May Youth Update

“Rain, Rain, Go Away!” Hasn’t it been wonderful with all the rain God has blessed us with?  It just makes us appreciate the warmth of sunshine all the more! Michigan – you have to love it! Needless to say, we need some sunshine to dry up Olive’s yard so we can get it cleaned up for her & help earn our money for State Youth Convention. It’s looking like next week because her large puddle is slowing going away. God will provide!

State Youth Convention is this month, May 17-19 and we need your prayers for this “divine appointment.” As of today (4/30), we have 15 students on our list with 4 counselors plus kids from Bay City and Meridian CHOG traveling with us and occupying a floor at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In the next week, everyone will receive a “departure” letter helping you with what to take, schedules, guidelines, times, etc about the convention. Please watch for that letter because it will include important information for both students and parents. We still need to account for $80 from each student to fulfill the balance for SYC. We are trying to provide opportunities for student to earn the money, however, if you are able, we would appreciate any contributions you could make for your son or daughter to attend. Thanks!

By the time you read this, we will have completed our Gift Card Sale and our Youth Garage Sale. Students have the opportunity to sell “Hanging Baskets” from Kutchey’s until May 5th where they make $6-$8 per item sold. We hope to begin the work at Olive’s the week of May 6th.

photo by Lawrence OP
photo by Lawrence OP

Congratulations to our SENIORS from the Youth Ministry who will be graduating from Bullock Creek on May 31st. Our seniors are Paul Hassen, Chase Brenske and Corey Forster. Special prayers and best wishes for them as they pass this milestone in their lives. Students are allowed to participate in the Youth Ministry one year after they graduate from High School, so we could still see them in the ministry.

Our “Fruits of the Spirit” study is almost finished. We will be done with the study on May 12th. We will NOT have a Sunday night Youth Meeting on May 19th, because of the SYC; however, the 6th graders WILL have Youth on Tuesday, May 21st. We will NOT have Youth over the Memorial Day Weekend and our LAST youth meetings of the school year will be Sunday, June 2nd and Tuesday, June 4th. We will not have scheduled youth meetings on Sunday evenings throughout the summer.

Our summer schedule begins the first week of June. The tentative schedule is:

  • Friday, June 7 @ 8 PM – Campfire Meeting @ the home of Lawrence & Jo Adams
  • Thursday, June 13 @ 7:00 PM – Softball Game & BBQ with Meridian CHOG
  • Wednesday, June 19 @ 7:00 PM – Scavenger Hunt
  • Saturday, June 29 – Day at the Beach in Ludington State Park on Lake Michigan
  • July 7 – July 22 – Pastor Jerry & Connie out of town
  • Thursday, July 25 @ 6:00 – Mt. Haley @ Loons Game
  • Saturday, August 3 – Traveling to the Michigan Adventure theme park (whole family welcomed!)
  • Friday, August 2-9 – St. Louis Camp Meeting
  • August 11-17 – Midland County Fair
  • Friday – Sunday, August 23-25 – Camping/Tubing/Canoeing in Mio

There will probably be other spontaneous activities as well. We will also begin the planning, fundraising and preparation for next summer’s trip to Nashville to attend the International Youth Convention & Mission. This event is opened to any student entering high school in the fall of 2014 and any student one year after their high school graduation. We hope to take a group to this significant celebration of Church of God youth. Watch for details.

We thank our congregation for all the prayers, support, encouragement and the help in our fundraisers as we minister to the youth of our church and the Mt. Haley community.

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

We encourage everyone to come and be a part of our weekly Mt. Haley Worship every week at 11:00 AM.

Love God, Love People!

Blessings,

Pastor Jerry

What is Ordination?

Last October, I reported to you that the Credentials Committee of the Church of God in Michigan had approved me for ordination.  I was indeed ordained at the state’s General Assembly meeting in November, and now we are in the midst of planning for my formal ordination service at Mt. Haley on May 25, one month from today.  Through a couple of conversations, it became apparent to me that it might be helpful for you to know exactly what this process has entailed and what it means for my ministry.

Miller Chapel, Anderson University School of Theology
Miller Chapel, Anderson University School of Theology

The Church of God ordains pastors on a state-by-state basis.  I began the ordination process in 2007 while I was in seminary in Indiana.  I met with Indiana’s Credentials Committee twice, took a Bible content exam, and began reading a selection of required books.  This was in addition to my seminary reading list:  over five years, I took ninety hours of graduate courses to earn a Master of Divinity degree.  Also, as part of the ordination process, I wrote and defended fourteen theological statements (which are available on our website, if you’re interested to read them).  All of this preparation was to ensure that I am theologically sound and at least somewhat prepared to enter a ministry position.

During this time, I moved through the first two phases of the ordination process.  In Indiana and Michigan (and most states), the Church of God classifies ministers as “commissioned,” “licensed,” and finally “ordained,” in increasing order of call, trust, and responsibility.  At the beginning of my process, I was “commissioned” in Indiana; that was a recognition of the fact that I sensed a call to enter ministry – and that it seemed right to the committee as well.  After I completed the work listed in the previous paragraph, I became “licensed.”  This allowed the world to consider me a minister from a legal perspective:  I could perform wedding ceremonies and file taxes as a minister.  For all intents and purposes, a licensed minister can do anything you’d expect a fully ordained minister to do.

All of this happened in Indiana.  Then, when Mt. Haley called me to become its senior pastor and Tara and I moved to Michigan, my ministerial credentials were transferred to the Church of God in Michigan.  Since that time, I have met with Michigan’s Credentials Committee twice so they could review my theological statements, get to know my call to ministry, and prepare me for full ordination.

Another part of that preparation is a relationship with a “supervising mentor.”  Rev. Dr. Kevin Earley, pastor of the Metropolitan Church of God in Detroit, was assigned to serve in this role for me.  We were acquaintances from seminary – he earned his doctorate while I worked on my master’s – and in the past year we have had a handful of phone conversations about pastoral ministry, its challenges, and its opportunities.

photo by ToniVC
photo by ToniVC

Another component is a document called a “Life and Ministry Plan,” which is like a personal mission statement for pastors.  This “LAMP” is a living, growing document that is to inform and adapt to my life and ministry over the course of my life.  This requirement was waived in my case because I am currently working on my “LAMP” with my “SHAPE” group (“Sustaining Health And Pastoral Excellence”), a group of five pastors who meet each month for connection, support, and mutual growth.  (My “LAMP” should be completed sometime this year.)

All of this culminated in the Credentials Committee’s recommendation that I be presented for ordination at the state General Assembly meeting last November.  At that meeting, four other candidates and I were presented to the assembly.  We each gave a three-minute testimony/summary of our call to ministry, and then the gathered ministers and church representatives voted whether or not to ordain each of us.  The rules state that if six “no” votes are received for any candidate, then his or her ordination is withheld for further consideration.  That did not happen in my case, so my ordination was technically approved in November.

What remains is a formal ordination service, which we have scheduled for May 25.  At this service I will be given my official certificate of ordination, and the whole process will finally be complete.

Ordination is a call to ministry in the church.  If I were not serving in an official ministry position, I could not be ordained.  And in the future if I should not have a ministry position for a significant length of time, my ordination credentials could be revoked.  Ordination means that I am fully recognized as a minister in the Church of God, but it also means that I am fully accountable as a minister in the Church of God.  I am welcome to serve as pastor, but I am not free to do whatever I wish.  I am trusted to serve the church well, but I must not abuse that trust.  I have the support of the Church of God movement behind me, but that is not license for me to go astray from what God intends for my life and ministry.

The Bible is full of examples of priests and Levites who were called to serve God.  Many of them served faithfully for their whole lives, while others went astray and were censured by God and by the faith community.  I intend to be found in the “faithful” group when the final tally is counted.

If you have any questions about the ordination process or what it means for me or for Mt. Haley, please feel free to ask me!

–Pastor David

How to be a Levite: Reading Scripture

This past Sunday, a group of us worked together on the practice of reading scripture in worship.  Reading scripture is something that should be taken seriously and done well, because the Bible is the primary way that God speaks directly to us!pros

By popular demand, the notes from this workshop are available here in PDF format.  These ideas may be helpful to you in your own devotional reading of the Bible, even if you are not a regular scripture reader in church.

For more information and for a terrific resource on the public reading of scripture, please check out Clayton J. Schmit’s book Public Reading of Scripture. Buy a copy yourself, or see me and I’ll be glad to lend you mine!

–Pastor David

Persistence

The other day, I saw a bug in my office.  Normally, I exterminate such pests without a second thought, but this time was different.  This time, I was already deep in thought working on this week’s sermon, and the bug was on the other side of my desk.  Rather than getting up, walking around the desk, and doing the necessary deed, I decided to take the more passive approach: I just watched the bug for a few minutes.

photo by cyriltw
photo by cyriltw

This bug had it in its little brain that the most important thing in the world was climbing straight up the window.  Hanging onto the window for dear life, it crawled higher and higher until it lost its balance.  Then it fell harmlessly to the windowsill and began its trek upward again.  Over and over again, this cycle repeated itself:  the bug climbed up, fell down, and climbed up again.

One word came to my mind as I watched this bug:  persistence.  No matter how many times it fell down, it got back up and began the upward climb once more.  And then I thought, “There’s a sermon in that.”

Of course, there is a humanistic lesson to be learned:  no matter how many times we fail, we must pick ourselves up and move on, resume the course, carry forward one more time.  The world is good at teaching us this message through all sorts of motivational speakers.

But there’s something deeper here.  While my office bug was able to pick itself up and climb upward on its own power, we have no power to pick ourselves up spiritually.  While the bug naturally showed persistence in achieving its goal, we struggle to move forward in our walks with Christ.  It is natural for us to be sedentary, hopeless, passive.

The goal for us as disciples of Christ is in the same direction as the bug’s goal:  to move upward, to climb higher:  to grow and become more like Jesus, to bring about the kingdom of God on earth.  And yet so often we find ourselves falling back into old habits and unredeemed ways of living.  We look around, startled to find ourselves where we began, having the same spiritual ground yet to cover.

This is the point at which God’s grace steps into our lives.  Grace is what God gives to us that we absolutely do not deserve.  Knowing God, having faith, receiving forgiveness for our sins – these and many others are gifts from God brought by his grace in our lives.  Another gift from God is how he picks us up when we fall and puts us back on the path of growth.  We simply can’t do that by ourselves.

Yet such is our journey:  ever upward, ever toward Christ, no matter what lows we experience.  Carry on, fellow believers, and keep the goal always in mind!

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.
How long will you lie there, you sluggard? When will you get up from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— and poverty will come on you like a thief and scarcity like an armed man.
(Proverbs 6:6-11 NIV)

–Pastor David

April Youth Update

Spring Break – a great time of the year as we gear up for the last couple of months of school. For the Mt. Haley Youth, it means fundraising season begins to earn our way to State Youth Convention.  We are meeting this actual day to go Pop Can collecting to begin the quest to pay the $80 balances needed for SYC. The real “PRAISE” was the blessing of the recent Mexican Supper we had where enough money was raised to pay everyone’s registration fee to SYC.  God always provides!

Other fundraising opportunities will include:  our “Garage Sale” on the weekend of May 3-4.  If you wish to contribute we will be collecting items in the Mt. Haley garage up until April 20, then we will transfer and be collecting things at the Grahams until the sale.  The Mother’s Day Flower Sale will begin next week with plants being delivered after 4:00 PM on Thursday, May 9th.   We will also have a gift card sale where we receive a percentage of the costs beginning in a couple of weeks.  These make great gifts for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduations, and for general use – especially for gas & food.  Every card sold profits the youth group.  As soon as the weather clears, we plan on doing yard work for our favorite person, “Olive,” plus any other people who would like to hire us after school for spring clean-up.  Of course we will continue to have “Pop Can Sundays” and collect ink cartridges.  We know God will provide.

We are excited for State Youth Convention on the weekend of May 17-19. This year’s theme is “RENEW” and will feature the concert & worship band, The Afters, with Chicago Bear Chaplain, Ray McElroy as the speaker and a special drama presentation in concert by onetimeblind.  It’s one of our greatest weekends of the year.

grossologyThe Sixth Graders had a marvelous time at the Midland Center For the Arts “Grossology” exhibit. We enjoyed the presentation and the museum for a couple of hours, then went to Happy’s Pizza with the added treat of a McDonald’s Sundae.  A great day of fun for the 6th graders.

The “Fruits of the Spirit” are being studied & discussed in our youth meetings using our brand new Quickview NIV Bibles furnished by the congregation and church council. We want to express our appreciation and thankfulness for the new Bibles; they are working out great and really add to our meetings.  We have done patience, self-control, faithfulness and goodness so far –do you know what’s left?  Anyway, that should take us through May.

We are gearing up for the summer.  Although we will not have meetings every Sunday night, we will be having lots of events. Last summer, we had some great outings such as the canoe weekend, the lake trip, Loons game, banana splits and more.  There will be no mission trip this summer because we will begin the planning, fundraising and preparation for next summer’s trip to Nashville to attend the International Youth Convention & Mission.  This event is opened to any student entering high school in the fall of 2014 and any student one year after their high school graduation.  We hope to take a group to this significant celebration of Church of God youth.

Parents, your prayers, support and encouragement are greatly appreciated and we look forward every week to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our students through interaction, study, fellowship and relationship.  Thank you for sharing your son or daughter.  We also encourage everyone to come and be a part of our weekly Mt. Haley Worship every week at 11:00 AM.   Love God, Love People

Blessings,

Pastor Jerry

Beneath a Veil

On this Good Friday, I’d like to share a hymn with you that has helped me center myself on the spiritual meaning and depth of Jesus’s sacrifice.  The hymn is entitled “Thee We Adore,” and the English text below is translated from Thomas Aquinas, an important 13th century priest.  Tara and I found this hymn through one of the area choirs in which we sing; the tune we sang (by a composer named Candlyn) is hauntingly beautiful.

Thee we adore, O hidden Savior, thee,
Who in thy sacrament art pleased to be;
Both flesh and spirit in thy presence fail.
Yet here thy presence we devoutly hail.

photo by Elias Rovielo
photo by Elias Rovielo

Thomas Aquinas was instrumental in the philosophical arguments behind the Catholic doctrine called “transsubstantiation” – that is, that the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper literally become the body and blood of Jesus when we share at his table.  We in the Church of God do not believe this happens, but we can certainly agree that “both flesh and spirit in thy presence fail.”  Being in the Lord’s presence is truly awesome.

O blest memorial of our dying Lord,
Who living bread to men doth here afford!
O may our souls forever feed on thee,
And thou, O Christ, forever precious be.

Jesus taught us that he is the Bread of Life (John 6:22-59).  When we share at the Lord’s table, we are reminded that he is true food and true drink.  And when we gather at the foot of the cross, we are reminded of the truth behind the meal that we share:  the bread and wine remind us of the great price Jesus paid so that we might have forgiveness and relationship with him.

Fountain of goodness, Jesu, Lord and God,
Cleanse us, unclean, in thy most cleansing flood.
Increase our faith and love, that we may know
The hope and peace which from thy presence flow.

Jesu, short for Jesus, is the source of all hope and peace.  His blood is a “most cleansing flood” that can wash us clean from sin through faith and love.  This season is a powerful time to remember, to wash, and to remain quietly in his presence.

O Christ, whom now beneath a veil we see,
May what we thirst for soon our portion be,
To gaze on thee unveiled, and see thy face,
The vision of thy glory and thy grace.

Our hope is always for a future with Jesus Christ.  When we stand at the foot of the cross, at the tomb containing Jesus’s body, we wait for a yet-to-be-revealed future.  When we see the bread of the Lord’s Supper hidden beneath a cloth, we yearn for the time when we can see Christ face to face.  Until then, we thirst, we hunger, we meditate, we draw close to Christ, we hold vigil at the tomb.

I’ll see you on the other side.

–Pastor David

At the Name of Jesus

The italicized hymn lyrics found below were written by Caroline M. Noel (1817-1877).  I invite you to meditate on them with me.

At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow,
Every tongue confess him King of glory now;
‘Tis the Father’s pleasure we should call him Lord,
Who from the beginning was the mighty Word.

Philippians 2:1-11 teaches us that one day every knee will indeed bow at the name of Jesus.  The one whom we remember in the current seasons of Lent and Resurrection is the very Word of God (John 1:1), who has existed with the Father and the Spirit from the beginning.

At his voice creation sprang at once to sight,
All the angel faces, all the hosts of light,
Thrones and dominations, stars upon their way,
All the heavenly orders in their great array.

We frequently remember Jesus as the creator of all things that we can see:  the sun, moon, and stars; the trees, flowers, and oceans; the horses, dogs, and cats.  Yet scripture teaches (Colossians 1:15-16) that Jesus is the creator of all things, both visible and invisible.  This Jesus is the one who holds all power and authority in his hand.  Nothing in this universe has power to do anything outside the scope and wisdom of the authority of Christ.

Humbled for a season, to receive a name
From the lips of sinners unto whom he came,
Faithfully he bore it spotless to the last,
Brought it back victorious when from death he passed.

This season is crucial for us as believers.  We take special care to tell the story of Jesus:  from Palm Sunday, through Maundy Thursday, to Good Friday, to Resurrection Sunday and beyond.  Yet what a mystery it is that this is the same Jesus who created the universe!  “Humbled for a season,” he took a human name through his life, death, and resurrection.

Bore it up triumphant with its human light,
Through all ranks of creatures, to the central height,
To the throne of Godhead, to the Father’s breast;
Filled it with the glory of that perfect rest.

Soon after his resurrection, Jesus ascended into heaven, where he now sits at the right hand of God the Father.  Can you imagine what that ascension might have looked like?  We often think of heaven as a “perfect rest”; read Hebrews 4 for a beautiful passage on that topic.

Name him, brothers, name him, with love as strong as death,
But with awe and wonder, and with bated breath;
He is God the Savior, he is Christ the Lord,
Ever to be worshipped, trusted, and adored.

“Love as strong as death” (Song of Solomon 8:6) is exactly the type of love that Jesus showed for us (John 15:12-13).  Let us always remember to approach our Lord with humility, respect, and sacrificial love.  The above verse is, I believe, my favorite of this hymn’s seven verses!

In your hearts enthrone him; there let him subdue
All that is not holy, all that is not true.
Crown him as your captain in temptation’s hour;
Let his will enfold you in its light and power.

In the Church of God, we call this “holiness” or “sanctification.”  Those who come to believe in Jesus as Savior still have something left to experience:  the complete removal of “all that is not holy/true” by the power of Christ.  Our complete hearts and minds are to be turned over to the Lord, so that his will becomes the course of our lives.

Brothers, this Lord Jesus shall return again,
With his Father’s glory, with his angel train;
For all wreaths of empire meet upon his brow,
And our hearts confess him King of glory now.

Until that day, when Jesus will return in his glory, we remain faithful.  Be encouraged, brothers and sisters:  the story of Jesus is true, and it is Truth.  Confess Christ as “King of glory” (Psalm 24) every day, and allow him to continue to transform your lives!

(Here’s a video of a choral arrangement of this hymn.)

–Pastor David

Swimming Upstream

I love to watch Bullock Creek this time of year.  Earlier this week, we had a brief thaw; a good deal of our snow melted away, and we even had a decent rainfall at the same time.  When those weather patterns combine, that means one thing for sure:  Bullock Creek will be very high and will run very quickly.  At this time of year, I get to watch the creek from my office window, since the church property sits right on its edge.

photo by Etrusia UK
photo by Etrusia UK

While I was working on this week’s sermon, I gazed out at the water.  To my surprise I saw two ducks, a male and a female, swimming upstream in search of food.  Near the bank, the female was rustling through the brush.  Just a couple of feet away, the male was holding his position in the water; apparently, he was watching for predators or other threats.  As the female worked her way up the edge of the river, the male kept pace with her, always staying even with her as she progressed upstream.

Then I realized: this was no easy task for these two ducks.  The high water of Bullock Creek was moving very quickly – from my human perspective, let alone from a duck’s perspective!  All the melted snow and collected rainfall was rushing downstream, past a few large chunks of ice that had not yet melted away, and toward the creek’s passage under Homer Road.  To hold their position in such a cold, fast-moving stream must have required a great deal of effort.  Even though his upper body showed no stress, I was sure that the mallard was kicking hard with his legs to keep up with his mate.

One of the passages of scripture that we will read in church this coming Sunday is Philippians 3:4b-14.  This is one of this week’s lectionary readings, meaning many Christians around the world are scheduled to read it this week.  And this passage happens to be one of my favorite texts; it has meant a great deal to me for many years.  The final verse of this passage reads, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (NIV).

Often, people argue that the Christian faith is just spiritual self-help without much influence on everyday life.  But just like our neighborhood ducks had to work hard to overcome the power of the creek’s current, so we must press on in our walks with Christ to overcome the current of sin, which so easily entangles us (Hebrews 12:1-3).  We may wish that our lives were as calm and serene as the mallard’s upper body, but in truth the walk of faith requires what the mallard was doing underwater:  action, motion, movement, energy, work, and even missteps.  (He did stumble once or twice – on occasion he’d ruffle a wing to keep his balance.)

Friends, let us press on to become more like Jesus Christ.  Curious about what that means? Let’s talk.

–Pastor David

Life Without a Pope

As I type these words tonight, there is no Pope heading up the Roman Catholic Church.  This is rather significant in terms of world affairs and religious news:  only once in a long while is there a transition of power in this position, and never in the past several generations has there been a Pope who has resigned, like Benedict XVI has done.  This is the kind of thing that gets my religion-antennae perked up!

source: www.vatican.va
source: www.vatican.va

The Church of God has had a mixed view of the Roman Catholic Church (which I’ll abbreviate RCC) since our inception in the late 1800s.  Originally, we viewed the RCC as an evil institution, one which embodied some of the most evil and grotesque images in the book of Revelation.  This was rather fundamental to our identity as the Church of God and, for a while, seemed to be the primary way for us to view that group.

Our view toward Catholics has become much more generous, generally speaking, in the past few decades.  We are becoming more and more aware that many true, honest Christian believers exist within the vast 1.2 billion adherents that the RCC claims.  Personally, one of my high school friends grew up as a United Methodist but converted to the RCC when she married one of my Catholic friends.  Both are firm, fully-committed believers in Jesus Christ and are raising their children to know and love the Lord.

Now, you’ll notice that I have not pursued priesthood in the RCC.  I serve as a pastor in the Church of God movement on purpose, and I’m not about to switch loyalties.  After all, my view of Christianity allows for a great deal of diversity of denomination.  To quote one of our heritage hymns (by modifying its intent), “we reach our hands in fellowship to every blood-washed one.”  I believe we must be very gracious in distinguishing who, in fact, is washed by the blood of the Lamb.

So how should we react to the RCC being between Popes and struggling to search for a leader?  For all its problems (and I believe there are many), the RCC is very important to a large number of honest Christian believers.  To that end – and that end alone should be enough to convince us – we should pray for our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters during this time of transition.

After all, we too are in a period of transition in the Church of God.  Our current General Director, Dr. Ron Duncan, is retiring soon, and a search team is working hard to interview candidates and to make a recommendation for Dr. Duncan’s successor.  (There are a few somewhat insignificant parallels between this process and the RCC’s Conclave to choose the next Pope.  In short, though, our General Director is not our Pope.)  Just as we should pray for God’s wisdom in guiding those who will select a leader for our group, which numbers about a million people, so too we should pray for God’s wisdom among those who will select the spiritual leader for a group one thousand times larger than ours.

We live without a Pope all the time; we live under the reign of Jesus Christ alone, and we journey freely in his kingdom with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  But for those brothers and sisters in Christ who live in a system that normally has a Pope but does not right now – for these people, let us pray.  (1 Thessalonians 5:25)

–Pastor David

March Youth Update

WOW! February was a GREAT month! It began with our church mission trip. Guatemala was AWESOME! We built a house, visited orphanages, visited a feeding station, saw the black sands & the Pacific, provided haircuts & fashion, visited the school, blessed by an inspiring service with 4 pastors speaking, created and continued many relationships with our Guatemalan family, visited Antigua and MORE. All done to give Honor, Glory, and Praise to our Savior. We witnessed His presence, counted our blessings, learned to walk closer in His steps and built a community of believers! Our mission now begins, bringing it home, sharing our love and serving our Lord. What a privilege it was to lead this team! Guatemala was a HUGE SUCCESS! We will have a church presentation on March 10th.

Speaking of March 10th, we will have a “Mexican Night” (tacos, enchiladas, beans, etc) @ 4:45 PM to benefit and begin the fundraising for State Youth Convention. Cost will be by donation. This will happen just before Pastor David’s series on ‘3:16’ and the weekly youth meeting at 6:00 PM. All youth who are entertaining the idea of SYC should come & help in earning their registration fees due at the end of the month. All parents, church members & guests are invited to kick off our Spring adventure. We are hoping to have Guatemalan pictures available during the supper. We are declaring March 17 as “Pop Can & Bottle Sunday” to help our registration drive. We also hope to have a ‘can & bottle’ collection day in town perhaps the day before the Sunday. Other upcoming fundraisers will be yard work, scripts, garage sale, Mother’s Day flower sale and hopefully another new idea coming down the pike.

Renew_2013State Youth Convention is coming quickly! Although it isn’t until the weekend of May 17-19, early-bird registration is $40 and must be mailed into the state office by March 30th. SO, we will be making our list & collecting money the week of Sunday, March 24 – 29th. The balance will be $80 due by the convention. This year’s theme is “RENEW” and will feature the concert & worship band, The Afters, with Chicago Bear Chaplain, Ray McElroy as the speaker and a special drama presentation in concert by onetimeblind. It’s one of our greatest weekends of the year.

Our February 22nd LOCK-IN was another reason February was a great month. We had almost 30 students plus adults in attendance for a night of silly games, food, movies and more. It’s great when we open up our church and invite our friends to have fun and witness the love and word of God. Since the last newsletter we also had a “Bowling” night at Northern Lanes with pizza, games and movies at Pastor Jerry’s house afterwards. It’s fun doing things together with Christ as our common denominator!

Our series, “Doing the Disciplines” ended last week. During our series we learned about Bible Study, Prayer, Quiet Times & Devotion, Serving, the Importance of Church and Reaching Out – all topics to strengthen our walk with Christ. We begin in March a series on the “Fruits of the Spirit” which will take us through May.

A new Snack Donation Sign-Up is up on the bulletin board as well as the “Student of the Month” feature and upcoming activities. Youth will continue to be @ 6:00 PM on Sundays for 7th-12th graders and on Tuesdays for 6th graders @ 2:30 PM.

We would also like to extend an invitation to Easter Week activities at the church. Maundy Thursday services will be March 28th. There will be an area Good Friday service @ Faith Wesleyan on Meridian Road. Easter will be the morning of March 30 with an Early Morning service at 9:00 AM followed by refreshments and activities for children. Easter Sunday service will begin at 11:00 AM. There will be not church or youth that evening. Everyone is welcomed!

Parents, your prayers, support and encouragement are greatly appreciated and we look forward every week to sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our students through interaction, study, fellowship and relationship. Thank you for sharing your son or daughter. We thank the congregation for your help with snacks, with your encouragement and mostly your prayers.

Love God, Love People

Pastor Jerry