Echoes of DHPC | February - March 2015

February / March 2015

Desert Hills Presbyterian Church

Echoes

LENT:

a journey of holiness

34605 North Tom Darlington Drive P.O. Box 874 Carefree AZ 85377 480-488-3384

Echoes

February / March 2015

IN THIS ISSUE:

04 C arilion Music Update 05 R emembering the Past,

03 Pastor's Message 04 Sister Church Visit 04 N ativity Sets and

Embracing the Future

06 L ent: A Journey of Holiness 08 C ongregational Nurse

Porcelain Angels

04 M inistry at the Heritage

09 09 10 11 12

S tephen Ministry C hronicles of Suburbia

I Love to Tell the Story Music & Arts Festival Dashboard

FEELING SOCIAL? Be sure to “like” Desert Hills Presbyterian Church on Facebook! Simply go to the DHPC website: www.deserthills.org and click the Facebook icon.

You may also type “Desert Hills Presbyterian Church” in the search bar on Facebook. We have security set so that “tagging” of photos is not permitted, so check out the page and enjoy the photos and information about your church family.

Echoes is published every other month by and for the congregation of Desert Hills Presbyterian Church in Carefree, Arizona. If you have received this publication by mistake or you would like to no longer subscribe to the magazine, simply call the DHPC office at 480-488-3384 or write to admin@deserthills.org.

would like to submit any questions, concerns or comments about the contents of this publication, please send them to editor@deserthills.org or drop them by the church office and we’ll make sure they are read and addressed as promptly as possible. Please allow 2-4 weeks for any necessary replies.

The lead time for the publication is four weeks before the first month displayed on the cover. For the April May issue, deadline for submissions is March 10.

If you have been blessed with the ability to write or take pictures and feel called to use your talents to serve the Lord, Echoes would love to have you be part of our editorial team! Just call Patrick McAvoy at 602-549-7217 or write us at editor@deserthills.org.

Contributions from any and all DHPC members are always welcome! Simply e-mail your documents and pictures to editor@deserthills.org or drop them off at the church office.

The Echoes staff welcomes any and all feedback. If you

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Pastor’s Message Jim Noble, Senior Pastor

jnoble@deserthills.org 480-488-3384

FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, the glory of the only begotten from the Father,full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) A teacher once told us, "Jesus came ‘full of GRACE and TRUTH.’ Some have chosen to stand on the word ‘GRACE,’ others have chosen to stand on the word ‘TRUTH.’ You must stand on the word 'AND' if you are to be like Christ.”

We all have met Christians who stand on the truth of the gospel and are well educated in the knowledge of the faith, but who exhibit little of the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). We are called to patiently help one another grow in the fruit of the Spirit. The irony is that at times the more you talk about the need to demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit, the more people can become entrenched in their conviction to defend the truth of the gospel.

The result is a person who is even less loving and gracious.

Likewise, we all have met Christians who are all about love and quickly surrender the truth of the gospel in order get along and love others. Again, we are called to patiently help one another grow in the understanding of the truth of the gospel. The irony is that at times the more you talk about knowing and standing up for the truth of the gospel, the more people can become entrenched in their conviction to love others. The result is a person who is even less willing to know and stand for the truth.

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One person announces, "If I'm going to error, I'm going to error on the side of defending the truth."

Another person declares, "If I'm going to error, I'm going to error on the side of loving others." At least here they acknowledge that they are erring in representing Jesus Christ. Regrettably they have chosen to let go of either love or the truth.

It is wonderful to be a part of a community of faith that strives to develop both its ability to love others and stand for the truth, refusing to sacrifice either one to satisfy the winds and waves of the times.

After all, body builders who exercise only their right or left arms look rather silly in the world. Keep up the good work DHPC! For Jesus said, “Peace be with you; as the Father sent me, I now send you.” (John 20:21) We are sent into the world as people full of grace and truth.

Peace in Christ,

Jim

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NEWS BRIEFS Fun, Fellowship, and Family: Annual Visit to

Navajo Sister Church Friday and Saturday April 24 & 25 SAVE THE DATES

Ministry at The Heritage Report On Thursday, December 11, DHPC enjoyed the monthly visit with residents of The Heritage in Carefree.

For our December visit, we took beautiful angels as gifts, courtesy of Ron and Sandi Carson! We also served communion and enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship.

We travel to The Heritage on the second Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. for a joyful time of singing, devotions, prayer, and fellowship.

Creating Nativity Sets And Porcelain Angels

See Laurann Cook, Diane Hillwig, or Karin Thomas for more details.

In November, the Music and Arts Committee sponsored workshops led

by Ron Carson (with assistance from his wife, Sandi) to create nativity sets and porcelain angels! We had a great time working at the Carson’s home, and our projects were fired in their personal kiln.

Each person went home with beautiful objects to display in their homes or to give as gifts. Many thanks to Ron and Sandi!!

New Music from the Carillon!

We are pleased to announce that we have made some upgrades to our Carillon, the system that plays music and clock chimes from the tower near the patio. In the upcoming months you may hear some familiar hymns: patriotic, gospel, Easter and Christmas Carols as we program the system to play on special occasions and during the week.

Thank you to our anonymous donor for making these upgrades possible and for all of us to enjoy more beautiful Christian music!

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REMEMBERING THE PAST, EMBRACING THE FUTURE: NANCY CLARKE

by Cathy Hoxie "You know Nancy, you're number one in our church," Nan Campbell said to Nancy Clarke one day. "What do you mean I'm number one?" she asked. "You're the person who has been a member of Desert Hills Presbyterian Church the longest!"

Nancy and her husband, Ron and their 3 children ages 12, 9 and 7, moved to Cave Creek in 1974 and soon began attending DHPC. They liked the church, but there was one thing missing—a children's Christian education program. Still they determined that this was the church they wanted for their family.

Eventually, Nancy, who had been instrumental in starting a Christian preschool in the past and was a teacher at Cave Creek Elementary school on Schoolhouse Road, started the Christian Education program at Desert Hills with a nursery in a small building.

At the time, the congregation was meeting in a small church building which stood where the current Fellowship Hall now stands. "In 1981, the church built an extension with a kitchen off the main chapel. That's where we held the Church School."

engineer, about needing a new church facility. A Building Committee was formed. The building, our current church sanctuary, was dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1989.

While Nancy’s children are all grown and Ron passed away three years ago, Nancy is still making an important contribution to our church as Elder of Children's Discipleship.

"My goal is to see how we can attract more children and their families to our church." She believes that parents, along with the Children's Discipleship program, are important for helping children develop the building blocks to understanding God's love and involvement in the life of the church. "What matters is that children are going to grow up in a Christian environment and they know that people love and support them."

Through all these years there have been many changes, but "the church has always been a part of our family life," Nancy says. Nancy and her family have made important contributions to our church over the years and have also grown and received support as members of Desert Hills Presbyterian Church.

When Dr. Glenn Carlson became the pastor in 1978, Nancy worked together with pastor Glenn's wife, Madelyn, on the Christian Ed. program. "Madelyn was a dear, sweet person who did a lot of good for the children. She also started an after school program at the church."

Nancy taught church school at DHPC for 7 years. In her professional career she went on to become the Project leader for the District's Gifted Education K-12 program and in 1986 she became principal of Cave Creek Elementary School. From 1989 - 1996 she was Assistant Superintendent for the Cave Creek School District.

The church began to outgrow the small seventyseat church. Crowds would overflow onto the patio for Christmas Eve and Easter services and each Sunday, rows of extra chairs had to be set up to accommodate the people. Pastor Glenn began talking to Nancy's husband Ron, who was an

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LENT

a journey of holiness

ASH WEDNESDAY WORSHIP SERVICE FEBRUARY 18 Lent will begin on Ash Wednesday, February 18.

You may take home your lily or tulips after the 9:45 service. Praise Service worshippers may take home their lily or tulips after the 11:00 service.

PALM SUNDAY MARCH 29

As is the tradition at Desert Hills Presbyterian Church, we will be having an Ash Wednesday Service on February 18 at 7:00 pm.

On Palm Sunday, Christians celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem.

Please put this date on your calendar as we It is the week before his death and resurrecbegin our walk toward Jerusalem, following tion and also marks the beginning of Holy Christ to the cross and then to the empty Week. tomb.

Palm Sunday Services on March 29 will be at The service will include hymns, prayers the regularly scheduled times of 8:30, 9:45 and the placement of ashes as a sign of our and 11:00 am. condition and repentance. Communion by Intinction will also be served.

TULIPS AND LILIES FOR EASTER The sign up chart for tulips and lilies will be posted in the Narthex and also in the Fellowship Center beginning Sunday, March 8. This is a lovely way to honor a loved one or to celebrate a special occasion. The last day to sign up is, March 29.

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MAUNDY THURSDAY APRIL 2

GOOD FRIDAY APRIL 3

We will be observing Maundy Thursday with a special service in our Sanctuary on Thursday, April 2, at 7:00 pm.

Our Holy Week special services continue with a Good Friday service, which will be held in our Sanctuary on Friday April 3 at 7:00 p.m.

This is the Thursday before Easter, the day on which Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples.

He shared a meal with them which is known as the Last Supper. Communion by intinction will be served.

At this service we remember and reflect upon the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary.

EASTER SERVICES APRIL 5 On April 5, we commemorate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We will be holding FOUR Easter Services this year to worship our risen Christ.

Sunrise service begins at 6:30 am outside in the Church Courtyard.

Traditional services will be held 8:00 am and 9:30 in the Sanctuary.

Our Praise service will be held at 11:00 am in the Fellowship Center.

Communion will not be served this Sunday but will be served April 12.

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CONGREGATIONAL

NURSE'S CORNER

Mary Kay Thurston, RN FCN | 480-220-6679 | nurse@deserthills.org

Guard Your Heart This Valentine’s Month!

In February we celebrate Valentine’s Day and “love” the emotion of our hearts and minds. Let’s think about our hearts.

They are made up of muscle, blood vessels and nerves. Our emotions affect our hearts, making them beat faster or slower depending on our moods. The Bible teaches us many things regarding our hearts such as:

well to angioplasty and stents that flatten out the plaque. In some women, plaque forms an even layer on the vessel lining which means drug therapy works better than angioplasty.

Women also respond to aspirin differently. In women, it seems more effective in preventing stroke while in men it is more effective for heart attack prevention.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” -- Proverbs 4:23 NLT

For a woman, the most important thing to do is talk to her physician. She should discuss her health history and determine potential risks for heart disease. The next step would be to create a plan to change or impact those risks and follow the doctor’s instructions. Women are the same but different. It is important to find out individual needs for men and women and then address them in a proactive way.

We need to guard our hearts against negative thoughts, hatred and evil but also against physically damaging habits such as eating too much or eating the wrong types of food, being too sedentary, lack of exercise, excess alcohol, smoking, and too much stress. Our hearts are vital to our physical life here on Earth and we should do all we can to keep them healthy.

(Source: www.mayoclinic.com)

There is a misconception that cancer is the greatest health risk for women, especially breast cancer. In reality, heart disease kills more women than all forms of cancer put together. Minority women have the highest death rate from heart disease while all women have a higher death rate from stroke than men. Part of the problem is that heart disease is displayed differently in women than in men, so it becomes difficult to recognize in women if the observer doesn’t know the difference in symptoms.

The classic symptoms for heart attacks are severe chest pain, a squeezing sensation in the chest lasting 5-10 minutes, pain radiating down the left arm or profuse sweating. Up to 50% of women who suffer heart attacks have symptoms that are considered atypical. These include shortness of breath, indigestion, pain in the jaw, shoulder, or back, sudden nausea or vomiting, unexplained fatigue, fainting, or even dizziness.

Anytime a female experiences these symptoms, she should seek medical attention by calling 911. Even a slight hesitation could lead to severe consequences if she is having a cardiac episode.

Plaque buildup in the arteries can be different in women also.

In men it tends to be clumpy and irregular which responds

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Stephen Ministry To Develop Christlike Character There is only one way to develop the habits of Christlike character. We must practice them and that takes time.

Habits take time to develop. There are no instant habits.

Remember that our character is the sum total of our habits.

We can’t claim to be kind unless we are habitually kind-we show kindness without even thinking about it.

Disciplines. It is sometimes tedious work, one small step at a time.

Believe God is working in our life even when we don’t feel it. God is never in a hurry, but He is always on time.

He will use our entire life to prepare us for our role in eternity.

We can’t claim to have integrity unless it is our habit to always be honest.

A spouse who is faithful to his/her partner most of the time is not faithful at all. Our habits define our character.

If we practice something over time, we get good at it.

Repetition is the mother of character and skill. These character building habits are often called Spiritual

The "Chronicles of Suburbia" Christmas Musical was a Great Success!

We also thank the congregation and families who filled the fellowship center to see the musical—it was a wonderful evening!

The musical “The Chronicles of Suburbia” was presented by 12 talented children. It told the story of the three Wexler kids who were attracted to a pine branch in their closet and wandered into a magical adventure to learn the true meaning of Christmas.

The behind-thescenes adult support made the musical possible, and we thank the support people and families who faithfully brought the cast members each week.

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PEGGY HEYDRICK, AS TOLD TO CATHY HOXIE And Isaiah boldly says, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me." Romans 10:20 (NIV)

Early Days

As a child, I went to church and Sunday school and, through the years, we went to church as a couple and a family but only because it was what you were supposed to do. I really didn't get it and I realize now that going to church and sitting in a pew doesn't make you a Christian. In those days I never even thought of myself as a Christian. I wasn't even seeking Him.

Move to Arizona

We moved to the area in 2000 and thought we should start looking for a church. We had gone to a Presbyterian Church in Pennsylvania, so we came to visit at Desert Hills. I had two rather silly conditions for a church - one, the hymnal had to have Rock of Ages in it and, two, the music had to be upbeat. Sure enough Rock of Ages was there in the hymnal and as soon as the congregation started singing the first song, Dave Phillips, the pastor, stopped everything and said, "Wait a minute. We have to pick this up!" I had no idea at the time that the Holy Spirit was working, but he was. So we stayed.

Susie

In 2005, we had a desire to go visit my sister-in-law, Susie, in Florida. I had heard that she had begun a Christian life but I didn't know any more about it than that. That first night, we stayed up all night talking. She showed me her hand that had previously been horribly crippled with arthritis and was now fine. She had been healed. She talked about knowing God and talking to God and hearing from Him. I didn't understand it, but it seemed like something wonderful was beginning to happen.

Holy Spirit working

After we got home, we went to church that next Sunday.

The new pastor, Jim Noble began to preach and we were amazed to hear him say, "Perhaps you've been talking to a brother or sister about the Lord." Chris and I just looked at each other - another coincidence? I still had no idea that

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this was the Holy Spirit working. After that, I began to have a hunger for Bible study. I used to say to my mother, "How can you just sit and read that book all the time?" Now, I know. I was in five Bible Studies that year and God started waking me up early every morning to spend time with Him. I would go to bed at night excited about what was going to happen the next morning.

Altar Call

It was June 26th of 2005. Chris was away fishing with friends and I was in church. I don't remember what the sermon was about, but for some reason I began sobbing.

Then Pastor Jim called for people to come forward to give their life to Christ. I knew I just had to get down there even though I was stuck in the middle and had to work my way through everyone who was leaving. I went forward and gave my life to Christ that day. When I got home I called Susie and I said, "I am so happy I can hardly stand it." She said, "You're not just happy, you're full of joy! Happiness comes and goes, but joy comes from the Lord and lasts forever." I was ecstatic. I knew something had changed.

Altar Call #2

I prayed a long time for my husband Chris. He was fine with what I was doing, he just didn't want any part of it for himself. And then June 20th, 2009, Jim had a second altar call and this time Chris went forward to receive Christ! After that I so wanted him to go to the Saturday morning Men's Bible Study, but he had no interest. Once we had a Jamaican staying here with us and Chris was supposed to take him to the Bible study. I said "Chris, you have to take him up there and bring him back anyway. Why don't you just stay for the study?" He did and he's never stopped going since that day.

Changes

Everything is just wonderful now and our life together is absolutely fantastic. We know each other so much more and we allow each other to be who we are. Before, I could be demanding and angry, but the Lord has changed that.

I realize now that my old life has been slowly taken away.

Bit by bit, you die to it and move on. I guess the key word in my mind is obedience. We give our life to him, give our days to him, spend our time with him, listening to him and getting to know Him.

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NEWS BRIEFS MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL – FEBRUARY 20 & 21, 2015

God has laid everything in front of us and now we see it. I was once asked, "How did you get through all those years without knowing the Lord?" I don't know. Until Him it was just a "rat race." I thought I was in charge and I just did everything that had to be done. I know now that He had to have been there helping, but I didn't know that at the time.

I can look back through my life and see how He saved me so many times from serious car accidents. I often wondered why I had to wait so long before coming to Him.

Join us on Friday evening, February 20 and Saturday, February 21st for Creative Fun and Fellowship!

Festivities run from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are only $10 per person, $25 per family.

Lunch on Saturday is FREE! Sign up for workshops on the patio February 8 and 15 or contact:

But, I also know that He came at just the right time to help me meet some of the worst things that I have had to face in my life - Chris' health issues and our grandson's struggles.

He has said to me, "Do you think I can't take care of them?"

I know He can and I constantly rest in that. His timing is perfect and I know He's in charge.

• Karin at 480-488-3384 • Diane at 480-459-5063 dianehillwig@gmail.com Payment is due at time of sign-up!

Be a Picasso, a Pavarotti or a Martha Stewart for the day!

It’s so amazing. Life is beautiful and will always be. Everything is good. And for those things which don't appear to be good or don't feel so good we still say, "Thank you."

Workshops include:

Peggy has made many contributions to our church since she joined in 2000. She was Elder of Children's Discipleship from 2011-2014. She has also been a Parish Shepherd and Deacon.

She has served on the Women's Ministry Committee and been the church librarian.

Music Just 4 Kids – Carol Young (K-5th grade-Friday night only) Arm Knitting – Binka Schwan (scarf/cowl) Guitar – Karin Thomas Can You Hear Me Now? – Larry Soughan (Ages 12+; public speaking) Drawing Adventures – Ron Carson & Joe Gilleland (Ages 10-106) Stamped Greeting Cards – Sue Gilleland (16+ ages) Small Bites – Judie Preston (delicious appetizers) Creative Photography Basics – Teri Ferro and Linda Covey Quilting a Pillow – Vicky Crowe and Mary Denaro (basic quilting techniques) Origami – Teri Ferro

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Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid PAID Cave Creek, AZ Permit No. 9

34605 North Tom Darlington Drive P.O. Box 874 Carefree AZ 85377 480-488-3384

or current resident

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