NEWS FROM HAYS HILLS Defeating Darkness; Releasing Captives Prayer Time 8:45AM (Bldg. D Resource Center Hallway) Worship 9:15 & 10:45 AM Bible Study 9:15 & 10:45 AM May 28, 2014 312-1433 295-3132 www.hayshills.com
Sympathy Our Christian sympathy is extended to Judy Garner in the loss of her dad. Also to Talina Plant in the loss of her grandfather. Our Christian sympathy to James Reynolds in the loss of his brother in law, Ray Caldwell. Our Christian sympathy to David Grizzle in the loss of his mother. Congratulations To Michael and Sarah Castillo on the dedication of their daughter, Lucinda Faith Castillo. Moms! Are you longing for a community of women, in your own neighborhood, who meets together to laugh, cry and embrace this journey of motherhood? MOPS and MomsNEXT groups are rallying women to be more honest, to feel more equipped and to find our identity by journeying alongside one another. MOPS stands for Mother of Preschoolers, and by preschoolers we mean kiddos from birth through kindergarten. MomsNEXT is for mothers of the next stage - school-aged children! We are moms, and we believe that better moms make a better world. Register now for 2014-2015 MOPS and MomsNEXT at Hays Hills. http://www.hayshills.com/form.php?pageid=79 TONIGHT Wednesday, May 28 Regular Wednesday Evening Activities 5:15-6:30 PM All-Church Meal: Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Becky s Soup, Chips, Salad & Dessert* ($3.50- Adults/Teens, $2.50- ages 3-13, $12 Family) 6:15-6:40 PM Children s Choirs* 6:45-8:05 PM AWANA s*, Celebration Choir rehearsal, Men s Bible Study, Women s Bible Study, Rite of Passage 6:45-7:30 PM Junior High Bible Study 7:00 PM Wednesday Night Live- Adult Bible Study/Discussion in BLDG. E 7:30-8:00 PM Youth Worship 8:00-8:30 PM Senior High Bible Study *Last Wednesday for Church Meal, Children s Choirs and AWANA
From Aaron Children s Ministry 4 th & 5 th Grade Bible Life Our 4 th & 5 th Grade Bible Life Class is looking for a teacher. The class meets at 9:15am on Sunday mornings and uses the Gospel Story for Kids curriculum. If you would be interested in investing a portion of your Sunday mornings in the eternal good of these children, I d love to visit with you. You can reach me at the church office (512) 295-3132 ext. 35 or via email: aaron@hayshills.com. Summer Bible Sleuths With summer comes a break for AWANA but we don t want to lose the momentum we ve built with our children. On Wednesday evenings we will be starting Summer Bible Sleuths designed to equip children with knowledge of the basics of the Christian faith. In order to give our AWANA volunteers a time to recharge their batteries over the summer we re asking our Adult BLGs to sign-up to serve one or more weeks during the summer. Your class would be responsible for the following: 1) Being present at Summer Bible Sleuths the week you sign up between 6:35-8:10pm 2) Providing adults who would lead the small group discussion time (3 people minimum) 3) Providing a snack of your choice for the children (ice cream, popcorn, fruit, etc.) Beyond those items your class can be as involved as they would like to be. June 11th Airplane Accuracy June 25 th The Roman Road July 2 nd Toothpick Tower July 9 th Rain Gutter Races July 16 th Clothespin Ninja July 23 rd Can You Build It? Young Marrieds July 30 th Can You Solve It? August 6 th Lemonade Night August 13 th Star Wars If your class would like to commit to serving one or more of the above weeks please let me know. I look forward to getting to know many of the adults of our congregation better as we serve together over the course of the summer. From Pastor David Pray for your elders as we look over all of the survey responses and the business meeting comments regarding the third service, and recommend a course for our church. One response we got said Nothing ventured, nothing gained. That s not a Bible verse but it is a bit of wisdom. In 1 Samuel 14 Jonathan told his armor-bearer something similar: Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will work for us. For nothing restrains the Lord from saving by many or by few. So his armorbearer said to him, Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart. In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul wrote: I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Is the gospel worth some risk on your part? Have you considered what a high privilege and responsibility it is to bear the gospel? To bear the Spirit of God?
The elders believe that Christians can perceive Christ s voice in life (John 10:27), but we don t claim perfect perception. We attempt to perceive His will through His word and by His Spirit. Also, through the Church and through circumstances, we may also perceive the will of God. But I think there is often a struggle, and in that struggle to perceive, God speaks as He works on our faith and character. In other words, God s will is not a secret to be revealed, but rather a plan which we may or may not be ready to understand. God doesn t need to prepare His will to be perceived, but we need to be prepared in order to perceive. So pray. A special-called business meeting to discuss the third service proposal and changes to the Sunday morning schedule, is set for Sunday, June 22 at 6 PM, with a vote of the church set for Sunday, June 29. These dates are set, but the details are still being worked on based on survey responses we received. Thanks for your churchmanship! From Sean Youth News THIS SUNDAY Colorado Mountain Trip SHORT - MEETING Immediately following 2nd service in the Youth room, Bldg D - upstairs -------------------------------------------------------------- Payments are due for Youth summer trips! Contact Emily in the office for an account update: emily@hayshills.com Or 512-295-3132 ext. 22
Colorado Trip COMPASS WILDERNESS June 22 nd -June 28 th Student Life URBAN SERVE July 7 th -11 th From Mitzi Christian Learning Center We are slowly wrapping up our school year at CLC! We will be celebrating our Pre-K students with a very special graduation ceremony tomorrow! Every graduating student will receive their own copy of the Bible we use each day in chapel. Our Pre-K children attend chapel each day and start off the chapel time with pledges to the Bible, Christian flag, and American flag. The children have memorized these pledges and always stand very tall and proud when reciting the pledges. They are ready for Kindergarten!! We also celebrated with a grand re-opening of Building C! The Pre-K children were so excited to be back in their classrooms! The last day of school for the Christian Learning Center will be Tuesday, June 3! Many blessings! The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
From Tim Greetings from the Worship and Music Ministry! I missed seeing you all last week but thank you for the opportunity to get away for a much-needed long weekend. We took little Holden on his first road trip to meet his great grandparents for the first time. Thank you Ken and Craig for leading in my absence. This Sunday, the Celebration Choir, the Symphonic Band and the Praise Band will join together to present a great song called Victor s Crown which we did not have time to do at Easter. I hope you will be blessed and inspired to worship the Lord with us. Children s Choirs last night before their summer break is tonight. They will resume in late August. A BIG thank you goes to Jessica Moore and Patty Straub as well as their faithful helpers for doing a wonderful job with our children this year. Thank you all for helping our kids learn more about worshipping our Lord through music. Hey Church! I need your help. We are putting together a Community Choir to sing with the Wimberley Starlight Symphony on Friday, July 4 th at the PAC for the fireworks presentation. We need all the extra singing voices we can get to help us sing The Battle Hymn of the Republic. Please respond to me by email, text, or phone if you are available to sing. We really do need your help. My cell # is 512-845-3259 or email tim@hayshills.com We must recruit some additional sound techs. I have been trying to recruit someone since January and no one has volunteered. Please volunteer to help in this ministry if you have an ear for mixing sound. We will train you on running the sound equipment! Please contact me. From Jon Discipleship and Adult Education An Update on Gracie Since my last news article 2 weeks ago I have had numerous people come up to me and ask How s Gracie doing? So here s the latest update and also the lesson God is teaching us through our beloved puppy. On Wednesday May 14 th I took Gracie back to Cornerstone animal hospital to have the sling removed and to check on her hip. Our prayer was that the hip would remain in the socket and all would be OK. Reluctantly, Gracie allow us to take her into the back room, they put her on the table, removed the sling, and took some new X-rays. I waited patiently (that s a laugh) in the waiting room, praying that she would be all right. Then Dr. Burke came in and I could tell by the look on his face that she wasn t. Now you have to understand that Dr. Burke has been her vet since she was a pup, nine years ago, and I
believe he loves her almost as much as we do. He stood there, shaking his head, and told me that the minute they took the sling off, her hip popped out of the socket again. This was bad, very bad news. Dr. Burke explained to me that if we left her as she is, she would be in constant pain and would always have difficulty walking. He also told me that a hip replacement for her would cost thousands of dollars, over $10,000. I sat there listening to him and with tears in my eyes, contemplating the very difficult decision I would have to make. I m not sure I was capable of making that decision. Then I heard the most beautiful word in the English language. Dr. Burke said However. I will return to my story shortly, but for now I want you to spend a moment thinking about that one word and the hope that it brings with it when applied to our lives. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death (eternal separation from God). However (but) the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ His Son. I lost my son in a motorcycle accident a few years ago, however, I know he is a Christian and I will join him again in heaven. Isn t that a wonderful word, However. Regardless or the trials and tribulations you may face, I honestly believe that God will always follow them up with a However. And then Dr. Burke said however. I immediately looked up, he had my full attention. There is a procedure he continued that has been used on smaller dogs for quite a while and is now being used on larger dogs. He went on to explain that they are able to remove the hip ball that goes into the socket and allow the hip to basically hang there, unattached to anything. He explained that the dogs, after healing from the surgery, may feel a little discomfort but very little pain and that they normally retain 70 to 80% movement. After giving this considerable amount of thought (2-5 seconds) I asked when can you perform the surgery. The surgery took place the next morning (2 weeks ago) and I am amazed at the progress Gracie is making. At first she had some problems, she would try to walk and her leg would not cooperate. It was a little humorous to watch her take a step and then look back at her leg as if to say what in the world are you doing? She would have a real puzzled look on her face. It will be 2 weeks tomorrow since her surgery and already she is going up and down the stairs without any problems. She has taken what life has thrown at her and adapted to it. No whining, no complaints, no feeling sorry for herself. It is no wonder that God calls us sheep, at times we do not even have the intelligence of this precious dog. So, our lesson for today is always look for the however when going through difficult times, and learn to adapt to the curve balls that are thrown at us. From Ken Administration Special Missions projects Notes: Have you joined a REACH OUT Team? We need you. I challenge you to step out in faith and see what God can do through your availability. REACH OUT Prison Ministry Team: God moved in a special way April 5 in the High Security Gatesville prison. Over 200 accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior! There were a total of 409 commitments of some type for Christ! Tom Kiyuna, Curtis Hopkins, Tony Longoria, Ed Lee and I were blessed to be a part of this effort for our Lord. We have a youth prison event in San Marcos coming soon June 7 9am noon. Let me know if you want to help! The next Bill Glass prison ministry is in San Antonio June 28. The deadline to sign up is June 4. REACH OUT Card Ministry Team: Has completed and distributed cards to almost 300 families of CLC, MOP s, Legend Oaks Nursing home and Awanas! That is an amazing impact over only a 3 month period!. Come join this team! They meet the 2 nd Monday of each month at 7pm. Come and join us! Thank you to Tish Hallmark who is the team leader and all those who have helped on this important team! REACH OUT Helping the Elderly Team: This team has made 8 visits to the West Oaks Rehab and Healthcare Center. We are averaging about 30 residents. Some family members are also coming to join in. Come join us! They are excited about our coming to REACH OUT to the elderly there every Monday night! We are averaging 12 volunteers per night! Thank you to Dolly Dietz for her team leadership every week! We also hope to bolster our participation at the Legend Oaks Nursing Home where some of our folks have been faithfully serving for several years. Thanks to Talina Plant for her faithful service. Can you help on Thursday evenings at Legend Oaks?
REACH OUT Helping with Baby Showers Team: This team was ready to host the first baby shower for Anna Vasquez ( 16 years old). We had an unexpected change in plans due to the fact that Anna went into labor early. Praise the Lord she has a healthy baby! The shower was held Thursday, May 22 6:30pm Fellowship Hall, Bldg D. Her family has been awed by the fact that we will help. God is moving through this team. This team is led by Barbara Kay and Katy Kimple. Are you willing to help impact the lives of single unwed mothers and their unborn child? If so, come and join this team. We will be partnering with Central Texas Life Care and South Austin Pregnancy Resource Center for additional help and training for these young mothers. REACH OUT Wash Cars Team: This team has kicked off and is ready to wash vehicles for the glory of our Lord! We need more folks on this team as we wow our community with random acts of kindness. We hope this will open the door to sharing the gospel and showing them faith in action. We will have some exciting leave behind info for them including a water bottle with the source of Living Water! If you are interested in helping with this team, please let me know. Thank you to Linda Chandler for agreeing to lead this team. REACH OUT Sharing an Evangelistic Video Team: 21 families received copies of the powerful Billy Graham Video and agreed to share this with their family and friends. Imagine your neighbors coming to know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior in your living room! It does not get any better than that. If you share the video with others, you are on this team! We have more copies ready for you this Sunday. We are focusing on showing the video during the month of May. Thank you John and Ruth Hansen for leading this effort! Other REACH OUT Teams will swing into action after this. Are you excited yet! I can see God moving in the lives of our people. Don t be left out. Come join us and expect God to move as we step out in faith! Building and Grounds notes: We need help with some of the gardens around our church. Please let me know if you would be willing to help! It could be a great family or class project! The parking lot work has been completed except for the final punch list. We are so thankful for the rain, but it has delayed the final paving of our lot. Thank you for your patience. A special thanks to Marty Vannatter who is working closely with the contractor and Compliance resources folks to ensure that all is completed according to plan. The entire site team has put in a lot of time on this project. Be sure and thank them for their dedication and help. The new LED sign will be installed on Friday May 30. I will learn how to program it the following week. I think you will be very pleased with the messages that we can display to the large number of vehicles traveling on 1626. Building C was flooded, but is back in operation effective last Wednesday. A special thanks to Mitzi, Marcy and Mary Jane as leaders of CLC and their amazing teachers who have not complained about the major displacement of the children. Truly God s Holy Spirit has been at work. Eric Patterson helped relocate all of the computers so they could remain in business. Don Jordan has been a great help in getting the sheetrock repaired and major items moved in preparation for the flooring work. Roy Fuller has truly been a workhorse to accomplish so many maintenance / repair tasks behind the scenesi am blessed to have so many wonderful people to work with. If you have any questions, or if I can be of further assistance, please let me know. May all we do Glorify Him!! June 1 June 2 LOOK WHAT S COMING UP! DATE TIME EVENT 9:00 AM 12:15 PM 3:00 PM Juvenile Prison Ministry in San Marcos Youth Parent s Meeting on Colorado Trip Hays HS Senior Bacc. Service Letters from Dad June 4 Evening NO CHILDREN S ACTIVITIES June 7 8:00 AM New Members Class June 8 Morning 12:30 PM 6:00 PM Lord s Supper Observed Kids Camp Teen Orientation (for new workers) Church Wide Ice Cream Fellowship June 11 6:45 PM Start Up of Summer Bible Club for Kids June 15 Morning Father s Day Recognition June 16-20 Heroes Camp June 22 6:00 PM Special Called Business Meeting June 22-28 June 29 Morning 3:00 PM 6:00 PM 7:00 PM Youth Colorado Trip Vote Tentatively Scheduled on 3 rd Service Outdoor Baptism at Blanco River Concert of Prayer Deacon s Meeting
July 7-11 August 7 August 8-10 Student Life Camp New 7 th Graders Retreat RA s/ga s/missions Camp August 17 Morning Rite of Passage Ministry Sunday August 20 6:45 PM Meeting for Parents of New 6 th Graders (upstairs) September 27 Men s Outdoor Sports Dinner with Jay Lowder October 31 6:00 PM Trunk or Treat Carnival Budget & Finance Report Ministry Budget Giving: May (so far): $ 59,369.51 2014 (so far): $ 338,082.99 ($81,000.00 needed for general budget each month) Designated Giving: May (so far): $ 29,184.20 2014 (so far) $ 154,114.87 Sermon Audio CD s & DVD s Available! Sermon CD s are available fill out the pink envelope and form and request either a CD or DVD, and leave for Kelton Reynolds. The forms are in the foyer. Resource Center at Hays Hills be sure to check out our Resource Center in the east hallway of Building D for free magazines, brochures, etc. ALSO, go by this area each Sunday that new folks join, to meet them. Thanks! Flowers If you would like to place flowers in the worship center on a Sunday morning in honor or memory of someone or an anniversary, please contact Sarah in the church office at 512-295-3132 Ext. 21 Sandra Snowden oversees these arrangements, so contact her for any special requests.