Couts Countdown Go WEST - Welcome, Equip, Serve, Transform September 1, 2011 Volume 5 Issue 9 Roman Holiday Sunday, September 18 5:30 p.m. Walk the streets of Rome in the shadow of the Coliseum, knowing you are walking in the sandal steps of Kings, Emperors and most important of all, steps of Christian Heroes. Worship 8:30 a.m. - Classic 11:00 a.m. - Contemporary Sunday School 9:45 a.m. Visit us on the Web www.coutsmethodistchurch.com Italian Cuisine Special evening of candle light and violin music sets the atmosphere for us to enjoy a program of power point, displaying scenes of interest portraying the Roman culture that the early Christians experienced. Sign up in the Welcome Center Cost = Donation 802 North Elm Weatherford, Texas 76086 817-599-8601 Sr. Pastor - Timothy Jarrell
Letters from Timothy Letters From Timothy We were greatly blessed to have Dr. Mary Poplin with us last month. We enjoyed wonderful stories of her time with Mother Teresa and her eye opening presentation about secular worldview being force-fed our college and university students. I hope you will listen to both her testimony and the lecture on our website if you missed either presentation. Also I commend to you the free lectures available on similar topics at www.veritas.org Again, I extend my thanks to Pastor Len for his leadership in bringing Dr. Poplin to Couts. September brings our Fall activities into full swing. Children and Youth activities begin as well as a wide offering of Bible Studies for Adults. Welcome to our newest CoutsKids, Delaney Faye Craig Born 8/14/11 8 lbs 1 oz. 19 1/2" and Zane Kenneth Vantine Born 8/23/11 6 lbs 14 oz, 18 3/4" I hope you will plan to join in one of the studies being offered this Fall! Bible study is an invaluable part of growing in your walk with Christ! I close with my favorite Mother Teresa quote, I am a small pencil in the hand of God, writing a love letter to the world. My prayer is we will each become as much... Keep the SON in your eyes! Dear Tim, I just wanted to thank you for inviting me to address your congregation and for the very generous "love offering." I was encouraged by the faithfulness of your church and their strong desire to serve the Lord. I want you to know that except for that one coughing spell in between the two morning services; the terrible cold I had was completely stopped after you all prayed for me. I so appreciated your prayers throughout the weekend. I am very grateful for having had the opportunity to meet you and see you in action (and hear you sing). The heavy and strong anointing of the Holy Spirit is evident in your presence and your love for the Lord is infectious. May God continue to bless you and Sarah and your family. May He grant you ever more strength, grace, wisdom and protection for the trials and may He continually fill you with His rivers of Living Water. In Christ Jesus! Mary Central Texas Conference Seminar for Clergy and Lay Leaders Sat., Sept. 10 9:00 am.- 2:30 pm Page 2
SEPTEMBER 2011 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 12:30 p.m. Committee on Lay Leadership 5 11 12 Special 9/11 Service Church Office Closed Ministry Teams 6 Men s Breakfast 7 am Retired Teachers Noon Meeting SPRC - 7-8:30 13 18 19 20 5:30-7:30 pm Roman Holiday 25 26 27 Chics In Action 6:30 pm 14 UMW 10 am Men s Breakfast 7 am Men s Breakfast 7 am Men s Breakfast 7 am 7 6:30 Wednesday 8 Activities 3:30 pm Kidzone 6:30 pm Finger Foods and 42 9 10 14 4:30 pm 15 16 17 Prayer Force 5:30 pm Snack Supper 21 226:30 pm 6:00 pm Praise Team Rehearsal 6:30 pm Finger Foods and 42 6:00 p.m. Youth 28 29 30 6:30 pm Bible Studies Finance Meeting 7:00 pm 23 24 Prayer Breafast 8:00 am - 11:00 Conference Event Reggie McNeil Shifting The Focus 9-2:30 Mansfield Youth Progressive Lunch Girls Night In 6:30 at Juli Greene s Page 3
Christian Men s 9 Hole Golf Scramble Thursdays in September The Thursday night event is at 5:30 pm. The cost is $25.00 for non-members of Canyon West Golf Club, and $10.00 for members. Each week we have a bonus shot from one of our area pastors before the tournament begins. The shot gun start happens at 5:30 pm with a close out of names at 5 pm and a devotional thought for the day at 5:15 pm. Teams are drawn with at least one A player on each team. Don t miss the event! You will enjoy the scripture signs on each tee box and the opportunity to meet other Christian brothers you do not know. Call the pro shop by 5 pm on Thursdays. Serving HIM Together, Rodger D. McCasland Sponsor a Student s Seat The Wesley Foundation at Weatherford College needs more seats for students! Since we ran out of room last semester, we ve had to rework our building to accommodate more students to eat and worship at our Tuesday evening worship services. Help us welcome in more students by sponsoring a seat. Each seat costs $35.00. We re hoping to purchase up to 32 new seats. Additional money raised will go to update our worship space through the purchase of a projector, screen and other items. If you or your small group would like to sponsor a seat (or two), you can send a check to the Wesley Foundation, Box 2773, Weatherford, Tx. 76087. For more information, email director Katie Meek at katie@wesleyfoundationwc.org. Many thanks!! Bible Studies for the Fall Study of the Book of Romans Butch Hott - leader Wednesdays - 6:30 pm Beginning Sept. 7th Disciple I - Old Testament Virginia Mayfield - leader Wednesdays - 6:30 pm Beginning Sept. 7th Revelations: The Vision of His Glory - Anne Graham Lotz Georgia Orr - Leader Tuesdays - 10 am (Sept. 13) Wednesdays - 6:30 pm (Sept. 14) Raising Kids Without Raising Your Blood Pressure - 3 week class Sarah Jarrell - Leader Wednesdays - 6:30 pm Beginning Sept. 7th Page 4
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" W E L O V E D Y O U S O M U C H T H A T W E S H A R E D W I T H Y O U N O T O N L Y G O D S G O O D N E W S B U T O U R O W N L I V E S, Youth News C O U T S U N I T E D M E T H O D I S T C H U R C H September 2011 I THESSALONIANS 2:8 (NLT) Musings This month we are starting with an examination of our busy lives. Why? Well, how often to we EACH take time out of our schedules for regular times with God? I d venture to guess that it is not very often. I know that I am personally guilty of spending a lot of time on temporary, insignificant things while I let my soul rot. So...I want to start this school year with each of us conquering our own busy lives and reconnecting with that which is truly important and eternal; our relationship with our creator God, our savior Christ and the Holy Spirit, our constant companion! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter and at www.couts-youth.blogspot.com Was that too dramatic? We are looking for volunteers to help lead small groups Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Through our sign-ups in the Welcome Center we ve gotten exactly zero people signed up so I will use this outlet to hopefully guilt a few people into joining us (did I just admit that?). Also, if you are being called to lead the larger group, I d LOVE to talk to you as well. Thanks/grace/peace/love, Brad HELP!!! Youth Events 09/17: Progressive Lunch 10/15: Six Flags Fright Fest Trip 10/29: Mission Trip Bake Sale BACK TO SCHOOL FOR C.C.A. 2011/2012 is C.C.A. s eighth school year and it has been an outstanding start. The elementary school, which is now K thru 6th grade, has grown to 59 students. This is an increase of 18 elementary students. The preschool has over 100 children attending. The staff is composed of 27 loving, talented, creative and high-energy angels involved in this thriving ministry of our church. New editions to C.C.A. this year include; an elementary art teacher, 5 th and 6 th grade class, an additional Kindergarten class, the construction of another classroom upstairs, (THANK YOU ANTHONY WHITFIELD!) a new website, (THANK YOU CINDY HOTT) and a mirrored wall for our dance program. We invite everyone in the church to peek-in anytime Monday thru Friday and experience the wonderful sights and sounds of C.C.A. C.C.A. Staff: Sarah Jarrell (Administrator), Katrina Nager (Administrative Assistant ), Mylissa Capp (2 s), Sara Towles (2 s), Karen Barrett (Pre K3), Krystle Delgado (Pre K3), Anessa Price (Pre K3), Gail Simko (Pre K3), Katie Spangler (PreK4), Lisa Renfrow (Pre K4), Sarah Brown (Transitional K), Tiffany Jones (K), Shani Morris (K 1 st ), Leslie Clark (1 st 2 nd ) Amber Thomas (3 rd 4 th ) Jenny Garza (5 th 6 th ) Rachel Craig (Support Teacher), Carol Real (Support Teacher), Amy McSwain (P.E.), Shelley Reyes (Creative Movement, Computer, Dance), Ginger Adams (Music), Christina Fite (Art).Diane Palencia (Spanish) Donna DeGrand (School Counselor), Kayliegh Bazzell (Teacher Assistant), Amy Roberts (Teacher Assistant), Shelia Campbell (Extended Care) C.C.A. Board - Butch Hott, Karen Salyar, Karen Mitchell, Juli Greene, and Larry Vanhoozer Page 6
WORDS OF WISDOM FROM OUR PRAYER ADVOCATE - ANDY THOMPSON I would like to offer a quotation from the American Patriot s Bible. SERVICE If your enemy is hungry, feed him. Romans 12:30. Feed the Hungry- Harry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) was a leading American clergyman, editor and abolitionist. He observed: Christianity works while infidelity talks. She feeds the hungry, clothes the naked, visits and cheers the sick, and seeks the lost, while infidelity abuses her and babbles nonsense and profanity. By their fruits ye shall know them? He also said: The Bible is God s chart for you to steer by, to keep you from the bottom of the sea, and to show you where the harbor is and how to reach it without running on the rocks or bars. It seems to me that the infidelity or unbelievers are making much head-way in our nation to counteract Christianity. Also we need to stop and contemplate whether or not we the Church are meeting our task on the positive side. Your prayer advocate, Andy Thompson From the American Patriot s Almanac On this day in 1790, President George Washington was beginning, a goodwill tour of New England. His first stop would be Newport, Rhode Island where citizens met him with booming cannons and a public dinner where dignitaries gave thirteen toasts abounding with patriotic sentiments. Moses Seixas, warden of the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, penned a letter welcoming the president to the city. Washington s response, written the next day, has become a famous pronouncement on religious freedom: The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy, a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more than toleration is spoken of as if it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights. For, happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. At Claremont professor Harry Jaffa has pointed out, this was the first time in history that any ruler addressed the Jews as equals. President Washington closed his letter with these gentle words, taken from Scripture: May the Children of the Stock or Abraham, who swell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy. Prayer Breakfast September 10, 2011 8:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. This is the 10th anniversary date of 9/11. The message for this Prayer Breakfast will be about our Nation and Israel. Please sign up in the Welcome Center to bring a breakfast food to share. The Invisible War winning the battle over temptation By Rick Warren Wednesdays September 28-November 9 Led by Sarah Jarrell Everyone is vulnerable to temptation but few know how to fight it. Within this 7 session series for small groups, Rick Warren teaches how to overcome the 3 essential kinds of temptations that Satan uses to influence us: Passion, Possession, and Position. If we expect to win the battle against temptation, it is critical that we know how to fight the predictable ways that Satan tempts us. The following topics are explored in detail: *Understanding the Sources and Purposes of Temptation *The Process of Temptation *The Three Kinds of Temptation * God s Antidotes to Temptation *The Steps to Overcoming Temptation Part 1 *The Steps to Overcoming Temptation Part 2 *How to Avoid Temptation Page 7
Go Welcome, Equip, Serve, Transform Couts Methodist Church 802 North Elm Weatherford, Texas 76086 W E RE ON T HE WEB - V I S I T US WWW. C OUTSMETHOD I S T C HURCH. C OM Prayer Concerns Our Military September Birthdays Dovie Barber Elaine Carter Christopher Carroll - Danice Mainards nephew-injured in Afghanistan Clent Collier - surgery September 9 Lenna Jo Blair Daniels Claudine Devoll Glenda Flechtner Ruby Gardenhire Jean Grant Alice Hollis Danice Mainard Roger Moore Delores Moseley - Susan May s mother Virginia Morgan Billie Murrell Arlene Padilla Nell Preston (Katrina s Grandmother) J. C. Sears Taylor Skelton Warren Stockton Vantine Family family of Leah Western Charles Williams Mary Wood Kelly Brown, Billy Burris, Matt Couch, Warren Crouch, Michael Gillium, Jeff Johnson, Cory Jones Blake Hubbard, Mike Hebert, Joey Larance, Kali Yarnell Lussier Kelby Mays, (deployed) Jason Nazarenko, Gary Neal, Matthew Ross, Eric Skinner, Doug Yarnell, Thomas Welborn, Cody Williams, Craig Wolfenberger September 6 Leslie Clark September 7 Karen Massey Mike Barber Conner McSwain September 9 Dillon Layman Melissa Morgan September 10 Beulah Clark September 15 Mikela Moss Ukena Karen Mitchell September 16 Cooper Massey September 18 Naomi Stewart September 20 Raegan Madoerin David Stevens Happy September 21 Donny Petersen September 22 Chelsea Garrett Rutledge Jim Devoll September 25 Don Laughlin September 27 Maurice Oakes Larry Vanhoozer September 28 Kelby Mays September 30 Katrina Nager Birthday to Stella Moyer Who turned 97 on August 20th