McMasters United Methodist Church
200 Church Street
Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania 15745
Office: 823-1988
Do You LOVE Valentine's Day??? Did you hear about the daughter of a fashionable couple from a large eastern city who went to Africa as a Peace corps volunteer. She had been to finishing school and her parents had made every effort to see that she was properly prepared to occupy a place in their social strata.
When the young woman's term on the field was over she sent a telegram announcing that she would be bringing her new husband home with her. Her mother and father
waited with excited anticipation at the airport gate. Their daughter emerged from the plane on the arm of a man about seven feet tall who was adorned in feathers, beads,
skulls, tigers' teeth, and assorted pouches of magical potions around his neck. He even had a bone through his nose and rings in his ears! The mother fainted. As the father
held his now unconscious wife, he shouted to his daughter, "No, no, dear. We said we wanted you to marry a rich doctor well LOVE can sometimes be CONFUSING can't
it???? But there's one love YOU should never be confused about and that is the LOVE the FATHER has for YOU!!! God's Valentine to YOU can be found in the words of
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." You see God REALLY loves
You regardless of your past, present or future! I heard about another young man who went out on a date and parked on a hillside with a young lady, and he asked the
question, "May I kiss you?" And she said, "It's kind of stuffy here in the car. If you could lower the top on your car, then you could kiss me." He was telling one of his
friends about this and he said that it took him five whole minutes to -get the top down on that car. And the friend said, "Well, I can take the top down off of my car faster
than that." And the young man said, " Yes, but you have a convertible ... ... as badly as that young man wanted a kiss from his date .... God wants even more to have a
personal relationship with YOU .... that's right YOU .... and He is willing to meet YOU right where you are and lead you forward to greater heights spiritually than you
could ever even imagine!!! So why not let God love you this Valentine's Month ... so YOU in turn can love others! See you next Sunday....
Lovingly Yours,
Rev. Shaver
Plan to worship every Sunday during this very special time in the life of the Church. Worship services are at 8:30 and 10:45 Sunday mornings. Sunday school is at 9:30 for
all ages!
SERMONS FOR FEBRUARY 2000
| 6: | "He Touched Me" | |
| 13: | "Did YOU Ever Need A Push??" | FRIENDSHIP SUNDAY NEW MEMBERS |
| 20: | "Hey Dad .... Catch!!!" | |
| 27: | "Drink It All???" |
Since this newsletter is a little late . . . THE NEXT HEALING SERVICE will be held Wednesday, March 1, 2000. The service will be held at 7:00 p.m. All are welcome!
Friendship Sunday will be held on February 13th! Invite a special friend to celebrate the glory of God with us. A luncheon will follow the 10:45 a.m. service to honor our new members and our friends. Come and join us!
We will receive new members into the fellowship of McMasters Church Sunday, February 13, 2000. A luncheon to welcome our new members will be held following the 10:45 a.m. service. Our next reception date will be Sunday, April 9, 2000. If you are interested in joining, please contact Rev. Shaver or the church office.
Mark your calendars . . . We'll be going to visit the Bishop at the Conference Center Monday, March 20th at 10:00 a.m..
With the promise of more members and their children, McMasters UMC needs to be prepared to care for their educational needs in the Sunday School. Our education department needs a new vision. Here is my idea of what that vision might be for our Sunday School:
SUNDAY SCHOOL VISION
How can we make this vision a reality? I am inviting you to be a part of a Vision Prayer Team. This group will meet on the last Monday of each month from 7:30-9:00 p.m. We will meet to lift up prayers for the needs of the Sunday School and other church needs that require extra prayer. You can join in verbal or silent prayer, whatever you are comfortable with. Those of you who wish, may also participate in a 12 hour fast on this day. You can fast from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. We will have light refreshments at this group meeting. If you wish to become a teacher (we will have a special training), or be a part of the Vision Prayer Team, please see Julie or call the church office. The meetings begin Monday, January 31st at 7:30 p.m..
Julie, Sunday School Coordinator
A 6-week BIBLE STUDY will begin on Tuesday, January 4th with two opportunities for you - 11:00 a.m. to Noon and 7p.m. to 8 p. m.. Choose the one that best fits your
schedule. This study will be presented by Rev. Shaver and is designed to bring a better awareness of God's love & power into our daily lives and making the Bible
PRACTICAL for our day to day living. Lessons are not necessarily built on the other (so you don't have to come to the first one to understand the second).
| #1: "Growing a Bible Study" - Part I | A dynamic study to figure out how WE can grow in out Bible Study groups to be all that God intended it to be! You won't want to miss these two lessons. |
| #2: "Growing a Bible Study" - Part II | |
| #3: "Making Real Life Changes " - Part I | Most people get what they really want tout of life. Let's take a Biblical look at why that is so and how we can use the positive images Jesus gave us in our lives for good! |
| #4: "Making Real Life Changes" - Part II | |
| #5: "Personal Power Through Decision Making" - Part I | Let's face it, decision making is many times very difficult! Let's took at God's Word and see how and why decisions must be made and how we can make our decisions with confidence knowing God is on our side! |
| #6: "Personal Power Through Decision Making" - Part II | Look for more information about the lessons in the January Newsletter. Please come prepared to participate in these life giving dynamic seminars that will bring YOU closer to God. |
The deadline for the FEBRUARY Newsletter will be Sunday, February 20, 2000. Articles can be turned into the church office. Thank you!
The food bank item for February is miscellaneous items. Your generosity is appreciated!
On Friday, March 3, 2000 at 7:00 p.m. a WORLD DAY OF PRAYER service will be held at Alpha Evangelical Lutheran Church. This nondenominational service is sponsored by Church Women United, an organization of church ladies from all around the world. The theme this year is " Talitha Kumi, Young Woman, Stand Up! "
ALL WOMEN OF THE CHURCH are invited to attend the regular meeting of the United Methodist Women on Tuesday, February 15"' at 12:00 noon. The MARTHA group will provide dessert and beverage before the business meeting and program. The program this month will feature a talk by J.R. Jobe.
Reservations for the Communion Breakfast at MUSA on February 15th will be made and plans for the Ham Dinner will be finalized.
The MARTHA group will be hostess for the UM Men meeting on February 7th.
Mary, President
The Missions Committee will be continuing many of the projects from last year. We will continue to collect pennies with an extra emphasis on the 5' Sundays - Jan. 31, April 30, July 30, Oct. 29 and Dec. 31. Also continuing are the Food Bank collections with a special emphasis on children's food items in April and May, Thanksgiving Dinner, collections for MUSA, and the Christmas Angel Tree. We will be looking into working with a prison ministry with women and a work day at MUSA to clean up or fix up whatever they need us to do.
If you have any ideas for mission projects, please let us know.
Julie, Missions Chairperson
The 2000 Flower Calendar is now in the vestibule in the rear of the sanctuary. Dates are not carried over from year to year in an effort to give everyone an opportunity to participate. You may place flowers on the altar in memory of in honor of someone by writing your name next to the requested date on the calendar.
The cost for the arrangement is $12 and can be paid somewhere around the time you have them reserved by marking your donation "altar flowers".
Please contact the church office (823-1988) prior to that date to let us know how you would like it worded in the bulletin. Flowers will be given to the hospitalized or shut-ins unless you indicate in advance to us that you would like to take them.
If you cannot place your request on the calendar in person, you may call the church office to see if that date is available.
| Thanks to all my friends for their prayers, cards, calls
and gifts. I am blessed to have so many friends.
Anna Mae Thank you for all the birthday and Christmas cards. I really appreciated them! John |
I want to thank everyone for the gifts I received at
Christmas.
Dee Your recent gift to Church Union's Christmas appeal is truly appreciated! There is no time more fitting to say "Thank You" and to wish you all a happy New Year of health, happiness and prosperity. Patrick |
Praise God!!! Through the grace of Jesus Christ and the continued faithfulness of all of us, McMasters Church has once again been able to pay 100% of our Mission Shares to the conference.
As we begin the new year, we again will strive to meet our Mission Shares goal. Through the first several weeks of this year, our current expense offering has been holding steady. We pray that this will continue throughout the year. And, as we continue to GROW in our faith journey, our tithes and offerings will also continue to GROW. "Remember, where your heart is, there will your treasure be also. "
The next Flea Markets will be held on Saturday, February 5th and March 4th from 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m..
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