Wednesday,
March 9th 6:00
to 8:00 pm A
"come and go" service of meditation, prayer and preparation
PASTOR KATHY’S REFLECTIONS
As I write this article, the snow has almost melted and during the next two days temperatures are expected to rise close to 70 degrees. What a stark contrast to the blistery cold and menacing snow that pelted us one week ago! Today as I gaze through the window into my backyard, I can see hints of the arrival of spring: the bare ground is damp with hues of brown and gold and faded green, young children are outside running in circles and climbing trees, and bare branches are begging for the return of tender, green buds. While we are likely to experience some additional winter weather, spring is coming! And spring will give birth to ever-increasing minutes of sunlight each day, the joy of gardening, and treasured opportunities to take long walks through neighborhoods with friends. The seasons will be changing: Spring is coming!
As a church family, in March we will enter the church season of Lent. Lent is a time for us to journey together toward Easter and embrace anew the wonder of God’s remarkable love and grace. The 2011 Lenten season begins with the Ash Wednesday service on March 9. On Sunday March 13 a six-week sermon series called Journey Blessings begins. This series will be based on the revised common lectionary scripture readings, writings by Robert Martin Walker, and resources provided through the United Methodist Rethink Church project. For six Wednesdays starting March 16, a Journey Blessings “Soup and Study” will held from 5:45 – 7:00 PM: this will be an opportunity to join together for a simple meal, fellowship, and an interactive exploration based on the preceding Sunday’s theme.
Below is a brief outline of opportunities for us to journey together this Lenten season:
Wednesday, March 9 – Ash Wednesday “come and go” service of meditation, prayer and preparation
Sunday, March 13 and Wednesday, March 16 - Journey Blessings: Bread
Sunday, March 20 and Wednesday, March 23 - Journey Blessings: Birth
Sunday, March 27 and Wednesday, March 30 - Journey Blessings: Water
Sunday, April 3 and Wednesday, April 6 - Journey Blessings: Sight
Sunday, April 10 and Wednesday, April 13 – Journey Blessings: Tears
Palm Sunday, April 17 and Wednesday, April 20 – Journey Blessings: Perseverance
Each Sunday in Lent is a “mini-Easter” leading us along our inward and outward journey to the wonder of Easter Sunday.
Spring is coming! Easter is coming!
Blessings this day and this season,
Pastor Kathy
"Journey Blessings"
Words from your Lay Leader- Sharon Fairlie
As many of you know I am a native Oklahoman, residing in the city of Tulsa most of my adult life. Now Tulsa is a place with wonderful parks, a good zoo, the BOK Center, minor league baseball, the Performing Arts Center, hospitals, colleges and schools and many churches, large and small; the typical large city. Tulsa is also well equipped with the finest tornado alert system which has saved many lives over the years. Because tornados are very prevalent in that part of the country the alert system prepares the city for such emergencies.
However, the recent blizzard of 2011 is another story. The day before the blizzard, the weather in Tulsa was a balmy 75 degrees. Spring was around the corner. With the news of the blizzard on every channel, Tulsans went about their business, knowing the usual weather pattern in Tulsa is the snow comes, the temperatures fall, then the next day it is 75 degrees again and all is well.
But not this time. The forecasters were predicting record amounts of snowfall but the leadership and townspeople seem to ignore the predictions. Then, as the snow fell and fell, realization hit. Grocery stores were filled with people buying food and water. Churches, schools and events were canceled. Soon the streets were covered with four and five foot drifts. Emergency vehicles were getting stuck, not being able to get moving again. Everyone was trapped. No one moved; for days. The city leaders had little preparation for what Tulsa was experiencing.
Preparation and training are the keys to survival. Preparation and training are also keys to being a Christian. Studying the Bible helps us to know what God would have us do in different situations. Examples in the Bible, although in ancient times, can be adapted for modern day situations. Daily study and meditation help us to be ready when a situation might present itself so that we can better witness to others. Remember the story of the young Jesus, in the temple during the festival of the Passover in Jerusalem, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. Preparation. Are you preparing yourself?
I want to thank my church family for all the prayers and acts of kindness offered before and during my recovery from colon cancer surgeries. I am truly a blessed woman. I have felt an amazing positive energy around me thanks for all your love and support
God Bless, and thank you for everything, Kathy Dibben
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My deepest thanks to everyone who bought a copy of my book on February 6th, during the book signing here at the church. I arrived at church with 27 books and sold all of them and have a waiting list for more. I have ordered more books and will let you know when they are available. They at $12.oo and all the book sales goes to the church.
Thank you again, George Urquhart
SAY HELLO!!
When you come to church on Sunday morning, do you make a point to speak to those who you do not know or have not seen in church lately? If not, please do! If you are not sure if the people you are greeting have been regular visitors or even new members, just greet them with your name and tell them how glad you are they came to church. While none of you want to feel bad by introducing yourself to someone who you probably should know, think about how sad it would be to attend our church as a visitor and not have anyone welcome you before or after church. When in doubt, introduce yourself and make it clear you are glad to see that person at our church. Let's err on the side of being overly friendly to those we do not know well. Beth Lyman
"JOURNEY
BLESSINGS" Starting
Wednesday, March 16th 5:45
to 7:00 pm Come
enjoy a meal, fellowship and study
NEW BUSINESS DIRECTORY
Attention all business owners and service providers – Smithville UMC is updating its Service Directory. Please send your advertisement information to the church via email or snail mail. You may also bring a business card to church Sunday morning and deposit in the basket on the table in the Great Room. Deadline is March 6th, 2011. Ads should only be 4”X5” or less in size.
You can still fill out a time and talent
survey if you have not done so yet. Just go to the church website - smithvilleumc.com and click on the survey
link. You can also pick up a hard copy in the Great Room. As of February
13th, 56 persons have completed the survey! We ask that everyone that is
involved in any way in the church to fill out a survey.
DAYLIGHT
SAVING TIME Sunday,
March 13th Don't
forget to set your
clocks ahead!
CERT TRAINING
SUMC will be hosting training for CERT on March 11, 12 and 19. Lunch will be provided on both Saturdays. Currently the class is full but if you are interested please let Kerry Winans know at kwinans@arrow.com . We may be able to offer a second training at a later date.
NEWS ABOUT SCOUT SUNDAY
Our Church celebrated Scout Sunday on February 13. We thank all of the boy scouts, cub scouts, and girl scouts who participated in the church worship service, and Troop 412 Chaplain Michael Rooks for delivering the sermon on the topic, "Leadership". Boy Scouts are boys aged 13 to 18 years, or younger boys who earned the Arrow of Light as a Cub Scout. The Boy Scout Troop 412 is co-chartered by SUMC and the American Legion. The troop meets in our church nearly every week of the year. It currently has about 45 boys who are active in the troop and over 30 registered adults. Cub Scouts are boys in 1st to 5th grades. Cub Scout Pack 412 has 87 boys in the Pack. Three dens meet here on a regular basis, and the entire Pack meets here for regular monthly meetings except for special events. Girl Scouts are girls in Kindergarten through 12th grade. There are 150 girl scouts in the Smithville area, and one of the troops meets in our church on a regular basis. The church welcomes the scouting programs. Thank you to each of the following listed scouts for your participation in the Scout Sunday service:
Boy Scouts Cub Scouts Girl Scouts
Noah Armstrong Kevin Kopp Logan Littleton Karsen Vincent
Dakota Brown Jake Lauderback Connor Littleton Michelle Gager
DJ Brown Jacob Manka Michael Jacks Callie Holland
Andrew Crouse John Manka Jacob Hulen Aspen Holland
Nick Doolan David Parker McKenna McGuire
William Fries Alex Pennington
Matthew Gager Nathan Underwood
Zach Green Jacob Ward
Mason Hoskins Jake Wolfe
Christopher Hoffman
BIRTHDAYS ANNIVERSARIES
03/03 Garrett Hilmes 03/06 Gary and Vicki Tuxhorn
03/04 Gregory Robinson, Cassidy Lowry 03/10 Leland and Florence Calvert
03/06 Cheryl Morton, Judy Shepherd 03/28 Todd and Almeda Smith
03/07 Lucas Knutter, Samuel Grahn 03/30 Mike and Sheila Neth
03/10 Connor Cline
03/11 Fred Mewmaw, Beau Pitman
03/13 Alex Foster, Jim Warring
Vicki Tuxhorn
03/14 Bonnie Lawley
03/17 Larson Viebrock
03/18 David Bliss, Micaela Frankum
03/20 Robert Bullock, Brock Davis
03/21 Celia Borberg
03/23 Nate Smith
03/24 James Nelson, Dominic DePriest
03/26 Darryl Shanks, Ed James
Kimberli Bean
03/27 Almeda Smith, Nathan Davis
03/30 Robert Lee
03/31 Florence Calvert, Zachary Neth
