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August 2004
Rapping with Rick
PREACHING HEBREWS
I’m anticipating the preaching of a short series of sermons this month
on the New Testament book of Hebrews. A major unifying emphasis
of this amazing book is keeping the faith. But the writer (preacher!) of
this book makes it clear: keeping the faith is not something done in isolation.
Faith cannot be acquired strictly on one’s own. It is not something you get by yourself;
it is a communal phenomenon. Faith is relational.
When my hope in the promise of God’s love is weak, your trustworthiness in living out
the promise of God’s love toward me will strengthen me. When you are feeling burdened
in the struggle to be faithful to the promise, my hope in the promise will strengthen you.
Together in hope and trust toward one another, we create the faith that will see us through
until God makes all things new. In this communal faith, among this cloud of witnesses, we
have “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).
EQUIPPING SEMINAR BACK ON
The Lay Shepherding Equipping Seminar has been rescheduled for September 29-30
(Wednesday and Thursday evenings). In addition, Kaye Schloemer from St. Matthew’s
UMC in Madison is planning to come down and give a presentation about this ministry
this month in August. Please stay tuned for that date.
Yours in the Faith,
Rick
AUGUST
MUSIC NEWS
The
Chancel Choir will be resuming their positions in
the
choir loft on Sunday, August 1st and will be singing
the
beautiful piece of repentance, “All We Like Sheep”.
I
hope you will welcome them back and even consider a
place
in the choir for yourself. We can always use more members.
For
all of those who have been traveling throughout the summer
vacation,
you were missed and we pray for your speedy return.
Thanks
you to all of you who sang special music during the month
of
July. We really enjoyed
Jannelle McLain, the VBS Choir, Rick Brooks,
and
David Dorn & Beth Benvenutti. I
also enjoyed hearing Bob Edmonds
play
at the 9:00 a.m. worship service. Practice
makes perfect, and Bob is
living
proof of that dedication! John
Hively also does a good job of leading
the
hymns and remaining dedicated to his service.
Thank
you.
Mary
REAL
DEAL
If you are a member of Main Street
Methodist and don’t know about this
program, it is time to find out about
it and get on board.
REAL DEAL is an after school program
for kids in grades 1-5 that is held
every Wednesday from 3:30 to 5:00p.m.
Many volunteers help to bring
quality time to your children through
the areas of crafts, music, story time,
videos, games, cookery, and puppetry.
We will “kick off” our school term
session with a “BACK TO SCHOOL”
party on Wednesday, August 4th .
This party will begin at 2:00 p.m. and
end at 4:00p.m. This is the only time that
it will be early and that is because
we have a special clown guest, a cake and
ice cream and surprises all lined up for you.
If any child needs more information,
please call the church office between 9:00 am – 1:00pm
at 467-4538.
AUGUST
BIRTHDAYS
Pat
Casey
Aug 1st
Christopher
Flowers
Aug 1st
Julia
Brammer
Aug 2nd
Megan
Uram
Aug 3rd
Andrew
Enloe
Aug 4th
Susan
Monti
Aug 4th
Mallory
Pitcairin
Aug 5th
Nancy
Ann Sherman
Aug 6th
Leola
Bell
Aug 8th
Kristen
Stanford
Aug 8th
Mignon
May
Aug 8th
Lucille
Boudreaux
Aug 9th
Ordean
Powell
Aug 9th
Pat
Smith
Aug 10th
Barbara
White
Aug 11th
Brooke
Moran
Aug 12th
Kendrick
Byrd
Aug 12th
Deborah
Bell
Aug 12th
Jay
Gamble
Aug 14th
Bill
Patterson
Aug 15th
Edie
Hurlstone
Aug 16th
Michael
Enloe
Aug 18th
Marby
Schon-Tilden
Aug 18th
Paul
Byrd
Aug 18th
Bob
Calahan
Aug 20th
Betty
Swanson
Aug 21st
Amy
Frierson
Aug 27th
Fred
Wagner
Aug 27th
Anne
Diliberto
Aug 27th
Byron
Lynch
Aug 29th
Fran
Gray
Aug 29th
Judy
Lipscomb
Aug 29th
LIBRARY NEWS
LIBRARY SUGGESTIONS:
Books by Bishop Robert C. Morgan, such as "Who's Coming To Dinner?"
The author retells and examines the occasions when Jesus participated in a
meal or shared a parable related to a mealtime experience He then demonstrates
how Jesus used these times to teach salvation, forgiveness, servant hood, justice,
love, eternal life, compassion, and grace.
"Stories From The Heart", compiled by Alice Gray, holds a collection of many
timeless stories collected from many famous authors. These stories of compassion
and encouragement will warm your heart as you learn from their wisdom. One of
the many books in our biography section are "Paul, A Man Of
Grace and Grit" by Charles Swindoll.
 MAIN
STREET UMC MISSION FAIR 2004,
SUNDAY, OCT. 24TH
MARK
IT ON YOUR CALENDARS NOW . . . and .
. . PLAN TO ATTEND!
Displays, videos,
resource people to share information and enthusiasm,
and food are
just some of the highlights! See
where our church – WE – are
working to
reach out to others in Jesus’ name. Whether it is at home,
church, school,
work, in the community, nation or world, GOD HAS A
PLACE FOR
EACH OF US! Please pray about what God wants us to do
as we join Him in
His mission field. How will
we respond to His call?
God
bless us as we seek to follow where He leads us individually and as
a church. Let
us join together and participate in our Mission Fair 2004,
Sunday, Oct. 24th! See
you there!
The Main Street Mission Team
MISSIONS
NEWS
Please
pray for the following missionaries:
Daniel D. Heiner in Nicaragua
Jeanne Ntambo in Dem. Republic of Congo
Rachel Frances Small in West Virginia
Gladman Nysasha Makwenya in Zimbabwe
Sally Bevill in Mississippi
David and Lisa Doll in Florida
Arnold Oh and Clara Biswas in Cambodia
JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
Spaseeba, (Thank
You) for all your support for our trip to
Ufa, Russia. Our
mission suitcase is full and your monetary gifts will
assure that unexpected needs at the orphanages, senior
centers,
rehab centers, and Jail #1 might be met.
Yours
in Christ,
Norm & Anita Montgomery
JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ
HOPE HAVEN
The
outreach Committee is once again trying to reach out to the children who
are at Hope Haven. For safety
reasons the staff are not allowed to cook fried foods in the home. Since
children generally love fried chicken, we would like for the members of
Main Street to provide a fried chicken treat for these children at least
once a month. We are asking individuals, classes, organizations or groups
of friends to undertake this task, which is really a joyful experience.
You may cook your own or take the easy way by purchasing chicken
from a deli at the supermarket or a fast food store.
We suggest at least 20 pieces of chicken and possibly French fries.
The really important thing is for you to visit the home when you do
this. It is a blessing to see
those children so well cared for and loved. If you cannot actually visit,
but would like to supply the chicken, contact Betty Allen at 463-9748.
A sign up sheet for volunteers is posted on the mission table and
on the office window. Thanks
in advance for your concern.
The
Mission Team
NAVAJO
MISSION REPORT
What
an awesome trip we had as we focused on Jesus and God’s plan for His
ministry in the Navajo Nation! The
children and adults at Many Farms Lakeside and Spider Rock United
Methodist Church would like to thank you for the VBS craft/school supply
kits and books that you sent for them.
(One girl cried when she couldn’t take that special box home the
first day!) Approximately 125 people attended the Bible schools at the two
locations. With their new “distribution center” almost ready to
open, Lakeside Church was especially glad to have some extra school
supplies to reach out to other needy children in their community with the
love of God. In addition,
money from us at Main St. UMC was used to buy paint and painting supplies
for the team to paint the Lakeside church building and new distribution
center (an unexpected job), purchase infant and toddler toys needed in VBS,
contribute to the fund to hook up the new electrical service for the
children’s and fellowship area, and help to fund the survey of the land
needed at Spider Rock UMC in order for that church to have a permanent,
legal church site. THANK YOU
SO MUCH FOR YOUR GENEROSITY AND YOUR PRAYERS!
In the hands of God much more than we could hope for can be
accomplished! Pictures
will be put on the Ministry Bulletin Board outside Rebecca Hall soon.
A video should also be ready to see at the Main St. 2004 Mission
Fair on Sun., Oct. 24th.
God bless you.
John and Judy Mayer
Stewardship….
"One
who takes care of another's property or goods is a Steward. As
Christians, we believe
that
our lives and all we possess are gifts from God, and thus we should take
care of
them
as good Stewards. None can escape being a Steward of God's
possessions.
This
includes our handling of money and other resources, our treatment of other
people,
and
our worship of God."
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