Come to Garfield in October on Sunday mornings and be blessed by our “fill in” pastors.

As you know Pastor Katie is on maternity leave and therefore we will be having guest speakers for several Sundays on the Sundays that would have been “Pastor Katie’s Sundays”.

On October 7^th our guest speaker will be the Rev Jim Smith.  He is the founder and minister of New Wells Ministries church in Myersville.

October 21^st will be Youth Sunday.  If you remember our Youth Sunday in June, you will not want to miss this.  Our youth really step up to the plate when called upon to serve the Lord.  When it comes to charity fund raisers they can set a goal and go way over the top and sharing God’s Word is their specialty.  So if they can go “way over the top” raising money and spreading God’s word is their specialty, you want to be at church on October 21^st.

October 14^th and 28^th our speaker will be Rev Randy Reid and we all know he can preach. 

You do not want to miss October at Garfield!

 

All through the spring and summer this year, we looked to the sky for blessings from Heaven.  We prayed for rain to grow our crops, we asked God for sunshine to get our harvest in storage.

Each and everything thing that came from our harvest this year is a testament to our faith.  We plant small seeds having faith that they will produce large plants.  We nurture the plants having faith that will bear much fruit.

Now it is October and time to share that “fruit”.  Each October we have a harvest home collection of food for our food banks and missions in the area.   Bring a portion of your bountiful harvest on Sunday October 14^th and share the blessings from God.

 

The Annual Charge Conference October 15, 6:00 pm at Mt Zion in Myersville and everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.  This is a time to share joys and concerns with our DS Rev Terri Rae Chattin, as well as officially set direction for our churches for the year to come.

Your conference reports are due to Rev Randy now.

 

 

The annual fall hike is scheduled for October 21^st.  As in the past you know that this is a great time of fellowship and exercise.

We always have a great time on this hike.  The area is always a new or favorite hiking spot that is not too hard, steep or difficult for those of us who only hike once a year.

So mark you calendars now to go for a walk in the beauty of God’s creation.

 

Our annual Bazaar and Quilt Auction is scheduled for November 3^rd and your help is needed. 

But don’t wait until November 3^rd to help.  There are workshops going on (watch your bulletins and/or contact Barb Kemp or Bev Lovell for dates and times) and we pray you are working on projects at home.  October 15 and 16^th we will gather at the church for candy making.  This is always a great time of fellowship but a lot of hard work so you are NEEDED.

With all your hard work and prayers this will be another successful fundraiser for the church.

--Submitted by Pastor Katie

 

Looking for a different way to celebrate Halloween with your children? UNICEF, a program that provides safe drinking water, basic childhood medication and mosquito netting to children across the world, has a program called "Trick Or Treat for UNICEF." Instead of asking for candy when children go door to door, children take an orange change box and ask families to make a donation to UNICEF. Once coins or dollars are collected, the money can be turned into the church and a check will be sent to UNICEF. If you are interested in participating in this program with your children and making Halloween about saving lives, please let Pastor Katie know (301-846-4098 or pastorkatiebishop@yahoo.com).  

 

--Submitted by Pastor Katie

College Bible Study – In the midst of studying, socializing and sleep…spend time in the Word! Just for college aged students, this Bible Study takes about 10 minutes a week, but will help you in Finding Strength for Your Struggles with Max Lucado. One week listen to an audio cd of Max Lucado talking about his experience of finding strength in his struggles. The next, send emails back and forth with Pastor Katie and other college students about your experience. To sign up, see Pastor Katie or send an email to pastorkatiebishop@yahoo.com.

Women’s Bible Study - Gearing up for this fall, Women’s Bible Study will begin again in full swing this October. We will be working though the book Cappuccino with Colossians. Easy to read, easy to follow, we will work though the book of Colossians seeking to grow in our relationships with Christ and one another.  If you are interested in attending either Saturday evenings or a Thursday daytime study, please let Pastor Katie know.

 

Our family time together this year will be a picnic at the Pen Mar Park on October 6^th at 1:00 p.m.

The park is located on High Rock Road at the Mason Dixon Line, this site was selected in 1871 by Colonel J. M. Hood of the Western Maryland Railroad and approved by the WMRR directors as the location for the development of an amusement park.  After the acquisition and clearing of the land, the area was developed for the proposed park, including the building of a pavilion and a dining hall.  The park was opened to the public on August 31, 1877.

In 1878, the WMRR completed construction of a two and one-half mile road to High Rock (altitude 2000 feet), where a two-floor observatory with a tower was built.  And two miles of road were constructed from High Rock to Mt. Quirauk (altitude 2400 feet) where a 90 foot observatory was erected, offering a clear view of over 22 counties in four states

Attractions in the park when it was dismantled in March of 1943 included:  Scenic Lookout, Roller Coaster, Movie Theatre, Dance Pavilion, Picnic Shelter, Miniature Train, Photo Studio, Concession Stand, Carrousel with Penny Arcade, Dining Hall and Children's Playground.

The Scenic Lookout, Picnic Shelter, Children's Playground and Multipurpose Pavilion have been reconstructed on their original sites.  The locations of former attractions are identified with numbered markers.

So come join us on October 6^th for a picnic lunch and fun, fun, fun!

 

The Seeds You Plant Today

Determine the Harvest Tomorrow

We’re coming up on October, and that means Halloween, trick or treat, and pumpkins. We’ll have pumpkin patches to stroll through, pumpkin pies to stuff ourselves with, and pumpkins to carve out smiley faces or whatever it is you do with your pumpkin carving. But of course, when you talk about pumpkins, whether pies or jack-o-lanterns, it means doing something with all of those seeds you find inside.  Personally, seeds fascinate me.  I know they’re kind of messy when you pop open a pumpkin and start scooping them out.  I know they kind of get in the way when all you want to do is get to the good stuff inside.  And they can be a little smelly if you don’t throw them outside in the trash quickly. (I found that out the hard way!)  But you know, if you didn’t have that seed, you wouldn’t have your pumpkin either.  Unless someone takes some of those seeds and plants them in the ground, you get no pumpkin harvest come pumpkin time.  That’s right; the seeds you plant today determine the harvest you get tomorrow.

Now I know that we’re not all pumpkin farmers, but there are lots of other seeds we plant each day that we might not even be aware of. Consider this: every word you speak, every action and reaction you perform, every thought of encouragement or discouragement, they are all seeds that you plant, and they all determine a harvest in yourself, or another person, tomorrow.  So let’s think about this for a moment.

First, lets think about the seeds we sow.  What words do you use when speaking to others.  Are they words that lift people up and encourage them, or do your words tend to be sharp, negative and in general a discouragement to others?  What is the attitude you say your words with? I often say to people ‘its not so much what you have to say as it is the way you say it’.  I hear often people speaking, and before I even hear what they’re talking about, just by hearing the tone of their voice I think they’re in a bad or mad mood.  And of course that sets the mood for the entire conversation, whether it was meant to bad or not. In your words, do you speak like Jesus did to people, with truthfulness yet with tact.  Do your words allow people to keep their integrity with what you may have to tell them? In all of this, you are planting seeds.  And your seeds will reap a harvest tomorrow.  Your words today will either reap a friend tomorrow or someone who desperately wants to avoid you.  Your words will reap either a stronger person or a person who you have cut down.  And believe me, a harvest like that is long lasting but without much fruit.

That leads us to the next thing we need to consider about our seed planting.  Where do you plant your seeds?  I can tell you this:  most of the time when you think you are speaking a word to just one person; there usually is at least two more that hear what you say.  When you scatter seeds, they usually get spread further than you may intend them to be spread.  So if you think you’re just giving a piece of your mind to one individual, be careful, there are probably a few more that hears what you have to say.  Your words and your actions are the greatest seeds you plant in others.  What they hear you say and what they watch you do today will determine who they will be tomorrow.  Do your children hear words that will make them a better person tomorrow?  Do your family members see actions in you that you will be proud of when they mimic them tomorrow?  Do your friends see you being a kind, considerate, Godly person who they will be more like tomorrow, of will the seeds you plant today in their lives cause you to cringe and be saddened when they live them out toward you tomorrow?  The seeds you plant today in another person’s life will indeed determine the harvest the other person will produce in the future!

Jesus had much to say about seed planting and harvest.   The bottom line that Jesus spoke often was this: you reap what you sow.  As you get into your pumpkins this season and deal with those seeds, think about the seeds you plant every day and where you plant them.  And be careful with your seeds, so the harvest of another can be great and plentiful tomorrow by the seeds you planted in them today.

 

 

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. -- 1 John 4:7-11

After being a mother for mere moments, all I can do is write about the amazing daughter God has given me. After months of waiting, twelve hours of labor, and thirty-five minutes of pushing, you would think that I would have been prepared for the feelings that swept over me when my doctor placed baby Eden on my belly. But, I wasn’t.

After thinking and praying for and about this day, you would think that I was prepared for the feelings of pure joy and awe as I stared into her little eyes. But, I wasn’t.

Even after two days of holding her, and kissing her and boasting about her to all the nurses (and really anyone who would listen) at FMH, you would think that I would be ready for the moment we pulled away from the hospital and I realized that I got to have her all to myself. But, I wasn’t.

After three nights of midnight feedings, baby hiccups, smiles, and even a few messy diapers here and there, you would think that I would be ready, I would know, I would expect that feeling that comes when I look at her. But still, I am not.

Many of you warned me that becoming a mother would change everything. Many of you told me that when I became a mother I would experience God’s grace in a new and different way. But truth be told, I had no idea.

How can I love someone this much? How is it possible to have my whole world revolve around someone so small? How can my heart hold this much love?

And every moment I look at her, hold her in my arms, kiss her tiny little hands and feet, all I can do is think of the love of God. Because if I love Eden this much, I can barely imagine how much more the love of our Father is for each of us.

It is a love that is willing to forgive our sins. It is a love that is willing to keep reaching out towards us, even when we push Him away. It is love that is willing to conquer all doubt, all fear, all hopelessness, all hatred. It is a love that is so deep that it was willing to give it all on the cross.

In this season of change, let us remember the love that our Father has for us. And let us share that love with one another.

Grace and Peace, Katie Bishop

(aka “Eden’s Mom”)

 

Choir members are needed.  Our choir will start back to practicing for Sunday morning anthems and the Christmas Season on October 3^rd at 7:30 p.m.

Now our choir sounds great but we are a little “weak”.  We need your strong voice. 

The Bible says that we are to sing praises to the Lord and that we are to lift our voices to Him.

Plan now to come join the choir on October 3^rd.

 

Christian Symbols + Seven-Pointed Star

The seven-pointed star symbolizes the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit described in Isaiah 11:2-3:

The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.  His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord (NRSV).

The seven-pointed star also represents the seven days of creation.

 

 

Dear Pastor Reid

Please convey our thanks to the wonderfully generous members of your church for the students school supplies.  Our students certainly appreciate your kindness.  The children are our future – thank you for loving them!

Sincerely

Karen Locke

Sabillasville Principal

 

Dear Ladies (and Men) of Garfield Church

Thank you so much for the lovely party for Katie, Chris and baby Eden.  They are so blessed to be loved so well and so generously by you.

Katie’s Dad and I are thankful everyday for the loving community God sent Katie to be in ministry with.

Thank you

Beth Posey

 

 

Which of the following statements impressed Martin Luther, a leader of the Reformation?

 

A. “I am not ashamed of my good works.”

B. “I am not ashamed of the laws of Moses.”

C. “I am not ashamed of the gospel.”

D. “I am not ashamed of my God.”

(The correct answer is in Romans 1:16.)

 

 

 

Income	2006	2007
Month	12269	11324
YTD	69039	66391
Expenses	2006	2007
Month	7924	10088
YTD	54717	66862
Sunday School/Missions	2006	2007
Sunday school	179	191
YTD	1811	1441
Missions	522	0
YTD	5338	5682
Attendance	2006	2007
Worship	353	342
YTD	3355	2784
Sunday School	85	81
YTD	899	642

 

 

 

 

 

 

Words count

The six most important words in the English language are: “I admit I made a mistake.”

The five most important words in the English language are: “You did a good job.”

The four most important words in the English language are: “What is your opinion?”

The three most important words in the English language are: “If you please.”

The two most important words in the English language are: “Thank you.”

The one most important word in the English language is: “We.”

The least important word in the English language is: “I.”

The two least important words in the English language are: “I can’t!”

The three least important words in the English language are: “You messed up!”