November Youth Update

We are BLESSED!  Today, as I watch the devastating destruction on the East Coast of our country, I feel very fortunate that we didn’t receive Super Storms off the ocean. We can deal with some rain, snow and wind.  The GOOD news, we were able to complete the raking of Olive’s yard before the weather arrived.  Took us three different days after school but the student turn-out to help was fantastic.  Thank You kids- you were great and a job well done.

Our Prayer Partner recruitment is coming.  With the addition of seven students (or maybe 5) this year, we are seeing the difference that prayer makes.  We have had our largest groups this year (20 kids) and the 6th grade youth meeting is working out well.  The 7-12 grades meet on Sunday nights and the 6th graders meet on Tuesdays @ 2:30.  We are working our way through the 10 Commandments this Fall with both groups. Plugging along with Romans on Sunday mornings.

On November 1 & 2, Shane Mudd and Isabella Krolikowski are participating in their 2nd Year of the Michigan Student Leadership Institute in Clarkston, Michigan.  I am the State Chairman of MSLI and we are anticipating almost one hundred selected students from churches across the state participating.  A great event for our student leaders in Michigan.

Our 2012-2013 Medical Release and Permission Forms have been mailed this month.  Students should have these forms completed to ride in the van plus attend all youth ministry activities.  The forms run from September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013.  Once they are completed they are good for the year.  I am again enclosing permission slips for students who have not turned in a form when you receive your monthly parent letter.  PLEASE help us by completing these forms ASAP.

The Hayride at the Hyatt’s was fantastic.  There were three wagons of people, campfire, good food, good conversation and a beautiful evening.  Thank you Hyatt’s for another great Fall evening. We had a wonderful time at Grandma’s Pumpkin Patch as we bounced on the blow-up games, wandered the corn maze, fed the animals, rode on a hayride, sat by the campfire and watched the pigs race each other.   Connie then treated us to a supper of sloppy joes, chips, and donuts.   It was a great night as we finished it up with our weekly youth meeting.

We will be having a Bake Potato Bar on Sunday, November 11th to help raise funds for the Michigan CHOG Winter Retreat in December.  It begins at 4:45 PM in the Fellowship Hall, and then the youth will have their weekly youth meeting.  On November 18, our youth meeting that day will be a service project, packing Thanksgiving Baskets for families at the Aldersgate Methodist Church in town.  There is an area Thanksgiving service that evening at the Midland Christian Church on M-20, so we will not have an evening meeting.  On Sunday, December 9, we will be having a Christmas Party.  Watch for details.

Our next BIG event will be Winter Retreat on December 28-30, 2012. This event is for all students grades 6-12 and costs $105.  Registration is begins November 12 and has a $50 pre-registration due by December 8.  The final $55 balance will be due by Sunday, December 23.  Our guest speaker will be Pastor Mark Shaner and our worship leader will be John Tibbs.  Both are from Anderson, Indiana.  We will be continuing to do fundraisers in preparation for this great Church of God Winter event.

Also, you will be receiving in your church mailboxes (and, parents, through the mail) order blanks for our Gift Card Sale to benefit the Youth Ministry.  Gift cards make wonderful Christmas presents, but they can also be used for your weekly family needs, such as gas, groceries, dining out or just purchasing Christmas gifts. Please consider purchasing gift cards through the Mt. Haley Youth Ministry to help you and us.  The youth receive a percentage listed from each card sold.  All orders are due with the money (cash, or a check made out to Mt. Haley Church of God Youth) by November 25.  Cards should arrive back at the church by December 2.

Your prayers, support and encouragement are greatly appreciated and we look forward every week to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your student through interaction, study, fellowship and relationship.  Thank you for sharing your son or daughter.

Love God, Love People

Pastor Jerry

Justice and Mercy

I recently had the opportunity to see the inside of a Midland County courtroom – my first such experience as a pastor.  This particular courtroom features a mural on the wall behind the judge’s bench; the mural depicts Native Americans coming together for a tribal council, a fitting scene to honor the history of the justice system in this part of the country.

photo by SeeMidTN.com

What struck me the most about the courtroom, however, were the words that were emblazoned across the bottom of the mural:

Justice and Mercy – the Alpha and Omega of Human Attainment

As you may know, on Sunday evenings we are studying the Book of Revelation together while our high school youth group meets with Pastor Jerry.  This study has been fascinating and challenging for us.  (Remember, it’s never too late to try it out!)  When I saw the courtroom’s motto displayed across the wall, I couldn’t help but think of Revelation 1:8 (NIV):

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; they are like our English letters A and Z.  To say that something is the alpha and omega means that it is before and after everything else in terms of its importance.  Anything else must be understood in relation to the “bookends” of the alphabet.  Nothing is more important than the alpha; nothing comes after the omega.

In Revelation, we read that Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega:  he is before all things, and he is after all things.  Nothing is more important than he; nothing will last longer than he.  Everything that we do as Christians must point to the supremacy of Christ in the universe.  Every one of our decisions, actions, reactions, and relationships should be influenced by the one who was, who is, and who is to come.

So back to the courtroom motto:  can justice and mercy serve as the alpha and omega of human attainment?  I like this as a slogan for our public justice system for a few reasons.  First, we uphold justice as the “alpha” of our court system:  those who have broken the law are to be held accountable for their actions.  Second, we also uphold mercy at the end of the day:  even though the verdict is “guilty,” the judge reserves the right to assign penalties (within the law) as he or she sees fit.  This may very well include true acts of mercy from the judge.  And third, holding justice and mercy together in dramatic tension with each other requires skill, patience, humility, and integrity.

I would suggest, however, that the tension between justice and mercy is not a human invention after all.  We find the perfect and original example of this tension in the biblical God, who demands justice against sinful humanity yet provides mercy through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! (2 Corinthians 9:15)

–Pastor David

How to be Great

Have you ever asked for something truly ridiculous?  Have you ever struggled for power and influence among other people?  You’re not alone:  James and John did the same thing in Mark 10:35-45.  How should we live as grateful, thankful people in the kingdom of God, especially in light of how Jesus lived and died and rose again?  Click below to hear Pastor David’s message on this passage.

Listen now!

Doing the Impossible

What’s the craziest impossible thing you can imagine?  James Bond skydiving into a falling airplane?  The Cleveland Indians winning the World Series?  Jesus used the illustration of a camel going through the eye of a needle in Mark 10:17-31 – and he used that to describe a specific truth about the kingdom of God.  What does his teaching say to us in our current situation?  Click below to hear Pastor David’s sermon on this passage.

Listen now!

On Being Ordained

Yesterday, I met with the credentials committee of the Church of God in Michigan.  This second interview was intended to determine whether or not the committee will recommend me for ordination at this November’s state General Assembly meeting in Lansing.  I received word last night that they, in fact, are recommending me for ordination, so this will indeed take place on Saturday morning, November 10.

This is a great honor for me, to be brought into the larger fold of pastors and ministers in the Church of God and in the Christian movement in general.  This comes as the culmination of a long process that began, for me, while I was in seminary in Indiana.  The process involved reading several books, taking a Bible content exam, writing theological statements on fourteen different topics, defending those statements in front of the credentials committee, and meeting with a mentoring pastor.  Also, in the next several months I will complete a LAMP (“Life and Ministry Plan”) with the help of my SHAPE (“Sustaining Health and Pastoral Excellence”) group – a group of five local Church of God pastors that meets monthly for support, encouragement, and growth.

These tasks only have meaning, however, because of the ministry that I am privileged to do with you at Mt. Haley Church of God.  It is because of this relationship between pastor and church that I do all these things – that I even pursue ordination.  The ordination of a pastor is not a rite of passage that simply makes the pastor look or feel good; it is a process that strengthens the pastor’s call, encourages him or her in the work of ministry, and validates the ministry of the local church in which he or she serves.  I will be honored to serve Mt. Haley Church of God as an ordained minister starting on Sunday, November 11.

We will host a special ordination service at Mt. Haley sometime after this November’s General Assembly meeting.  There is no rush for this; we may wait until our snowbirds return in the spring.  Just as we celebrated my installation as pastor at Mt. Haley two years ago, I will be grateful to celebrate with you my ordination as a minister in the Church of God sometime in the near future.

in Christ’s service,

–Pastor David

All in the Family

Jesus gives a strong and challenging teaching on divorce – and then welcomes children into his arms – in Mark 10:1-16.  How does this passage (in its historical context) address the question of who gets to be in God’s kingdom?  How does it connect to our desire to live lives of thankfulness in response to God?  Click below to hear Pastor David’s message on this passage.

Listen now!

October Youth Update

We are off to a GREAT start for the new school year! We have added 5 new Sixth Graders plus a couple of others in higher grades. Our newly remodeled youth room looks FANTASTIC! We need to run a few weeks so that it feels ‘lived in,’ however that will come soon enough. We can’t express enough how much we appreciate what the church has done. Special thanks go to Kevin Mudd and Ron Hyde, as we know that they directed and completed most of the remodeling. We hope to give a special ‘Thank You’ to the church in the near future.

Youth still takes place every Sunday @ 6:00 PM. Van-Pick-Up usually begins around 5:00 PM. This month we will also begin holding an after school youth meeting for 6th Graders every week with Pastor Jerry & Pastor David facilitating the class. As our group as grown, we have discovered that with the group consisting of 6th graders through seniors in high school, there is a wide discrepancy for instruction and discussion. 6th graders will be involved in all youth ministry activities, but will be separated for instruction & discussion. We believe this will help in our spiritual growth and maturation for all the students. After we finish the series, ”Spread the Word,” our youth meeting topic will be “The Ten Commandments.”

We are working through Romans in our High School Bible Study on Sunday mornings @ 10:00 AM. Ron Hyde is working with the Middle School boys and Maggie Hyde is working with the Middle School girls. We hope to have Van-Pick Up on Sunday mornings so more can attend and the van would run between 9:00 AM and 10:00 AM. If anyone would be interested in riding with Pastor Jerry, please contact him.

Our 2012-2013 Medical Release and Permission Forms have been mailed this month. Students should have these forms completed to ride in the van plus attend all youth ministry activities. The forms run from September 1, 2012 to August 31, 2013. Once they are completed they are good for the year. PLEASE help us by completing these forms ASAP.

This month we plan on participating in the October 20 Potluck and Hay Ride @ Peg & Chuck Hyatt’s home. On October 28, @ 2:30 PM we will go to Grandma’s Pumpkin Patch then return to church for supper & our youth meeting. We will be having a Bake Potato Bar on Sunday, November 11th to help raise funds for the Michigan CHOG Winter Retreat in December. On November 18, our youth meeting that day will be a service project, packing Thanksgiving Baskets for families at the Aldersgate Methodist Church in town. Our next BIG event will be Winter Retreat on December 28-30, 2012. This event is for all students’ grades 6-12 and costs $105. Registration is in early December. We will be doing fundraisers in preparation.

photo by Timothy K. Hamilton

The MUM sale was very successful. We will be working at Olive’s this month to help our accounts. We are also having a ‘Mt. Haley’ apparel sale (hats, T’s, sweatshirts, windbreakers) this month and will be having a Scripts Sale (gift cards) also. We hope to do well with our Potato Bar and we will need students to work that to help their youth accounts. Every student has a “Youth Account” where we do fundraising to help them pay their way to events. Our two main events of the year are Winter Retreat @ Spring Hill in December and State Youth Convention in May. We will also working with high school students to earn funds to go to the International Youth Convention in Nashville, TN in the summer of 2014.

We THANK everyone who has participated in our Youth Prayer Partner ministry. The good news is that we need to recruit more prayer partners because we have more kids to pray for. If you are interested in praying for our youth and would like to become a ‘Prayer Partner,’ please contact Pastor Jerry.

Your prayers, support and encouragement are greatly appreciated and we look forward to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with your student this year through study, fellowship and relationship. Thank you for sharing your son or daughter.

Love God, Love People!

Pastor Jerry

Revelation: Why It’s Important

This fall, our Sunday evening adult Bible study is focusing on the book of Revelation.  We are three weeks into the study, and let me tell you this:  I am really excited about this book and about your interest in it!  We have had strong attendance and good conversations in these first few sessions.  Just a reminder – it’s not too late to jump into this study!  We will gather in the Fellowship Hall every Sunday evening at 6pm, usually for 90 minutes or two hours, to study this complicated book together.

image © Kristina Gehrmann, www.mondhase.de

So why am I so excited about this?  Why is this book so important?  As someone said to me recently, “We have enough trouble understanding and following the other 65 books of the Bible… why all the interest in the last book?”  I see at least three reasons for us to invest in a study of this book during this season.

  1. Revelation is part of Scripture.  It forms part of the Christian canon, those books that we understand to be inspired by God and useful for instruction, training, discipline, and guidance.  This book tells us something particular about the salvation work of Jesus Christ, and as a result we should learn from our Lord through it.  This book was important to the first few generations of Christians, so by studying it (and them) we increase our connection with the work of God throughout the centuries.
  2. Revelation informed our movement’s history.  The Church of God reformation movement, of which we are a part, developed a unique self-understanding early in its existence (in the early 20th century).  This self-understanding was very closely tied to a particular interpretation of the book of Revelation.  We don’t hold to that understanding any more, but by studying Revelation we can learn more about who we were – and we can ask who we should be instead.
  3. Revelation gets us talking about the future.  Many believers today, including some of us, have deep-seated fears and questions about what lies ahead in the future.  Are we in the “end times”?  Is the return of Christ near?  What about the “signs and wonders” that we see?  By studying Revelation – and what it meant to its original audience, who asked similar questions – we will discover the word of hope that God has for his people in this book.  This will directly impact how we approach our own situation in the world.

The book of Revelation is a confusing, controversial, divisive book of scripture.  But we should not be afraid of it; instead, with a mixture of boldness and humility, we will learn from it together in the weeks that lie ahead.  I hope you are as excited about this as I am!  And if you have not yet come on a Sunday evening, I hope you feel welcome to try it out!

–Pastor David

The Responsibility of Prayer

Christians often pray about various needs, and sometimes we even anoint the sick as James recommends in James 5:13-20.  As we study the conclusion of this brief letter together, Pastor David helps us see a truth of our faith that undergirds how we pray, how we worship, and how we seek after people who wander from the faith.  Click below to hear his sermon on the final passage from James.

Listen now!