June 2013 Our mission is to invite, inspire, and include all people in Christ’s love The Branches VBS June 17-21 5:30-8:00 PM Come find out what all this “Kingdom Rock” is all about with an awesome sneak peek at the program. We will have stations set up where you can register your children and as a volunteer. You can also check the VBS section of our website, treechurch.net, and register there. On June 1 st , we will decorate our cars with window paint to advertise around our communities. We will have invitations that the kids can fill out to make it a snap for them to invite their friends. The moment we’re done with that, we’ll head to the YMCA for a pool party! Vacation Bible School begins on Monday, June 17 th and will conclude on Friday, June 21 st . Dinner will be served every evening. See you at the Tree! Upcoming Events June 1 Family Pool Party VBS Decorate Your Car Day 6 Car Seat Check Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 8 Sunday School Room Clean Up 9 Anniversary Dinner (Combined Service 10:30am) 12 Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 17-21 VBS 21 Impact And High School Lock In (Following VBS) 23-28 Disciple Project 28-29 Pre-Camp Lock In 1-5 Grade 30 Third Grade Bibles July 5 Fireworks @ Julie Week’s 14 Camp Send Off & First Time Camper Blankets 14-19 Youth camp at Lutherhill 17-21 Family Promise 21-26 Confirmation camp at Lutherhill Aug. 1 Car Seat Check 7 K-5 Movies 6-12 Rock Climbing 18 Confirmation Sunday 25 Blessing Of The Backpacks Kindergarten Pillows Sept. 5 Car Seat Check 8 Rally Day 11 Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 15 Sunday School Starts 18 Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 25 Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 29 Youth Lead Service
Transcript
June 2013 Our mission is to invite, inspire, and include all people in Christ’s love
The Branches
VBS June 17-21 5:30-8:00 PM
Come find out what all this “Kingdom Rock” is all about with an awesome sneak peek at the program. We will have stations set up where you can register your children and as a volunteer. You can also check the VBS section of our website, treechurch.net, and register there. On June 1
st, we will decorate our cars with window paint to advertise around our
communities. We will have invitations that the kids can fill out to make it a snap for them to invite their friends. The moment we’re done with that, we’ll head to the YMCA for a pool party! Vacation Bible School begins on Monday, June 17
th and will conclude on Friday, June
21st. Dinner will be served every evening.
See you at the Tree!
Upcoming Events
June 1 Family Pool Party VBS Decorate Your Car Day 6 Car Seat Check Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 8 Sunday School Room Clean Up 9 Anniversary Dinner (Combined Service 10:30am) 12 Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 17-21 VBS 21 Impact And High School Lock In (Following VBS) 23-28 Disciple Project 28-29 Pre-Camp Lock In 1-5 Grade 30 Third Grade Bibles July 5 Fireworks @ Julie Week’s 14 Camp Send Off & First Time Camper Blankets 14-19 Youth camp at Lutherhill 17-21 Family Promise 21-26 Confirmation camp at Lutherhill Aug. 1 Car Seat Check 7 K-5 Movies 6-12 Rock Climbing 18 Confirmation Sunday 25 Blessing Of The Backpacks Kindergarten Pillows Sept. 5 Car Seat Check 8 Rally Day 11 Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 15 Sunday School Starts 18 Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 25 Wednesday At The Tree Nooma (Adult Bible Study) 29 Youth Lead Service
Pastor’s Corner
I am tired. I am know that I am not alone in this. I can see and sense it throughout our community. There is nothing wrong with being tired because it is an indication that things have been getting done. But it also means it is time for rest. God rested after building the world. Jesus spent time in prayer and exclusion throughout his ministry to recharge his batteries and we are no different. I once heard a statement about this that made perfect sense. People do not have alternators. In case you are not aware of this particular piece of hardware, let me give you a quick refresher. An alternator is the device in your car that creates electricity to help provide power to things like your radio and head lights by recharging the battery in your car. It is a very simple system and as you may have noticed the last time you started your car that it works quite well. It really is amazing that our vehicles have a device that recharges the battery as the vehicle does the work of driving us down the road. However, human beings do not have that piece of equipment, otherwise we would be the energizer bunny. We probably would never stop. However, because we can not charge our own batteries we need to take time to refill our spiritual, physical and emotional needs. Here is the question. What recharges you? Do you need exclusion like Jesus? Do you need to be around people like Paul? Maybe you are a hybrid and need a little of both? No matter what recharges your soul, please take time and do it this summer and don’t believe the lie that you will rest when things slow down because they will never slow down. Doug Fields who serves Saddle Back church he heard a pastor say that he would never take a day off because the devil never took a day off. Doug pointed out that was why he was the Devil. He never took time to recharge his batteries. Maybe that is why the devil is so mean and grumpy? Therefore I am begging you all to please take time to rest this summer. Be intentional about treating your exhaustion and let God nurture and heal you up from the long journeys you have been taken. Because you can not help invite, inspire and include anyone in the family of God much less your own world if you have depleted all that you have without taking time to replace what you have used. God knows we don’t have alternators and expects us to rest when we are tired. It is why there is commandment about taking Sabbath (which is another word for rest). Therefore hear my words and do what you must to recharge, restore and replace all that you have expended so that you may have enough emotional and spiritual energy to change the world and be the hands that God uses to do it. Blessings. PC
From the Council President
Let’s give thanks for the blessings we received in May, both individually and for Tree of Life as a whole. The month of May was not without trials and storms, including weather disasters for our neighbors to the north in Oklahoma and northern Texas. Please pray for Ryan and his family as they mourn the passing of Ryan’s grandmother. We were able to close on refinancing our mortgage with the ELCA Mission Investment Fund (MIF). We expect this will provide some financial relief and open opportunities to expand our ministry at Tree of Life. I would ask for your continued support and prayers that God guide us in His work here. Next month, we will conduct our Vacation Bible School. I would invite everyone to join us during that week. If you cannot join us at VBS, please pray for the children and for the workers in this ministry. If you have something you would like to have our prayer team pray about for you, please let Ida know and she will pass your request on to our prayer team. As you finish reading this short letter, you might have seen a theme throughout – prayer. Prayers for our neighbors, prayers for our members, prayers that our ministries may bear fruit for God’s work here.
Thank you, Dennis McConnell President Tree of Life Council
Synod Assembly
Dear Fellow Members of Tree of Life:
Dave and I wish to thank you for once again allowing us to represent Tree of Life at the annual TX-LA Gulf Coast Synod Assembly. This year’s assembly was held at beautiful Camp Allen near Navasota. Dave and I commuted from our home in Willis in order to save on expenses for the church. The drive was quite easy and the only difficulty we encountered was being held up by the hundreds of Triathlon cyclists on 105 Satur-day afternoon. The assembly opened on Thursday afternoon with a wonderful bilingual worship. The “Glocal” band pro-vided the music and was set up very much like our own contemporary band except that their backgrounds were from all over the world. It was such a treat. We were privileged to cast our vote for Bishop Mike Rinehart who was re-elected by an overwhelming ma-jority. Approximately 260 votes were cast for our very own Mike and Dave & I were so proud when he men-tioned his home church, Tree of Life Conroe. The theme of the assembly was “Glocal”...combining global and local communities. The emphasis was placed on the intermingling of different nationalities and how to comingle successfully. There were reports from our sister congregations in Peru and Africa and what is being done to help these struggling nations. Several keynote speakers enlightened and motivated us. Interspersed with the keynote speakers and presentations was the business aspect of the assembly: elec-tions of the bishop and synod council members; reports from the key officers of the synod, report Lutherhill, and motions made regarding compensation guidelines for salaried positions such as Pastor. We also said goodbye to Pastor Don Carlson who is retiring. Pastor Carlson has been the Assistant to the Bishop for the past several years and in fact came to Tree of Life first as a guest preacher and then as a liaison to the bishop’s office during our call process for Pastor Chris. He gave Pastor Chris the beautiful red chasuble that PC wore on Pentecost. Speaking of Pastor Chris, we were very proud of his role at the Synod Assembly as resident geek! We all know his talents in that area and he did a great job keeping everything running smoothly. For more informa-tion on the Synod Assembly and to see some great pictures go to the TX LA Gulf Coast Synod’s facebook page . Again, thank you for the opportunity to represent Tree of Life .
Peace, Daphne and Dave Cox
Announcements
Men’s Group Meeting
The next meeting of the Men’s group will be on June 19, 2013 at 7:00 pm. The meeting will be held in the music room. All are welcome.
Adults on Wednesdays
Join us on Wednesday June 5 and 12 for supper at 6:00pm. After dinner, we will show a short video by Rob Bell, acclaimed author of "Love Wins". We will open up the floor for open and honest discussion. No homework. No prep time. No books to buy. Come as you are, and enjoy fellowship, compassion and love in a positive Christian environment. See you there!
Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
The King hath set a mission on the land in search of the faithful, loyal Christians.
Thou loyal subjects are hereby requested to present themselves as volunteers for Kingdom Rock.
We decree that fun will be had by all! Ye shall be handsomely rewarded for your service.
Please contact the valiant Sir Ryan at [email protected] for information.
Coming Soon July 17-21
We will need volunteers for Overnight stay Van drivers And meals
Sign up board coming soon.
Tree of Life Anniversary Dinner
June 9, 2013
11:30 ish Fellowship Hall
Worship Together at One Service at 10:30 am.
Then celebrate our 28th Anniversary with fellowship and food.
Sign up to bring your favorite potluck dish.
Using your Kroger Plus Card during this past year has earned us a check for $1,034.92 from Kroger. The program renews on June 1, 2013 and we are awaiting our authorization for the coming year. We will be handing out the letters to take to your favorite Kroger store in just a few weeks. Thanks to all of you for using your Kroger plus card and thanks to Kroger.
Youth News
6:00-7:30 pm
Wednesday June 5 and 12 6:00 pm Dinner 6:30 pm Youth Games & Activities
Family Pool Party June 1, 2013
We are kicking summer off with a family pool party. We will have fun in the sun and fellowship all around. The pool party will be held at the Conroe YMCA from 2pm-4pm. The cost is $5 per person.
Impact and High School Lock-In June 21, 2013 Following VBS
Lock-In Grades 1-5 June 28, 2013
Register Now Come find out what all this “Kingdom Rock” is all about with an awesome sneak peek at the program. We will have stations set up where you can register your children and as a volunteer. You can also check the VBS section of our website, treechurch.net, and register there.
Fireworks at Julie’s house
July 5, 2013
Please join us on July 5, 2013 as we celebrate Independence day with fireworks. There will be more information to come.
Third Grade Bibles June 30, 2013
If you have a child going into the third grade please contact the office so that we can order their bible.
6 Carol & Bob Hoffland 7 Susie & Jim Rust 10 Maxine & Dennis McConnell 12 Karen & Kevin Solberg 14 Traci & Mitch Wilkins 25 Karen & Dennis Andrews 26 Shirley & Larry Finke Elaine & Robert West
