Around the World…

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF WALNUT GROVE CHRISTIAN CHURCH APRIL 2014 – VOLUME 4

CHURCH EVENTS Sisterhood 4/1, 4/15

Refuel 4/2, 4/9

Volleyball 4/3,4/7

The Vine 4/4-5

Iron Sharpens Iron 4/5

Peace Meals 4/7-11

Young at Heart 4/10

CIY Believe 4/11-12

Deacons & Elders Mtg 4/12

Council Mtg 4/14

Maundy Thursday service 4/17

Good Friday/Office closed 4/18

Easter 4/20

Eunice Club 4/21

Team Mtgs 4/28

Women’s Conf. at LCU 4/30

WGCC Focus

April Fools!

Some historians believe the April Fools' customs began in France. French children fool their friends by taping a paper fish to their friends' backs.

In Scotland, April Fools' lasts two days. Victims of pranks are called gowks (cuckoo birds). The second day is known as Taily Day, and pranks involving the backside are played. Supposedly, it is the origin of "kick me" signs.

In Poland everyone takes part in April Fools' Day activities, including the media and sometimes public institutions. All serious activities are completely avoided for the day. A favorite joke? Pouring water on people.

In certain areas of Belgium, children lock out their parents or teachers and only let them in if they promise to give them sweets. (Kids, don’t even think about it!)

One of the BEST pranks? In 1996 Taco Bell ran a full page ad in several leading newspapers saying to “reduce the country’s debt” they purchased the Liberty Bell and will rename it Taco Liberty Bell. As you can imagine, historians were NOT happy. White House Press Secretary Mike McCurry responded that the federal government was also selling the Lincoln Memorial to Ford Motor Co. and renaming it the Lincoln-Mercury Memorial.

Global Persecuted Saints

Pakistan This is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Pakistan has the third largest population of Muslims in the world. The county suffers from chronic sectarian and religiously motivated violence.

Religion 96% of the population is Muslim. Though the constitution guarantees religious freedom, Christians increasingly suffer under Pakistan’s Blasphemy laws. One law stipulates that anyone who defiles the name of the prophet Muhammad or the Quran may be punished to life in prison or death. Churches in Pakistan are frequently vandalized, and Christians are beaten, raped, abducted and murdered with impunity. Christians also face discrimination in employment and education, keeping them entrenched in the lower classes. Voice of the Martyrs helps resettle families who have been forced to flee their homes and provides evangelists with Christian literature and Bibles.

“2014 Global Report from The Voice of the Martyrs

Maundy Thursday Service

April 17th

at 7pm

Please join us for a candle light

scripture reading commemorating

the last supper. Communion will be

taken after the reading. This year,

there will not be a Good Friday

service.

Frances (Bumpus) Hudson will be celebrating her 85th birthday. She was born on March 13, 1929, daughter of Earl and Dora Bumpus. She married the late Robert (Bob) Hudson on October 12, 1947. Friends and Family are invited to a Celebration Open House at the Charleston Public Library Rotary Room on Sunday April 6th from 2pm-4pm hosted by her children: Susan Foster, Dan & Becky Hudson, Nancy & David Boyer, Carol and Dean Nelson, Lu Anne and Clinton Fleenor and their families. Cards and birthday wishes are welcome, no gifts please.

Where DID the Easter bunny come from?

The precise origins of this non-biblical Easter figure are unclear but may have roots in German immigrant communities of the 18th century. "According to some sources, the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called 'Osterhase'. Eventually, the custom spread across the U.S. and the fabled rabbit's Easter morning deliveries expanded to include chocolate and other types of candy and gifts, while decorated baskets replaced nests. Additionally, children often left out carrots for the bunny in case he got hungry from all his hopping. Source: www.christianpost.com

Have a

Blessed

Easter!

From the

WGCC staff

Fun things to do when April showers 1. Load your favorite songs in your iPod and

DANCE! The kids will love it…and YOU will love the calories you will burn! (You can thank me later!)

2. Revisit old movies and TV shows. 3. Go hobby wild! 4. Baking Queen! (And then bring your

masterpiece to church) 5. Get away with God!

Did you know you could dye Easter eggs with Kool-Aid?! Just empty 1 pkt of Kool-Aid into 10-12oz cup of water and dissolve.

Place 1 dry hardboiled egg in the cup and keep egg submerged until

desired color is reached! For an added effect, place rubber bands

around the eggs before you submerge it but don’t take them off

until they are completely dry!

The Corner Boothe

David Platt writes, “What if we take away the cool music and the cushioned chairs? What if

the screens are gone and the stage is no longer decorated? What if the air conditioning is off and all

the comforts are removed? Would His Word still be enough for his people to come together?”1

These questions are challenging ones. These questions are ones that need answered. What is

the meaning of all of this? The first Sunday of March Shane finished working on a sermon series in

which he said many times, “Church is not a country club.” We must analyze our own standings as

to what church is. Is church truly this building on the crossroads? Is church truly something that we

attend? Is church truly something we participate in? Or is Church something that we are?

We must attack this ideology of church as a country club with the true identity of the church.

The church has a purpose; the church has a reason of being and existing. The church wasn’t

established nearly 2000 years ago simply to exist; the church was established to change existence.

Read the words of the first church sermon. Peter had just been anointed with the Holy Spirit, and

was set out to give a defense of what was happening. Peter quotes these words from the prophet

Joel,

In the last days, God says I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your young men will see visions, Your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and

Women… And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved2

This seems like more than the country club. This seems like a high calling. This seems like

something worth our time to engage and evaluate. The purpose of the church is not for us. It isn’t

so that we feel better. The purpose of the church is to bring God glory. 2 Corinthians 3:18-4:1,

“And we who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his

likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Therefore, since

through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.”

We as the church partake in a ministry of the glorification of Christ’s love, mercy, and

power. Let us not settle for the mundane. Let us seek out the powerful, the merciful, and the loving

spirit that Peter describes. Let us truly long for who God is, and who God’s word begs us to be.

Don’t settle for a show. Don’t settle for what God can do for you, but instead what can you do for

God?

1 Platt, David. Radical. Multnomah Books. Colorado Springs, Colorado. 2010. Page 27

2 Acts 2:17-21

Fun at Isaak’s!

I think the big

guys liked it

just as much as

the little guys!

VS

BIG Thanks to the Christian Ed &

Mission/Outreach teams for putting

this on!

April 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 Sisterhood @

6:30pm TJ Smith

Refuel @ 5:15pm & 6pm Linda Wickersham

Volleyball @ 9pm

The Vine

Iron Sharpens Iron

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Jerry Hudson Hayden Chupp

Volleyball @ 9pm Peace Meals

Refuel @ 5:15pm & 6pm

Young at Heart @ 12

CIY Believe

Deacons Mtg @ 6:30am Elders Mtg @ 7am Norma Hudson

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Little Galilee here

Council Mtg @ 6:30pm

Sisterhood @ 6:30pm Scarlett Diener

Maundy Thursday service @ 7pm

Good Friday

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

Easter

Eunice Club @ 9pm (Office Closed, Tera will be gone)

Mike House

Jared Smith

Kambree Karnes

Kamryn Karnes

Roy & Pat Hinds

27 28 29 30 Ralph Dare

Team Mtgs Wayne Miller

Women’s Conf. at LCU

`

Shane’s devotional challenge: It is time to move past that March madness and move into the April showers. We’ve all heard that April showers bring May flowers. Personally, I think it could be better said that April showers bring lawnmowers. We can see that the grip of winter is weakening with the up and down temperatures that we are having. Enjoy these mild days and remember them when you are baking in the heat of July. We each have different likes in life, some like a lot of snow, some like a lot of 100+ days. Each of us is unique in that way. These different preferences make us stronger though. The person who loves snow has no problem helping to plow or scoop it up. The person who loves the 100+ degree weather helps with the outdoor activities that occur during the summer. Each of us can use what we like to help grow and strengthen the church. We all don’t have to be cut from the same cookie cutter. We don’t have to conform in that way. What we DO have to do is learn how to work together though these differences, to help others see and know who Christ is. That is when we can transform the world. When we look past our differences, and see that our differences can be used as strengths. That is when we can show people who Christ is and that is when we can reflect on who He wants us to be. As you watch those April showers this month, think of some ways you can make a difference, in the church and in someone’s life. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and

prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone Ephesians 2:18-20

-Shane

Published and mailed by

Walnut Grove Christian Church

12930 E County Road 1700N

Arcola IL 61910

Office Phone (217)-856-2155

www.walnutgrovecc.org WORSHIP 8:00 &10:30am

SUNDAY SCHOOL 9:30am

FELLOWSHIP 9:00am

Shane Beever………Senior Minister

Aaron Boothe ………Youth/Worship Minister

Tera Arnold……….Ministry Assistant

Deanna Little……….Bookkeeper

Diana Groff…….… Custodian

OR CURRENT RESIDENT