09.27.2009 Summary

SUNDAY SUMMARY
BUCK CREEK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
September 27, 2009
Issue #415


NOW OBSERVING FALL-WINTER HOURS:
Sunday School 9am
Worship 10:15am


SANCTUARY FLOWERS:
A nice fallish hanging basket in memory of Grams (Ella Mae
Eckhart Lamaster) from the Schnepp Family.

VISITORS:

FLOWER SIGN-UP FOR 2009 dates remaining: zero
Thank you! Watch for the 2010 list to appear soon.

SERVANTS THIS WEEK:
Ushers: Pat Sense, Sam Stratton, Dan Fleming, Haleigh Taylor
Greeters: Fred Merkel, Bill Pless
Acolyte: Haleigh Taylor
Liturgist: Sam Stratton
Children's messages for Sept: Pam Church
Bell ringer: Robert Mueller
Scripture reader: Carol Shepard
Nursery: Lydia Mueller, Ali Davidson scheduled
Pianist: Mindy Jester, PD
Soundman: Bob Shepard/Spencer Davidson/Jim Davidson Jr.

NEW SERVANTS NEXT WEEK:
Ushers: Ron Austin, Austin Church, Hunter Metro-Lucies, Ken Mueller
Greeters: Bill Pless, Nancy Schnepp
Acolyte: Robert Mueller
Liturgist: Ralph Rohrer
Children's messages for October: Pat Miller
Bell ringer: Haleigh Taylor
Scripture reader: Sam Stratton
Nursery: Jim Davidson & Anita Davidson

Communion steward: Pam Church

PRELUDE:

PRAISE SONGS/HYMNS: Come Thou Almighty King; Open the Eyes
of My Heart; Open Our Eyes
Led by: Elaine, Chloe, Judy, Pastor Dwight,
Ralph, Coley, Doug

CLOSING HYMNS: Standing on the Promises


ANNOUNCEMENTS:


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THE FEAST! Meeting after church next Sunday (October 4) to
have clothing assigned and to receive instructions & buttons.

STILL TAKING NAMES: for working at buffaloburger booth!
Contact Ralph & Mindy at: houserohrer@sbcglobal.net
or Ralph at work: rrohrer@purdue.edu
or Ralph's work phone: 765-494-8624.
There are four shifts: 9-1 and 1-5 on Saturday; 9-1 and 1-4 on Sunday.
If you can work, please contact them, and they will get your
name on the list.

***************************************************************
FIVE PRACTICES: volunteers needed. The conference requires
a series on the 5 practices. There was a handout today for
volunteers to help. This is what the handout said:

Five Practice of Fruitful Congregations
Name:
I am interested in helping with the following:
___Songs ___Visuals
___Message ___Prayers
___Skits ___Testimony
___Video ___Other

Please let the pastor know if you'd like to help in any way.
His e-mail is: poimendlm@aol.com
*****************************************************************
HOLIDAY CHOIR: If you are interested in participating in
a holiday choir to do special music for Thanksgiving and
the Christmas season, see Pastor Dwight. Practice to begin
next week, Tuesday, October 6th from 6:30pm-8pm.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
SOCK-IT-TO-THEM 2 YEAR GOAL! Between 2001 and 2008, BCUMC
donated 3,542 pairs of socks to the kids at Lebanon Children's Home.
Ladies Missionary Society has a two-year goal to reach 5,000
pairs by next year (2010). There are already 100 + donated pairs at
the church this year. I'll get an official tally next week and
let you know how the count is going! Thanks to those who have
already donated so generously!!! Socks to be delivered second
Saturday in December.

SOCK COUNT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We now have 397 pairs!!!
Subtract that from the 729 we need this year, and we only
need another 332 pairs to meet the 2009 goal!!! And it's
only the end of September!!!!!
*****************************************************************
MOWING: See or contact Ryan Davidson if you can volunteer to
mow the church lot this year.
Oct. 4: Ron Tull Oct. 11: Sam Stratton
*****************************************************************
ONE MORE COMMUNION STEWARD NEEDED FOR 2009:
Please see Lydia Mueller or sign the sheet at church.
THANK YOU!
___December.
It will soon be time to sign up for 2010 !
*****************************************************************
FIREFIGHTER COOKIES 2009:
These are the months remaining for sign up to provide cookies for
monthly firefighter meetings: zero. THANK YOU
*****************************************************************
NURSERY: more help needed. Please see Ken Mueller.
*****************************************************************

ThIs WeEk:

UPCOMING:

Oct. 2: Pastor's office hours noon-3pm
Oct. 3: Ladies Breakfast Bible Study 7:45am
Oct. 4: Sunday School 9am
Worship 10:15am

SUNDAY SCHOOL:

SPECIAL MUSIC:

CHILDREN'S SERMON: Pam Church
Good morning! *Good morning!* How is everyone today? *Good!*
I'm going to tell you a story about a wise man, and a foolish
man. What does wise mean? *Smart!* And making the right
choices. What does foolish mean? *Not obeying God!*
Yes, you've got it figured out. And making the wrong choices.
This is the story of 2 builders. It's found in Matthew 7:24-29.
Jesus often told a story about one thing to help tell about
something else. One day Jesus told a story of two men.
One man built his home on hard ground. The wind & rain blew on
the house, but the house was safe because it was on hard ground.
The wise man's house was safe on the hard ground. It stayed
straight and strong. The foolish man built his house on sand.
Is sand hard? *No.* The wind blew the rain on his house.
The foolish man's house was not safe. It fell with a crash!
People who obey Jesus are like the wiseman. They are safe when
problems come if they trust in Jesus. People who do not obey
Jesus are sad. They trusted things that are not helping them.
Like the man whose house fell down. Did he build his house
on the right place? NO! He built it on the sand. What happened?
*It fell down!* How can we build our home/life so we can be
where it is strong and sturdy? *Go to the basement or build
a brick house! -Anna* Jesus can be our strong ground.
If we base our lives on Jesus, and pray to God, and build
our houses on the solid ground, God and Jesus will help us through.
[If you love me you will obey what I command... John 14:15]
If we do what God tells us to do, we will be able to have
our "homes" and ourselves stay strong. Repeat after me:
Dear Lord, thank You for wise decisions. Help me remember
to always ask You for that help. Amen.

MOMENTS FOR MINISTRY: Jim Davidson Jr. shared an
update on Kairos. Kairos happens twice a year.
Next one up is the weekend of November 5,6,7,8.
He asks for our support, and gave an invitation for
men to go with him as they minister to the prisoners.
at Westville. If anybody hears God speaking to them
about being on the team, please contact Jim.
He will talk to you and answer your questions.
There are also other ways to help, without going
physically in the doors. There's the "cookie bake".
They need 5,000 DOZEN chocolate chip cookies.
All cookies must be made from the same recipe (they
will provide it to you). The Holy Spirit comes in
the form of cookies! The prisoners get the cookies
eat them all and keep coming back for more.
Then they get the idea that there is more to what
they want than cookies. They want more shown to
them through the Holy Spirit. It is so awesome to
see the cookies working. There are also agape
opportunities. The paper cut-outs of hands,
the decorated paper placemats, posters... Anita has all the
details. These things are put up on the room during
the weekend. The placemats are put out for all of
us when we go for meals. The prisoners don't want
to get theirs soiled and take them back to their
lockers. It's another way to reach out.
In Matthew 25:36 it says, I was in prison and you
visited me... That speaks louder in this particular
setting. If you'd like to sponsor an inmate or a
team member, it's $125 for the weekend. Prayers
help as well. There is an online prayer vigil where
you can sign up: http://www.3dayol.org/Vigil/GetComm.phtml
It's Westville #11. Click on that and sign-up.
Anita has a sign-up sheet for cookies & agape.
If you feel led to contribute, let us know.

PRAYER JOYS/CONCERNS:

A big thank you to Pastor Dwight for shampooing the rug
in the nursery!

A big thank you from Nancy Balser to John Metro for
fixing the lights on the 3 crosses in the memory garden!

A big thank you to the unsung heroes that donated blood
on Saturday. There were 17-18 signed up to give.
THANK YOU! We'll get you a total soon.

Another big thank you to all the socks collected so far!
Three hundred and ninety seven pairs.

Audrey had a praise that granddaughter Madison will
be five on Monday!

Linda A. asks prayers for Ron's knee as he continues
to have troubles. He sees the doc on Thursday.
Linda also asks prayers for her friend in Corydon
who had a heart attack and didn't get to attend the
choral presentation. A praise that she got to go
and see all 6 nights of performances.

Faye Merkel had a praise that they were able to
attend her aunt's 100th birthday party!

Masons ask continued prayers for those going
to Iraq.

Tom had a praise for his wonderful wife Deb.

Deb gave a thank you to all the thoughtful people that
have come through for her during her surgery and
recovery. She is scared about possibly taking chemo.
She needs God's help to come through that one.
She knows she'll be okay with Him. God sends
her the right people with the right words at
the right times. Thank you all, friends and family.
Thanks for the calls, food, prayers right when I
need them. Thanks to everyone.

Kay Miller just found out that a friend from
high school had a heart attack. Prayers for Linda.

Doug asks continued prayers for his Dad (Charles)
who is back in the hospital.

Prayers for Pam as she has an interview at Sylvan
for a part time job Monday night. She wants to
knock their socks off!
(and we'll send those socks to Lebanon---after
they've been washed of course! :) )

Retta let us know that they turned a sad day into
a wonderful one. Her mom Jean Harner passed away
a year ago Friday. This year Retta's daughter
Marcie got engaged on that day! With a banner
at a ballgame... it's a great story!!!
Congrats to Marcie!!!!! And the lucky man that
asked her!

Dan let us know that coming home on 25 near Ben la Del
a car coming up behind them veered off the road
and hit the side of the road and the back of the
car came over the front, landing upside down.
His heart goes out to them, and he hopes they
were wearing their seat belt. Also thanks to God
that they were in front of them and not behind
as they would have hit them. Prayers for the
people in that car that they are okay.

Donna had a word of concern about all the detours
around the area due to the construction of the
Hoosier Heartland. "Please remind people to be
very careful on the "s" curve. There was an
accident Friday.

Ruth let us know there was also an accident
in front of their house yesterday. A girl
overcorrected and ended up in their drive.
The guide wars saved her, and that she was
wearing her seat belt. She was from Elkhart
on her way to Purdue to visit a friend.
She stayed with them till her parents got there.
The girl's mother asked Ruth, "Do you know what
our day has been like? We buried my dad this
morning." Praises that she was okay and that
she was wearing her seat belt.

Prayers for aches & pains to be tolerable.

Prayers for those who are grieving.

Unspoken requests.


SCRIPTURES: Psalm 25:1-10; John 16:5-16
read very nicely by Carol Shepard.

MESSAGE: "The Voice of God: Hearing from the Holy Spirit"
by Pastor Dwight Monical.

For the last two weeks we've been talking about the Voice of God.
Have you heard the voice of God lately? Some are hesitant
to answer that. We may take it from granted as we may hear
from God all the time. God speaks to us
when we open our eyes and look at his creation.
Last week we talked about hearing God's voice in the
scriptures. We know that Jesus it the living and active
word of God---the bible expresses that.
When Jesus returned to the Father, he sent the Comforter
to give us access to God every single moment of every
single day. As Christians we trust Jesus as our Lord
and Savior, and receive that love. We have received who?
The Holy Spirit. All of us as Christians---we have the
Holy Spirit. We have God within us. We are vessels of
the Holy One.

When I was growing up the church I attended didn't really
speak about the Holy Spirit. When they did, it was the
Holy GHOST. I didn't know a lot about who that was until
I was in college. Then I began to understand that the
Holy Spirit lives within us, and gives us the power to
live as God wants us to. Most of us, all of us---we
just can't keep God's commands on our own. We just can't,
no matter how hard we try. It's interesting talking to
people that have this idea that God has a system of balances.
On one side is everything good, and everything bad on the
other. If the good just outweighs the bad, then they think
they are acceptable to God. They have the wrong standard.
Some rate themselves with other people. Say Mother Teresa
is on the top of the list, and Hitler is on the bottom.
They place themselves somewhere inbetween. There's only
one person God evaluates us to, and that's Jesus.

I went to Indy this week and saw a friend I've known since
kindergarten. His brother had died. He asked me to do
a burial service for him. He came up to me and asked,
[poking on his stomach] what's this? It reminded me of a
time that I compared myself with others, when I was really
fit. I don't want to do that anymore! :) The standard
is Jesus. How can we compare ourselves to Jesus?
The good news is, when we receive Jesus, God doesn't
see us, He sees His Son. He sets that Holy Spirit in us
to help us and lead us. The Holy Spirit speaks to us
individually about what God wants us to do. One thing
more---it requires humility, and requires us to listen.
When is the last time you really listened to God. Did you
ask him, God, what is Your plan for me today? I hope all
of us do that consistently. There are days we are not as
consistent. I get up. I have my plan with things that need
to be done. I get through the day, and then I wonder---where
was God, because I didn't connect with Him at the beginning
of the day.

There's the story of a man, I think it's "My House, God's Home..."
God is setting in the room off the hallway by the front door.
The man is constantly going in and out of the front door.
God is setting there and waiting for us to be with Him.
Hi God--I'm busy! See you in a little bit!
How many of us ever get less busy? If I just get through
this, things will get better. Not if we don't take time
to interacting, listen, and set with God.
In the famous picture of Jesus standing at the door...
that door has no doorknob. It has to be opened from the
inside. Jesus is saying "Open and I will set, eat and talk with you..."
God is NEVER too busy for us! Do you understand what that means?
It doesn't matter what time we come to God, His door is always open.
He never says, just a minute---I've got this really important phone
call... :) If you come to God, He is waiting with open arms
for you! He says, I have waited for this. I have anticipated
your coming... I miss that because I'm so busy, but I need to
take time and get into God's presence and listen. When we do
that, the Holy Spirit has the opportunity to speak into our
hearts and reveal God's presence to us.

There are dangers---the first being that we want so much to
hear God agreeing with us. You know what you want to do,
and you come to God and want God to say, okay, go ahead and
do it. What God would like us to do is, say, This is what
I'd like to do, but if You have a better plan, I'm open to it...
It reminds us of Jesus in the garden, when He knows what's
going to happen. God, Father, if there is any way this cup
can pass from me, take it away, but not my will but Yours be done...

Another danger is we're so hesitant to make mistakes.
When we hear God we don't do ANYthing. I don't know, I
want to be sure... We keep trying to hear and miss what
God has for us. We need to be humble and come to God and
say, we're willing to listen. We're willing to do it, even
if it's different than what we've brought to the table.
On the other hand we need boldness to act when we hear from
God and know that's what God wants from us.
I have a thick skull, and sometimes God has to use His
holy 2x4 on me! I'm going along, then WHACK! upside my head.
It's a loving hit to get my attention. :)
We're to be bold and act when we know what God speaks to us.
When we hear the Lord's voice and know it's from God and we
wait and don't act on it, we miss out on so much God has
for us. We let opportunities go by.

Yet another danger is, we're not using our own brains.
We ask God to show us everything to do. My alarm goes off.
Should I get up, God? Should I brush my teeth, God?
God has given us a mind. He says about things like these,
I don't care---just do it! Live your life!
We need to be discerning. What are those things we need
to bring to God for consideration? What color socks should
I wear today God? Usually he wants you to make up your own
mind, but it's possible the color of your socks might come
into someone else's life. Don't just wait around though
waiting to hear.

Anybody here know Wesley's Quadrilateral? I know Ralph knows.
Ralph? *Scripture. Tradition. Reason. Experience.*
Those four things fit together with the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit takes scripture and makes it alive in our
lives. It's individualized for us. God wants to speak
to you through the power of God's Spirit.
Reason: God created us with a sound mind [2 Timothy]. We need
to recognize He didn't separate our brain from our
spirituality. Experience: sometimes we hear from God
when He speaks through others. We just need to hear it!
The Holy Spirit uses these four things to lead us into
life eternal. It doesn't start when we die, it starts
right here, right now. Just like Ziggy---first day of
the rest of your life... What is God speaking to you
right now? What is God saying to you? Maybe you don't
have it quite yet---you might need to listen some more.
Instead of zooming out the front door, look over and
see Jesus setting there. Talk to Him. Be in His presence.
Absorb. Go out into the world and live for God. Amen?


-------------------------------------------------------------


3 CROSSES MYSTERY
If you have any pictures you've taken of the 3 crosses outside
at church since 1991, we'd love to scan them! Thank you!
Or if you have any history or knowledge of the crosses, please
let me know! -Nancy S.


QUOTES:

The Holy Spirit comes in the form of
cookies!
-Jim Davidson Jr. (on chocolate chip cookies for Kairos)

Remove the wax from our ears, and the blinders from
our eyes. Soften our hearts so when we hear your voice
we would respond...
-Pastor Dwight (prayer)

Pam Church: What does "foolish" mean?
Anna Fleming: You're not obeying God!
-during the Children's Message

We thank You for being with us all the time, even
when the unexpected occurs you will never leave us
and never ever forsake us...
-Pastor Dwight (prayer)

We simply pray that in our daily lives no matter
what happens, we will always see Your hand at work...
-Pastor Dwight (prayer)

You love us unconditionally... help us to share this
with others around us who have never experienced You
in their life...
-Pastor Dwight (prayer)

God is NEVER too busy for us--do you know what that means?
-Pastor Dwight (message)

It doesn't matter what time we come to God, His door
is always open!
-Pastor Dwight (message)

The Holy Spirit takes scripture and makes it alive in
our lives.
-Pastor Dwight (message)