Westland United Methodist Church 08/01/2014 Volume 1, Issue 3 Westland UMC Monthly News Gideon and the Chosen Ones We are created to give ourselves away. We give life every time we serve, give and show compassion in Jesus s name. Jesus is all about loving others with everything you have, in every moment, in proclamation of the eternal life He offers. He said: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18). Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them (Luke 7:22). But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind (Luke 14:13). I am always trying to learn from what Jesus means to fully love others and give of myself. I pray each day that He will teach me to be a better follower and live by everything He has said in His Word but also that I would empathize with those around me. So what does that look like to us? I know that at our church we need to give ourselves away in service to the community and to our church. Giving life can be simply giving time to pray, giving time to serve in a school, giving time to help with kids or students in church, giving of our financial resources and I mean the list could go on and on. We are created to worship God in all things and then in that we give our life as an act of love and service to HIM. What I love is that there is a lot of momentum in the church. The Spirit of God is moving and we are seeing great things happen in the lives of people and in the church itself. I think there is a hope, that started with people praying for direction and guidance that is now beginning to come to the surface. Hope is about believing what is Yet to Be. I fully believe things are coming and have yet to come but I also know that we have a hope in Jesus that we enable it to happen. This is our time to shout and profess the time of our Lord and a time to profess out loud that we want this change to happen in us and in our church. Like in the story of Gideon, it is our time to shout and blow our trumpets. Watch me, he told them. Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, For the Lord and for Gideon. Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, A sword for the Lord and for Gideon! While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled. (Judges 7:17-21) I am going to encourage you to stand with me and shout out loud and blow your trumpet against the injustice around us but also to profess the name of Jesus with passion. We are in a season where God is looking for warriors and my question is are you ready to be one of them? Are you going to be one of the water lapping chosen warriors or one of the ones that just goes home and not see what God is doing? (Read Judges 7:4-8 to understand this) The choice is yours In Service with You, Pastor Sean 1
Wednesday Night GROW starts back on AUGUST 6th We will have a kick off celebration with grilled out hamburgers and hotdogs. Plus we will have inflatables for the kids. It will be a great way to kick off our fall programming here at WESTLAND. Hope to see you there. Dinner at 5:30; Music Ministry starts at 6:15pm Regular Programming stars on August 13th @ 5:30pm 2
. AUGUST 3 rd @Westland UMC We are having a backpack drive for Byers Dowdy. We are going to try to provide as many new or slightly used backpacks to the school. Please bring them this Sunday and place them on the alter stairs for the Blessing of the Backpacks. August is Spaghetti and Spaghetti Sauce Month As you go shopping grab a couple extra so that we can serve the families in need around Westland. 3
Student Ministry Hope you've had a great summer! With school starting back so soon, we are also starting back with our normal activities. Here is the line-up for August: Sunday, August 3 will be the "blessing of the backpacks" in both services, so encourage your student to bring a backpack for us to pray over! GROW starts back on Wednesday nights Aug 6 at 5:30. This will be a fun kick-off night with grilling out and inflatables. Please come out that night and bring your parents. We will be signing consent forms for the year. Small groups will start the following week (the 13th). Youth group starts back on Sunday nights Aug. 10 from 6-7:30. But on the 17th, we will go to the Wilson County Fair that afternoon (more details on timing later) and on the 24th, we will have our Faith Friend Night from 5:30 till 7. Let me know if you have any questions! I'm praying for your student! In Christ, Mandy T-shirts are in and need to be paid and picked up? We do a few extras if anyone would like to purchase one, in limited sizes. Thanks, Angie Blackwell UMW Minutes July 8, 2014 UMW met on July 8 in the CLC with 9 members present. Maureen opened the meeting with prayer and Debbie Bowers served delicious refreshments. Maureen shared an article from the current issue of Response magazine. Ramona spoke about attending Assembly 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky in April. Kay Cassetty presented the program Calling to Practice Hospitality in Welcoming All Women. Treasurers Report: Debbie presented the report. We have $519 in the joint account and $53 in the pledge account. Discussion was held about contributing to the children s program and the renovation of the Sunday school rooms. A motion was made to donate $50 to help pay for the renovations. We also discussed having a fund raiser in Sept. The suggestion was made to have an Ice Cream Social. Maureen will check on an available date. New Business: Ramona asked if UMW would like to help, in conjunction with the music ministry, with the purchase and preparation of one of the meals for VBS. After discussion we decided to help with a meal. Old Business: Maureen brought up a previous discussion of having a kitchen shower for items for the kitchen in the CLC. We decided that as we work in the kitchen in the next few days during VBS we will check to see which items might be needed. The next meeting will be August 12 at 6:00 in the CLC. Maureen Grun has the program and Teresa Reed is the hostess. Respectfully submitted, Ramona Wright 4
Wednesday Night SLAM children s ministry kicks off Wednesday August 6th at 5:30pm with dinner and inflatables. Going to be a time of fellowship and fun!!! Vision and Ministry Worship Matters A Westland Newsletter Highlight on Music Ministry Matthew Grauberger What is worship? Beginning now in August through the end of the year I have the opportunity through Westland s Monthly Newsletter to cast vision over the nature of worship and what worship actually means. The word worship is actually used very little in the Bible, yet despite this it has become a buzzword in the modern day church. This is the result of the word worship taking on a definition that is exclusive to our modern day church culture. This definition involves worship and music becoming one in the same. Often when we say the word 'worship', we actually mean the 'music' within the context of the church or a gathering. After gatherings congregation members will approach the worship leader who is actually a song or music leader and say that the worship was great this morning. As we dive into what worship actually is we have to distinguish between what worship is and what music is. Music can be independent of worship. However, in the fabric of our lives and in the liturgy of our gatherings, music plays an incredibly important role in our worship. In our gatherings this month, may we recognize that worship is so much greater than singing a song, and that it actually penetrates every part of our lives. Coming to this realization will make our corporate worship through the act of singing songs together so much more genuine, God glorifying, and meaningful. People Make Music The ministry of music does not happen without people. Music does not exist on a page, but has life by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in us, and for music to be an effective tool for ministry, we need musicians. If you have any interest in serving the church on the Praise Team, in the Chancel Choir, Handbell Choir, Children s Choir, or by working with audio and visual media, do not hesitate to contact me at matt@westlandumc.org or at 757-848-8496. United Methodist Men August 10 at 7am in the CLC Upcoming Information Praise Team rehearsals will continue to meet on Wednesday nights at 6:15 PM in the Sanctuary. Chancel Choir will begin Wednesday, August 6 at 7:30 PM in the Choir Room. If you sing at all come out and join us! We look forward to having all of Westland s singers participate in a great season of choral music and worship leading. For those interested in participating in the Handbell Choir, please inform me of your interest and contact information. During the month of August I will be contacting you all about when would be the best time for us to rehearse. By the end of August the Handbell Choir will be rehearsing and will begin to assist in leading the congregation in musical worship once again. 5
SPECIAL EVENTS 6 Wednesday Night Grow re-starts @ 5:15 10 Westland Men s Club Breakfast (7:00 AM) 11 UMW Meeting (6:30 PM CLC) 12 SPRC meeting @ 6 PM (Yahoo Classroom) August Anniversaries 2 Sean and Robin Stanfield 4 Brent and Charlcie Finley 14 David and Dean Burnley 14 Tracy and Susan Hankins 15 Randal and Robbi Grigsby 18 Jeremy and Julie Stafford 25 David and Carol Greer 26 Chris and Emily Smith August Birthdays 2 Jackson Bostick 20 Barbara Johnson 2 John Grigsby 22 Patrick Reed 2 Alison Grigsby 24 Matthew Smallwood 3 Frazier Bostick 25 Marsha Reed 5 Joey Gourley 26 Gayla Comb 6 Lucille Reed 26 Sean Stanfield 8 Julie Stafford 26 Jonathan Strickland 9 Philip King 30 Michelle Bobo 12 Zack Greer 30 Susan Gregory 12 Jim Grun 31 Marsha Powell 13 Stephanie smith 13 Sue Woehler 15 Meachum Evins 16 Annah Rich 17 Becky Working Weekly Events Sunday 8:30 AM Praise Service 9:30 AM Sunday school 9:15 AM Fellowship time 10:30 AM Worship Service 6:00 PM UMYF in Youth Room Monday 10:00 AM Prayer Time. 11:00 AM Staff Meeting 6:00 PM Young Adult Bible Study at the Rogers Home Tuesday 10:00 AM Bible Study Wednesday, August 6 1:00 PM Evergreen Quilters 5:30 PM Fellowship Dinner 6:15 PM Small Groups 6:15 PM Praise Service Practice 7:30 PM Choir Practice; Thursday 7:30 AM Retired Men s breakfast 6
Everyone needs groceries, so why not let a percentage of that grocery bill benefit Westland s UMYF? Let 4% of your Kroger grocery and pharmacy bill benefit our youth group. We receive 4% of all items purchased with the Kroger Gift Card. Here's how it works. It s simple: Purchase a $25 Kroger reusable gift card from the youth group. Then when you go to Kroger, add more money and use this card when you check out. You will have the satisfaction that you are helping Westland s UMYF every time you reload your card. The serial number on your card is linked to Westland s account at Kroger. To support our youth on an ongoing basis, add money to your card (reload your card) and then use your card each time you buy groceries at Kroger. The Kroger Gift Card is a debit card and can be used at any Kroger store and Kroger Pharmacy in the country. It can also be used to pay for gasoline at Kroger. You can add money to your card at the Customer Service Desk at Kroger or you can ask the cashier to reload your card BEFORE you check out with groceries. You can reload by paying with cash, debit card or credit card. Your remaining balance on the Gift Card will be printed on your receipt. Every month, Kroger reviews our account and sends either a statement or a check for 4% of the money that has been reloaded onto the cards. Every time our supporters collectively spend $5,000, Kroger sends Westland a check. The Numbers If 10 families spend approx. $100 a week or $500/month = $5,000 $5,000 x 4% = $200 to Westland per month $200 x 12 months = $2,400/year The nice thing is, it did not cost you one penny. Kroger pays this out of their proceeds. You spend no more than you are already spending for food and other items. This is an excellent opportunity to raise money with no extra cost involved to the church or you. Thank you for your support! We will keep you posted on how much we are earning with this program. Any questions? Contact Mandy Rogers 7
Westland UMC We exist to Love Up, Love In and Love Out. Luke 10:27 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind ; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. Inspire adults and children on their spiritual journeys through engaging, spiritual and applicable teaching and worship. (Love Up) Share life together through small groups and serving opportunities. (Love In) Giving ourselves away through mission in our neighborhood and around the world. (Love Out) Stewardship Report Giving for July 6 thru July 27, 2014 (4 weeks) Budget for 2014: $ 198,714.00 General Fund Received : $ 14,224.26 Amount needed: $ 15,286.00 Missed Budget by: ($ 1061.74) Capital Improvements $ 890.00 Benevolence Account $ 74.00 Total Apportionments $ 36,378.00 Apportionments paid $ 13,000.00 Balance Due $ 23,378.00 Remember the church on your will. Leave a Legacy! Please help us make our apportionment payments. Give a little extra so that we are good stewards to the Methodist church. Westland UMC 110 Dawson Lane Lebanon, TN 37087 PLEASE PLACE STAMP HERE Phone: 615-444-0776 Prayer: 615-444-0529 Fax: 615-444-0776 E-mail: billw@westlandumc.org YOUR LOGO HERE