The Messenger NON-PROFIT ORG. First United Methodist Church 421 North Spruce P.O. Box 916 Ogallala, Nebraska 69153 First United Methodist Church U.S. POSTAGE PAID OGALLALA, NEBRASKA The Messenger Permit No. 74 Return Service Requested Ogallala, Nebraska 69153 www.methodistchurchogallala.com Sunday, FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH February 11, Ministry Team Ministers The Worshiping Congregation Pastor Chuck Rager Our Vision: To be a dynamic church, sharing and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ Our Mission: To love God, love each other and extend that love beyond our church Christian Education Director Renee Meyer Administrative Secretary LaVerne Schimpf District Superintendent Cindy Karges JUST FOR FUN! ogallalaumcnews@gmail.com Newsletter Editor Karen Nenstiel Newsletter: ogallalaumcpastor@gmail.com ogallalaumceducation@gmail.com Renee: Pastor Chuck: ogallalaumc@gmail.com Church Office: E-mail addresses Parsonage: (308)284-0137 69153 Ogallala, NE Phone: (308)284-8455 or (308)284-8456 421 North Spruce Street P.O. Box 916 FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH Custodian Ginny Volberding Bishop of Great Plains Conference Ruben Saenz, Jr. IN THIS ISSUE Pastor s Page 2 Did You Know.? 3 Meetings This Month 3 United Methodist Women 4 The Last Supper Pageant 5 An Activity Page 6 Young People s Activities 7 Solid Rock Youth Group 8 Missions Outreach News 9 Spring FunFest Plans 10 Stewards for March 11 photos by Jeff Peterson
P a ge 2 M a r c h, 20 18 Th s esnsge e rn ge r T heememse Page 11 P a ge 11 S T E WA R D S F O R M A R C H, 2 0 1 8 Third Sunday in Lent Mar. 4 Mar. 18 Greeters Jim & Dorothy Glenn, Buck & Judy Markussen Ginny & Rod Volberding -Amaris Cobaugh, Jamie Biel Penny Benda Group 2: Steve Shull, Burrell Albee, Terry Johnson, Jerry Speck, Richard Johnson, Lou Hoak Mar. 25 Greeters Roger & Judi Adkins, Barbara Draucker Emma Dickinson (Potato Bar see page 7) Ella Dam, Jasmine Biel Carmen Troxel Group 3: Dennis & Teresa Davis, John & Sharon York, Todd & Kim Peterson, Wendell & Ramona Upright Apr. 1 Greeters Dennis & Teresa Davis, Lyle & Barbara Nootz Happy Easter Ethan Dickinson, Jarrett Bassett Pastor Chuck Rager Group 4: Roger Rankin, Pete Peterson, Phil Armstrong, Ken Meyer Greeters Brian & Claudia Stevenson, Cena Graves Ted & Jean Slagle Andrea Bassett, Abigayle Bassett Bea Hatch Group 15: Jim Glenn, Mike Samuelson, Gerold Radcliffe, Todd Benda, Shawn Haney is coming! Easter is coming! Easter is a BIG day for us who believe in Jesus and seek to follow Him. It is a day where we most joyously celebrate His Resurrection from the dead and remember our own offer of new life once this mortal body dies. Easter is one of the biggest days of our Christian faith and a day where more people than normal attend church at the same time. My own observation, and the observation of other pastors I visit with, is that attendance at Easter is greater than a typical Sunday, but a clear and distant second to attendance at Christmas Eve. I have some thoughts of my own as to why that is, but I invite you to ponder it as well. The torch primarily At the same time, I hope you and yours will be with us in worship on represents the Passion Easter Sunday, April 1. We will have two services that day: an early serof Christ, perhaps vice at 7:00 A.M. and our regular service at 9:00 A.M. There is no 11:15 because he was service that day. arrested and tried during the night, when the Temple guard would See you Sunday, have used torches for light. The torch also can symbolize spiritual enlightenment, or martyrdom for the sake of the gospel. Pastor Chuck Fifth Sunday in Lent Fourth Sunday in Lent Ted & Jean Slagle, Ken & Edna Meyer Roger & Shirley Rankin Emma Spiehs, Tylie Walker Ginny Steinke Group 1: Jeff Peterson, Lonnie Peters, Craig Draucker, John Stulich, Jim Persinger Palm Sunday Easter Herb & Karen Knudsen Arlene & Kim Dahlgrin Abigayle Bassett, Sawyer Smith Jonnie Peterson Group 10: Cena Graves, Dave Sheldon, Todd Neill, Dave Baltzell, Ron & Sharen Terry Mar. 11 Greeters Easter Sunday Christian Symbols Torch Greeters Apr. 8 If you would like to have your name added to the rosters for any of the service opportunities listed above, please contact the church office.
Page 10 March, T he M e s se ng e r P a ge 3 $2136.92 to fix a damaged sensor not covered by maintenance agreement. Let s Get Ready for Spring FunFest Again! Fun Fest will be here before you know it! Saturday, April 28, the First United Methodist Church will be holding a huge Garage Sale, an amazing Bake Sale, a thriving Plant Sale, a Country Store filled with homemade candy, jelly, honey and lots of other goodies as well as a Silent Auction. Hess Lounge if you are interested in helping with breakfast, the garage sale, the bake sale, or the country store. We will start the morning with an all you can eat Waffleman Breakfast of waffles served with butter, fresh whipped cream, and six syrups plus pork sausage links as well as coffee and juice. The Event will be held at the Keith County Fairgrounds. You may contact Dennis or Teresa Davis they will be coordinating the Breakfast Volunteers, Jo Teaford, Shirlee Knispel, Dorothy Glenn, Judy Cross, or Judi Adkins would be the contacts for the Silent Auction, Barb and Lyle Nootz or Shirley and Roger Rankin for the Bake Sale, Jean Slagle or Bonnie Taylor for the County Store, Mona Radcliffe or Ramona Upright for the Plant Sale, and Nancy Drake for the Garage Sale. And we need your help. Last year Fun Fest used the profits to tithe to the general Church fund, provide additional support to Christian Education, add money to the Boiler Fund, purchase a new roof for the Parsonage and Garage, and buy new Church entrance doors and a new door to the bell choir room with crash bars and add a crash bar to the door across from the bell choir room. We have reserved the building at the Keith County Fairgrounds for April 26 and 27 for the purpose of accepting donations for the Garage Sale. As we do not have storage space, donations may be dropped off at the Fairgrounds from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm either of those two days. Please keep in mind that we cannot accept old television sets, old computers, any old electronic equipment, or any old mattresses. All donations must be in clean, usable condition. There will be sign-up sheets in We had an Elevator Maintenance Agreement fee in February from O Keefe for $250.00 We had the Annual State Inspection fee of $769.50 in March. We had the second installment of the maintenance agreement in August for $250.00. That is a total for 2017 of $3,406.42. About nine years ago Ogallala U.M.C. installed the elevator. It is a tremendous asset for us to have. It certainly puts in motion (pun intended) our church Mission Statement: To love God, love each other and extend that love beyond our church. It is a gesture of care and love embraced by every person that uses the elevator. However, the cost of owning The elevator did not stop with the installation expenses. There are repairs, maintenance, licenses and inspections that cost money. Did you know? In 2017: We had a repair bill from FunFest Plant Sale O Keefe elevator in January Many people look forward to the Fun Fest plant sale, donated houseplants, garden art, flower pots, perennials, bulbs, garden tools, etc. make this a successful sale. Each donated item is so appreciated! If you have questions or have house plants that need some tender loving care now call Mona Radcliffe at 284-4555 or Ramona Upright at 284-4715. Hope to hear from you! Special Days This Month I might add that there is also a Five Year Inspection in addition to the Annual Inspection. We had the Five Year Inspection done in January 2016, and the cost of that was $1,890.00. This is State mandated and does not replace the annual inspections. We must have the inspections done to keep the elevator properly licensed by the State. We need to have the license current for our insurance to cover the elevator. It is good that we have the elevator. It truly helps us fulfill our Mission Statement. It also costs money to keep it operational. Rev. Chuck Rager of World Day of Prayer, March 2, Third Sunday in Lent, March 4, Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 11, Daylight-Saving Time begins, March 11, Fifth Sunday in Lent, March 18, First day of spring, March 20, Palm/Passion Sunday, March 25, Holy Week, March 25-31, Maundy Thursday, March 29, Good Friday, March 30, Meetings This Month Finance Committee on Thursday, March 1, 5:00 p.m. Board of Trustees on Wednesday, March 7, 7:00 p.m. FunFest Committee on Monday, March 12, 6:00 p.m. Administrative Council on Wednesday, March 21, 7:00 p.m. 2:00 A.M. Sunday, March 11, Set your clocks ahead one hour
Page 4 March, The Messenger Page 9 M i s s i o n s O u t r e a c h C h u r c h C a m p N e w s United Methodist Women March meetings UMW General Thursday, March 8 12:00 noon Hall Circle 1 Thursday, March 22 9:00 a.m. (Lawler) Circle 3 Thursday, March 15 2:00 pm Hess Lounge Circle 5 Monday, March 19 6:00 pm Hess Lounge The Ogallala United Methodist Women give a monetary donation to Epworth Village at York, Nebraska, every year in December to help with their many services. The name has been changed to Little Jewels Child Care and Enrichment Center. Funds are still needed to carry out their mission, and we will continue to support them. In addition to the name change some new Thank You.... services have been added.... to the following persons who worked and/or furnished food for the Doug Parks funeral luncheon on January 30, : Linda Sheldon Vern Schimpf Pam Abbott Next General meeting will be March 8 in Hall at noon. Circle 3 will serve lunch, Janice Cerny will give devotions and Bonnie Taylor will give the program. All women are welcome to attend. Mona Radcliffe UMW President Mona Radcliffe Vicki Snogren Roberta Rager Marge Blaase Donna Messersmith Beverly Schroder Ginny Steinke Barbara Nootz Jean Slagle Chris Snyder Judi Davis Ruth Hermance Bea Hatch Bev Johnson Barb Jeffres Connie Heinis Christine McKnight Shari Schlichtemeier The March wind roars like a lion in the sky, And makes us shiver as he passes by. When winds are soft, and the days are warm and clear, Just like a gentle lamb, then spring is here. Our Christian love and sympathy to the family of: Dorothy Sexson, who died on February 25,. Condolences also to: Bonnie Johnson and family at the death of her father. Dorothy Glenn and family at the death of her father. ~~Author unknown The Missions Outreach Committee is proud to continue facilitating the Bless the Badge campaign. This mission has been so well supported and so much appreciated by the recipients, that continuing on the mission is an obvious choice. Thank you to everyone who has shown their support of our emergency personnel. Keep them in your prayers as they protect us each and every day. What fun at the Family Fun Night. We hope everyone enjoyed the sweet treats our committee served. Special thanks to the Ragers for sponsoring the goodies for this event. Left over treats were shared with our Youth Group and the Bless the Badge campaign. Sincere appreciation for everyone who supports the efforts of our Missions committee. Without your continued prayer and support, we could not reach out to others. In Christ s name, Gigi Berol MOC chairperson Since your newsletter editor is no longer in the church office every day, it has become more difficult for her to be aware of all the hustle and bustle happening in the church family. Sooooo we need your help in sharing and spreading the latest news. If you have ideas, pictures or articles to submit for the April,, issue of The Messenger, please have them turned in no later than Tuesday, March 20. Please respect this deadline so that the newsletter can be prepared and distributed in a timely manner. Submissions may be made to the Ogallala First UMC has funds which are designated to help children and youth share the life-shaping experience of Church Camp. Scholarships are available for young people who wish to attend one of Nebraska s United Methodist Camps this summer. The camps are: Camp Norwesca near Chadron; Camp Fontanelle near Fontanelle; and Camp Comeca near Cozad. A Camping Scholarship application is included in this newsletter. If you need more applications, they are available in Hess Lounge or the Church Office. Please note that the deadline to submit the completed applications is May 4,. Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire. ~~St. Catherine of Siena * * * It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. ~~C.S. Lewis * * * We live and die; Christ died and lived! ~~John Stott Church Office, or you may e-mail them directly to the newsletter editor at: ogallalaumcnews@gmail.com. Thanks so much for your help! TUESDAY, MARCH 20
Page 8 March, T he M e s se ng e r P a ge 5 The Last Supper Pageant The First United Methodist Church of Ogallala will present the Last Supper Easter Pageant in Ogallala on March 29 and 30. The program will begin at 7:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church. located at 5th and North Spruce St. This is the reenactment of the Di Vinci s Last Supper portraying Jesus and his twelve disciples. Each disciple challenges his own soul for the answer to the statement, One of you here, betrayed me. SOLID ROCK YOUTH GROUP First United Methodist Church, Ogallala Last Supper Easter Pageant March 29 and 30, 7:00 pm MDT PIZZA MAKING FUND RAISER What a great way to share the Easter season with the people of Ogallala. Each of you can be a part of this pageant. We need volunteers for ushers, meals, baby sitting, publicity and prayer partners. If you would like to help, please contact Judi and Roger Adkins (284-2326) or call Vern at the Church Office (284-8455). Special thanks to those who helped on pizza-making day: the parents, Roger Rankin, Gail Hayford, and Terry Johnson. The Art of Forgiveness Thanks to everyone who bought pizzas to help support the activities of the Solid Rock Youth Group this year! photos by Renee Meyer Please consider sharing an Easter Lily to be placed on the alter on Easter Sunday. Bring it to the Church Office before Easter Sunday and pick it up after church if you want to take it home. Thank you. An interesting legend is associated with the painting The Last Supper. Some say Leonardo da Vinci used a rival s face for Judas. Then when the painter tried to create Jesus face, all he could see was that of his enemy. Supposedly, da Vinci was able to complete Jesus face and the entire masterpiece only after making peace with his enemy and repainting Judas. This tale shows the necessity of forgiving other people so we can accept Jesus forgiveness for ourselves. As Jesus says in Matthew 6:14-15 (NIV), For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. ~~adapted from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice
Answer: D (Matthew 27:51) Page 6 March, The Messenger Page 7 An Activity Page for Younger People SONSHINE SINGERS will rehearse on Friday, March 9, 4:00-4:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 11 at 8:30 a.m., and sing in the 9:00 a.m. service Emma Dickinson will be holding a baked potato bar on March 25th as part of her confirmation project. Chili, pulled pork, and all the fixin s will be served along with salad and a dessert. It will be $6 per plate or free will donation. It will take place downstairs immediately following the 9:00 a.m. service. A Bible Quiz According to Matthew s account, what was torn when Jesus died? A. Mary s headdress she tore it as a traditional Jewish sign of grief B. A Roman guard s sash Peter grabbed and ripped it in anger C. Jesus robe the soldiers divided it among themselves D. The temple curtain torn in two from top to bottom Scholarship Applications Are Now Available It s time for the high school seniors, and those already in college, to begin thinking about scholarship applications. Ogallala First United Methodist Church offers three scholarships, due to the generosity of several former and current members: 1.) The Dowling Family Scholarship is given in loving memory by the Phil and Betty Dowling family. Mr. and Mrs. Dowling were long-time Ogallala residents and faithful members of the Ogallala UMC who believed in supporting area youth and their community. 2.) The Draucker Family Scholarship Fund was established by the Draucker family of Ogallala. The purpose of the Fund is to provide financial assistance for members of the Ogallala UMC who wish to further their education following graduation from high school. 3.) The Haggard-Samp Scholarship was started and dedicated to the memory of Marge Haggard from the Haggard family, and in honor and memory of Rod Samp, by Rod s family in 2003. Combining the assets provid- ed a scholarship to be offered each year to an Ogallala UMC student high school graduate. To receive these scholarships, the applicant must be a member of the Ogallala UMC. The recipient may be a graduating high school senior or a student already attending a postsecondary school or any adult (of any age) who is enrolled, or planning to enroll, as a student during the ensuing school year. Students who receive a scholarship in one year are eligible to apply in future years. Any student may apply for all these scholarships by filling out just one form, but he/she must apply to be considered. Scholarship application forms are included in this newsletter and will also be available in the Church Office. Completed applications should be returned to the Church Office no later than Friday, March 30,. If you have questions about the scholarships, please see Pastor Chuck or one of the committee members Becky Plate Scholarship Committee Chair