UNION CENTER UNITED METHODIST CHURCH http://www.unioncenterumc.com umcgospel@aol.com CHURCH OFFICE 748-6329 PASTOR BROWN 748-1358 Sept. 21, 2014 SUNDAY WORSHIP 10:15 AM PRELUDE Betty Phinney ANNOUNCEMENTS: GREETINGS AND GATHERINGS: I Chronicles 16:8-9 Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. *CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 105:1-5 (RSV) Leader: O give thanks to the LORD, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples! People:
Sing to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works!
Leader:
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his presence continually!
All:
Remember the wonderful works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,
*A TIME OF PRAISE:
8:30 “Marching to Zion” 11:00 “Blessed Be Your Name” “ Jesus, Son of God”
*AFFIRMATION OF FAITH:
The Apostles’ Creed
* GLORIA PATRI ANTHEM:
# 733
# 881 # 71
11:00
“O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing”
Adult Choir
UNISON PRAYER: Holy and Loving Lord, we come to you with praise and
thanksgiving. Thank you for being our Good Shepherd. You prepare a table for us amidst our daily struggles, our successes and failures, even in the presence of our enemies. You anoint us, wash us, feed us. Shower us with your "holy manna" that we might be strengthened for the journey to which you have called us. By faith we stand and worship. By faith we walk and work. By faith we profess that your Christ is alive, and that your spirit moves us to be and to do more than we ever thought possible. We pray all this in the name of the One who said "I am the bread of life." Amen 11:00 Baptism
Nathan Andrew Seymour Parents, Kristin Seymour and Pete Lenox, proud grandparents Emily and Howard Seymour
SHARING IN CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP: Philippians 1: 21 RSV Christ, and to die is gain.
For to me to live is
Welcoming Our Visiting Friends Sharing of Our Testimonies, Joys and Blessings Sharing our Prayer Concerns THE CONGREGATION AT PRAYER: Philippians 1:9-11 RSV And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. OFFERTORY: Philippians 4:8 RSV Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things . PRESENTATION OF TITHES AND OFFERINGS *DOXOLOGY *HYMNS OF PREPARATION:
JUNIOR CHURCH SCRIPTURE: SERMON:
# 95
8:30 “Be Still My Soul” 11:00 “Above All” 11:00 Children 4-10 years may leave for Jr. Church
Exodus 15:21-27 “Lessons Learned at Life’s Bitter Pools”
*HYMN OF INVITATION:
“Amazing Grace”
# 534
pew Bible pg # 70 Pastor Brown Naik # 378
*BENEDICTION: Now all glory to God, who is able through his mighty power at work in us to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen Eph. 3:20 *POSTLUDE Sermon notes: Life Is A Mixture - Life Has A Master - Life Has A Ministry - They Were Living For Self - They Were Walking By Sight -. They Were Never Satisfied-He Is Aware Of Our Needs -. He Is Able To Meet Our Need - He Has Already Provided For Our Need Conclusion: At Marah, God revealed Himself to Israel as "Jehovah-Rapha", or "The Lord Your Healer." If Israel had never faced this bitter time, they would have never known this aspect of God's character. Just as Job would have never known that God could restore him unless he first lost everything. Just as Lazarus would not have know the joy of life, if he hadn't did. Mary and Martha would not have known that Jesus was the "Resurrection and the Life" unless they had first known grief. THOSE WHO ARE SERVING TODAY: WORSHIP LEADER: Deborah Eckhardt / Debra Haines GREETERS: Byron & Rosa Rucker / Donna Shultz NURSERY: Betsy Shumaker JUNIOR CHURCH: Alice Naik POWER POINT: Kari Hettinger / Mike Meilunas AUDIO: Bob Deuel / Erich Krause
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RECORD OF FAITHFULNESS & STEWARDSHIP FOR: Sept. 14, 2014 ATTENDANCE: 59/35 94 TOTAL OFFERING: $ 3401.63 *GENERAL: $2750.00 DESIGNATED: $ 651.63 * $3000 is needed each week in general funds to pay our bills. Men’s and Women’s Cell groups meet the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 6:00 PM in the Youth room and Conference room respectively. Come join us! All Welcome! Frequently Asked Questions re. charge conference and decision processes. 1. What happens at charge conference? DS Kofahl gives a devotional and the business decisions of the church are voted on by all present. All are welcome. 2. When are the salary decisions made? Salary levels are proposed by the staff/ parish committee, with guidance from the conference, and submitted to finance. Finance reviews and submits their proposal to Admin. Council. This is where those not involved in either staff parish or finance, can have a say. After the vote is taken at Admin. Council, this goes to the charge conference meeting. We should present a united position to the DS at this meeting. It is not the time for discussion. The next AC meeting is Oct. 9. All are invited to attend. The finance proposal will be put on the back table prior to this meeting. Opportunities for Service & Fellowship Wednesday Midweek Fellowship. We meet every Wednesday for Bible Study at 6.30 PM. An exciting and provocative Bible study on the minor prophets of the Bible. Come Join us. Come share, rejoice. Pastor Brown will be leading this study. The Minor Prophets: God Still Speaks In the Minor Prophets, we will hear the voice of God speaking to us in a fresh way … as individuals and as a spiritual fellowship in the Church." Session Three –Amos
Dates to put on your calendar: Sept 27 Youth Event Oct. 3 5:30 Soup Swap dinner & Movie Night– bring a soup to share, or a salad or a sweet. Movie – “A Vow to Cherish” will be shown at 6:30 Oct. 26 Trunk and treat night, more later Oct. 31 Youth Event Nov. 2 Church Charge conference 12:30 for Staff Parish, 1:00 for all others. Nov. 15 Thanksgiving Dinner for the community. – 5 & 6 pm lots of help will be needed. Also turkeys are needed. Let Pastor know if you can help with these. Nov. 16 Deadline for Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes Dec. 6 St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble at 6:30 and dinner at 5:30 Dec 1 – Jan. 31 Shoe Drive – see below Dec. 13 or 14 Living Nativity at Mall and Hallelujah Chorus Flash mob
Dec. 1 – Jan.31 tentative dates for SHOE DRIVE – RAISE MONEY FOR UCUMC AND PROVIDE FOOTWEAR FOR THOSE IN NEED. A shoe drive is a great way to raise funds for mission trips, camps, or even general expenses, while in turn, helping people in underdeveloped nations.
There is absolutely no cost to our church and the earning potential is unlimited. The more bags of shoes collected, the higher the check
Operation Christmas Child Are you wondering how you can share LOVE, JOY and the HOPE of Jesus Christ with needy children this Christmas? Donate filled shoeboxes to OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD. visit www.samaritanspurse.org for more information We must act quickly as all shoe boxes need to be at the church BY November 16th (drop them off any Sunday until the 16th – please leave them behind Pastor’s bench) Here’s what you do- Find an empty shoe box. Decide whether your gift will be for a girl or boy (or why not fill one for each??) Decide what age group your gifts are appropriate for (2-4 years, 5-9 years, 10-14 years) Fill your shoe box with a variety of small gifts: You may enclose a note to the child and a photo of yourself or your family. If you include your name and address, the child who receives your box may write back to you. Enclose a minimum $7 or register online to be able to follow your package a minimum donation of $7 PER box to cover shipping and handling expenses to get it oversees. Bring the filled box to church where we will transport all the boxes to a local collection site. (Checks are to be made out to Samaritan’s Purse, with OCC on the memo line) You may wrap the box (not necessary) but DO NOT wrap it with the lid on, lid MUST be separate. Enclose the form which states BOY/GIRL and the age group your shoebox is suited for. any questions, contact Taylor Hettinger 748-1992. Thank you in advance for your generous contributions PRAISE AND PRAYER Praise God for answered prayer for Emily Seymour’s grandson’s return to health Praise God for the baptism of Nathan Seymour Please pray for: Donna Shultz’s brother Irving & Orpha Rosenbarker – Leo & Jean Cornett Ruth Wheeler Chuck Loeffler – in nursing home at Ideal Sarah Deuel – home recovering Audrey Lawton – in Lourdes Wilbur and Trudy Wesner Bud and Carol Lee – Gary & Mariah McFadden, Mike Meilunas Eloise & Mahlon Tewksbury Juna Tinkham Gordy & Donna Glover – Lee & Eunice Sanford Claudia Godoy’s mom, Charlotte fell and cracked ribs – in nursing home for rehab. Danielle Brown’s godfather has terminal cancer Andy, Sunita and Gabe as they travel to Cypress for three months Pastor Brown's family mourning the loss of their Mom, Mondakini Naik in India Grand Niece of Jack Black – cancer has spread Chryssy Black,- Matt Black’s wife, chemo and radiation treatments Vin Rosenbarker – prostate cancer Danielle DeGaramo - ongoing health concerns
Gabrielle’s mental health, and her family, Michael and 3 boys, Ben Rosenbarker – for God’s strength in his new Christian walk Birthdays in September 17 Pastor Brown Rodney Haines 18 Dave Maney, Rosa Rucker , Pat Purdy 20 Kory Martin 23 Brian Mathews 25 Hannah Smith 27 Craig Sabin
Anniversaries in September 17 Marty & Laura Glover 18 Jim & Linda Geer Vaughn & Jen Scott 27 Jim & Liz Haas 30 Mike & Deborah Eckhardt
Special Youth Event Saturday, September 27, 2014 Fellowship, Worship, and celebration 5:30 - Food and group games 6:00 – Music and worship – Leaders are Eugene and Mike. All youth are invited to join this event. You will be blessed!
Pastor’s insert: We have been studying the Book of Hosea in our Wednesday Evening Study. We read in Hosea, "The Lord said to me, 'Go, show your love to your wife again, though she's loved by another. She's an adulteress. But love her as the Lord loves the Israelites.' It is written again 'You are to live with me many days. You must not be a prostitute or intimate with any other man. And so I will live with you.'" Hosea was saying, in other words, "Look, I've redeemed you. I brought you to myself. Now I ask you to live with me and for me in faithfulness." In the story of the prophet and his unfaithful wife the Lord demonstrates His unmerited love to us in Jesus Christ our Lord. This is the gist of the Gospel. The Lord does not love us because of what we do. He always loves us in spite of what we do. He does not love us because of what we are. He always loves us in spite of what we are. When we understand how much He loves us, we are to respond to him with love and praise and sacrifice and service. Once we receive by faith and through His grace the gift in the person of Jesus Christ we are loved and cared for, for eternity. Our Lord God in Jesus Christ, does not love us because of what we are. He does not love us because of what we do. He always loves us in spite of what we are, in spite of what we do. This is all about prevenient grace. It is all about amazing grace. Clovis Chappell was a noted preacher of the last century, and he told of a young man who lived in Chicago who went down to the bluegrass regions of Kentucky where he met, wooed, and won a young woman whom ultimately he brought back to Chicago as his bride. They enjoyed three lovely years of marriage, and then one day in the midst of a sickness in a seizure of pain the young woman lost her mind, so even when she was at her best she was a bit demented. At her worst she would scream and neighbors complained because the screams cut the air and it was hard to live with. For this reason the young businessman left his home in the middle of Chicago and went out to one of the western suburbs where he built a house, determined that there he would try to nurse his wife back to health and sanity again. One day the family physician suggested that perhaps if he were to take his wife back to her Kentucky home that something in those familiar surroundings would help her restore her sanity, and so they went back to the old homestead. Hand in hand they walked through the old house where memories hung on every corner. They went down to the garden and walked down by the riverside where the first
cowslips and violets were in bloom. Even with the surroundings of home, after several days, nothing seemed to happen. Defeated and discouraged, the young man put his wife back in the car, and they headed back toward Chicago. When they got close to the house he looked over and discovered that his wife was asleep. It was the first deep, restful, sleep she had had in many weeks. When he got to the house he lifted her from the car, took her inside, placed her on the bed and realized she wanted to sleep some more. He placed a cover over her and then sat by her side and watched her through the midnight hour, watched her until the first rays of the sun reached through the curtain and touched her face. The young woman awoke, and she saw her husband seated by her side. She said, "I seem to have been on a long journey. Where have you been?" Then that man, speaking out of days and weeks and months of patient waiting and watching said, "My sweetheart, I've been right here waiting for you all this time." Our Lord, the Emmanuel, is with us, waiting for us to cast ourselves with a reckless abandon upon the grace of God. Pastor Brown CHURCH CALENDAR WEEK OF: TODAY: 8:30 AM Worship Service 9:50 AM Sunday School 11:00 AM Worship Service MON. 6:30 PM Finance Committee Meeting TUES. 6:00 PM Cell Groups 7:00 PM Scouts WED. 6:00 PM Soup Supper 6:30 PM Study 7:30 pm Choir rehearsal
THURS: FRI:
SAT: 5:30
10:00 AM 7:00 PM
PM
Prayer meeting TV Ministry Cable Channel 4
Youth Event
SEPT. 21, 2014