JULY 2014 NEWSLETTER
(below or read here)
(below or read here)
Forest Grove United Methodist
Church Happenings
FROM THE PASTOR:
The Journey Begins
Bishop
McAlilly fixed the appointments of the clergy at the Annual Conference on June 11th. My appointment was to Forest Grove United
Methodist Church and the journey together begins. I am humbled and honored to have this
opportunity. You may have heard that I
am coming home. The house that built me
is located at 2873 Morgan Road—2.4 miles from the church. I graduated from Joelton High School in
1974. I know what it means when the
community is called “Paradise Ridge” because I believe it really is
paradise. I have often said that around
I-24 at exit 35 the grass is greener, the trees are taller, the sky is a little
more blue, and the children are all above average. Its home for me. I am equally excited to be appointed to
Forest Grove because I really believe it matches the gifts and graces I have
for ministry.
The
question many of you may be asking is “What’s the new preacher’s agenda?” I want to spell out my beginning agenda in
hopes of putting your fears at ease.
First, I approach the task before me with excitement and passion. Therefore, I want to give it my best
effort. Secondly, I will do my best to
love you (those who are easy to love and especially those who may be difficult
to love). Thirdly, I will make a
concerted effort to get to know you. I
want to visit in your home, participate in conversations with you, and listen
to you. Fourth, I will pray for
you---everyday. Fifth, I will offer
divinely-given visionary leadership to the church that will challenge you to be
God’s church in the world. That’s the
agenda and you may have noticed the words “change everything” was absent from
the agenda. In the days ahead you will
experience those items in greater detail.
The
question I have in mind is “What will be the agenda of the Forest Grove
church?” First, I hope you will make
every effort to attend worship on Sunday, June 29th. I am anxious to meet you. Secondly, I am counting on you praying for
me---everyday. Thirdly, I hope that you
will want to grow in Christ and serve Him with all your heart, mind, body, soul
and spirit. Fourth, I hope you will love
me (even when it’s difficult to do so), and forgive me when I mess up (and I
will because I am human).
I believe these will be good days
together. I am looking forward to the
journey. Remember, I will be looking for
you on Sunday at Forest Grove!
FELLOWSHIP DINNER
This month’s fellowship dinner
will be held Wednesday July 9th at 6:30 pm in the Fellowship Hall. Everyone is welcome, even if you don’t have
time to make something to bring.
FELLOWSHIP BIBLE STUDY GATHERING
Those interested in a time of
sharing, praying, and fellowshipping together are welcome to gather at the home
of Henry Procopio on Wednesday July 23rd at 6:30 pm.
This is a monthly gathering but anyone is welcome to come whenever they
can come. The group is studying the Gospel of Luke. You can start at any time. Snacks are provided.
COMMUNION
We will celebrate
Communion on Sunday, July 6th.
CHURCH CLEANING SCHEDULE
For July 6th Alicia
Williams
For July 13th Open
For July 20th Matt
& Renee Heustis
For July 27th Kristy
Wehmeyer
For August 3rd Brenda
& Tony Alcorn
WHERE THERE’S A WILL THERE’S A WAY
Did you know that the state of
Tennessee has made a Will for you, if you have none? Their laws may not leave your property to the
people you wish. They definitely will
not leave anything to your church or any other charity. Draw up a Will this month and don’t forget
your church in your estate planning.
JOELTON
HOPE CENTER –Neighbors
Helping Neighbors
The Hope Center continues to
help over 100 people a month from the Joelton, Whites Creek, Pleasant View zip
codes. Donations of food, clothing,
household items, some furniture, and cash are always needed.
The Hope Center has some fully cooked BBQ
Boston Butts for purchase left over from their sale during the month of May. They
have been cut into smaller pieces to accommodate smaller families. This meat is 100% hickory smoked, cooked slowly all
night long over an open BBQ pit. Your support will go towards fighting hunger
in Joelton, Whites Creek, and Pleasant View. If interested visit the Joelton
Hope Center Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday at 212 Gifford Place or call (615)
876-1778
Report on the 2014 Annual Conference
Bishop McAlilly started off the
conference with the words, “I am not afraid. Jesus and the Holy Spirit will
always be with us, sending us forth as witnesses. The church is divided right
now by human sexuality, the concern about our financial stability. We fear that
we are losing our youth, when in fact we don’t even know how to talk to them.
We lack vision, and mission and we are all trying to learn evangelism. There
are going to be disappointments along the way, so don’t fret over the people
who God doesn’t send. Use the people he does send. ”Remember there are 365 fear not’s in the
Bible, one for every day.
The theme of our conference was 72&U with the theme Scripture of Luke 10:1-11; the story of
Jesus calling 72 disciples, commissioning them and sending them ahead to every
town in place of him. The bishop asked “Who is being called by God to step into
the future with grace and mercy to become one of the 72 disciples God called?
The mission of the Tennessee
Conference is to DISCOVER, EQUIP, CONNECT and SEND lay and
clergy leaders who shape congregations, and will offer Jesus Christ to a
hurting world, one neighborhood at a time. OUR
OPPORTUNITY IS NOW. We create
transforming lay and clergy leaders, engaging the mission field, and grow
fruitful and faithful congregations by our values.
OUR
VALUES
Unrelenting
love for all people
Integrity
Excellence
Faithfulness
and Fruitfulness
Innovation
1.
Discover : Scripture: Matthew
22 36-40. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and love your
neighbor as yourself.
The bishop said he thinks of God like
a mother and told a story about when his sister was lost and his mother said
“that no one can do anything until we find her”. The bishop found his sister under the
kitchen table, hiding
because she was afraid she would get in trouble. She was eating a stick of
butter. Even though they had looked all
over the neighborhood for her, her mother was so excited when she was found.
That’s how God is with us. No matter what we have done or haven’t done he still
loves us and is always there for us just like a mother. Would we not do
anything for our kids?
When we are trying to figure out how
to be Christ to a hurting world ask, “What breaks Gods heart? What breaks our hearts? Do we have eyes to see like Jesus? Maybe we
need to change and let go of things to make space in our church and in our
hearts and mind for the Holy Spirit to work.
We heard a story of a church that only had
older people and was really getting worried about their future. One of the ladies of the church decided to
follow the school bus around the neighborhood and she wrote down the address of
every child that got off. Later she
went
back to each house to invite the kids to a special program at church and in
helping these
families,
the church started to grow again. All because someone had an idea and they
decided to step out and do something.
We need to find leaders that have
these qualities. Passion, courage, are flexible, missional (reaches out),
wisdom for the whole church not just for one area, positive, and responsible. Congregations
like being comfortable and change is not well received, which in turn causes
the church staying status quo. Not being
open to things that would shake up the status quo and make an impact, not only
the people doing the serving but also the receiving, which would help
our church grow. Think about this, are
you one of those people and do you have ideas that need to be heard? Remember
“Do not be afraid”.
2.
Equip: Scripture Ephesians 4:11-13,
16. His gifts were that some were
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the
equipment, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until
we all attain the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.
Speaking truth in love and working together building each other up.
We all began in the world with a sign
that says “Some assembly required”. We cannot equip others until we equip
ourselves. The spiritual gifts we have
need to be cultivated to their full potential. They are to be used to build up
the church and to nurture others. Jesus
gives gifts thru the Holy Spirit to use to help others. All baptized Christians are called to
ministry. We are called to use the gifts we have for a particular job in the
church that is needed.
Sometimes the “equipment” is just time
set aside to nurture and apply your gifts.
Having small groups, going
to Sunday school, and Bible
studies are part
of the church’s
ways to help nurture you, but when you treat church like a “to do” list that you might get to,
what picture does that look like to your children? What would happen if a parent
told the coaches that their child will not play sports on Wednesday or
Sunday? What gifts do you have that
could help the church grow in love and do what Jesus would do, not just do
nothing or do only for yourselves.
3.
Connect: Scripture John 15:4.
Abide in me.
We are baptized and at age 12, confirmed; that’s when we say YES to our
baptism. We follow the great commandment (Love God with all your heart, mind,
soul, and strength. And Love your neighbor as yourself. We watch in love not judgment. We should be Rooted in Scripture, Centered in
Christ, and Strong in Love. We can’t do it alone but together so we can conquer
fear. We need to come to church to share God, not to find God. We should go to church not to get something,
but to give something. It’s in giving
that we receive. Some of the
connections Forest Grove
has, through our
apportionments,
like Miriam’s promise, tons of after school programs, the Hope center, prison
ministry, Project transformation, are ways we have to go out to the people.
During the Laity luncheon, Ms. McAlilly,(Bishop’s wife) shared that she would like all the
churches to adopt a school. The fact that there are so many kids that can’t
read and end up dropping out of school
makes her very passionate about this. The teachers need help with
supplies, snacks, and helping kids in class to read.
Do you know thatMethodist people are
loved everywhere we go because what we do is care, no matter what. People don’t
know how much you know until they know how much you care. So what? Now what?
What would happen if we met people where they are in their wants and
needs and show them that it is not about getting them to church but getting the
church to them? Then by doing that they see what we are all about and
will want to be a part of our church. Do you have ideas about getting the
church to the people in our neighborhood?
4.
Send: Scripture Matthew 16:
18-20. Jesus said, “God authorized and commanded me to commission you to go out
and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by
baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I will be with you as you do this, right up
to the end of the age.”
What did Jesus teach? Love no matter what. Forgive sins, Show mercy
and grace and reconciliation. Heal and help people. Love God and love people.
In order for people to follow him he showed love first and then they
would listen to
what He said. That’s what we have to do as a congregation.
Stop listening to all the good ideas and start doing. Figure out what we need to do to bring our
church to the people and don’t wait on someone else to tell you what to
do. We all have gifts and ideas of how
to accomplish our mission. We can’t
continue to sit on our “Blessed
Assurance.” Our focus needs to be on what we can do for
others outside of our walls. Jesus and
the disciples didn’t preach and teach inside, they reached people by going out
and showing the love of
Christ. Remember our mission is to DISCOVER, EQUIP, CONNECT, AND SEND CLERGY
AND LAITY LEADERS WHO SHAPE CONGREGATIONS THAT OFFER JESUS CHRIST TO A HURTING
WORLD, ONE NEIGHBORHOOD AT A TIME.
That was the teaching part of our
conference. We also heard from Bishop
Unda Yemba Gabriel who came from the Congo, thanking us for the mosquito nets
that help save lives.
He knows malaria’s loss first-hand as his wife and
daughter died from it. We heard
from two teens that went to the Congo and saw firsthand how
this disease effects this country.
Before we started helping a
person died every 30 seconds, now it is down to every 60 seconds. Holly Neal, the president of Laity, has
started a campaign IMAGINE NO MALARIA that will raise money to help stop this
from happening. You will be hearing more about this during the year to come.
There were all different kinds of music from
children, Martin College choir, Lake Junaluska Singers,
Lindsey and Corina
(our own girls!),
and Marilyn Thorton who played the violin.
Ms. Thorton also portrayed one of the 72
during each of our teaching sessions, which made us think about the people and
what they were doing and thinking when Jesus sent them out into the world to spread the
Good
News.
We also heard from Todd Cox, president
of the youth. He told us his story about being bullied when he was young and
even though he was raised in the church, he just went thru the motions during
worship, not feeling there was a God because of the way he was being
treated. It wasn’t until he was made to
go to Warmth in Winter 6
years ago, that he heard a speaker with the same kind of story as his and how
God and the love of other
youth and youth leaders led him to give his life to Christ. Todd is starting
seminary school this fall to become a minister.
We never know who we can help and
touch, with our words, our works, and our love and caring until we actually do
something. Our job as baptized
Christians is to do as Jesus did and reach out.
We just have to figure out how we at Forest Grove can do that. Step up, search your heart for what you can
do to use your gifts in the church. If
you have an idea let it be known to other people and see where it can
lead. Remember. WE ARE NOT AFRAID.
PRAYERS
OF LOVE TO ALL AT FOREST GROVE, BRENDA
Community Cares
Community Cares is a mission that provides
the following six days/week for the homeless: meals, showers, laundry
facilities for people to wash their clothes, food (any canned food) and
necessities that people need daily (like over the counter pain medicine, toiletries,
diapers, etc.). The address is 511 South 8th avenue. The hours to
volunteer for lunch are 10:30 to 1:30. They also use people to help clean
showers and stock shelves. It is a small place that helps a lot of
people. Website is ccfnashville.org if you want more information.
AIN'T
He was just a little boy,
On a week's first
day.
Wandering home from
Bible school,
And dawdling on the
way.
He scuffed his shoes into the grass;
He scuffed his shoes into the grass;
He even found a
caterpillar.
He found a fluffy
milk weed pod,
And blew out all the
'filler.'
A bird's nest in a tree overhead,
So wisely placed up
so high..
Was just another
wonder,
That caught his eager
eye.
A neighbor watched his zigzag course,
A neighbor watched his zigzag course,
And hailed him from
the lawn;
Asked him where he'd
been that day
And what was going
on.
'I've been to Bible School ,'
'I've been to Bible School ,'
He said and turned a
piece of sod.
He picked up a wiggly
worm replying,
'I've learned a lot
about God.'
'M'm, very fine way,' the neighbor said,
'for a boy to spend
his time.'
'If you'll tell me
where God is,
I'll give you a brand
new dime.'
Quick as a flash the answer came!
Quick as a flash the answer came!
Nor were his accents
faint.
'I'll give you a
dollar, Mister,
If you can tell me
where God ain't.'
RECALL NOTICE:
The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units
manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the
primary and central component of the heart.
This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code
named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all
subsequent units. This defect has been identified as "Subsequential
Internal Non-morality," more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily
expressed.
Some of the symptoms
include:
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion
1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion
The Manufacturer, who is
neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized
repair and service free of charge to correct this defect.
The Repair Technician,
JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the
staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.
The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R.
Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through
the REPENTANCE procedure.
Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician,Jesus, into the heart
component.
No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, Jesus will
replace it with:
1.
Love
2.
2. Joy
3.
Peace
4.
Patience
5.
Kindness
6.
Goodness
7.
Faithfulness
8.
Gentleness
9.
Self control
Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E. (Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.
WARNING:Continuing
to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer
warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list, and
will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency
service, call on Jesus.
DANGER: The
human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped
in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent
contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention, GOD
P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'!
P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'!
