current volunteers. It costs about $2.25 a person to provide a balanced meal. There will be a second distribution of hygiene products on the Wednesday before Easter of items purchased with GCMHF funds, as we did at Christmas. Thank you for your prayers and support! Janice Gottschalk, Coordinator

6 Washington District s Bishop s Day on the District Monday, April 4th, 6 p.m. at Washington 1st UMC Prison Ministry News..We are currently half way through our present 40 Days of Purpose session. We are just finishing the study on the second of five purposes, FELLOWSHIP. Rick Warren, in our study, likens FELLOW- SHIP with RELATIONSHIPS. He makes the statement, The entire Bible is the story of God building a family who will love him, honor him, and reign with him forever. We talked a lot about relationships and how important they are in living the Christian life. Our study points out that the Trinity is God s relationship to himself. It further states that God has always existed in loving relationship to himself, so He has never been lonely. He didn t need a family He desired one, so He created us, invited us into his family, and shared with us all He has. We discussed what God expects us to do to restore broken relationships with family and friends, a subject very pertinent to most of the inmates. Paul points out the importance of FELLOWSHIP in Ephesians 4:3 where he states You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way. It takes both God s power and our effort to produce a loving Christian community. The men were reminded from the study that real fellowship, whether in a marriage, a friendship, or your church depends on honesty and frankness. The Bible tells us there is a right time and a right way to approach others in trying to mend those broken relationships. Ecclesiastes 8:6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a man s trouble is heavy upon him. As we are constantly reminding the inmates, it not always what you say but HOW you say it. The chapters on FELLOWSHIP (RELATIONSHIPS) ends with a comment that allows the inmates to realize that while they may not always agree on a solution, it is important to strive for that ending in a spirit of harmony. Reconciliation focuses on the relationship, while resolution focuses on the problem. Thank you for continuing to keep the inmates and our prison ministry in your prayers. Connie, Marilyn, Shirley, Rex

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8 Thanks so much for your generous donations of candy for the Annual Children s Easter Egg Hunt! Come as You are Daughters of Grace Choir present a program of redemption and forgiveness. Fri., April 8th at 7 p.m. at Greene Valley Presbyterian (Carmichaels, PA) Spring Student Fellowship Luncheon Sunday, April 17th (This will be the last one till Fall.) Covered dishes and help will be greatly appreciated, as well as your attendance. A sign up sheet will be on the tables in the back of the church. Thanks for all your help!!! Come join us for food and fellowship! Native American Ministries Sunday April 10, 2016 Together, we empower local spiritual development and educate Native American seminary students to serve God faithfully. Appalachian Dawn Fri., April 8th at 6 p.m. Movie showing at the following locations: 1st Baptist (Wbg.); Nazarene Church (Wbg.); Harvey s Grange (Graysville); Hewitt Presbyterian (Rices Landing); Carmichael 1st UMC (Carmichaels); and Mapletown UMC (Greensboro) For more information visit Coming: March for Greene Sat., May 14, 2016 A Community That Prays Together Stays Together Join us at the Greene County Fairgrounds (Bldg. #9) at 5:14 p.m. April 14th and May 5th Coalition For a Brighter Greene

9 April Birthdays Choir Practice Bell Choir Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. Chancel Choir Thursdays 7:30 p.m. 1 Janice Gottschalk 3 Abby Lipscomb Sandra Alderson 8 Richard Ketchem 9 James Hegyi 10 Bryce Cree Braiden Duell 11 Carol Wise Greene County Hymn Sing April 10, 2016 at Pine Bank UMC Upcoming: May 8, 2016 at Mt. Morris UMC 12 Dawn Yeager 13 Katherine Beale 14 Jim Hawkins 15 Melissa Bennett 2016 Offering Envelopes If you wish to have an envelope assigned to you please contact Linda in the church office ( ) 17 Emma Mankey 19 Russell T. Clark 20 Mary Anne Evans 21 Jane Lou White 23 Adam Ridout Pray always ~ without ceasing! Please call prayer requests to: the church office at If you would rather , send them to Wayne Hart at: wahart@windstream.net (Subject: Prayer Ministry) 28 Linda Mariner... April Announcement List Did we miss anyone s birthday? Call the church office or send an to get your special day in the newsletter Call firstumcpa@windstream.net April 6..Youth April KC Waddel April Rich Waddel April Wayne Hart

10 April 2016 SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT 1 April Fools Day 2 3 Noon Soup & Bake Sale 5-7 PM Youth :30 PM Bell Choir 7:30 PM Chancel Choir Native American Ministries Sunday Noon Church Council 5-7 PM Youth 7 PM Hymn Sing at Pine Bank UMC PM UM Women 14 6:30 PM Bell Choir 7:30 PM Chancel Choir 15 TAX DAY 16 10:30 AM -5:30 PM Homeless Ministry in Pgh. 17 Noon Student Luncheon 5-7 PM Youth Group :30 PM Bell Choir 7:30 PM Chancel Choir 22 Newsletter Deadline 23 Pittsburgh Project Weekend Retreat Apr Primary Election Day :30 PM Bell Choir 7:30 PM Chancel Choir NEWSLETTER ARTICLES ARE DUE TO THE CHURCH OFFICE BY Friday, April 22nd or earlier.