discovering god in creation...the man said, "little piece of wood, without these rifts and...
TRANSCRIPT
Discovering God in Creation
Serving you at Grace United Methodist Church
Pastor - Alan Atchison
Secretary - Jane Hubler
Choir Director - Diana Paul
Building Maintenance - James Carvell
Custodian - Pat Guarneri
Organist - Charlotte Gingrich-Mull
New Grace Praise Band - Ken Rudisill
Nursery Coordinator - Nicole Hooper
Noah’s Crew Preschool - Lisa VanOlden
and Brenda Fultz
Elementary Lifesavers - Tracy Barcavage
Jr./Sr. High Youth Ministries - Alicia Spicher
Christian Ed & Family Ministries - Brian Cooper
Church Office
982 Medical Rd. Millersburg PA 17061
(717) 692 - 2838
Email - [email protected]
Pastor Alan Atchison
Parsonage (717) 692 - 2896
Cell (570) 847 - 2939
www. gracemillersburg.org
The Parable of the Flute
"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." (Hebrews 12:11) As the story goes, a little piece of wood once bitterly complained because its owner kept whittling away at it, gouging it and making holes in it. But the one who was cutting it paid no attention to the stick's protests. He was making a flute out of that piece of ebony, and he was too wise to stop when the wood complained so bitterly. The man said, "Little piece of wood, without these rifts and holes, and all this cutting, you'd be just a stick forever - a useless piece of ebony. What I am doing now may seem as if I am destroying you, but instead it will change you into a beautiful flute. Your sweet music will charm the souls of many and comfort sorrowing hearts. All my cutting on you is the making of you, for this is the only way you can be a blessing in the world." The meaning of this little parable is clear: That flute, whose music will blend so sweetly in the orchestra, was made a flute only by the knife and file that filled it with rifts and holes - which seemed to be its very destruction. But the purpose of the master was that it might become a melodious instrument to the praise of God. The Lord is shaping us. Let's be patient and allow His chastening to do its work in our lives so we will be able to praise Him... from Our Daily Bread - M.R. DeHaan
A huge THANK YOU to all who helped to make this year’s VBS
a success. It would not have been possible without all of your dedication, donations, and ESPECIALLY your prayers.
Thank you all!
Lisa VanOlden and Alicia Spicher
Bring A Friend !
Sunday, August 12th
Fall Kick-Off Sunday Sept. 9th
One Service of Worship at 10:30am, followed by a covered dish meal in the
Family Life Center.
Why not invite a friend, or reach out to someone who has not been in church for a while.
It is shaping up to be a Glory-Filled day !!!
Jen Miller cancer Benefit Saturday, Aug 11th - 2pm in the
Family Life Center
Come out for an afternoon of Bingo, Fun, and Food!
We are celebrating our newest additions to the Grace UMC family !
#1 - Brian Cooper
The SPRC Committee is excited to introduce the newest member of the Grace UMC Staff - Brian Cooper. Brian will serve as the full-time Christian Education & Family Ministries Coordinator at Grace UMC beginning this month. He brings a vast experience in pastoral care, education, organizational skills, and programming, as well as an unquenchable thirst
to see people get connected, or re-connected, to the very source of abundant life - Jesus Christ. Welcome, Brian.
#2 - The Pavilion
Our New Outdoor Pavilion is finished !!!
… and ready to be put to God’s good use.
A HUGE Thank You to all who have contributed in any way toward the realization of this dream.
Already Scheduled Events:
Aug 29 - Grace Choir Picnic 4 - 9pm
Sept 28 - Family Fun Night 5 - 7:30pm w/ Chili Cook-off and lots of fun stuff to do.
We can’t wait to see how God uses Our newest additions for His Glory !!!
Growing in Grace
Team Report
Growing in Grace is the name of the team of individuals that has taken on the responsibility of moving forward with the ideas suggested in the June 23rd Church Planning Session.
The members of this team are Alicia Spicher, Becky Witmer, Lori Schoffstall, Lisa VanOlden, Brian Cooper, Janine Boyer, Robin Davis, Pastor Alan and John Orr. Collectively, we agree that our greatest team member is the Holy Spirit, whom we are trusting to guide us.
Many great ideas were shared during that planning session, and the team wants you to know that no suggestion has been lost. While it is not possible for us to address all of the suggestions at one time, we have met twice since then to prioritize and focus on where we could have the great-est positive impact.
Many suggestions were related to Christian Education, and with the fall programming season soon upon us, this is where we chose to start. Alt-hough the fall classes list is not finalized, we believe that you will find a wide variety of opportunities available for you to choose from as you con-tinue to grow your faith.
At our August meeting, we will expand our focus to see what
other suggestions we can begin to work on to expand and improve our ministry at Grace Church. What ministry keeps popping into your head that you believe would serve a need you or others have? If you have a positive suggestion that you feel would improve our church, pray about it, be bold, and take a step of faith. Pass your idea on to one of the team members. Let’s see how we can work together to make it happen.
The Growing In Grace Team
Holy Communion will be shared in worship on the following dates: Aug. 5th, Sept. 2nd Oct. 7th, Nov. 4th Dec. 2nd, Jan. 6th
Operation Christmas Child Update
I know that this is August and the OCC collection is in November, but we are going to change things up a little this year. In past years we relied in part on donated items such as toys, toothbrushes, school supplies, etc. If you have been purchasing items we will gladly accept them. However, we have access to an OCC Warehouse where we can buy in bulk at greatly reduced prices. For example: a school kit containing crayons, a coloring book, pencils, and paper is $1.00; toothbrushes $0.12 each; T-shirts $1.25; socks $0.38; etc. Our plan is to make these basic items available for sale as a start for your individual shoe boxes - possibly on soup and sandwich days. The intent is that hopefully with the reduced cost, if you normally do 1 shoebox, for the same money this year you can do 2 or 3 shoeboxes, or with the money saved on the basics, you can spend more money on a “WOW” item or a more expensive article of clothing. See me if you have questions. We are also offering warehouse items to the other churches that bring their shoeboxes to our collection center. This will require some additional manpower to fill these orders. If you would like to help with this new ministry, please let me know. Thank you for your commitment to OCC !!!
John Orr
August 5th ~ 8:30 am Nicole Hooper
10:30 am Shannon Vallier/Kristen Snyder
August 12 ~ Picnic at the River
August 19 ~ 8:30 am Nicole Hooper
10:30 am Nicole Hooper / Help Needed
August 26 ~ 8:30 am ~ Nicole Hooper
10:30 am Nicole Hooper / Help Needed
August 1, 2018 Jr High 6-7:30 and Sr High 7-8:30 -
normal youth night
August 8, 2018 Jr High 6-7:30 and Sr High 7-8:30 -
normal youth night
August 15, 2018 5:00-8:30pm Combined Youth Paint-ball - more details to follow
August 22, 2018 Jr High 6-7:30 and Sr High 7-8:30 -
normal youth night
August 29, 2018 6-8:00pm - Combined Youth night at the
River - kayaking, s'mores making over the fire and
games. Parent pick-up and drop off at the church
news
Ladies August Prayer Breakfast
will be held on Tuesday, August 7 at First UMC New Life Center, Millersburg. The Lykens UMC ladies will be our hostesses. An offering will be taken
for the Chubb Family, missionaries to Mexico. Breakfast is $8.00, and the doors open at 8:00 a.m. Please make your reservations no later than by the Friday before the breakfast. For reservations please call: The New Life Center @ (717) 692-2719.
Aug. 1 Dave Harman
Aug. 2 Cayden Heim
Braden Kauffman
Donna Peifer
Aug. 3 Morgan Harris
Aug. 4 Kiersten Sabolsky
Aug. 5 Collin Dreibelbis
Brittney Ebersole
Aug. 8 Christ Lukunich
Marilyn Shertzer
Aug. 9 Jordan Peiffer
Michelle Peiffer
Aug. 10 Ashley Fulkroad
Brian Goodling
Shyann Witmer
Aug. 11 Joyce DeWees
Larry Paul
Megan Shade
Aug. 12 Brandon Donmoyer
Jordan Sass
Aug. 13 Tim Bordner
Ina Schoffstall
Aug. 14 Dave Buffington
Aug. 15 Carol Shoop
Aug. 17 Dave Lentz
Aug. 18 Megan Boyer
Aug. 19 Jordyn Green
Jesse Starr
Aug. 21 Karen Miller
Aug. 23 Tyler Dreher
RoxAnne Franklin Brian Paul
Aug. 25 Lori Schoffstall
Aug. 28 Steve Douty
Sydney Spicher
Sarah McAlanis
Aug. 29 Jamie Long
Eric Shoop
Brandi Weiss
Aug. 31 Lori Leaman
Tracy Erdman
80 Plus Club Members for
August
Alvin Baker Aug. 4
Betty Zimmerman Aug. 4
Miriam Rubendall Aug. 10
Fietta Fesig Aug. 27
Tom Miller Aug. 27
Barb Douty Aug. 31
8-02 Dave & Janine Boyer
8-07 Rick & Cheryl Ibberson
8-07 Henry & Francis Reinoehl
8-09 Paul & Amanda Morris
8-10 Larry & Diana Paul
8-17 Rusty & Jane Hubler
8-21 Alan & Cathy Atchison
8-23 Mike & Ronnie Davis
8-25 Terry & Holly Kerwin
8-27 Todd & Kori Bell
Hearts of Grace and JFY Packs
Can you believe the summer is on the down-swing? This summer, we served 20 families with “jiffy packs” for a total of 50 children, they were all so appreciative.
We are currently gearing up for back to school !Backpacks will be delivered to the schools weekly beginning September 14
th. Watch for opportunities
to help with packing! We have been so blessed by employees from Metal Industries coming to help us pack – it is a fun time and a way to fellowship and give back to our community at the same time. We can’t forget to give thanks to the staff at the schools for all they do to make the Jiffy Packs program work. The average cost of a weekly pack remains around $4.00, maybe you or your small group or Sunday school class would consider sponsoring a week, a month or two.
The monthly food box ministry continues strong. We have had several families in the last few months tell us they are doing better financially so they no longer need help. That is a HUGE praise! We couldn’t do it without all of you and our community partners.
We want to say a special thank you to BG’s and Weis Markets in Millersburg for donating gift cards on a regular basis, we use these to supplement emergency boxes and to help with the purchase of food items to fill the boxes. We partner with Boyer’s Market in Lykens to purchase our meats and fresh produce – they even deliver and give us 5% rebates on purchases made using a store card that has been designated to our program! We also partner with the Central PA Food Bank to purchase food at a very discounted price; we are able to offer special treats to our families. Your continued financial donations to the ministry make this possible. Our biggest thank you has to go to our Lord, Jesus Christ, for setting the example by serving others and meeting needs wherever he went. Please help us pray for our families!
Hearts of
Local Mission Update for August 2018
Our Designated Local Mission Project for August is the
LIFELINE PREGNANCY CENTER
Lifeline offers information and support for a whole host of issues, including un-planned pregnancies, and issues involving parenting. All services are free. They offer free pregnancy tests, pregnancy and post-abortion counseling, as well as classes on parenting, budgeting, stress management, anger management, relationships, etc. They also receive and distribute child care items, as well as used clothing and furniture for children up to the age of five. Financial support comes from local churches and individuals. You can help by placing the following items in the pack-n-play in the main entrance of the church during the month of August:
-Diapers, sizes 5-6 -Pull-ups, sizes 3T-5
-New Clothing w/tags -Similac Sensitive Formula
-Baby food Pouches -beginner underwear
-winter coats/boots -Playtex drop-in liners
-Baby Oil
Thank you to all who were able to sign our greeting cards. Copies have been made and forwarded to all our missionaries that are supported by your generous contributions to missions.
On Sunday, July 1st, the missions committee began
our Christmas-in-July fundraising. All monies collected this year will be forwarded to Mission Central, and the total will be posted in the September Newsletter. Thank you for your generosity.
Upcoming trips scheduled to Mission Central 2018
Aug 18, 2018
Save the Date:
Oct. 27, 2018 - 5K Run at Mission Central
You are invited to join our next Missions Committee meeting held September 13th at 6:30 pm.
Women’s Conference Bus Trip
October 5-6, 2018
Berglund Center, Roanoke Virginia
For More Information, or to Register
Please Contact:
Tina Fetter 717-395-0498 or Ann Strohecker 717-860-4032