Shelbyville United Methodist Church

938 124th Ave.

Shelbyville, MI 49344

Worship: 11:00am

Children’s Worship: 11:05am

Pastor Sean Kidd

616-401-8576

seankidd1970@gmail.com

Web site: www.martinumc.org

M A R T I N A N D S H E L B Y V I L L E U M C ’ S

Joyful Notes January 2017

Years ago I traveled to Deerfield Village with one of my children on a

school field trip. It was truly like a trip back in time. While there were a lot of

amazing things to do and see that day, one image remains indelibly burned into

my mind’s eye: It was coming upon an outdoor family meal time, with several

generations gather together on the front porch of the 19th

century home. Now of

course this was all staged. The “family members” weren’t really related;

probably just some students from the University of Michigan along with some

local middle and high school kids. But they were dressed in the garb of the era, and they were cooking real

soup over a real open fire in a real cast-iron kettle. They had all taken a break from their labors and were eating

on the front porch. It was truly a picture of authentic community and family and the nostalgia of yesteryear.

While some things can only be appreciated because of their “oldness,” some things just are better new.

Underwear for example. A car for another. There is nothing like the smell of the interior of a new car. They

even sell air fresheners with that “new car smell” scent. I’m also a sucker for a new book. There’s something

about the way the spine yields the first time that you open a stiff book and the smell of the ink on the pages.

Some things are just better new.

We are just about to enter a new year. There’s something very special about this time of year for me. I

have always liked new challenges, new opportunities, clean slates. Like most, I make goals or “resolutions,” to

stop doing things which I should’ve stopped doing years ago and to start doing the things that I have wanted to

do for a long time. While I know that I have this opportunity each and every day, there is just something special

about the new year.

The Bible says that if anyone is in Christ, a “new creation” has come. The old is gone and the new is

here. That’s what Jesus does, or at least that’s what he has the power to do. When we have an authentic

encounter with Jesus Christ we are supposed to come away changed. We are renewed. We are different. We are

supposed to reflect his love and care to the world. The unfortunate part is that far too many Christians are not

renewed at all. They’re just a different kind of worldly. They are earthly with a Christian veneer. This is not the

authentic community that Christ longs for in his church.

I look forward to 2017 with a great sense of anticipation of what God is going to do in the midst of the

communities of faith that I serve. 2016 was a year of both opportunities as well as challenges. But I believe that

2017 will be a year of foundational building and growth. That can only happen however, with those which have

truly been transformed by the nature and power of Jesus Christ. We are not looking for the same old same old

this year. We are looking for the ways of yesterday to fade and the new to be ushered in. We are looking for

great things. The good news? We serve a God who specializes great things. Happy New Year, Pastor Sean

Martin United Methodist Church 969 E. Allegan St. PO Box 154

Martin, MI 49070

Worship: 9:30a.m

Children’s Worship: 9:45am

The Rock @ 5 O’Clock First, third and fifth Saturday

rockat5mumc@gmail.com

Pat Hoekstra, Office Manager

martinumc@sbcglobal.net

Office Hours: Tuesday – Friday

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in

Christ, the new creation

has come: The old has

gone, the new is here!

SHELBYVILLE CHURCH NEWS PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS THIS WEEK:

CANCER: Dustan Colyer Wayne Mills Paula Oglesbee Dana Hall

Mike Boysen Dr. Veenstra Sandy (VandenBerg) Johnson Pearce Ray

Jack Hover Roger Vink Norma Boyle Nancy Nicolai

MEDICAL ISSUES: Sarah Sabin Curt Hall Matt Moore Laurie Ann Butler

Mark Padilla Matt Johnson Jaydon Allofe Dave Nickels Jeff Burkey Lacy Logiwitz

Jeff Oldebeken Isaiah Jerry Mauchmar Ricardo Bazon Helene Todd Dave Heyderberl

Sally Dam Cindy Keyzer Kathy Vist Bob Weick Roy Anderson Jerry Curry

LIFE ISSUES: Maggie Stoken and family

DATES TO REMEMBER:

1. Administrative Council Meeting

January 4, 6pm 2. UNITED METHODIST WOMEN

Wednesday, January 11, 10am

All women of the church invited PLEASE REMEMBER OUR HOMEBOUND WITH CARDS AND CALLS: Doris Hawkey 829 116th Ave. Martin, MI 49070 Dorothy Warner Stanford Lodge 409 Naomi St Plainwell, MI 49080 Sharan Leverich 1960 10th St. Martin, MI 49070

MARTIN CHURCH NEWS PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYER: CANCER: Marla Ferguson Rainer Zacher Dana Hall Maura Martin Ragan Meeter Ed Simpson

Paula Oglesbee Betsy Losey Sandy Conklin Torey Whitten Dana Walters Jennifer Enos Julie Curry

Missy Daniel John Gray Brian Augustine Charles Brock Dustan Colyer Nancy Nicolai Laura Terry

HEALTH ISSUES Else Zacher Karen DeVries Don Pyle Jalissa Stratton Merry Ondersma Eddie Oetman

Darin Moulder Cindy Keyzer Carrie Green Tim Hoffman Rob VanderHoff Margo Roberts Austin Beilby

Jennifer Bellgraph Presley Talsma Sandy Maynaird Josh Hildebrand Morgan Foreman George Cuba

Jeff Mentzer

JANUARY ACOLYTE

SCHEDULE

Jan 1 – Jacob Wheeler

Jan 8 – Carson Cuba

Jan 15 – Maggie Stoken

Jan 22 – Danelle Wheeler

Jan 29 – Owen Cuba

THE CHURCH OFFICE

WILL BE CLOSED ON

JANUARY 1 AND 2.

MISSION STATEMENT We, who are the Martin United

Methodist Church, are called to be

disciples of Jesus Christ, committed

to:

*SHARING God's Love

*TEACHING the Bible and spiritual

life

*INVITING the community to grow

and walk with us in Christian faith

*SERVING the needs of our

neighbors

JANUARY NURSERY

SCHEDULE Jan 1 – Danelle Wheeler & Allison Collins

Jan 8 – Kristin Ash & Javier Guevara

Jan 15 – Mary Jo Ash & Amanda Northrup

Jan 22 – Diane & Matthew Northrup

Jan 29 – Ronda Kelly & Kayleigh Collins

Monthly Loose

Change Offering January 8

Designated for the

food pantry

Shelbyville choir practice Wednesday, @ 7:00pm

OASIS YOUTH GROUP

will not meet in January

If you would like a

name added or removed

from the prayer list,

please notify the

Church Office.

Saturdays, @ 5pm

Worship, fellowship

& dinner!

Looking for ways to be

involved? Contact Mary

Baumgart or Judy Kline.

PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS THIS WEEK: CANCER: Dustan Colyer, Dickie Decker, Missy Daniel, Angie Tucker, Ragan Meeter, Wayne Mills, James Connor,

Mark Wheeler, Paula Oglesbee, Gordon Willons, Letty Sherry, Laura Terry

HEALTH ISSUES: Judy Palmer, Doris Hawkey, Paige Reigler, Andrew Troyer, Helen Lane, Saundra Johnson,

Lynn Sadowski, Brandy Ferguson, Maria Patrick, Vickie Blanchard, Melissa Blauvelt, Merry Ondersma, Haley Jenkins,

Alice Pennigton, Anita Edwards, Morgan Foreman, Bob Weick, Jerry Curry

DEATH: The family of Tracey (Fitzpatrick) Drake

LIFE ISSUES: Maggie Stoken and family, Randy Bennett, TN fires

JANUARY CHURCH ACTIVITES www.martinumc.org

for more details

Oasis Youth Group will resume in February

.

NEWSLETTER DEADLINE Friday, January 20

January’s newsletter available on the website by January 27

Martin UMC Community Breakfast Third Saturday every month!

January 21 8am to 10:30am

Proceeds to Food Pantry

THIRSTY THURSDAY Will resume meeting on

January 26

PEACE DRUM CIRCLE 3rd Saturday of each month

January 21, 3pm Martin UMC Nursery

EMMAUS GATHERING may resume in March

HUMAN RELATIONS DAY

JANUARY 15, 2017 Turn on the news or drive around the outskirts of your town and you will find what Jesus called “the least of these.” Those living in the margins of society, struggling to survive. People like: An immigrant teenager in Texas’ poorest county, being recruited by a local gang A father struggling for sobriety in Little Rock, Arkansas An Oklahoma woman recently released from incarceration looking for work. Over and over Jesus served people like this, embracing them. And that’s what we want to model as the people of The United Methodist Church. To continue the ministry of Jesus we established Human Relations Day as a Special Sunday that calls all of our churches to participate in helping all God’s children to realize their potential.

Will You Support the Ministry of Christ Among Those on the Margins? Will you continue to support Human Relations Day? Will you continue nurturing at-risk youth, strengthening communities’ self-improvement efforts and advocating for the oppressed? Rev. I Maliik Safir, whose church works with those gripped by addiction in Little Rock, sums up the work of Human Relations Day by recalling Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan: “to meet the poor, the disadvantaged and the underserved at the places where others have robbed them and help them to recover from the wounds of social inequality.”