Skiatook First United Methodist Church

Methodist

Messenger Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the

transformation of the world!

1007 S. Osage P.O. Box 910

Skiatook OK 74070 www.fumcskiatook.com

Email: office@fumcskiatook.com

918-396-2519

Fax: 918-396-7973

July 2016

Freedom in Skiatook

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be bur-

dened again by a yoke of slavery. …..You my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love.” Galatians 5: 1, 13 (NIV)

July is a month that is filled with celebration and summer fun. We celebrate the 4th of July, usually over the course of several days, with picnics, barbeques, parties, and fireworks. It is an important day in the history of our nation. It is the day we as a country declared our independence from the mother country of England, and made our individual and collective freedom the cornerstone of our new nation. It is a day to celebrate our patriotism and our pride in the United States of America. It is a day we celebrate our freedom.

But the Apostle Paul reminds us of our true freedom through Christ. We are not to use our freedom , in the words of the Rolling Stones, “free to do what I want any old time.” And as Christians, we certainly know it’s not ok to do any old thing, or say any old thing, and get any old thing we want. In the Kingdom of God, that Rolling Stones song is just not true,

Jesus says to love your neighbor. Paul says here to love your neighbor. Love one another. True freedom is in Jesus. True freedom is in the Spirit of Christ. Freedom comes through discipline, through self control, through love. That’s right, through love. Our words and our actions matter. More than you know. Freedom is not about being totally consumed with yourself, but with thinking about others and with God as well. You might think, “How do my words matter?” Nobody possibly cares about what I say or what I do . My words don’t mean a thing”. But they do. When you share your story, your life, your experiences, and you share it with love and with the well-being of oth-ers in mind, those words matter. Your words matter even when you don’t think they do, or even when you think you have nothing at all to say. Galatians tells us Christ has set us free. And so we must ask ourselves two ques-tions: What have we been set free “from”? And what have we been set free “for?” We have been set free from the burden of sin and guilt. That was done for us by Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. But on the same hand, we have been set for service and love to others, in the very name of Christ. How will we use our freedom this holiday week? How will we use the freedom given to us by God, through our forgiveness of sin through Christ Jesus? Will we use it in a self-centered manner, free to do what I want, any old time? Or are we free to live in the spirit, loving and serving one another, loving our neighbor as ourselves? You have the freedom to choose!

Happy Independence Day,

Pastor Susan

July Children’s News Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of

Heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

Vacation Bible School, July 17th—21st, 5:30 to 8:30

Snack Supper at 5:30

Contact Miria to sign up your child! 405-850-2253

POOL LUNCHES

Thursdays, 11:30

LAF Building

Volunteers & Donations

Welcome!

VBS NEEDS:

Storyteller (teacher)

Shepherds

Science teacher /

partner

Clean Up Crew

July Camp

Growin’ N Grace

July 18-20

3rd to 5th grade

Okumc.org

5th Sunday Brunch

07/31/2016

No Sunday School

Children’s Church in LAF

NO MOVIE NIGHT IN JULY

Facebook.com/sfumcyouth

@Skiatook_fumc_youth

JULY 17-21

Youth volunteers needed!

ROAD TRIP

JULY 7

Caravan leaves at 10am

Sign up by July 3

July 10-16

Rayville, LA

Misc. Happenings

Servant Spotlight Thanks to:

Joan Dalvine, for weeding the flowerbeds and planting around the church

Dick Allen, for keeping the weeds down on the church grounds and getting the ditches cleaned out

Dale Cooley and Tom Weathers for their hard work in the bal-cony area-new floor, new door, and all around improvements

Susie Partain, for visiting those who are unable to make it to church, especially those in hos-pitals and nursing homes.

Cathy Allred & Worley Parsons for donating school supplies to jump start this year’s mission.

Summer Mission—School Supplies

One of our biggest yearly mis-sions is our annual school sup-ply give away. We try to sup-ply some of the neediest SPS

students with as many of the essentials as we can. This year, we are once again fortunate to be working with Wal-Mart in the Fill the Bus effort. Fill the Bus is an effort to en-courage Skiatook residents to purchase and donate school supplies to our cause, thereby reducing our out of pocket costs. Fill the Bus will be held August 5th and 6th this year. Be looking for signup sheets to volunteer to help! We will also be ac-cepting donations to help with the cost.

Relief Supply Kits Our United Methodist Women strive to be in mission around the world in presence, relationship, wit-ness and sharing. In addition to their local mission projects, VBS, camp scholarships, Cookson Hills dona-tions, and many others, they are joining with others to help supply school kits that will be sent to UMCOR with the Mission Team from our area. Below, you will find a list of items that are needed to make the kits. If you are able to donate any of the items or enough for a full kit, it would not only be appreciated, but it may also be a child’s only educa-tional resource. 1. 1 pair blunt scissors A. Rounded tip only; B. No plastic scissors, please. 2. 1 hand-held pencil sharpener A. Must be at least 1 inch long; B. Remove from packaging. 3. 6 unsharpened pencils A. No advertisements, religious, patri otic, military, or camouflage sym bols, please; B. Cartoon characters are acceptable. 4. 1 2-inch or larger-size eraser A. No advertisements, religious, patri otic, military, or camouflage sym bols, please; A. Cartoon characters are acceptable. 5. 1 24-count box of crayons A. Only 24-count boxes, please. Please return all donations to the church no later than August 7th. A donation box is set near the Missions area. Thank you!

Gifts are given... To the Building

Fund, by Gloria and Burl Forbes, to the glory of God

To the General Endowment, by Gloria and Burl Forbes

In Memory of Wayne Enloe by Davis Pipe Testing Company

To the Building Fund, by Glen-dell and Peck Brown

Welcome to our newest members Shelly and Charlotte Flood. They joined by Re-Affirmation of Faith. We also wel-come their son Cooper, who will be going into 5th grade this fall! We are glad you are here.

Condolences

Our thoughts and pray-

ers are with Jenny En-

loe and her family as

they continue to mourn

the loss of her husband,

Wayne.

UMW:

United Methodist Women will not meet during June and July. Meetings

will resume August 9th.

UMM Raffle Our United Methodist Men are selling raffle tickets for a chance to win a side of beef and a deep freezer. Wow!

The drawing will be held in August, but don’t wait to pur-chase your tickets. The more you buy, the better your odds.

Net proceeds benefit missions.

Ticket Prices:

$5 each or

5 for $20

TRUSTEES

Sunday, July 10

11:45am Old Fel-

lowship Hall

She’s Moved!

Earlier this year, Dixie Huffman moved to

Owasso. She loves visitors and receiving

cards in the mail. Here’s where you’ll find

her:

Brookdale Assisted Living, apt. 128

12807 E 86th Pl N, Owasso, OK 74055

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

11 am: level 1 yoga Youth: 6 pm

11:30 Pool Lunches 1:00 CHUMS Game Day 4:30Chair Yoga 6pm Level 2 Yoga

1 10:00: Yoga

2

3 8:30 Worship

9:30: Sunday School 10:30 Worship UMM serving at Redemption Church, CJAMM

4 4th of July Church Office Closed

5 5:30: Weight Watchers 7:00 Boy Scouts

6 11 am: level 1 yoga

6 pm Youth:

7 11:30 Pool Lunches 1:00 CHUMS Game Day 4:30Chair Yoga 6pm Level 2 Yoga

8 10:00: Yoga

9 Youth leave for

mission trip to

Louisiana

10

8:30 Worship

9:30: Sunday School 10:30 Worship 11:45: Trustees

11 11 am: level 1 yoga

6:00: Sewing Class

12 5:30: Weight Watchers

7:00 Boy Scouts

13

11am: level 1 yoga

6:30: United Methodist Men

6-8 Youth

Open Gym

14

11:30 Pool Lunches 1:00 CHUMS Game Day 4:30Chair Yoga 6 pm: Level 2 yoga

15 10:00: Yoga

16

17 8:30 Worship 9:30: Sunday School 10:30 Worship

18

11 am: level 1 yoga

6:00: Sewing Class

19

5:30: Weight Watchers

20 11 am: level 1 yoga 6 pm: Youth—help with VBS

21 11:30 Pool Lunches 1:00 CHUMS Game Day 4:30Chair Yoga 6 pm: Level 2 yoga

22 10:00: Yoga

23

24/31 8:30 Worship

9:30: Sunday School 10:30 Worship 5th Sunday Brunch on 31st

25 11 am: level 1 yoga

6:00: Sewing Class

26 5:30: Weight Watchers

7:00 Boy Scouts

27 11 am: Level 1 yoga 6 pm: Youth

28 11:30 Pool Lunches 1:00 CHUMS Game Day 4:30Chair Yoga 6 pm: Level 2 yoga

29 30

Vacation Bible School, 5:30 Snack Supper, 6:30—8:30pm Rotations

Youth in mission to Louisiana all week.

Skiatook First United Methodist Church

1007 S. Osage

P.O. Box 910

Skiatook, OK 74070

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

RECYCLE PLEASE

News from Finance Committee

Did you know that you can have your tithes and offerings drafted directly from your bank account? Beginning in January of this year, we have ar-rangements with our Exchange Bank that will directly draft your contribution from your own bank account. EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) is a great way to get started with regular, consistent giving. You can choose any amount you want (even a small amount is a good way to start) either once or twice a month. You can also choose to have it drawn out on the 10th of each month, or the 20th of each month, whichever works best for you.

Stop by the office and pick up a card, write the amount you desire to be drafted each month, and return with a voided check. We will take care of the rest. We have seen our giving remain a bit more stable this year, and we believe it is due to people giving in this manner. Give it a try! It’s easy!

Skiatook District Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to our very own Glynda Hunt for being named Skiatook Teacher of the Year. Glynda was named Teacher of the Year for Skiatook Intermedi-ate Elementary, and then overall Skiatook District Teacher of the Year. Glynda teaches third grade, and just completed her 33rd year! As a third grade teacher, she is responsible for teaching all general education subjects, including reading, math, writing, science, and social studies. She says that being a teacher is a great adventure, and that everyday there is something new. Glynda also helps her husband, Mark Hunt, with Boy Scout Troop 250, chartered here at Skiatook FUMC. We are so proud of your dedication, Mrs Glynda Hunt! Thank you for the work you do every day!