August 9, 2013 Dear Cedar Grove UMC family, Several ways exist in which we might be more attentive to God’s presence and guidance: remembering God, hearing God’s call for justice, remaining alert and making right choices at the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit, looking for God’s direction in life, and seeing God’s promises – including the promise of forgiveness. As we become more attentive in these areas, each day becomes more holy and grace-filled. Life circumstances may not change dramatically, but our responses will hold new power, possibility and integrity. The author of Hebrews calls faith the “assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1) Our faith is more complete when we let the “stuff” of our lives become present but not pervasive. Then we can listen as God alerts us to things hoped for and things not seen. God’s desires become the dominant theme of our lives, and our lives become a story unlike any we could ever write on our own. Hebrews 11 goes on to name many common folks who experienced uncommon lives simply by recognizing that God knows best. For Abraham, faith meant the journey to a new homeland, parenthood at a most unlikely age, leadership born out of faithful submission, and risks that yielded unexpected results. Like Abraham, through faith we realize that while we may not know where we’re going, we know that God is taking us there. As we do, we join the cloud of witnesses who live by faith. Let us be attentive to God’s presence and guidance – after all, who knows what exciting things God has in store for us! This Sunday: Remember Who – and Whose – You Are This Sunday, we will close our sermon series on the letters of Paul to Timothy. In “Remember Who – and Whose – You Are,” we will look at Paul’s closing words to Timothy as he awaited execution. We will also consider the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us, the legacy they have left us, and the legacy we are leaving for the coming generations. The overarching questions we have asked during this series is “Who is your Paul?” and “Who is your Timothy?” Please join us for worship at 10:30 a.m. Sunday as we examine how we are passing on our faith to the next generation. Back-to-school giveaway on Saturday Thanks to all who have donated backpacks or supplies for our annual back-to-school giveaway. If you would still like to donate items, please bring them by the church before 11 a.m. Saturday, when our back-to-school giveaway begins. For more information, please contact Melissa Blalock at melissalogner@aol. Men’s Prayer Breakfast at 7 a.m. Sunday Men, we will have our Prayer Breakfast at 7 a.m. Sunday. Please join us for a great time of fellowship, food, devotion and prayer. I look forward to seeing you there! Give the Gift of Life on Sunday The American Red Cross will be holding a blood drive from 11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Eno Presbyterian Church right across the road from us. To schedule an appointment, go to the website redcrossblood.org with the sponsor code: enopresbyterian, or call Lucie Stratton at 919-732-7067. Be a hero and help save a life! Being away next week at the Convocation on the Rural Church Next week, I will be attending the Convocation on the Rural Church with pastors from rural congregations in both the North Carolina and Western North Carolina conferences. Following the Convocation, Christine and I will celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary next weekend. While I am away, Lay Leader Don Logner will cover any emergency needs for pastoral care. I will also be calling to check in as I am able. Guest Preacher on Sunday, August 18 While I am away on Sunday, August 18, we will be blessed to have as our guest preacher Lauralee Bailey, director of planned giving for The United Methodist Foundation. Lauralee’s sermon, “What Will Be Your Legacy?” will be a fitting epilogue to our current sermon series. In addition to the sermon, she will have information on planned giving and estate planning in regards to the church that I know will be helpful and interesting to many of you. As Christine and I worship on that Sunday, our prayers will be with you as you gather for worship. I know you’ll be blessed by Lauralee’s presence – please make plans to attend! Looking ahead: UMW resumes on Wednesday, August 21 The United Methodist Women will hold their first gathering of the new year at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 21 at the home of Carol Lovingood. UMW members and guests, please mark your calendars! Follow us online! You can follow the many happenings and ministries of CGUMC online in a number of ways: 1) News of upcoming events, the current GPS (Guide to Prayer and Study) and links to MP3 recordings of recent sermons can be found at cedargroveumc.net under the “News” link. 2) Catch up with all the events at Anathoth Community Garden at anathothgarden.org. 3) Catch the daily GPS readings, post prayer requests, announce praises and find other announcements on our Facebook page at https://facebook/#!/pages/Cedar-Grove-UMC/161622617284308. OCIM collections The Orange Congregations in Mission food pantry is getting bare. It has been an incredibly busy summer for the folks at OCIM, and the current donations cannot meet the need. We collect canned fruit and other non-perishable items to support the food pantry at OCIM throughout the year. Please remember to bring your OCIM offerings each week as a way of reaching out to brothers and sisters around us. Operation Christmas Child Our year-long effort to support Operation Christmas Child continues as we work to meet our goal of 75 shoeboxes. Each month, we are collecting items that can be included in the shoeboxes. v During August, we are collecting school supplies, such as crayons, markers, pencils, pens, small notebooks and other items that will fit into a shoebox, for our OCC donations. We have a blue collection box near the basket where we collect our OCIM food offerings each Sunday. Just drop your Operation Christmas Child donations in the blue box after you’ve put your canned fruit or nonperishable items in the OCIM basket! Your gifts will show the love of Christ and the power of the gospel to a child or a family whose life you will indelibly touch, even though you may never meet them. The Coming week at Anathoth Community Garden: · Community work hours 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday and 5-8 p.m. Tuesday, both with potluck dinners following; · Sprouts camp for children ages 0-6 from 9-11:30 a.m. Tuesday. Saying Good-bye to our choir accompanist, Kaitlyn Vogt On Sunday, we will say good-bye to our choir accompanist, Kaitlyn Vogt, who will be leaving next week to attend graduate school at the University of Mississippi. We have been very blessed by Kaitlyn’s talent and abilities, but most of all by her presence among us. Kaitlyn, our love and prayers will go with you. Please help us bid Kaitlyn a fond farewell at worship on Sunday morning. Charge Conference is scheduled for Oct. 21 Please mark your calendars for our Charge Conference which is scheduled for 7-9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21 at First UMC in Graham. We will be joining with 15 other churches from the Northwest Subdistrict of the Corridor District. More information on the Charge Conference event will be forthcoming. We will begin scheduling committee meetings to prepare for Charge Conference in early September. As you can see in this eNote, we have much for which to be thankful, and many opportunities to show our love for God and our love for our neighbor. May we prayerfully accept and respond to each of these opportunities. I look forward to seeing each of you at worship on Sunday! Blessings! Karl _________
Posted on: Sat, 10 Aug 2013 19:00:54 +0000
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