Newsletter 07.02.14

July 2, 2014

CHURCH OF THE SERVANT Bi-Weekly NEWSLETTER

Issue: 14.13

The Greatest Gift of Ministry As a pastor there are many responsibilities and opportunities that come my way. But the best ones are when the Holy Spirit inspires the heart of our lay people and they come to me with a vision for ministry. Over a year ago, Sherri Price, a faithful longtime member of Servant ,came to me and introduced me to a beautiful, non-complex ministry of prayer called Stand in the Gap. Stand in the Gap was birthed in Tulsa and is finding its way into churches around the state. A Stand in the Gap family is composed of a group of six people who will commit to meeting with an individual twice a month for a year to help the person through a time of transition in their lives. A year ago, very organically and quietly, our first SITG family began meeting. Below is the result of the commitment and love of that group over the last year.

Taylor’s Story

Dr. Robyn Goggs Associate Minister

“My dad was the dad every little girl dreams of having,” says 20-year-old Stand in the Gap neighbor, Taylor. He helped pick out prom dresses, gave surprise presents, and made everyone laugh. He openly expressed joy and honestly discussed his faith and his struggles. And as Taylor says, “He never missed the chance to tell me how much I meant to him. My family had more fun with each other than with anyone else.”

Taylor’s father, a Methodist minister, passed away suddenly in 2011. Taylor was a senior in high school. His death isolated Taylor, her younger sister, and their mother from the church community they had called home for thirteen years.

A year and a half later, after what she calls “kind of a breakdown,” Taylor dropped out of college and moved back home. She settled into the feeling that “God didn’t care” about her situation. “I thought, if God isn’t working, I’m not going to talk to him.”

It was hard to find consolation in their home church, as the church was also grieving the loss of their beloved pastor. They knew they would need a fresh start, but were not ready to attend another church in those early days of grief. Instead, they turned inward, caring for each other in their grief. Only a few years earlier, Taylor had been confident that she would follow her father into a career in Christian ministry. But in that season of mourning, Taylor was anything but confident.

A family friend named Robyn Goggs reached out to Taylor. And eventually, she introduced Taylor to Stand in the Gap. When Taylor first met her Stand in the Gap family (made up of women from Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City), one of the volunteers, Sherri, described her as “pensive, quiet, confused, and extremely sad.” After her father’s death “she was having a hard time

finding God. It made so much sense to me that Jesus would want us to come around someone in crisis and love them through it.”

The seven women in her Stand in the Gap family bridge a wide age range. At the first meeting, Taylor says, “I shared more than I expected to because I knew that their wisdom spanned a whole lifetime.”

Over the following months, each member of the group made known where they needed to see God move in their lives. For some, the illness of elderly parents was causing grief.

For others, children growing up and leaving home was bringing sadness. And for a few, deaths in the family, even from years ago, continued to evoke mourning.

“Hearing their stories and being a part of their lives, made my life richer and allowed me to start healing,” Taylor says. Although most of the participants were unknown to each other before Stand in the Gap, Taylor says, “Each of their stories had a way of affecting one another and teaching us something.”

Karla, a volunteer, was “really struggling” with her daughter moving away from home to attend college. In the midst of that struggle, she got a call asking if she’d like to volunteer for a Stand in the Gap family around Taylor, a girl her daughter’s age. Karla says, “I wanted to be helpful, but I was also searching for something.” At the end of one year together, she says, “Each time we’ve met, someone has said something that I really needed to hear. We are all inspired by God’s grace and love for us.”

Another Stand in the Gap family member, Bobbie, would agree. “We hear God through each other in the most unexpected ways.”

And as Sherri says, “For all of us, it’s been an experience that we didn’t anticipate. It’s been much deeper.”

The greatest gift of ministry is seeing lives changed by Christ working through others. This is real ministry. I feel so blessed to have watched this last year unfold for this group and see how their lives have been changed. If you are interested in being in a Stand in the Gap family this fall, pray and be in contact with me.

Blessings, Dr. Robyn Goggs www.sitgm.org Page 2 I ChurchoftheServant.com

Missions “Bless our Schools” Begins this Fall in Putnam City Schools Planning Event - Tuesday, July 8 at 6 p.m.

Children are one of our focus missions here at Church of the Servant, and right now we are in the exploration and planning stages of entering into a partnership with several Putnam City schools, similar to our previous partnership with Eisenhower. The dialogue has begun with Dennis Elementary, Hefner Middle School, and PC North High School as partnering schools. This might intrigue and surprise you that there is a need even in these schools for volunteer support! There is a need for those who will volunteer to go into the school and assist teachers, decorate bulletin boards, do handyman type work for small repairs, the clean up, organization, and Friday running of the food pantry that serves 60 students on a weekly basis at Hefner. If you are interested in how we will be involved and would like to help develop these relationships, join us for a mission meeting on Tuesday, July 8 at 6 p.m. in the South Conference Room, or contact Dr. Robyn Goggs at rgoggs@ churchoftheservant.com.

Summer Opportunities to Serve in Mission

July and August Mission Focus -- Bring school supplies for teachers.

July 6 - Freedom Boxes for troops July 8 - Meeting for Bless our Schools Team July 14-25 - Help fit children for uniforms at Skyline July 16 - Sunday Blood Drive Sunday, August 3 - Guatemala Mission Presentation, 9:15 and 10:45

SAVE THE DATE

Sunday, Oct 26 - Fit to Serve 5K in Gaillardia

Introducing our Mission Intern

Tim Hedrick has been actively serving in church since he was a child. His father was a bi-vocational youth director who used all the vacation from his secular job to take the youth groups he served on mission trips. He always took his family with him, so from a young age, Tim knew what it meant to serve others.

Tim is a graduate of Putnam City North High School and is a senior at UCO, finishing a degree in Business Law. He grew up attending Putnam City United Methodist Church and Crossings Community Church. It was as a teenager that the seeds of service that had been planted in his childhood took root and he found his own love for serving others.

He is a member of Servant now and, as the mission intern, will be assisting Robyn Goggs and the Mission Council by being a community liaison in our partnerships in the OKC area. He will be helping to lay the groundwork for our new ministry at Hefner Middle School, maintaining our connection with St. John’s and Safe Kids Oklahoma, and assisting in the practical tasks of maintaining our mission programs. We welcome Tim as a new addition to our Missions Ministry.

Project Transformation

We send a special “Thank You” to all the volunteers who participated in reading with the children, and who took meals to interns during our Project Transformation week. Your commitment to this wonderful ministry in our conference is so appreciated. Our senior high youth read with children last Wednesday, which was great for the kids as well as for our youth!

SERVANT July 2, 2014 I Page 3

Youth Mission OKC

Mission OKC was a great experience! This being one of my first mission trips, it was amazing! Two of the afternoons we went to the boys and girls club. The boys and girls club is part of the Salvation Army organization. When we first arrived we had to play a game of dodge ball, we lost to an army of little kids. After that it was free time for all of the kids. I went outside and played kickball with a big group of kids. While playing kickball, the score being 2-10, I was just watching the kids.

They don’t care about anything except for having fun. This was really inspiring to witness because most people have to win or they just give up, it shows how Gods light shines through them even though they are in rough situations. After that I went inside to the Lego room. There was a little girl who looked about 3 years old.

I looked over and saw that Hillary Neaves had a crazy hair do and Taylor Barnett was getting hers done. I walked in and immediately she wanted to do my hair.

This was such a small thing but it brought her so much joy that it brightened my day! The next day when we came back a little boy was just walking around with a football. I asked if he wanted to play. He agreed. About 10 minutes later Brayden Lowry walks up and we started playing a game to see who could get to it first. 15 minutes later he asked to go to the computer room so we offered to go with him, he only wanted Brayden to go, but I went anyways. Later on I figured out the little boy wanted Brayden because he didn’t have a father and he just wanted a guy to be in his life. Although he may not know his father, God will always put a father figure in his life, but even better, God will always stand high above as the ultimate Father!

This reminds me how blessed I am to have a father figure in my life! Just being able to witness God working in the life of others can change your life as well. Being in student ministries and being able to go on this trip was truly amazing!

- Rachel Sanders, Freshman This past week of Mission OKC was truly a blessing. It was the second day, Tuesday, in which we went to City Rescue Mission. City Rescue Mission serves as a homeless shelter, and that day our two groups were assigned with the job of ripping tags off of shirts and watching over the kids in the daycare.

We divided our two groups, one to the daycare, the other to ripping tags off of shirts. As soon as our group arrived at the daycare center a little girl named Kamari and her two little brothers ran up to me. We hit it off right away. We began with a game of tag, then went to a beat-boxing contest, and then we just hung out.

Even though I went to the place as a volunteer, I feel like if there was anyone who got more out of it between the kids there and myself, it was me. The little girl, Kamari, gave me a flower of my favorite color as we were about to leave the place.

She truly touched me and that is why I plan on returning.

- Isaac Wheeler, Junior My name is Emily and I’m a senior. I had the opportunity to go on mission OKC. One of the days we went to the infant crisis services. While we were there: we labeled formula, built shelves, put food packages together, hung up clothes, and bundled diapers together. It was incredible to see how passionate the workers at ICS are with helping mothers and their babies. Also being able to work alongside people I hadn’t really had a chance to get to know yet was amazing. It was overall an incredible week.

- Emily Jordan, Senior Page 4 I ChurchotheServant.com

Adult Know God’s Story, Tell God’s Story!

Coming this September, Sunday Morning Classes and small groups will have the opportunity to encounter The Story! The Story is an exciting new experience that unites and equips participants as they engage the Bible. Reading like a novel, The Story offers a seamless, compelling narrative. Condensed into 31 accessible chapters, The Story sweeps readers into an unfolding chronological progression of Bible characters and events.

We want to invite everyone to consider participating in this 31-week journey! Sunday Morning Classes and small groups should begin discussing the possibility of participating.

For everyone who is not a part of a class, but is interested in participating in The Story, you will be able to join a participating class. Registration for The Story begins in August at church and online at churchoftheservant.com.

Discovering and Doing God’s Will

On Sunday, August 31, Dr. Robert Gorrell will begin a compelling new sermon series called, Discovering and Doing God’s Will. Aimed at going more in-depth and helping answer the “Why?” questions with which we all struggle at one time or another, a 4-week class will be offered each Sunday in September taught by Prudy Gorrell. It will meet in the Chapel of the Cross at 9:15 a.m. on Sundays, September 7 - 28.

Register online at ChurchoftheServant.com or at Church of the Servant beginning Sunday, August 10.

Disciple I is a Great Study!

How familiar are you with the Old and New Testaments? Does it seem too overwhelming to try? It can be when you are reading it by yourself. Why don’t you consider reading it with others beginning this Fall?

Allen Warren and Alex Wright are teaching Disciple I, “Becoming Disciples through Bible Study”. This is an overview of both the Old and New Testaments spread out over 2-ten week sessions. It will truly help you understand and become familiar with the stories and teachings of the Bible. The only cost is for the purchase of the manual which is $35.

It will meet Sundays from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. beginning September 14 through November 16 for session 1. Then it will resume Sunday, January 4, 2015 and end March 8, for session 2. Registration begins Sunday, August 17 at Church of the Servant or online at www.churchoftheservant.com

Disciple II is the Next Step

So, you have taken Disciple I and are ready for the next step. Then Disciple II is the Bible study in which you will want to participate. Blair Schoeb is teaching this in-depth study which focuses on four key books of the Bible. He will take you through Genesis, Exodus, Luke and Acts over 2-ten week sessions beginning in September.

It will meet Sundays from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. beginning September 14 through November 16 for session 1. Then it will resume Sunday, January 4, 2015 and end March 8, for session 2. Registration begins Sunday, August 17 at Church of the Servant or online at www. churchoftheservant.com. The only cost is for the purchase of the manual which is $35.

SERVANT July 2, 2014 I Page 5

Children Come To KIDZ CAMP With Us!

It is a great experience at UM Canyon Camp with so many fun and crazy things to do! The Church of the Servant theme, Bible Boot Camp (for children entering 1st thru 5th grades), will help us strengthen our faith and help us to use the tools that God has given us all.

Privates (children) and Drill Sergeants (adults) will strive together to become closer to our General, Jesus Christ! Our camp theme is Ephesians 6:11-18. The small group lessons, games, crafts, and other activities will be based on putting on the full armor of God. Last year was my first experience with this camp, and I do have to say, WOW! It is easy to see why so many return each summer!

Immersing yourself in a weekend-long activity enables you to meet and get to know so many more people, as well as really hone in on what the weekend is really all about. I was so very touched by the adults that were there giving their time to build God’s children in the faith. The activities kept the children on the move and interacting with each other. New friendships were made while existing ones were strengthened. Worship was wonderful, with great messages and songs. The fun never ended!

This year will be even better, I am certain! There is still time for you to sign up! Registrations are available at the Welcome Centers at church or online at churchoftheservant.com. BUT HURRY! Registration ends July 7. You will be blessed!

Hope you can come!

Cindy Brackenbury Elementary Coordinator

Missions

Guatemala Mission Team will share their trip on Sunday, August 3 9:15 in Chapel of the Cross - 10:45 in the Centrum

Here is an experience from team member Jordan Picchione: “Home is where the heart is” is the absolutely perfect quote for me when it comes to my trip to Guatemala because when I went on the trip last year, I left my whole heart in that country, not knowing whether or not I would be able to return. This year was my second year in a row to go with Church of the Servant, and I must say, it never let me down.

When I went last year, I was a little shy because it was my first time out of the country and my first time on a major mission trip like that, so it was a little difficult for me to open up and venture out. When I returned this year, I was completely openhearted and vulnerable to whatever might come my way.

I didn’t think I was going to be able to return this year due to college, and money, but with blessings from God, I was provided a way.

It’s very difficult for me to put into words how much the people of Guatemala and Guatemala itself, means to me. I have a special bond with the kids there, they love anyone and everyone, and you can’t help but love them back. VBS is always one of the Page 6 I ChurchoftheServant.com

hardest parts for me because I get so easily attached to the kids. It’s like God puts them there for me to love on. I can’t explain how much I love them! They are dirty, but they are the most lovable people in the entire world.

Last year, in the article I wrote, I mentioned that my heart was broken in the best way possible. Here I am a year later, and that statement is even more so true this year.

We worked with one family this year, and we really got attached to them. All of the teens on the trip made a very close bond with the children in the home we renovated. I feel like we are all a big family now. Saying goodbye to those kids is always one of the hardest things to do.

I go, not knowing what to expect, and then God works wonders and puts these beautiful people in my life. New and old, they are my heart. Seeing people from last year was one of the coolest things, because they actually remembered me. It was crazy and really emotional to me. They made such a huge impact on me, but I must have done something right if they remembered who I

was. I could not go on without these relationships because this is what I’m good at. I’m good at loving those beautiful hearts.

One of my favorite moments of the week was when I got to reunite with one of my sweet sisters from last year. I met her at Potter’s House last year, and we just clicked. We have kept in contact throughout the year, and the moment we saw each other we both just burst into tears. It was like a weight was lifted off of my shoulder because we were together again and I knew she was safe. I also got to meet my sponsor child for the first time, and I absolutely fell in love with her. It was such an amazing trip!

My heart is forever in Guatemala and nothing could ever change that. I fell in love with the country, the people, and the kids one year ago, and I will continue to forever love it.

My heart is there, and I cannot wait to return again to see those sweet, sweet smiles once again, because I know I will be back.

- Jordan Picchione

Our Prayers

Our Life Together

u Bert and Peggy Akins as Peggy recuperates from an illness. u Lloyd and Carolyn Bean as Lloyd deals with health issues.

Our Sympathy

Celebrating

u Dan and Cathy Bush at the birth of their grandson, Patrick Gordon Sanders. The proud parents and proud sister are Geoffrey, Nancy, and Catharine Sanders.

u Sue Knight and Family at the death of Sue’s husband, Rev. Fred Knight. u Jack and Louise Pebworth at the death of their son, Ross Pebworth.

u William and Diana Franklin as William deals with health issues. u Trent, Stephanie, and Hunter Gibson as Trent recuperates from surgery. u Ron and Sharon Hendricks as Ron faces surgery at Summit Medical Center. u Fred and Marguerite Holloway as Fred recuperates from surgery. u Marcus, Nicki, Luke, Laney, and Holly Humphrey as their friend, Austin Needham, recuperates from injuries from a soccer game. u Kent and Linda Kepler as Linda deals with health issues and is under hospice care. u Sue Knight as Sue’s niece, Anne Lafitte, recuperates from surgery at St. Anthony Hospital. u Joe and Mary Legako as Mary recuperates from a procedure. u Jerry and Sally Liles as their granddaughter, Madeline Carter, deals with health issues. u Jeanne Mapes as Jeanne deals with health issues and faces surgery. u Allen and Judy Marlin as Judy deals with health issues and faces surgery at Integris Baptist Medical Center. u Ted and Sue McCourry as Sue undergoes physical therapy. u Tad and Margy Milewski as Margy’s mother, Nancy Ayres, recuperates from surgery. u Mark and Sheree Norman as Sheree recuperates from outpatient surgery. u Tom Oden as Tom deals with health issues. u Judy Raulston as Judy deals with health issues and undergoes tests. u Sandra Runnels as Sandra’s daughter, Terri Green, faces surgery at St. Anthony Hospital. u Bob and Nancy Smith as Bob deals with health issues. u Bill and Cleda Spaeth as Cleada recuperates from surgery and is hospitalized at OU Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital.

13.2 is currently looking for 2 volunteers to work the middle shift once a month on Sunday mornings from 9:10-10:50.

Please contact Dana Israel if you are interested! It’s a fun way to get involved in our church.

Dana Israel - 918-914-0630 Disrael@churchoftheservant.com

Summer is officially here! Earthglow has awesome outdoor dishes… reusable “paper” plates, reusable red Solo cups, serving pieces… these sold out twice last year, so hurry in! All of Earthglow’s profits go to missions.

Listen to Our Sermons on Podcast!

Great new! We now have a sermon Podcast of the Celebration services and Servant 923 services! You can listen to the sermons on your computer, on your iPhone/iPad/Android devices, or you can subscribe to the iTunes Podcast.

Website: churchoftheservant.podbean.com iPhone/iPad/Android: churchoftheservant.podbean.com/mobile iTunes: Church of the Servant Podcast Website: servant923.podbean.com iPhone/iPad/Android: servant923.podbean.com/mobile iTunes: Servant 923 Podcast

/ChurchoftheServantOKC @servantchurch

Music

Marvin Matthews will be our guest musician July 13 in our 8:15, 9:15 and 10:45 services of worship. This is Marvin’s second visit to Servant, so you know you are in for a treat!

Make plans to hear this extraordinary Christian singer. You will be blessed!

SERVANT July 2, 2014 I Page 7

Church of the Servant

14343 N MacArthur Blvd Oklahoma City, OK 73142-9725

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

SUNDAY!

Join us for a powerful sermon series on Exodus. The Exodus story reveals a God we can know and trust. Service times: 9:15 & 10:45 in the Celebration Center. We invite you to also attend our Chapel service at 8:15 and our Servant 923 service (at 9:23) in the Centrum.