2012

Good Morning Church Family and Online Community!

God's abundant blessings to you this week! I pray you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This weekend welcomed our first snowfall and were able to see a beautiful snow the morning of worship! The snow has already melted and we are into a new week of ministry!

Yesterday, in worship, our message centered on Mark 13:1-8.

13:1 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

Remember the movie "2012?" The earth ripping apart, floods to the highest point on earth? Have you ever seen the show Doomsday Preppers? I haven't, but it's a new one on National Geographic. It documents real families/individuals who spend all their time/resources planning for the end of time. Building bunkers/stocking shelves upon shelves of food/ teaching kids to do things unimaginable are just some of the things these families are doing to prepare for something that may never occur.

The disciples, Peter, James, John and Andrew all were caught up by similar questions and scenarios. Jesus specifically told them, "See that no one leads you astray." Jesus spoke of two things not to be misled by: 1) Don't be misled by people. Many will claim to be the Messiah but Jesus said, "Don't be misled by these people." 2) Do not be misled by world events. "There will be wars and rumors of wars." These are just the beginning of the birth pains. As they had these questions so do we. Remember... the first Gulf War, Y2K, September 11? All of these were thought of by many, end of world scenarios, but as we read in the Scriptures, these will continue.

Jesus closed this chapter by saying that no one knows the hour, only God. While living, we are called to live in the NOW. Remain vigilant, stay awake. Love the Lord with all your heart, mind and strength. Jesus came not to be served, but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. May we live in that Light. We are called to be in ministry today.

We also were blessed yesterday in worship to celebrate the baptism of Emily Elizabeth, daughter of Chris and Kim. Blessings to Emily and her family on this special day!

Have a blessed week church! Don't forget about Wednesday Nights at church! This week is "surprise" meatloaf... Hmmm. Can't wait! 5:30-6:30 p.m. is dinner!

It is an honor to serve and lead as your pastor.

An Active Church Life...

Good Afternoon Church Family and Online Community!

I can literally say how exhausted I am after this weekend. Not only me, but I heard from many of you in worship today how you took pain relievers to help with the sore muscles, back aches and bones! You deserve a break!

It was a great weekend around the church! The church hosted its annual whole hog sausage sale on Saturday as it was one of the largest sales in our history! People from everywhere came by to get their fresh sausage, just in time for the holiday season! Thanks to everyone who made this sausage sale one of the best yet! We had all kinds of help from cutters to lunch makers! It's great to see so many from the church come together! I heard from many church family members that they had such a great time sharing fellowship! (Thanks Kevin Loomis for the pictures!)

click on picture to enlarge

Saturday was not only the sausage sale. We also raised nearly $2500 for flood buckets from the needs of Hurricane Sandy. Saturday was the assembling of these kits. Thanks to Dr. Bob Todd for organizing the effort and getting everyone coming together to assemble. Many people left church today with empty flood buckets to take to their places of employment, etc... to fill. Thank you for taking time to fill these extras! 

In worship, we gave thanks to God for the opportunities we have been blessed with to give and receive. This church has truly demonstrated time and time again, the joy in giving with a grateful heart. Our Sunday School classes made cards for our Butler Twp. teachers, EMT's. Firefighters, Police and Township officials. Thank you kids! Also, in this week of Thanksgiving, our church has made some 1000 cookies to send to these different agencies and schools. You're awesome! May this be just a token of our appreciation for all that these groups do for us to teach and to keep us safe. Thanks to the many who stayed after worship to assemble the many trays. 

In worship, we also celebrated our Prayer Shawl Ministry and welcomed new members. We welcome Megan McCleary and Jordan Gibson who join our church family membership! They are a blessing to our church family! 

There will be NO Wednesday Night dinner and classes this week. Happy Thanksgiving! It has been a true, true joy to serve and lead as your pastor over this weekend! Be blessed!

Ministry Celebration Sunday!

Good Afternoon Church Family and Online Community!

What a beautiful day of worship it was at Christ Community! We truly were blessed as we experienced some of the ministries of the church engaged in worship and throughout the day. Our Sing Out Loud! Children and Youth Choir brought smiles to both worshipping bodies as they sang, "We are Marching!" Thanks to Jon Pincek for his leadership with our children and youth!
Our praise band did a great job today leading us in worship at the 9:26.

Our 11:00 a.m. traditional had the joy of listening to Deb Pincek and Marilyn Stephenson in a piano/organ duet throughout worship! It was beautiful!

Following both services, Oz Hall was open to fellowship with each other! A special thank you to Deb Pincek who decorated, and provided the refreshments for the day!

At worship, we remembered the Saints who have gone before us over the last year. We remember with gratitude, Rev. Cloyd "Oz" Osborne, Dorothy Miller, Harold Morse, Linda Sams, and Pauline Hawk. Their lives made an impact on us in so many ways. Thank God for their life and witness. We recognized Alberta Osborne's work on a wall hanging in memory of her husband "Oz" and all those who entered the Church Triumphant this year. Thank you Alberta for a most loving gift to the church.

Our worship centered on Commitment to Christ: Service. The text came from Romans 12:11-13. We are called to not be lazy in our work but to serve Christ and others enthusiastically. Thank you for bringing your pledges forward as we prayerfully discern where God calls us to go as a church in 2013.

Church, we have an immediate need to serve. If you wish to donate monetarily towards cleaning buckets, you may do so. Simply mark your check in the memo, "UMCOR Cleaning Buckets." Dr. Bob Todd, Outreach Chair, will purchase all the necessary items for the buckets and we will assemble buckets on Saturday, November 17 along with our annual Sausage sale. The buckets will be assembled downstairs in the education classes. (A great day to come and share your gifts!) If you wish to put together a cleaning bucket on your own, you may do that also. The list of needed items can be found by going to Cleaning Kit Recipe

Another way to give... A special offering on November 18 will be held to go to UMCOR Hurricane Sandy Advance. May we continue to be in prayer for those affected by this life-altering storm.

Have a blessed week church! It is an honor to serve and lead as your pastor!