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July 2008 |
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School Supply Mission & Love Feast |
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Written by Administrator
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Monday, 21 July 2008 |
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We recently had a meeting to prepare for our first Love Feast meal (soup kitchen). The idea of a soup kitchen has been planted on many of our church members' hearts for some time. In planning our Love Feast, we thought it may help our attendance if we were able to do a school supply drive before, our first meal to get the word out. I'm sure you remember this past December our church sponsored a Christmas gift drive called Project Noel and God was so good!!! We gave gifts to 250 families which included a total of 750 children! That number still amazes me! The goal for the drive is to give 250 children from grades K - 6th the entire list of supplies they need to begin their school year. The school supply drive is set for August 9th from 9:00 - noon. This will be right before our first Love Feast is planned. The Love Feast plans are to have a meal once a month and the dates for the remainder of the year are: Aug. 16, Sept. 13, Oct. 11, Nov. 15, and Dec. 13. We have many needs for helpers in order for this to work and here are some areas of need:
Hosts for the Love Feast: this would be someone who would be willing to sit/talk with our visitors, enjoy the meal also and make sure that each person who enters our church is connected with personally. If you are interested in helping, please contact Amy Givens or myself.
Cooks for the Love Feast: this is all preliminary, but our idea is to possibly have at least part of the food (desserts, sides, crocks of soup) we serve provided by volunteers within our church so that our expenses are kept down and also take some of the burden off of the kitchen help in trying to prepare the entire meal. I remember making cookies for the youth way before my daughter was old enough to attend and Amy had provided a list of the children my cookies were for. She suggested that I pray for them while I baked the cookies. I still think of that today anytime I bake for someone and what a great way to minister to others. If you are interested in helping with this, contact Charlie Lynch.
Kitchen helpers for the Love Feast: there will be some or maybe lots of preparation before the meal. Charlie Lynch has also agreed to head up this part of the project.
School Supply helpers: We are in need of people willing to help organize the supplies before hand and be part of the distribution of the supplies on August 9th.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 29 at 7:00pm in the Office Conference Room.
If you think you may be interested in helping, please join us.
Thank you all!! I know God has an awesome plan for our community and this is such an opportunity for us to reach out. If you were part of the Project Noel, you have seen that already. It is always a wonderful experience to touch people with God's love, show them they are important to us and most importantly, loved unconditionally by our Heavenly Father!!
Tonga Pogue
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Last Updated ( Monday, 21 July 2008 )
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UNPACKING OUR MEMBERSHIP COVENANT |
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Written by Administrator
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Saturday, 19 July 2008 |
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Will you be faithful in your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness as you live under the Lordship of Jesus Christ?
What a joy it is to receive new members into our covenant family here at Altus First UMC. Each time I lead our congregation in the membership liturgy, I am reminded of my own acceptance by God and inclusion into God's Church. Recently, I have reflected on what these five areas of covenant membership mean. Whenever I try to unpack abstract concepts I try to come up with First Grade Language to describe complicated ideas. So here goes...
Faithfulness in prayers - means we commit ourselves to intimacy with God and usefulness to others through daily Bible study and regular conversation with God. In First Grade Language we love God and others by speaking and listening to God every day.
Faithfulness in presence - means we commit ourselves to attend all worship, education, fellowship, and service opportunities that improve our intimacy with God and usefulness to others. In First Grade Language we love God by going to church, Sunday school, camps, mission projects and fun events.
Faithfulness in gifts - means we commit ourselves to tithe our income and share all our resources generously with others, in order to improve our intimacy with God and usefulness to others. In First Grade Language we love God by giving ten percent of our allowance in the offering plate at church and by always sharing with others.
Faithfulness in service - means we commit ourselves to discover and employ our talents wherever possible, in order to improve our intimacy with God and usefulness to others. In First Grade Language we love God by doing our chores and helping others at all times.
Faithfulness in witness - means we commit ourselves to understanding th Gospel so we can share our faith story and love effectively, in order to improve our intimacy with God and usefulness to others. In First Grade Language we love God and others by telling people about Jesus and his love.
Be encouraged!
Pastor Dave
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 July 2008 )
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MAKING DISCIPLES OF GOD'S LITTLE PEOPLE |
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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
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Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all." He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, "Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me." -Mark 9:35-37 (New International Version) People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." -Mark 10:13-15 (New International Version) Several years ago I read The Purpose Driven Church by Rick Warren and several ideas and insights from this book challenged me. One idea was Rick's approach to evaluating the effectiveness of ministry. He asked two questions. Firstly, what business are we in? Secondly, how is business? I find myself asking myself these questions periodically. For our ministry at First UMC Altus, the answer to the first question is making deeply devoted disciples for Jesus Christ. The answer to the second is "okay," I guess. I would like to answer the second question with a "great!" Over a year ago I was prompted by God to think about how well we are discipling children. As I thought and prayed about this question, I felt led to explore the possibility of starting a Children's Church during the late worship service. At present, our church offers nursery care for children six years of age and younger. The rest of the children participate in BIG church. My observation is that children between the ages of six and ten do benefit from BIG church, but their needs are often different to the older children and adults. For instance, sitting still for an hour is almost impossible for them. Just listening and not talking is usually agonizing. Learning without hands-on participation is also very limited. These needs can be met by offering Children's Church for ages six through ten after the Children's Moment in BIG church. We sent out a survey to see who is interested and called in our church to offer this ministry of discipleship. Only three adults have responded. After discussing this at a Preschool Board Meeting this week, I shared my convictions and concerns with Cindy about the importance of starting a Children's Church Ministry. She shared my convictions and stated that she felt God calling her to serve as the primary leader of this ministry. I was both surprised and delighted as I had no idea that God was prompting Cindy to serve in this capacity. Monique, my niece, also agreed to co-chair with Cindy, so now we have five adults interested and called to disciple God's little people in this new ministry. I want to ask the entire church to pray earnestly about this important next step. Ask God if you need to be serving in this ministry. Ask God to send more laborers to make deeply devoted disciples of our children. Our children have lots of energy, imagination and needs ... all they need are dedicated leaders to love them and help them grow deeper and stronger in Christ. Be encouraged! Pastor Dave |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 July 2008 )
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Summer WOW begins May 7th |
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Written by Deb Teagan
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Friday, 02 May 2008 |
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Join us for our first SUMMER WOW on
Wednesday, May 7th from 5 to 7pm in the FUMC Family Life Center Gym
Our dinner theme is Finger Foods and Food on a Stick.
(You.ll be surprised at how much you can eat without a knife, fork or spoon!)
Please join us for fun food and fellowship.
As an added bonus, Pastor Dave will be showing slides from his family's recent trip to South Africa.
We will be collecting Annual Conference Offering for South African HIV/AIDS Ministry in Johannesburg, South Africa
Please feel free to give what you would normally contribute toward a regular WOW meal.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 21 July 2008 )
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What is Focus on the Famly's "The Truth Project"? |
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Written by Administrator
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Sunday, 11 May 2008 |
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In a recent study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to reverberate throughout the evangelical Christian world. Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview. Because of this, today's believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced; we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life's ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation. To counter this slide within the body of Christ, Focus on the Family has launched one of the most ambitious and powerful projects in the history of their ministry — Focus on the Family's "The Truth Project." "The Truth Project" is a DVD-based small group curriculum comprised of 12 one-hour lessons taught by Dr. Del Tackett. This study is the starting point for looking at life from a biblical perspective. Each lesson discusses in great detail the relevance and importance of living the Christian worldview in daily life. Pastors Dave Player and Deb Teagan will be leading this as a summer study on Sunday evenings beginning June 1st. The evening will begin with a snack supper, followed by a DVD presentation and small group discussions each week. Activities for elementary and nursery age children will be offered. God continues to call ordinary people to make an eternal difference in our world. Please join us as we seek to be more deeply devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. Sign up by emailing Deb at dteaganacableone.net or call the church office at 580-482-0795 and leave your name and phone number. |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 11 May 2008 )
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