` 120 WEST MAIN STREET, NEW HOLLAND, PA 17557 Church Phone: 717-354-0226 Church Fax: 717-354-7942 Website: http://nhumc.us/ Pastor: Ray Voran Pastor Email: revoran@gmail.com
JANUARY 2014 As we enter 2014, we can expect more healthy food to be sold at the grocery stores and the fitness centers to be full -- for a few weeks. Many of us make a New Year’s resolution and the most popular resolutions have to do with healthy eating and exercise (the experts say that if you stick with something for about 6 weeks, it will start to become a habit, which of course makes it easier to keep doing. This is true for exercise and also things like daily devotions and Bible reading -- so keep at it for a while and it will become easier!). Another popular New Year’s resolution has to do with our relationships. People often resolve to improve their friendships or relationships within their family -- to be a better spouse, parent, friend, co-worker etc. Without making this a major league doctrinal dissertation, let me just say that the Bible teaches us that God exists as a trinity -- One God in three “persons”-- traditionally called “Father,” “Son,” and “Holy Spirit.” In other words, the very nature of God is a relationship, one characterized by mutual love and service. Now, what we do with our private lives certainly matters. We should always be working on our personal holiness in an effort to surrender more and more of ourselves to God and to become more like Him; BUT, even more so, we display the image and characteristics of God (or we Ignite His Light) in our relationships with one another when we display the same love, grace, service, forgiveness and so forth that God does. With that in mind, I will be preaching a series of four sermons, beginning January 12, on Godly relationships. I asked a number of people what is important in a relationship and why it is difficult to maintain Godly relationships. Based on the answers I received, we will be looking at the following issues -communications, honesty, patience, service, trust, acceptance, forgiveness, and humility. Of course, we will be looking at examples of relationships we find in the Bible (good and bad) and also God’s relationship with us (His plan is that it is all good). It is my prayer that this series helps all of us in our struggle to maintain positive relationships and to represent our God. And I would like to say good luck to everyone with your New Year’s Resolutions. May we all have a happy and blessed 2014.
2
-Pastor Ray Our Worship Service starts at 9:00 a.m. every Sunday. Sunday School is at 10:15 a.m. ~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday IGNITE service starts at 6:00 p.m.
Contacting Pastor Ray ~ email: revoran@gmail.com Home: (717) 656-0812 Cell: (717)333-6939 Look for me on Facebook: Ray Voran
Free Community Meals 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. January 16, 2014 Third Thursday of every month Ranck’s United Methodist Church at the New Holland United Methodist Church Dinner is served with all ages welcome. -- Dee Kopicz, Outreach Chair at Ranck’s United Methodist Church (610-223-8207)
IN CASE OF INCLEMENT WEATHER,
Regular Events Knepper Care Group – Every other Monday, 7:00 p.m. (Check calendar) Naval Care Group – Second and Fourth Tuesdays, 9:00 a.m. Community Senior Center – Second Thursday, 10:00 a.m. Seniors meet at Yoder’s Restaurant – Third Saturday, 11:15 a.m. Burgers-n-Bibles –First Thursday, 11:30 am, at Wendy’s Restaurant LUMINA ministry – Second Thursday Knit-Wits – Every Saturday, 1:00-2:30 p.m.
2
CHURCH CLOSING WILL BE POSTED ON THE WEBSITE AND CHURCH FACEBOOK PAGE. WE WILL ALSO ANNOUNCE IT ON WGAL (CHECK THEIR WEBSITE OR THE TV STATION).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2014 Tithe Envelopes The 2014 offering envelopes are in the church mailboxes. Please pick them up at your earliest convenience. If you would like an envelope booklet and have not received one, please contact Betty Hostetter. Anyone who is willing to deliver the envelopes to a shut-in, please contact Betty also. -Betty Hostetter, Finance Secretary
News Flash! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chicken and Sausage Pie Sale tempting Zook’s sausage pie cold winter
Enjoy a hot tastechicken or during the months!
Your order choices are: • 6” sausage or chicken at $6 each • 9” sausage or chicken at $10 each Order forms are on the lecterns at the back of the sanctuary. Order forms, with money, are due Sunday, January 19. Place your orders and money in Jane Keene’s or Norece Richwine’s mailbox. The pick-up date will be Sunday, February 9, after church.
Pie Sale News Flash! Because you have supported the Thanksgiving pie sale, a grand total of $91.71 has been added to the new roof fund. Thank you! Co-chairs, Jane Keene and Norece Richwine ~~~~~~~~~~~
Crop Walk 3
We sincerely thank all the folks that made it possible for us to contribute $1,852 to the New Holland Crop Walk. Your support for this program is greatly appreciated. Thank you, church! Michael Bressi and Roy Schroll ~~~~~~~~~~
Top Honors News Flash! Congratulations to Kerry Smith, daughter of Darryl and Deb Smith, on winning the 8th annual PA State USBC”s Women’s Bowling Association 8th annual Queens Tournament Championship. This is her first title in this event. She plans to go to the Team USA Trials in Las Vegas in early January. Lancaster Newspapers ~~~~~~~~~~
Soup Sale The youth from our church are joining with youth from EUMC to have another soup sale fundraiser. Quarts of soup will be delivered to our church on Sunday, Feb. 2. Look for sign-up sheets in the back of the sanctuary and on the literature table. All proceeds from the sale will be used for youth activities and events. – Pastor Ray
4 list New Holland UMC as your church on the intake forms, do not assume that the church is notified. Therefore, please contact the church office or Pastor Ray when you know of someone who is a patient at a hospital or a resident of a nursing home. Thanks for your help! Ray
---- Pastor
Say a Prayer! There’s a lady I’ve known forever. She’s very sick. On top of that, she’s being abused by those to whom she has given everything …Lies about her abound, and seem to come from all sides. Just breaks my heart. Seems there’s nothing I can do alone but maybe, if we join in and lift her up together, we can heal her. She’s well over 230 years old, but way too young to die. Her name is ‘America’ … And I love her and have always been proud of her. Take time to say a prayer for her – even if it is a short, simple prayer like, “Lord please heal our land. Amen.” Thanks. -- Submitted by Ralph McComas a reprint from the Chaplin, USS Wright Reunion
Thanks to the Saturday Night Ignite Group for decorating the sanctuary for Christmas! -- The Worship Committee
Thanks to those who helped with the lighting of the Advent Wreath during December (The Voran family, Hank and Selma Wells, Terry Schaffer, John and Barb Mask, and the Mitton family). – The Worship Committee
NOW would like to thank everyone who contributed to our Christmas Child shoeboexes. We filled 20 boxes, and they were shipped Nov. 22. Wonder where they went? We pray that the children who received them were truly blessed and now know that God loves them. We pray that you, in your giving, were also blessed. Thank you again! -- The NOW Committee We want to say thank you to everyone who baked cookies for the Christmas
Pastor’s Request Generally, in order to comply with HIPPA regulations, nursing homes and hospitals do not notify the church when an individual is admitted. Even when you 4
Tea and to those who helped at the Tea. We want to thank Val and Pastor Ray for suggesting the Sneller Family for our entertainment. They were very good. As usual, when the United Methodists get together to host a program, it ran like clockwork and the results were great. We had some cookies left over, so we donated them to Tim Hess and the Ignite Service to take to the shut-ins. Thanks once again, --Betty Hostetter & Joyce Wilbur
SERVER SCHEDULE FOR THIS MONTH Nursery
Jan. 5 Jan. 12 Jan. 19 Jan. 26
Loretta Zimmerman and Paula Gauthier Jane Keene and Beatrice Gauthier Liz & Mark Lennon and Vanapolie Gauthier Barb Mask and Arentz Menard Lay Readers
Jan. 5 Jan. 12 Jan. 19 Jan. 26
Julie Mitton Ginny Smith Pat Williams Joyce Wilbur Tellers
Jan. 5 Pat Williams and Karen Miller Jan. 12 Tim Hess and Julie Mitton Jan. 19 Sandi Rapp Jan. 26 Tim Hess and Julie Mitton
Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan. Jan.
1 Roy Schroll 1 Darryl Smith 4 Yvonne Stoltzfoos 9 Nick Boisrond 14 James Trostle 15 Nesta Petit-ton 17 Harry Maclay 18 Dana Neyman 24 Elliott Thomas 30 John Baxter 31 Fran Baxter
Anniversaries Jan. Jan.
8 9
Joe & Julie Mitton Jim & Regina Boose
Please call the church office (354-0226) so we can update our records if your name was missed.
5
The Call: An LED Team Update By Kip Wolf Living in Abundance We frequently stop to take inventory of our blessings and give thanks. We give thanks for our families; for our material possessions; and, for our Savior. We appreciate our gifts and share gifts with others to celebrate the Christmas miracle; but, do we truly appreciate the abundance that is ours, both temporally and spiritually? Many of us are living in a time of great struggle. Some of us have relationships that are suffering. Some of us have lost our employment. Still others of us are working long hours, yet can’t seem to get ahead of the bill collectors. Some of us are struggling with your faith, or wonder if God is even real. Stop. Take a moment – be still. Be still and consider the truth of our situation. Be still and take stock of the reality of our lives. Be still and listen for Him.
6 Consider these sobering truths:1 • Some 1.1 billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to water, and 2.6 billion lack basic sanitation.
•
There are 2.2 billion children in the world, yet 1 billion children live in poverty (every second child)!
•
2.2 million children die each year because they are not immunized.
•
15 million children are orphaned due to HIV/AIDS.
•
At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day!
•
Almost two in three people lacking access to clean water survive on less than $2 a day, with one in three living on less than $1 a day!
•
1.6 billion people (a quarter of humanity) live without electricity.
•
Approximately 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished, almost two-thirds of whom reside in Asia and the Pacific.
We may frequently feel like we don’t have enough: not enough time, not enough food, not enough money. But when we truly consider our place in this world, we have SO much. Each of us is quite rich by global standards. We have electricity, clean water, food, shelter, and security in our community. And, by the grace of God, we have salvation. Jesus said, “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:10b NASB). We truly do have an abundant life, both in the temporal sense with our material security and in the spiritual sense with our assured salvation. Let us rejoice in the glory of God. Let us be truly thankful for all that He 1 Source: http://www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-factsand-stats
6
has given us - in our lives on this earth and in life everlasting. Let us honestly be worthy of the charge that Christ gave us and live life abundantly! Reading: John 10, Parable of the Good Shepherd
Prayer and Praise
• Tony Clark, in a motorcycle accident, recovering at home • People in the Philippines affected by storm • Family of Diane and Francesca Artus, at the passing of a nephew/cousin, Mitch • Kelly, granddaughter of Jane Frybarger, recovering from surgery • Dottie Baer, recovering from hospital stay • Terry Schaffer’s ex-mother-in-law, broken hip • Eileen McComas, decisions about heart • Judy McLean family, on death of her mother, Tessie Hurley, on July 28 • Bob McLean, health issues