The Southwood Chalice

Transcription

1 The Southwood Chalice Sharing Christ s Ministries & Missions A monthly publication February Hwy 58 South, Kinston, NC (252) When we look at the month of February, what is the first thing that pops into everyone s mind? As an old tennis coach, it s the start of the high school boy s tennis season! I can see the scowl on my wife s face as I mention this. Of course, we all think of Valentine s Day. There is a running joke among those who are not in a relationship that this is Singles Awareness Day. Although this is humorous, it leads to a solid point. Valentine s Day is about letting someone know we love them. In many ways, Valentine s Day should be part of our daily lives. 2 Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God. Ephesians 5:2 Where does love come from? I think we cannot talk about love without mentioning Christ. Christ loves us unconditionally and we are called to share this great love. Remember, we will never be separated from Christ. 35 Who will separate us from Christ s love? Will we be separated by trouble, or distress, or harassment, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? Romans 8:35 As nothing will separate us from Christ s love, so we are reminded how love overcomes. Relationships are hard, there will be problems. People are very different, have their own interests, and think for themselves. But, we all share in Christ s love. This Valentine s Day, reach out to someone and tell them you love them. Don t just tell your significant other, tell someone else who might really need to hear those words. For those who have lost the great love of your life, remember they call down their great love as well. One day we will all join together in a place where love reigns. Until that day, we make the best of our earthly situation. Church Calendar Each Sunday: 8:30 a.m. The Gathering 9:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Traditional Worship 1 st Monday of each month: Board Meeting February 2 at 7:00 p.m. in Choir Room 1 st and 3 rd Sunday of each month: Youth Groups meet Each Wednesday: Hand Bell Practice: 6:30 p.m. Choir Practice: 7:00 p.m. CWF Groups: Ray of Hope February 10 Dorcas Circle February 16 Young at Heart February 25 CMF Group: Next meeting: March 10 7:00 p.m. The Gathering Breakfast Schedule: 1 st Sunday: Young Women s Class 2 nd Sunday: Mature Young Adult Class 3 rd Sunday: Margaret Small Class 4 th Sunday: Young Disciples Class 5 th Sunday: Nic and Michelle Smith With great LOVE, Pastor Andrew

2 Dear Church Family, As we begin the month of February, we often think about Valentine s Day and wonder what to get our special someone. This year as you are out looking for that special box of chocolates, calling to reserve a table at your favorite restaurant, searching for that special card, or ordering flowers; take a moment to reflect on God s LOVE for us and remember: John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. It is also important to remember the season of Lent is upon us as it begins on Sunday, February 22 nd. John 17:17 sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. I recently read an article that I would like to share with you entitled God Really Loves Us by Pastor Wally Odum. Charlotte Mortimer described her adult education, creative writing class. The teacher asked all the students to write I love you in 25 words or less, without using the words, I love you. The class was given 15 minutes to complete the assignment. Charlotte wrote that one woman spent about 10 minutes looking at the ceiling and wiggling in her seat. Then the last five minutes, she wrote frantically. Later she read her composition to the class. It consisted of three loving statements: Why, I ve seen lots worse hairdos than that, honey. These cookies are hardly burned at all. Cuddle up-i ll get your feet warm. It tells us something about her husband. It also tells us something about the practical side of love. I don t know if anyone else spends much time wondering why God loves us, but sometimes His love is a mystery to me. I know my inadequacies and shortcomings. I also know that God loves me in spite of them. Moses words to Israel in Deuteronomy 7:7-8 comfort me. He explains God s love for them to the Israelites: The LORD did not set His affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath. He swore to your forefathers that He brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh, King of Egypt. Our might and importance have nothing to do with God s affection for us. He just loves us. John 3:16 may be the most memorized verse in the Bible: God so loved the world... A book that touched me was Love Beyond Reason, by John Ortberg. In the book, Ortberg describes a doll, Pandy, which belonged to his sister, Barbie. By the time he knew Pandy he says, She had lost a lot of hair, one arm was missing, and she d had the stuffing knocked out of her. Not impressed with Pandy s beauty, he felt that she was too damaged to be even given away. He remembers his family going to Canada from Illinois for vacation. On the return trip they realized that they had left the doll in Canada and had to drive all the way back to Canada to retrieve her. Pandy was that important to his sister. When Barbie married and had a little girl of her own, Courtney, his sister had Pandy restored and kept her as Courtney s doll. Ortberg s reflection on Pandy s story impacted me deeply. He wrote, When Pandy was young, Barbie loved her. She celebrated her beauty. When Pandy was old and ragged, Barbie loved her still. Now she did not simply love Pandy because Pandy was beautiful, she loved her with the kind of love that made Pandy beautiful. That s what God s love has done for us. He doesn t love us because we are beautiful, His love makes us attractive. Sometimes it is hard for us to receive undeserved love, so we try to earn it. Richard Bellinger, a young boy in South Carolina, was the son of a Baptist minister. One Saturday night, Richard decided to shine his father s shoes. The following night his father put a silver dollar on the bureau of his son s room with a note commending his son for what he had done, and telling him that the dollar was his reward. The next

3 morning, when the father put on his shoes, he felt something hard and metallic in one of them. When he took the shoe off and reached inside, he found the silver dollar he had given to his son the night before. Along with the dollar was a note that simply read, I did it for love! What God has done for us, He did for love. Instead of trying to understand it, or deserve it, or pay for it, He just wants us to receive it and say, Thank you. When we do that, His love begins to change us. And does His love ever have the power to change us! An article I read recently inspired me. Gwen and I pastored outside Baltimore, Maryland early in our ministry. I was drawn to a story I read about a college in that area. One of the local college professors gave an assignment to his class. He asked them to go into the economically impoverished communities to get case histories of 200 young boys. They were asked to write an evaluation of each boy s future. In every case the students wrote something like, He hasn t got a chance. Twenty-five years later another sociology professor came across the earlier study. He decided to use his class to follow up on the previous survey in order to see what had happened to those boys. With the exception of 20 boys who had moved away or died, the students learned that 176 of the remaining 180 had achieved more than ordinary success as lawyers, doctors, and businessmen. The professor was astounded at the results and decided to pursue the matter further. Fortunately, the 176 men still lived in the area and his class interviewed each of them. They were asked the question, How do you account for your success? In each case the reply came with feeling, There was a teacher. Investigating, the professor learned that the teacher was still alive. He personally went to speak with her. He asked her what magic formula she had used to pull these boys out of the slums into successful achievement. The teacher looked at him, broke into a smile, and said, It s really very simple, I loved those boys. God loves us. When we are about to step into heaven because we have believed in Him, if someone asks us why we made it, we can confidently say, He just loved us. The kind of love God has for us cost Him dearly. John MacArthur told of an incident that occurred during Oliver Cromwell s reign as Lord Protector of England. A young soldier was scheduled to be executed. The girl to whom he was engaged pleaded with Cromwell to spare the life of her beloved, but Cromwell was resistant to her request. The young man was to be executed when the curfew bell sounded. However, when the sexton repeatedly pulled the rope to signal the execution the bell made no sound. The soldier s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and wrapped herself around the clapper so that it could not strike the bell. Her body was smashed and bruised, but she did not let go until the clapper stopped swinging. She managed to climb down, bruised and bleeding, to meet those gathered to witness the execution. When she explained what she had done, Cromwell commuted the sentence. A poet beautifully recorded the story as follows: At his feet she told her story, showed her hands all bruised and torn, And her sweet young face still haggard with the anguish it had worn, Touched his heart with sudden pity, lit his eyes with misty light. Go, your lover lives, said Cromwell; Curfew will not ring tonight. God loves us. His body still bears the scars from His suffering so we would not die. He wants us to believe that and allow His love to change us. When I know God loves me that much I can never give up on myself. I pray each of you have a wonderful February and remember God Loves You, he always has and he always will! God Bless, David S. Moody

4 Church Happenings February Birthdays If you have updates, Please contact Kirby & Mary Hardy H: C: nd Gracie Howard 5 th Austin Jernigan 9 th Virginia Grimes 11 th Clyde Dunham 12 th Ricky Whaley 14 th Wayne Barwick 17 th Campbell Price 20 th C.J. Rouse 21 st Brandon Woolard 22 nd Martha Dunham 25 th Mike Carlyle 26 th Jerry Howard 27 th Judy Moore 28 th Madison Kennedy Please remember to check your Church Mail Boxes every Sunday. We will use the mail boxes, and All Call to communicate important Church happenings with our Church Members. February 8 th : There will be a gifting of diapers and wipes for baby boy Boutwell on Sunday, February 8th. Please place items on the hearth in the Education Building. Due to possible allergies, try to bring sensitive and/or unscented items. February 9: American Red Cross Blood Drive from 3:00 7:00 p.m. February 14: The church Valentine s Party for the adults will be held in the Family Life Center on Saturday, Feb. 14. The grills will be ready at 6 p.m. Each person who signs up to attend will bring their own meat to grill. The rest of the meal will be furnished by the CWF.

5 February 1st: Please come join us for dessert and coffee on Sunday 2:00 p.m. 4:00 p.m. in the Family Life Center to celebrate the 80 th birthday of Roger Grimes. February 1 st at 4:00 p.m. : Youth groups will meet tonight at 4:00. We will be traveling on the church van to enjoy a special treat - dinner at McDonald's! We plan to return back to church around5:00. We look forward to a fun time in Christian fellowship. February 2: Board Meeting at 7:00 p.m. in Music Room February 8 th : There will be a gifting of diapers and wipes for baby boy Boutwell on Sunday, February 8th. Please place items on the hearth in the Education Building. Due to possible allergies, try to bring sensitive and/or unscented items. February 8 th : The Mission and Benevolence Committee will meet directly after church in the library on February 8th. February 9 th: Our next Red Cross Blood Drive will be Monday from 3-7 p.m. and is in honor of Roger Moore who has battled and overcome liver cancer. We have a lot of members in our church who have had cancer and who have used the blood donated by you to help them overcome their sickness. Please come out and show your support for Roger and others. It is the best gift you could give THE GIFT OF LIFE. Our goal is 23 pints.i would love to double that goal for Roger..Susan Baker February 14 th : The church Valentine s Party for the adults will be held in the Family Life Center on Saturday, Feb. 14. The grills will be ready at 6 p.m. Each person who signs up to attend will bring their own meat to grill. The rest of the meal will be furnished by the CWF. March 18: the Southeastern District Meeting will be at Southwood Church on Wednesday night March 26: the CMF meeting will be on Thursday night, March 26. Note that this is a change in meeting time due to the rescheduling of churches March 27-28: SMCC has scheduled a family workday at Camp Caroline. We will spend the night and the lodging is at no cost to anyone who participates. We hope that everyone can join in this weekend of service, fun and fellowship. Please let us know who will be joining us by signing your name on the sign-up sheet in the back vestibule.

6 We will start a New Disciples class taught by Pastor Andrew the 3 rd Sunday of every month at 3:00. It is for those who are interested in baptism or have been recently baptized. They will discuss their spiritual journey, dive into scripture, and learn about the history of the Disciples of Christ denomination. It will be geared more for ages 10-14, but others are invited to attend. As we begin a New Year of blessings, let us remember to share our thankfulness by placing coins for each blessing in our blessing box. If you need a blessing box or have any questions, see Heather Kennedy. Quilting: Coming soon...all ladies of the church are invited to help with the church quilts (2) for our upcoming harvest festival. We plan to be at the church from 12:30 p.m. until each day to finish our quilt projects in plenty of time for the harvest festival. Seasoned quilters are welcomed. You do not know how to quilt? You have never quilted? No problem...come out and let us guide you into the wonderful world of quilting...it is not difficult...actually, it is easy. We need you to come and help us...think about it...more information later...please let Martha Ruth Dunham or Mary Evans know if you are interested in participating in our 2015 quilting project. Young Disciple Women...join us...you have an application in your church mailbox for our Disciple Women's Ministry (DWM) or CWF Camp Caroline Retreat that will be held March 20-21, You can go for the weekend or attend Saturday only. The regional office and the DWM NC cabinet are reaching out to our young women and asking you to get involved. Also, I encourage you, young women, to form your own DWM circle for fellowship and spiritual growth. All ladies of the church are part of Disciple Women and we would love for you to attend a local group and to join us at our/your retreats. Blessings...Mary Evans/SE District Coordinator/NC DWM.

7 Congratulations to Tyler Basden who has been chosen to take a high school science course second semester and he is only in the 7 th grade. The course is EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE and is one of the 3 sciences that is required for a student to graduate from high school. Congratulations to the following church members who are 2015 officers in their respective Ruritan Clubs: Claude Stroud - President of Deep Run Ruritan Club Susan Baker - President of Southwood Ruritan Club Linda Hill Vice President of Southwood Ruritan Club Peggy Fordham Secretary of Southwood Ruritan Club Wendy Robinson Treasurer of Southwood Ruritan Club Betty Potter 3 Year Director of Southwood Ruritan Club Congratulations to two members below who will serve in 2015: George Basden, President of Lenoir County Shriners Michelle Basden Vice-President of Lenoir County Shrinettes Our next Red Cross Blood Drive will be Monday, February 9 th from 3-7 p.m. and is in honor of Roger Moore who has battled and overcome liver cancer. We have a lot of members in our church who have had cancer and who have used the blood donated by you to help them overcome their sickness. Please come out and show your support for Roger and others. It is the best gift you could give THE GIFT OF LIFE. Our goal is 23 pints.i would love to double that goal for Roger..Susan Baker POWER in the BLOOD

8 Communion CHURCH DUTIES FOR FEBRUARY Feb 1 Feb 8 Feb 15 Feb 22 Hostess Maidred Stroud Louise Lima Open open Maidred Stroud Maidred Stroud Joan Simpson open Owen White Owen White Zelma Davenport Flowers Reginald Stroud Open David & Sue Moody open Deacons Stephanie White Susan Baker Neal Price Ryan Taylor Wayne Barwick Sue Moody Jerry Daughety Nikki Carlyle Heather Kennedy Nic Smith Bryan Casad Betty Potter Stephanie White Diane Early Wendy Robinson Jay Robinson Linda Sutton F. David Moody Dixie Whaley Darcie Bumgarner Debbie Grimes David Grimes Jessica Jones April Modlin Elders Church Closing Schedule Faye Grady Kirby Hardy Stephanie White Ryan Taylor Wallace Johnson David S. Moody Jerry Daughety Betty Potter Acolytes Gracie Howard Nathan Carlyle Nursery Virginia Grimes Avery Taylor Darcie Bumgarner Austin Jernigan Yvonne Daughety Harper Grant Diane Early F. David Moody Jacob Howard Tammy Fordham Connie Kennedy Peggy Boone Tommy Boone Peggy Boone Tommy Boone Avery Taylor Michelle Smith Nic Smith Southwood Elementary School is having a shoe drive for the children in K-5 th grades. We need new or slightly worn shoes of all sizes for children. Please place them on the hearth in the church. CMF- CMF- next meeting next meeting is is Tuesday, Tuesday, March March 10 th 10 th at 7:00 at p.m. 7:00 p.m. Blessing Box: As we begin a New Year of blessings, let us remember to share our thankfulness by placing coins for each blessing in our blessing box. If you need a blessing box or have any questions, see Heather Kennedy.

9 Prayer Concerns 1/28/15 CHURCH FAMILY Linda Sutton Morris Rivenbark Myrtle Rose Morris Warren Tyndall Mike Carlyle Peggy Hinson Amanda Phillips Roger Moore Judy Howard Ricky Moye Murray Rouse Hillary Boutwell (NURSING HOME, ASSISTED LIVING OR HOME-BOUND) Ron Hagell (Spring Arbor) Murray & Grace Rouse (Homebound) Mary Griffith (Homebound) Vernon Kennedy (homebound) MILITARY FAMILY AND FRIENDS Alan Gaddis (Afghanistan) Jay Ruis (Afghanistan) Justin Beasley (Afghanistan) Tyler Baker (undisclosed location) Chris Smith (Afghanistan) David Keckley (Japan) SYMPATHY Family of Billy Oliver Family of Rhonda Joyner Ward Judith Zolteck Family Family of Ophelia Anderson (Melony Rasbury-Cobb s aunt) *Family of Greg Neal *Family of William Leroy Whaley. Sr. *Family of Andrew Hill *Family of Debbie Godwin FAMILY AND FRIENDS Riley Sasser Novella Bland Lorna Merritt Bert Seville Gwen Smith Glenda Clark Glyn Clark Tim Byrd Don Whaley FAMILY & FRIENDS Marilyn Whaley Mercer Frank Bussard Madison Kennedy Marvin Dunn, Sr. Jean Barefoot Rayburn Simpson Randy Martinez Angie Mitchell Family Rachel Robinson Moore Family Haywood & Barbara Edwards Ms. Perry Buford Lewis Clyde Dunham, III James Lewis Barbara Jenkins Brenda Thompson Law Enforcement Officers Elizabeth McKinney Matthew Owen First South Bank (Vernon Ave Emp) Dr. Laura Johnson Sue Rouse Joe Hunter Dawn Hunter Ora Mae Evans Jerry Howard David Herring Hilda Cox Richard Knapagard Bobby Hunter Dorothy Whaley (mother of Jon Whaley and Yvonne Daughety) Gary Hines Jewel Rider Inez Nobles Syl Mallard William Small Kelly Bluhm and family Claude Davis Colby Tucker *Layla Jarman *Joseph Rivenbark *James Rivenbark *Nathan Rivenbark *Haywood Quinn *Ruby Kennedy *Wanda Jones *Waldo Grady & Wife *Nick Kornegay *Alice Johnson *Sadie Bain

10 A Very Special Day at Southwood Memorial Christian Church Four Cousins are baptized on January 11, 2015: Nathan Carlyle, Jacob Howard, Gracie Howard and Jon Andrew Howard. We will start a New Disciples class taught by Pastor Andrew the 3 rd Sunday of every month at 3:00. It is for those who are interested in baptism or have been recently baptized. They will discuss their spiritual journey, dive into scripture, and learn about the history of the Disciples of Christ denomination. It will be geared more for ages 10-14, but others are invited to attend.

11 Southwood Memorial Christian Church 1027 Highway 58 South Kinston, NC