March 2013 Newsletter

Volume 14, Issue 3

We Can Do Good.

2

Morningstar UMC seeks to share the light and love of Jesus Christ to all we encounter. Morningstar will be a community where each person is offered opportunities and challenged to grow in his/her relationship with God throughout his/her life. As we grow in our love of God, we will increase our growth of healthy relationships by encouraging people of all ages through accountability, study, prayer, fellowship, and service. The more our congregation grows in these primary relationships (with God and our neighbors), we will see ourselves reaching out into the local community, region and world through acts of service – sharing the light of Jesus Christ in hands-on, meaningful ways, and inviting others to experience God’s love for themselves.

Casual for Christ - Feel free to come as you are! Connect for Real - Make authentic relationships with those around you. Contribute Ourselves - God has given us gifts to use to for His Kingdom. Care for All - All are welcome to join us in worship and the journey of faith

Contents

3 Pastor’s Letter

4 Women’s Retreat Recap

5 Men’s Retreat, Holy Week

Worship Schedule

6-7 Ministry Opportunities

8 March Calendar

9 Servant Schedule

10 Contact Information

Our Vision

Our Values

Trivia Time! The shamrock has been a symbol of St. Patrick’s Day for hundreds of years, not

just because of their abundance in Ireland, but because of a legend associated with St. Patrick himself. If you know what this legend is, send an email to Alyssa in the

church office. The first person to correctly answer will win freshly baked goodies!

Daylight Savings Reminder! Sunday, March 10th is Daylight Savings. Remember to move your clocks ahead

one hour!

3

Many of you have probably seen Les Miserables in theatres

since it came out. While I still haven’t viewed it, I am reading the book by Victor Hugo and there are two scenes that remind me of John Wesley’s second General Rule: do good. The first scene tells the tale of how Jean Valjean came to be in prison. His family was hungry and had neither food nor means to buy any. In desperation he broke through a bakery’s window, stealing a loaf of bread. He is caught and imprisoned. However, it was thought that if he had simply asked, the baker would have provided the loaf. The second scene occurs after Valjean is released from prison. He makes his way across the countryside seeking food and shelter, but is turned away from every inn because his travel papers expose him as a convict. Eventually he goes to the home of a bishop, who invites him to stay for a meal and spend the night. While there, Valjean discovers the impoverished bishop’s only real treasure– six sets of silverware and two candlesticks. In the middle of the night, Valjean steals the silverware and takes off. He is caught by the police and brought back to the bishop’s home. The bishop, however, tells them that the candlesticks had been forgotten. The bishop places them in Valjean’s bag and sends him on his way with these parting words: “Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.” Two very different stories occur, but both offer opportunities to do good. Wesley’s rule requires that we see a need and take action. In the first scene, the opportunity to do good is overlooked by the bakery owner – the need for food could have been met before Valjean chose to do harm out of desperation. In the second scene, the bishop does good toward Jean Valjean in providing for both physical and spiritual needs. Physical needs are met by providing food, lodging, and silver for income. Spiritual needs are met by offering grace and forgiveness. We have immense opportunities as Christians to do good if we simply open our eyes to see and our ears to listen to the needs of this world. In the pages of this newsletter, look for the opportunities we present to do good for our church, community, and world. We are in the middle of Lent, but it is not too late to take on the practice of doing good. Go do good for God! I will see you in worship!

Grace and peace, Pastor Jay

Do Good.

4

Weaving a Tapestry of Goodness

There are times that require us to do good for ourselves in

order to maintain a healthy emotional, mental, and spiritual balance. On Saturday, February 16th, 18 women from Morningstar UMC, West Olive UMC and their guests did just that as they attended the second annual women's retreat hosted by the Women of Morningstar. The day was filled with faith, friendship, fun, laughter, good food, music, and most importantly- the love of God. During the sessions, the ladies looked at where they have come from through their own personal time lines, how to make dreams a reality by setting priorities and goals to become more Godly women, and the importance of taking the time to be silent and listening to the voice of God. By creating a personal timeline showing the high and low points in our faith lives (baptism, affirmation of faith, meeting others who have shaped your faith, death, trials, periods of doubt, etc.), we can more accurately determine which dreams are priorities and create action plans from there, all while taking time to truly listen to God’s voice in our lives. The ladies also did good for others in remembering our local sisters in Christ with a love offering of $171 to Neville House, which helps victims of domestic violence. (See article to the left.) Thank you to everyone who helped make the retreat possible. To see more pictures of the women’s retreat, check out the “Normal Morningstar UMC” Facebook Fan page.

Neville House: A Safe Haven

As described on the Mid-

Central Community Action website, the Neville House “is designed to create safe, nurturing families free from violence and control through free and confidential services.” Individual and group counseling are available through the Neville House. They also serve as a resource to the community by providing awareness, advocacy, and education on the issue of domestic violence. Presently, Neville House is the only emergency shelter in the area. As such, they empower residents to accomplish their goals through education, life skills training, transportation, medical assistance and parenting support. All services provided by the Neville House are free and confidential. Services include the emergency shelter, legal advocacy, support groups for children and other victims of domestic violence, and community education and training seminars. They also have a 24-hour hotline, which can be reached by calling the following number: (309) 827-7070.

5

Be Courageous. Do Good. The Men of Morningstar will be doing good for the men in the

community by offering a chance to experience the grace of God through their retreat coming up on April 13th. The retreat will be based on the movie Courageous, which will be shown at the retreat.

Courageous, released in 2011, follows four men whose calling is to serve and protect as law enforcement officers...and as fathers. The men always give their best on the job, but coming home is a different story. Protecting the communities they love is second-nature. Raising children who honor and glorify God? That’s courage.

The Men of Morningstar are still looking for men to do good and be courageous while serving as discussion leaders. Please contact Gary Wang (665-0828) or Wayne Giermann (663-6784) if you are interested in this ministry opportunity. You can also do good by inviting your male family members, friends, and neighbors to join these men of faith for their retreat. Cost for the retreat will be $10.

Holy Week Worship

There is no better example of

what it means to “do good” than the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Placing the souls of others before all else, He took up His cross and did what His Heavenly Father asked of Him. And what a great and powerful way to “do good” during Lent by sharing the Good News with others, that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. We encourage you to invite your friends and family to join us for worship during Holy Week at one of the services listed below.

Palm Sunday– 10:15am (Morningstar UMC) Maundy Thursday– 7:00pm (Morningstar UMC) Good Friday– 7:00pm (West Olive Faith UMC) Easter Sunday– 10:15am (Morningstar UMC)

6

Park Food Pantry Our partner in ministry, Park Food Pantry, has several immediate needs. Bringing in just one item makes a difference to those in need in the community. Consider picking up an extra item to donate whenever you make your next trip to the grocery store and imagine the impact you will make in doing good by sharing your excess with others. Presently their immediate needs are:

Canned Fruit Canned Meat

Canned Spaghetti Sauce Peanut Butter

Items for Park Food Pantry are collected throughout the month and donated on the third Saturday of every month.

Proactive Love is Proactive Good.

John Wesley’s second General Rule calls us to do

good. As simple as it sounds, it may be the most difficult of Wesley’s rules to follow. It requires us to be proactive, to do good without being asked to do so. This rule compels us to see the needs of others and place their needs before our own. Wesley writes, “One great reason why the rich in general have so little sympathy for the poor is because they so seldom visit them.” There are many simple opportunities for us at Morningstar to reach out to the community and do good. For instance, by helping to put a meal on the table of a family in need you do much more than that– you provide the strength for those individuals to go to work or school the next day. The confidence provided by a meal is incredible and is something we often take for granted with our full pantries. Doing good isn’t always easy. Sometimes we are overwhelmed by the amount of need in the world or we are afraid we will be rejected by our peers for helping a certain group of people. The best advice in these situations comes from 1 John 3:18. “Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” God calls us to love all people at all times in all places. Prayerfully consider these words as you read through the opportunities on these pages to do good for the church, the community, and all of God’s creation.

7

Connection Cards

You may have seen connection cards floating around and thought to yourself, “That’s a mighty fine idea! I should hand those out to my family, friends, and co-workers to invite them to worship at Morningstar! But where in the world do these little cards come from?” The answer: magical leprechauns sneak into the church office at night and...well, to make a long story short, the cards are on the same table as the nametags in the entryway of the church. Feel free to take as many as you need and the leprechauns will make more to replace the ones you take. You can also find the Connection Card image on Morningstar’s Facebook page and share it on the pages of all of your friends. This is a great and easy way to do good and invite others to worship while letting them know about our Lent sermon series, “Cross-Bound”.

Vespers Services for The Meadows at Mercy Creek

Morningstar UMC has a unique outreach opportunity available. On the third Sunday of March, June, September, and December, Morningstar will be leading Vespers Services for the residents of the Meadows at Mercy Creek! The services will start at 3:30pm and last about 30 minutes. The vespers services will be a time of prayer and worship, uniquely designed by each team with their own blend of music and spoken word. If you are interested in helping, we will be organizing teams to lead each service. Please contact Pastor Jay for more information. Help us do good and share the Good News with our neighbors!

8

March 2013

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1 10:00 Ladies’

Bible Study

2

3

9:00 Christian Formation

10:00 Prayer Time

10:15 Worship 11:30 Band

Rehearsal 11:30 Fellowship

Meal 1:00 Lay

Leadership/Finance

2:00 SPRC/Trustees

4

7:00 Boy Scouts 7:30 Men’s

Group

5

6:30 Ladies’ Bible Study

6

Family Night 5:30 Meal 6:30 Worship 7:00 Classes 7:00 Youth

Handbells & Choir

7

6:00 Chancel Choir

7:00 Handbell Choir

9:00 Online Bible Study

8


9

10

Daylight Savings Spring Forward! 9:00 Christian

Formation 10:00 Prayer

Time 10:15 Worship 11:30 Band

Rehearsal 3:30 Home

Sweet Home Meal (Team #1)

11


Group

12

1:00 Sit-N-Knit 6:30 Ladies’

Bible Study

13 Family Night

5:30 Meal 6:30 Worship 7:00 Classes 7:00 Youth

Handbells & Choir

14

6:00 Chancel Choir

7:00 Handbell Choir


15


16 12:00 Park Food

Pantry Donations Collected

17


10:00 Prayer Time


Rehearsal

18


Group

19

1:00 Newsletter Articles due

1:00 Sit-N-Knit 6:30 Ladies’

Bible Study

20

Family Night 5:30 Meal 6:30 Worship 7:00 Classes 7:00 Youth

Handbells & Choir

21

6:00 Chancel Choir

7:00 Handbell Choir


22


11:30 Friday Fellow-ship

23

24/31


10:00 Prayer Time


Rehearsal

25

No School

26

No School 1:00 Sit-N-Knit 6:30 Ladies’

Bible Study

27

No School No Family Night

28 No School

6:00 Chancel Choir

7:00 Maundy Thursday Worship

29 No School

7:00 Good Friday Worship at WOF

30

9

Mar. 03 Mar. 10 Mar. 17 Mar. 24 Mar. 31

Offertory Music

Chancel Choir Handbell Choir Youth Handbells Handbell Quartet Chancel Choir

Liturgist Jim Snow Wayne Giermann Dean Westpfahl Mark Immke Dave Venter

Children’s Message

Tom Howe Stephanie Soon John Weter Adam Drake Pastor Jay

Acolyte Joey Westpfahl Alaysia Peterson Laura Westpfahl Hannah Schneider Lillian Wang

Media Technicians

Dean Westpfahl Joe Kao Mark Immke Andy Goveia John Weter

Ushers

Jim Snow (H) Mary Ann Altine Regan Jimison Sharee Wright

Dave Wright (H) Sue Fetters

Kim Kao Jeannine McNemee

Dean Westpfahl (H) Georgia Griffith

Tom Howe John Weter

Mark Immke (H) Andrew Immke Mike Schneider

Tanner Todd

Larry Haag (H) Betty Haag

Michelle Giermann Bill Sheets

Greeters Regan Jimison Ruthann Sheets Georgia Griffith Kandi Schneider Dave & Pam

Venter

Coffee Host Dave & Pam

Venter Teri Peterson Lori Immke Regan Jimison Eva DeVore

Offering Counter

Michelle Giermann Tricia Todd Mary Ann Altine Ryan Jimison Betty Bickerstaff

Newcomer Callers

Ruthann Sheets Georgia Griffith Bill Sheets Ruthann Sheets Georgia Griffith

Church Cleaning

Teri Peterson Dave & Pam Venter John Weter Lori Immke Teri Peterson

Servant Schedule for March 2013

10

Morningstar United Methodist Church

Office Hours: Monday - Thursday, 9:00am -3:00pm

Office Telephone: (309) 452-6255

Website: www.mymorningstar.org

Worship with us on Sundays at 10:15 am

Contact Information

Rev. Jay Regennitter, Pastor [email protected]

Pastor Stephanie Soon, Deacon & Pianist [email protected]

Alyssa Rathbun, Administrative Assistant [email protected]

Adam Drake & Hailey Crozier, Nursery Ministry Staff [email protected]

March 2013 Newsletter

Documents

Transcript of March 2013 Newsletter