Bergen UMC News August 2019 FOLLOWING JESUS—TOGETHER—SHARING HIM WITH OTHERS. The BUMC Council Board is pleased to share that 50 % of the proceeds from the dinner will be donated to Crossroads House in Batavia. Join in this opportunity to help provide funds to this dedicated organizaon in our greater community. And eat some mighty fine chicken!! Crossroads House in Batavia is a unique “Comfort Home for the Dying” dedicated to providing support and care for a person in the last phase of a life-liming illness.
Transcript
Bergen UMC News August 2019
FOLLOWING JESUS—TOGETHER—SHARING HIM WITH OTHERS.
The BUMC Council Board is pleased to share that 50 % of
the proceeds from the dinner will be donated to
Crossroads House in Batavia. Join in this opportunity to
help provide funds to this dedicated organization in our
greater community. And eat some mighty fine chicken!!
Crossroads House in Batavia is a unique “Comfort Home
for the Dying” dedicated to providing support and care
for a person in the last phase of a life-limiting illness.
Pastor Wilson
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the implications reach further. I have experienced times in the church when there was a sense of enthusiasm and excitement about the ministry taking place. God was working and we were sure of it. Ideas were flowing, events were falling into place, people seemed to be on the same page. And sometimes those periods of excitement bore fruit. And even when an idea didn’t pan out the way we had hoped, folks couldn’t wait to try out the next idea.
But I can also remember many times when a church seemed to be just plodding along. Folks sometimes expressed the idea of being tired. Others said it felt as if the church was just “going through the motions.” Brainstorming sessions became like staring contests with folks looking blankly at each other hoping someone will come up with an idea. And when ideas did come, the energy (and often the people power) to implement those ideas was missing. But the amazing thing is that, in my experience, God is working in the midst of those times as well. And I have wondered if those times when inspiration seems harder to come by are God’s way of giving a church a Sabbath rest. A time to re-center and re-fresh. A time to wait on God.
And I guess the point I am trying to make is this: Sometimes God leads and speaks so clearly that we are amazed. It can make being a church seem easy. And those times are full of energy and they are amazing. But other times God seems to allow us to work things out on our own. God might even go quiet – giving us time for the restorative power of the Holy Spirit to rejuvenate us. These times can be difficult because we feel like we should be doing more to make things happen. Our
I am relaxing in my hammock as I write this. Well, maybe “relaxing” isn’t the correct word. Writing these newsletter pieces reminds me of how Stephen King in his book “On Writing” spoke of the fickleness of the “muse.” Sometimes he would sit down and the words and ideas would just flow as if inspired. Other times, he imagined his muse to be a cigar smoking, crackled- voiced torturer sitting in a smoke-filled room and laughing as King struggled to put down anything of substance. What King called his muse, we might call the Holy Spirit. Sometimes as I work to reach the deadline for my article an idea pops into my head as if it had been spoken by that still, small voice we know as inspiration. Other times I write because I have to. It is expected. It is a part of the job description. And then there are those times when I’ve nearly decided to not submit anything…who knows, I wonder, maybe nobody reads these things anyway. The amazing thing is that the responses I get (yes, some of you do respond) to the articles are completely independent to my intuition about what I’ve written. Those “inspired” pieces that cause me to hit the send button with a good dose of enthusiasm and with the thought, ‘Wait till they read that! Won’t they be impressed!” are often the months I don’t hear anything from anybody. Other months I hit send with the fear that someone will say, “Really, this is the best you can do?” And sometimes it is those articles which move someone to say, “Thank you! I needed to hear that.” I have had similar experiences with sermons. It is a wonder.
I have been re-reading a book by Barbara Brown Taylor entitled, “When God is Silent.” It is intended for those of us who are called to speak God’s word to God’s people…you know, preachers. But I think
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inclination might be to try and make God speak or to try so hard to hear that we miss the power of the silence.
And as I close, I find myself once again wondering if any of this makes sense…lol. And I am not even sure if this will resonate with you. Maybe it is me projecting my own current experience onto the rest of you. But my thought is that maybe the question to ask is not, “What ministry can we do next?” Maybe the question to ask is, “How, in the midst of all the ministries we are currently doing (and there are many!!!), can we learn to wait on God?” I was going to find a relevant verse with which to close but what might be more fun (at least for me…) is for you to share verses you find relevant. Please email me and let me know what God is saying to you today. But be careful because you just might end up in the next newsletter (with permission of course)!
United in Christ, we are led by the Spirit and called to worship, build relationships, and dig deep into the
Scriptures so that each person grows into maturity.
God calls and empowers all of us to go out to our communities to build
relationships so that others will come to know the exceptional love
of Jesus.
Alysia Fink, our Praise Team Leader, has announced her resignation. Her last Sunday with the Praise Team was July 21. Alysia and her family will be moving to California at the end of August. She will stay on to serve as volunteer Director of VBS the second week in August. A celebration of Alysia Fink's ministry among us will be held on August 4th in between services. We will also be sending her off with a blessing during the second service.
The SPRC has already begun the process of searching for a replacement. Please keep the Fink family and the SPRC in your prayers.
NO
PUTTERERS
IN
AUGUST
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This epic African adventure engages the whole herd. At Roar, kids explore God’s goodness and celebrate a ferocious faith that powers them through this wild life. Children ages 4 years old through 8th grade can join the fun at the Bergen Community VBS August 12th to August 16th. Drop-off at 8:45am and pick-up at noon at the Bergen Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
Vacation
Bible
School
2019
This year’s Sunday school Kickoff
will be September 8th at 9:15 am.
Get ready!
Pictures from the
recent Mission Trip that
the youth took to
Syracuse. See more on
page 10!
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2 Adam Drexler
3 Ginny Adams
Eric & Carrie Weis*
Alysia Fink
4 Steve & Nancy Daniels*
Tod & Ellie MacIntyre*
5 Jacob Beale
7 Allen Fiedler
10 Tom & Shirley Williamson*
12 Hal & Laurie Milward*
Bob Mundell
Dick Sands
15 Bob Wagner
16 David & Suzi Lepkowski*
Kaitlyn VanValkenburg
17 Rick Woodring
19 Cindy Cassada
Grace Pulcini
20 Bonnie Brinkman
Ginny Ivison
Adam & Brittany Drexler*
Alysia & Richard Fink*
21 Donelda Drosky
22 Anne Waldruff
25 Melissa VanValkenburg
26 John & Barb Zinter*
27 Jim Lewis
31 Diana Wagner
Nick R. VanderWyst
April House
Operation Christmas Child is a mission project of Samaritan’s Purse. The project distributes shoeboxes filled with gift items to children around the world so that they can come to know the Good News of Jesus Christ. Bergen UMC has participated in this project for several years and intends to do so again this year.
School supplies are always welcome additions to the shoeboxes. “Back-to-School” sales in late summer promote “good buys” of such items. Please consider taking advantage of these sales to purchase items for donation to the youth for their packing party or for your own shoeboxes. Items such as pencils, pencil sharpeners, erasers, crayons, markers, rulers, scissors, glue sticks, small notebooks, and small pads of paper are appropriate. Small toys, puzzles, socks, shirts, hats, and novelties are also desirable.
9:15 Worship
Greeter
4 Rose Chambers
11 Marie Barringer
18 Marie Aradine
25 Suzi Lepkowski
Nursery / Cradle
4 Anne Pocock
11 Wayne Pocock
18 Deb Coleman
25 Candie Pocock
Acolytes & Ushers
4 David Lepkowski / Suzi Lepkowski
11 Gary Cooper / Jan Cooper
18 George Parry / Rick Woodring
25 Ron Chraston / Sherry Chraston
Scripture Reader
4 Donna Pringle
11 Mike Lovett
18 Sherry Starowitz
25 Jerry Sheridan
11:00 Worship
Greeter 4 Mary Lowe 11 Katina Miller 18 Sandy Bater 25 Linda Stephens Scripture Reader 4 Susan Barr 11 Donna Weiler 18 Liz Mundell 25 Mary Lowe Nursery / Cradle 4 Liz Mundell 11 Marge Busmire 18 ________ & Jude Miller 25 ________ & Sawyer Zinter
August Layhelper Schedule
If you cannot serve as scheduled, please attempt to switch Sundays with someone on a different week and call the office at 494-1312 with the change.
Opportunities are available for all positions in the 9:15 and 11:00 Worship Services. Please call Nancy Daniels at 943-0573 or email at [email protected] to volunteer to serve. YOU are needed!
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The Spirit of the Prophets for Today:
Gives the Word of God
“Prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:21 Sources are important. When a sibling adds “Mom says!” to a command, it carries weight. Students finding and citing sources for a paper know their grade depends on it. The sources journalists use give credibility to the article. We’re all interested in the words of an authority because that person knows more than we do. The stubborn and hard-hearted Israelites wouldn’t listen to the prophets, men speaking on behalf of God Himself. What more authoritative source could there be? Zechariah says the Lord’s words were sent by His Spirit through the prophets. “This is what the Lord Almighty says,” is the ultimate source citation. When we choose to ignore or disregard the Bible, we are making light of the words of God. There may be passages in the Bible we do not like. But we cannot shrug them off. Since He is the source, it is God—not Moses—who says, ”I love you.” It is Jesus—not the gospel writers—who says “Come unto me.” And it is the Spirit—not Paul—who says we are God’s children. You can stand firm on that! “’Thus says the Lord’ is the only authority in God’s Church. The faintest whisper of Jehovah’s voice should fill us with solemn awe.”
(Charles H. Spurgeon, 1864)
Used by permission from Haven Ministries, Riverside, California Printed in Anchor Devotional, June 29, 2019 Written by Tom Hoffman
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Sherry Starowitz, Alaina House ,Sandy Bater , Emma Starowitz, Sydney Miller, Kaitlyn House, Greta Miller, Libby Starowitz, Jude Miller, Ada Clookey, Sawyer Zinter, Jeff House, J.C. Starowitz, and April House
(zig-zag, left to right)
Youth Mission Team 2019 as they leave for a week in Syracuse to work in conjunction with Erwin First UMC at their summer Bible Camp for youth in the city, as well as
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