THE BEACON
MARCH,
2008
THE BEACON
MARCH,
2008
YOUTH FUNDRAISER: FELLOWSHIP MEAL AND CAKE WALK MARCH 5th@ 6:30 PM
Help our Youth Fellowship
raise money for their Mission trip to
BROOKSTOWN SUNDAY AT SUBWAY
Brookstown will have its
very own special day at Grandview Subway on 3/30/08 from 9am to 10pm. Please bring the church bulletin for that day
and purchase your favorite subs, chips, drinks and cookies. They will give 10%
of our total purchases for that day back to Brookstown. Make your lunch or supper plans (or better yet, both) for Grandview Subway to support our church
and be filled!!! What a meal deal! Any questions, please call Wayne Biddix at
354-9186.
SPRUCING UP THE "
Our bodies have been
described in scripture as the "Temples of God". I'm sure there
are volumes written interpreting what the writers meant by this vivid piece of
imagery, but I believe the most obvious meaning is that our bodies, wonders
that they are, are quite literally God's dwelling place.
With that thought in mind,
doesn't it follow that it is part of our daily responsibility as His servants
to keep our "temple" in the very best condition possible? If
you agree, then please plan to attend a special panel discussion and Q & A
session on wellness and preventive and alternative health enhancing practices.
We are blessed with several
health professionals at Brookstown, and I'm sure their varied expertise and
perspectives will be informative and valuable. This session will begin
at about 7:30 PM on the 5th of March, immediately following the UMYF spaghetti
dinner. Please plan to take advantage of both events. Let your
"temple" be the pristine dwelling place of God's spirit.
In His Love,
Stan
COUNCIL ON MINISTRIES
Your Council on Ministries
has been busy working on lots of projects like the Food Bank, Meals on
Wheels and the upcoming Community Festival.
Please see Tim Lasley to let him know how you would like to help with
the Festival which will be held on October
18th.
Over 40 Valentine’s Day
cards were made at the early service
and delivered to station WBFJ to be given to shut-ins around the Triad
area.
Upcoming Event March 12 – a meal for the community at Green Street UMC will
be prepared and served by members of Brookstown. Volunteers are needed to make this happen. Please see Roland to sign up to help. As the youth would say, “Go out and Serve!”
The next COM meeting is
March 2, at 6:30 pm. Everyone is
welcome to come and be a part of the mission planning of our church! Be blessed!
Benita VanWinkle
Chair, COM
YOUTH REPORT
Greetings! I have had a very busy two months as the new
youth director, and Denise Yost has made my life much easier by helping me by
answering my questions and learning the ropes.
In January we finished a study of Keeping
the Fires Burning and had a Destination
Unknown to go roller skating. We had
several “Limbo” players who surprised me with their ability to get under that
stick!
We began February with a
running start, raising $258.15 for Second Harvest Food Bank, where we also
volunteered as participants in the Souper
Bowl of Caring. This national event
is the largest youth-led fundraiser in our nation, and we were proud to do our
part! Other mission work included
delivering flowers to our church shut-ins and special care individuals which
our youth loved! Our flowers sales
provided a small profit for our fundraising efforts for the upcoming mission
trip to
A romantic dinner hosted by two of our Brookstown Chefs on Feb. 14 was
a wonderful meal and fundraiser. We made
$638. Thank you to: Rowena Gilstrap, for making the beautiful tablecloths and to
Tim and Roberta, for all of their organizational work and shopping, and to Stan
and our volunteer chefs and helpers who made this event happen. A wonderful evening of romance and fun was
had by all!
Our indoor yard/bake sale
also helped to raise $292. Thank you to
all who donated goods for that!
There will be a Spaghetti
Dinner on March 5th followed
by a cake walk. The youth will be
gathering trash bags and towels to donate to the Conference Harvest of Blessings as their mission
work this month. A ‘multi-sensory’ event
will be held during one of our youth times this month – TBA.
Enjoy EASTER with your
family! (No youth March 23.) There will
be a special program on the 9th that families can participate
in. I will be giving that info out with the calendar and sending it home
with the youth.
Go out and Serve!
Benita VanWinkle, Youth
Director
HARVEST OF BLESSINGS 2008 MARCH 15 at
THE CHILDREN’S HOME
The purpose of this event is
to:
Activities on March 15th:
Churches in the W-S District
have been asked to bring items for flood buckets that will be taken to the
Harvest of Blessings. They are:
·
Trash bags- 24
roll, 33-45 gallon heavy duty
·
Towels -
reusable wipe cleaning towels (come 6 or so in a pack and can be found at a
Dollar Store).
·
5 gallon plastic
buckets with re-sealable lids (must be clean and sound - for example, pickle or
spackling buckets).
·
Dust masks
·
Canvas dot work
gloves.
Bring your donations to
BUMC. There will be boxes at the main
entrances for them.
Kay Lasley
Clark Tyson and Lisa Snyder
were married on February 1 and honeymooned in
TO THE BROOKSTOWN CONGREGATION
Many, many thanks for all lf the phone calls, cards
and prayers from all of you. They have
really brightened my days and given me strength. I continue to improve although progress seems
slow and I look forward to being back with you soon.
Tony Apperson
We extend our sympathy to Pat Lowrance and her
family following the death of her mother, Eva Caldwell, of Huntersville on
February 13th.
We extend our sympathy to JoAnn Hash and her family
following the death of her sister, Jean Brannock of Advance, NC on February 18th.
NEW CHURCH DIRECTORY
If you did not receive a
directory and would like to have one, they can be ordered through the church
office. Make your check for $5 payable to BUMC and note “church directory” on
the memo line. Turn it in to the church
office by March 15. It will take several weeks before they are
received.
OR…if you
have access to the internet, the directory may be downloaded from
http://download.yousendit.com/75ECE194630000B1
WHY A FISH?
One
of the most significant statements the early Christians used was “Jesus Christ,
God’s Son, Savior.”
Because
Greek was the universal language then (the New Testament books were written in
Greek), Christians often said and wrote, “Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Savior” in
Greek. That phrase, if printed as an
acrostic (using the first letter of each word), looks like the picture
above.
I = Jesus
CH
= Christ (anointed)
TH
= God
U = Son
S = Savior
The
acrostic forms the word ICHTHUS, which is Greek for fish. If Christians needed to know where to gather
for worship they could look for a fish and perhaps an arrow pointing in the
right direction. Persecuted Christians,
seeing a fish on the door of a home or business, knew it was a safe place
occupied by fellow Christians. The Newsletter Newsletter,
March, 2008
BIBLE KNOWLEDGE 
1 Who took Jesus’ body down from the cross and
placed it in the tomb?
2 What happened inside the temple at the moment
Jesus died?
3 What two things did the Chief Priests and the
Pharisees do to secure Jesus’ tomb?
4 After
the Sabbath was over, what were Mary Magdalene and the other women going to do
at the
tomb?
5 What
did Jesus explain to the two followers on the road to Emmaus?
6 When did those two followers recognize Jesus?
7 What did Simon Peter find when he ran to the
tomb?
8 When Jesus first appears to the disciples,
what does He do to prove to them that it is really Him?
9 What
did Thomas say after seeing Jesus and hearing Him say, “Stop doubting and
believe”?
10 In Acts 1,
the writer says Jesus appeared to the believers over a period of how many days?
Remember to please send your Q and A for
future Bible Knowledge to me at
waynebiddix@triad.rr.com. Thanks and Grace and Peace to you!
BIBLE
KNOWLEDGE 
- - -
Answers from February - - -
1 What
are the Books of History (12) in the Old Testament? Joshua,
Judges, Ruth, I & II Samuel, I
& II Kings, I & II Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah & Ester
2 What
are the Books of Poetry/Wisdom (5) in the Old Testament?
Job,
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon/Songs (version?)
3 What are the Books of Prophecy (17) in the
Old Testament?
Major
Prophets-Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
Minor Prophets-Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah &
Malachi
4 What
chapter/verse in Genesis does God promise a nation to Abram? 2:1-4
5 What
is the name of Abram’s wife? Sarai – Gen.
11:29
6 True
or False? Abram gave the first tithe. If true, what chapter/verse? Gen. 14:20
7 What
are the names of Abram’s sons? Ishmael – Gen.
16:11 & Isaac – Gen. 17:19.
8 What
are the names that God changed Abram (exalted father) & Sarai to?
Abraham
(father of many) Gen. 17:5 & Sarah Gen. 17:15
9 How
old was Abraham when his son Isaac was born?
100 yrs. old – Gen. 21:5
10 What is the name of the place where Abraham
was to sacrifice his son?
The
region of Moriah; we know it as
Any
questions or comments please e-mail me at waynebiddix@triad.rr.com or call me
at
922-0531.
LAY LEADER LINKS
Grace and Peace to all from
our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen!
“The Word of God” study
started on February 10th and was attended by twenty-two excited
disciples seeking to grow and strengthen their relationship with our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. This group decided
to embark on a Lenten study which is very appropriate since Easter is March 23rd. I encourage all to attend as you can, because
as you grow, so does the church.
Also, if you are interested in a weekly daytime study, please contact
Roland or me.
As promised from last month,
here are the remaining unique qualities of the inspired Word of God called The
Bible:
·
Written at
different times: David in times of war and sacrifice; Solomon in times of peace
and prosperity.
·
Written in
different moods: From the heights of joy to the depths of despair. During times of captivity and conviction, to
days of confusion and doubt.
·
Written in a
variety of literary styles: Poetry; Song; Romance; Personal Correspondence and
Memoirs; Parallelism; Parables and more.
From Genesis to Revelation
as we begin to read and study, we will find an amazing degree of harmony. This Book presents a single unfolding story:
God’s redemption of His greatest creation, human beings, through His Son Jesus
Christ. Amen!
What a magnificent gift from
God the Bible is. On March 23rd
we will celebrate the gift of Easter.
Those seventy two hours left us with some very precious gifts. Ponder these gifts and carry them with you
throughout the year. These gifts have
your name on them:
The gift of The Crown of
Thorns: The thorns symbolize the consequence of sin. Christ wore this thorny crown as a symbol of
our sin that pierced His heart. This
crown was meant for us but Christ wore it instead. The Nails: The nails that held our
Savior to the cross also held our sin lists. The long lists of the things that
separate us from God. As our Savior died, those lists were covered by His blood
and His sacrifice.
The Cross: Not just any person’s cross but the Son of God’s
Cross. God incarnate hung on that cross so you and I would not have to. Christ paid the ultimate price for our sins. The
Blood of Christ: The perfect sacrifice.
As the blood flowed from top to bottom and right to left and pooled on
the ground, God’s grace and mercy covered the earth.
The Empty Tomb: A hole in a hillside sealed with a boulder could
not hold our Lord. Now, the grave cannot hold us. We will live forever with Christ. Our Lord is alive and He is risen! The Burial Cloth: This cloth was
folded or rolled-up. If Jesus’ body had
been stolen, the thieves would have taken the cloth as well. Jesus was not
stolen, He is risen!!!
Happy Easter!
Grace and Peace,
Wayne Biddix,
Servant
BEACON BITS: WE’RE MOVING ON UP!
Roland
Barnhardt
Madeleine
L’Engle told a priest, “All of the best in my writing has come out of pain, has
come out of things that have hurt me.”
He said calmly, "Let's hope something terrible happens to you
soon." While she did not fully
appreciate that comment, she said “we do learn from the things that are hard,
from the things that hurt us. They are the things that make us stop and think.
. . That doesn’t stop bad things from happening. But Christ has promised to be
with us always.”
This
past three weeks, the message on our roadside sign has invited those driving by
to join us on our journey through Lent to Easter. If any have joined us inside
because of the message outside, it has been those we are used to seeing. Maybe
others, unseen by us, have at least been encouraged to make the journey.
Whatever,
I hope everyone reading the sign considered what the message might mean. It
first read “WE’RE MOVING!” followed by “WE’RE MOVING ON!” and then by “WE’RE
MOVING ON UP!” The main idea is that our journey through Lent to Easter leads
us up from the lowlands of regret for our misdeeds and missed doings to the
highlands of right and good living. As God raised Jesus from death to life, so
God can raise us from our lesser state of sorrow and sadness to Jesus’ greater
state of joy and gladness.
On
Palm Sunday, we look forward to receiving the members of our
Confirmation Class who are ready to become professing members of
Join
us on Holy Thursday as we recall the last supper Jesus shared with His
disciples before His betrayal, trial, crucifixion, death, burial - and
resurrection.
Be
here on Easter Sunday as we celebrate our Lord’s resurrection and the
hope of new and everlasting life it gives us. Our Sunrise Service will begin in
the sanctuary at 6:45 AM. We’ll then share breakfast provided by the UMM. The
choir will cap our day with an Easter Cantata during the 11:00 AM service.
Between
now and then, read Matthew 26-28 and John 18-21.
May
God’s Spirit keep us moving on up to the very throne of grace!
SPECIAL
SERVICE IN MARCH
Acolytes
March 2 Emily
Jameson and Jim Lasley
9
Capri Powers and
16
Kendra Davis and Emily Grace
23 MacKenzie DiMarco and McCall DiMarco
30
Michael Barajas and Kaila Davis
Flowers
March 2 Jameson
9
16
23 Easter
30
Greeter - David
DiMarco
Nursery
March 2, 9,
16, 23, 30 - Lisa Dailey
Refreshments (8:30 AM)
March 2 Sandra
Snarski
9
Pam Steppe
16
LouAnn DiMarco
23 No
SONrise Service
30
Karen Powers
Ushers -
Roy Mendenhall*, Mackie Jackson, Cameron Cannady
Worship Leaders
March 2 Tim
Lasley
9 Bruce Bailiff
16 Dave DiMarco
23
30 Stan
Crews
