March 27th, 2010
Due to a computer crash on Thursday all Apex UMC POINT and Confirmation Emails have been delayed. Sorry for any inconvenience. Please remember that for the next two Sundays there will be Sunday School but no Confirmation Class or POINT Activities. In addition ALL Youth Sunday School classes are invited at 9:35 to the White Trailer to join our middle school classes in their annual SEDER Meal. Have a great track in, track out, spring break, Palm Sunday, Easter Sunday, or work week. (Man, how times have changed!!)
Peace and Towels,
Lee Barnes
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Thursday March 18th, 2010
Sunday March 21st
Sunday School Small Groups
Divided classes 9:35 and 11:00
11:00 Confirmation in the Trailer
Worship 8:15, 9:35, and 11:00
3:00 Confirmation in the Trailer
4:30 Middle School POINT (Play Day)
5:30 Yummy Dinner (Always the BEST meal in town on Sunda Night!!!!!!!!!!)
6:00 Big Time in the CLC (specail Worship Tonight!)
6:30 Senior High POINT(Play Day)
Confirmation Class: If you haven’t attended class yet, there is still room for you! Please come to the white trailer on Sundays for the 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. class. For more information, contact Pastor Lee.
Mission Opportunity for Year-Round Middle Schoolers: Having trouble fitting mission work into your year-round schedule? Join a new tradition of trips to Aulander. The first trip will be Apr. 22-25 - we will landscape and paint the Place of Possibilities (www.placeofpossibilities.org). A leader and materials will be provided. This is a great chance to get to know others and instill a passion for service in your family. Contact Toby White (362-7807 ext. 224, toby.white@apexumc.org) for more information and paperwork. $25 per participant and the parental consent forms are due by Apr. 4.
Easter Baskets: The 6th-8th grade 9:35 Sunday School class is making 35 Easter baskets for Aulander children. We need donations of stuffed bunnies or like-new baskets. Place items in the bin by the CLC kitchen through Mar. 19. Contact Sidney Froom (sidney.froom@apexumc.org; 267-5065).
If you have not attended a Confirmation Class yet there is still space for you! Please come out Sundays in the White Trailer at 11 or 3 for class and more information!
The Middle School Get Out Weekend schedules for March 12th and 13th has been rescheduled to the Fall of 2010. We cannot wait until the fall for this awesome retreat!
Bodies of Christ (BOC) is a dance ministry for children (5 years and up) that explores the art of liturgical movement. We meet Sundays, 2:15-3:15 p.m., in the children’s music room. All interested young children—and willing teen/adult helpers—who would enjoy experiencing God through liturgical dance are welcome. Jennifer Haynes: 267-6052 (h), 924-2659 (c), clevelandreams@aol.com.
For information about Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) and Appalachian Service Project (ASP) Please look in the Missions section of the bulletin or contact Toby White at 362-7807
Adult Leaders needed for ASP and AOSP Summer mission projects! In order for our Appalachian Service Project (ASP) June 20-26 and the Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) July 25-31 to continue this summer we are in need of adult volunteers. We are 3 leaders short for ASP and 12 short for AOSP. If we do not get more Adult volunteers then we will unfortunately have to drop some youth from attending. Please consider volunteering to be an adult leader for one of these very worthwhile projects. I assure you your life will be transformed. Please contact John Tigner for ASP tignerjd@gmail.com and Susan Hiles hilesfamily@mindspring or Toby White.
Consider donating funds to help our adult leaders to participate in ASP and AOSP. Each summer adults in our congregation volunteer their time as well as their vacation time to lead our youth in summer mission projects. We feel it is unfair for them to take time off from work and ask them to pay the participant fee as well. Therefore, we are offering you an opportunity to help make this more affordable for our adult leaders. Please consider sponsoring an adult leader either for ASP or AOSP. The fee for ASP is $275 and the fee for AOSP is $225. You may wish to donate the full amount or you can donate whatever works for you. Make checks payable to Apex UMC and mark either ASP or AOSP. These may be placed in the offering plate. Thank you for your support of our summer mission programs.
And Now a Little Devotion for the Week from the POINT:
"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6)
Here's something that would be weird: A 28-year-old guy who never, ever walked in his whole life even though he was perfectly healthy. He just never felt like it. He never got around to it. Maybe someday when he's older.
Guess what? That never happens. Human babies who can walk always do eventually. If they don't, they're not healthy. Something is wrong that needs fixing.
But I know some Christians who think it's perfectly normal not to walk in the way of Jesus. They seem to think you can be a healthy Christian without ever moving your spiritual legs, without ever getting up and following after Jesus. Guess what? Healthy Christians always walk -- unless there's something seriously wrong. (We might fall down a lot, but that's because we're walking in the first place.)
We're going to talk for the next week or two about what we should expect to see our spiritual legs doing as we grow up in Christ. Where should these wobbly new legs be taking us? What should be different about us than if we were not Christians, at all? Come back tomorrow.
Think: What does the idea of walking as Jesus did mean to you? Do you expect to see yourself walking more and more like Him as you grow as a Christian?
Pray: Ask God to help you to understand what it means to walk as Jesus did -- and then ask Him to help you to continue to do that.
Do: If you want to read ahead, check out Romans 12:9-21 to see what kind of hiking we'll be talking about for the next two weeks.
A Daily Devotional from PlanetWisdom.com, copyright 2010 Youth Specialties. Used by permission.
Sunday March 21st
Sunday School Small Groups
Divided classes 9:35 and 11:00
11:00 Confirmation in the Trailer
Worship 8:15, 9:35, and 11:00
3:00 Confirmation in the Trailer
4:30 Middle School POINT (Play Day)
5:30 Yummy Dinner (Always the BEST meal in town on Sunda Night!!!!!!!!!!)
6:00 Big Time in the CLC (specail Worship Tonight!)
6:30 Senior High POINT(Play Day)
Confirmation Class: If you haven’t attended class yet, there is still room for you! Please come to the white trailer on Sundays for the 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. class. For more information, contact Pastor Lee.
Mission Opportunity for Year-Round Middle Schoolers: Having trouble fitting mission work into your year-round schedule? Join a new tradition of trips to Aulander. The first trip will be Apr. 22-25 - we will landscape and paint the Place of Possibilities (www.placeofpossibilities.org). A leader and materials will be provided. This is a great chance to get to know others and instill a passion for service in your family. Contact Toby White (362-7807 ext. 224, toby.white@apexumc.org) for more information and paperwork. $25 per participant and the parental consent forms are due by Apr. 4.
Easter Baskets: The 6th-8th grade 9:35 Sunday School class is making 35 Easter baskets for Aulander children. We need donations of stuffed bunnies or like-new baskets. Place items in the bin by the CLC kitchen through Mar. 19. Contact Sidney Froom (sidney.froom@apexumc.org; 267-5065).
If you have not attended a Confirmation Class yet there is still space for you! Please come out Sundays in the White Trailer at 11 or 3 for class and more information!
The Middle School Get Out Weekend schedules for March 12th and 13th has been rescheduled to the Fall of 2010. We cannot wait until the fall for this awesome retreat!
Bodies of Christ (BOC) is a dance ministry for children (5 years and up) that explores the art of liturgical movement. We meet Sundays, 2:15-3:15 p.m., in the children’s music room. All interested young children—and willing teen/adult helpers—who would enjoy experiencing God through liturgical dance are welcome. Jennifer Haynes: 267-6052 (h), 924-2659 (c), clevelandreams@aol.com.
For information about Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) and Appalachian Service Project (ASP) Please look in the Missions section of the bulletin or contact Toby White at 362-7807
Adult Leaders needed for ASP and AOSP Summer mission projects! In order for our Appalachian Service Project (ASP) June 20-26 and the Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) July 25-31 to continue this summer we are in need of adult volunteers. We are 3 leaders short for ASP and 12 short for AOSP. If we do not get more Adult volunteers then we will unfortunately have to drop some youth from attending. Please consider volunteering to be an adult leader for one of these very worthwhile projects. I assure you your life will be transformed. Please contact John Tigner for ASP tignerjd@gmail.com and Susan Hiles hilesfamily@mindspring or Toby White.
Consider donating funds to help our adult leaders to participate in ASP and AOSP. Each summer adults in our congregation volunteer their time as well as their vacation time to lead our youth in summer mission projects. We feel it is unfair for them to take time off from work and ask them to pay the participant fee as well. Therefore, we are offering you an opportunity to help make this more affordable for our adult leaders. Please consider sponsoring an adult leader either for ASP or AOSP. The fee for ASP is $275 and the fee for AOSP is $225. You may wish to donate the full amount or you can donate whatever works for you. Make checks payable to Apex UMC and mark either ASP or AOSP. These may be placed in the offering plate. Thank you for your support of our summer mission programs.
And Now a Little Devotion for the Week from the POINT:
"Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did." (1 John 2:6)
Here's something that would be weird: A 28-year-old guy who never, ever walked in his whole life even though he was perfectly healthy. He just never felt like it. He never got around to it. Maybe someday when he's older.
Guess what? That never happens. Human babies who can walk always do eventually. If they don't, they're not healthy. Something is wrong that needs fixing.
But I know some Christians who think it's perfectly normal not to walk in the way of Jesus. They seem to think you can be a healthy Christian without ever moving your spiritual legs, without ever getting up and following after Jesus. Guess what? Healthy Christians always walk -- unless there's something seriously wrong. (We might fall down a lot, but that's because we're walking in the first place.)
We're going to talk for the next week or two about what we should expect to see our spiritual legs doing as we grow up in Christ. Where should these wobbly new legs be taking us? What should be different about us than if we were not Christians, at all? Come back tomorrow.
Think: What does the idea of walking as Jesus did mean to you? Do you expect to see yourself walking more and more like Him as you grow as a Christian?
Pray: Ask God to help you to understand what it means to walk as Jesus did -- and then ask Him to help you to continue to do that.
Do: If you want to read ahead, check out Romans 12:9-21 to see what kind of hiking we'll be talking about for the next two weeks.
A Daily Devotional from PlanetWisdom.com, copyright 2010 Youth Specialties. Used by permission.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
The Almost 29 5/8 Hour Famine Agenda
The Schedule:
Friday
Begin the fast after your lunch (that means stop eating now…)
7:00 Meet at Apex UMC(Please bring: sleeping bag/pillow/toiletries/all your overnight gear at this time…along with your donation envelope with your total on the front.) Bill Chalk will take it from you!
7:45 leave for Comedy Worx
8:30-10:30-Comedy Worx
11:00-1:00-Buffaloe Lanes
Saturday
1:30-8:30 Back at Apex UMC
9:00-1:35 AM Super Secret Service Project(s)
1:20-3:30 See MOVIE (Rated PG)
4:00 special fill up stop(We will pay for)
5:00-5:29 back at church clean up, set up clc…
5:30 break the fast (that means you can begin eating again…)
6:30 Go Home
We will provide milk and juice at the church for your consumption, but you need to bring some money to get drinks, if you want them, at Comedy Worx, the Bowling Alley, the Movie,…
The Schedule:
Friday
Begin the fast after your lunch (that means stop eating now…)
7:00 Meet at Apex UMC(Please bring: sleeping bag/pillow/toiletries/all your overnight gear at this time…along with your donation envelope with your total on the front.) Bill Chalk will take it from you!
7:45 leave for Comedy Worx
8:30-10:30-Comedy Worx
11:00-1:00-Buffaloe Lanes
Saturday
1:30-8:30 Back at Apex UMC
9:00-1:35 AM Super Secret Service Project(s)
1:20-3:30 See MOVIE (Rated PG)
4:00 special fill up stop(We will pay for)
5:00-5:29 back at church clean up, set up clc…
5:30 break the fast (that means you can begin eating again…)
6:30 Go Home
We will provide milk and juice at the church for your consumption, but you need to bring some money to get drinks, if you want them, at Comedy Worx, the Bowling Alley, the Movie,…
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Famine Agenda
The Almost 29 5/8 Hour Famine Agenda
The Schedule:
Friday
Begin the fast after your lunch (that means stop eating now…)
7:00 Meet at Apex UMC(Please bring: sleeping bag/pillow/toiletries/all your overnight gear at this time…along with your donation envelope with your total on the front.) Bill Chalk will take it from you!
7:45 leave for Comedy Worx
8:30-10:30-Comedy Worx
11:00-1:00-Buffaloe Lanes
Saturday
1:30-8:30 Back at Apex UMC
9:00-1:35 AM Super Secret Service Project(s)
1:20-3:30 See MOVIE (Rated PG)
4:00 special fill up stop(We will pay for)
5:00-5:29 back at church clean up, set up clc…
5:30 break the fast (that means you can begin eating again…)
6:30 Go Home
We will provide milk and juice at the church for your consumption, but you need to bring some money to get drinks, if you want them, at Comedy Worx, the Bowling Alley, the Movie,…
A full agenda will be available at drop off at 7:00 on Friday!
The Schedule:
Friday
Begin the fast after your lunch (that means stop eating now…)
7:00 Meet at Apex UMC(Please bring: sleeping bag/pillow/toiletries/all your overnight gear at this time…along with your donation envelope with your total on the front.) Bill Chalk will take it from you!
7:45 leave for Comedy Worx
8:30-10:30-Comedy Worx
11:00-1:00-Buffaloe Lanes
Saturday
1:30-8:30 Back at Apex UMC
9:00-1:35 AM Super Secret Service Project(s)
1:20-3:30 See MOVIE (Rated PG)
4:00 special fill up stop(We will pay for)
5:00-5:29 back at church clean up, set up clc…
5:30 break the fast (that means you can begin eating again…)
6:30 Go Home
We will provide milk and juice at the church for your consumption, but you need to bring some money to get drinks, if you want them, at Comedy Worx, the Bowling Alley, the Movie,…
A full agenda will be available at drop off at 7:00 on Friday!
March 10 2010
Information and Devotion FRESH from me to you!
Wednesday March 10th
NO Revolution Bible Study
Senior High ADHD at 7:30 to 9:30
location TBA at the POINT
Thursday March 11th
Youth Alpha 6:00
(if already attending Alpha. If not already attending Alpha please contact Lee Barnes @ 362-7807)
Friday March 12th
Please begin fasting for the Famine after your lunch.
Please be at the church at 7:00 in the CLC to drop off your gear and get ready for an awesome experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday March 13th
412 Junior High Small Group 5:30 in the Youth Lounge
5:30 Fast Breaking Meal in the CLC for our Famine Participants!
6:30 get picked up from the famine!
Sunday March 14th
Sunday School Small Groups
Divided classes 9:35 and 11:00
11:00 Confirmation in the Trailer
Worship 8:15, 9:35, and 11:00
3:00 Confirmation in the Trailer
4:30 Middle School POINT
5:30 Yummy Dinner
6:00 Big Time in the CLC
6:30 Senior High POINT
There will be no REVOLUTION tonight
We are continuing a great new study on growing together in and to Christ this
Sunday Night at the POINT:
In following Christ, there is one truth that most of us forget—we were never meant to do this alone. We need other people. It’s critical not just because we need friends, but also because in community we understand more about who God is. We see how He is working in other people’s lives. We learn things that God has taught them, and we get an opportunity to love and serve others. The WE series helps us discover the “WHY” behind community—why we need it, why we should pursue it.
This Week:
People’s stories are powerful, aren’t they? There’s something about hearing what’s going on in another person’s life that puts things in perspective for us. We may be thinking that God has forgotten us, that He doesn’t care about what’s going in our world, but then we hear someone share how God showed up when they really needed Him. And because of that, we begin to think that maybe, just maybe, He can be there for us, too. That’s the power of community. It’s how we see God at work in our world. It’s how we grow closer to Him. And it’s an important part of growing in our relationship with Him.
Confirmation Class: If you haven’t attended class yet, there is still room for you! Please come to the white trailer on Sundays for the 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. class. For more information, contact Pastor Lee.
Mission Opportunity for Year-Round Middle Schoolers: Having trouble fitting mission work into your year-round schedule? Join a new tradition of trips to Aulander. The first trip will be Apr. 22-25 - we will landscape and paint the Place of Possibilities (www.placeofpossibilities.org). A leader and materials will be provided. This is a great chance to get to know others and instill a passion for service in your family. Contact Toby White (362-7807 ext. 224, toby.white@apexumc.org) for more information and paperwork. $25 per participant and the parental consent forms are due by Apr. 4.
Easter Baskets: The 6th-8th grade 9:35 Sunday School class is making 35 Easter baskets for Aulander children. We need donations of stuffed bunnies or like-new baskets. Place items in the bin by the CLC kitchen through Mar. 19. Contact Sidney Froom (sidney.froom@apexumc.org; 267-5065).
If you have not attended a Confirmation Class yet there is still space for you! Please come out Sundays in the White Trailer at 11 or 3 for class and more information!
The Middle School Get Out Weekend schedules for March 12th and 13th has been rescheduled to the Fall of 2010. We cannot wait until the fall for this awesome retreat!
Bodies of Christ (BOC) is a dance ministry for children (5 years and up) that explores the art of liturgical movement. We meet Sundays, 2:15-3:15 p.m., in the children’s music room. All interested young children—and willing teen/adult helpers—who would enjoy experiencing God through liturgical dance are welcome. Jennifer Haynes: 267-6052 (h), 924-2659 (c), clevelandreams@aol.com.
For information about Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) and Appalachian Service Project (ASP) Please look in the Missions section of the bulletin or contact Toby White at 362-7807
Adult Leaders needed for ASP and AOSP Summer mission projects! In order for our Appalachian Service Project (ASP) June 20-26 and the Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) July 25-31 to continue this summer we are in need of adult volunteers. We are 3 leaders short for ASP and 12 short for AOSP. If we do not get more Adult volunteers then we will unfortunately have to drop some youth from attending. Please consider volunteering to be an adult leader for one of these very worthwhile projects. I assure you your life will be transformed. Please contact John Tigner for ASP tignerjd@gmail.com and Susan Hiles hilesfamily@mindspring or Toby White.
Consider donating funds to help our adult leaders to participate in ASP and AOSP. Each summer adults in our congregation volunteer their time as well as their vacation time to lead our youth in summer mission projects. We feel it is unfair for them to take time off from work and ask them to pay the participant fee as well. Therefore, we are offering you an opportunity to help make this more affordable for our adult leaders. Please consider sponsoring an adult leader either for ASP or AOSP. The fee for ASP is $275 and the fee for AOSP is $225. You may wish to donate the full amount or you can donate whatever works for you. Make checks payable to Apex UMC and mark either ASP or AOSP. These may be placed in the offering plate. Thank you for your support of our summer mission programs.
And Now a Little Devotion for the Week from the POINT:
Read: Proverbs 27:17
IRON MAIDENS
By Sarah Anderson
I have one friend from college who at the mere mention of her name makes me crack up. Any voice mail, e-mail or letter, literally makes me laugh out loud. Starting our senior year of college, we were cohorts in crime. Following graduation, we moved to Tennessee and worked and lived together for a year. Then we both ventured out west to try our hand at being cowgirls . . . kind of. She worked in Colorado and I worked in Wyoming. She was more of an actual cowgirl. I cleaned cabins and waited on tables. While out there, she met the man of her dreams and asked me to be in her wedding one year later. Eight months later she was in my wedding and now she and her husband are preparing to move to China to be missionaries.
She is a true friend. One time on a trip to a Hard Rock Café, we noticed a sign by our table that said Iron Maiden. (Only recently did I learn this was a band, which explains it’s place in Hard Rock Café, and more recently than that I learned it was also the name of a torture device first used in the 1500s.) We knew neither of these things at the time and took the phrase, adopting it as a name for ourselves. We wanted to be the Iron Maidens, because, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
This was the kind of friendship we desired. All craziness aside, what we craved was a friendship that pursued the betterment of each other, accountability to one another and a deeper knowledge of Christ. And this did not necessarily look like a weekly Bible study, or a scheduled time for prayer, or a twice a week chapel attendance that was required at our college. What it looked like was a sharpening of each other, an intentional smoothing of our rough edges by being friends who cared more about every facet of our friendship than just having a good time and sharing secrets.
I heard someone say once, “When iron sharpens iron, there are sparks.” A lot of times getting our rough edges smoothed out hurts. It is hard to let people in close and with something as sharp as iron, and giving them the access to your heart. But the sparks, the friction, the heat is not a bad thing. It means we are enduring the flames from the fire and being made into a more moldable and enduring vessel for Christ.
This friend made me a better follower of Christ. I did not always like her in the process. Sparks can burn. But she, along with God, made me what I needed to be. In her friendship, she gave me the permission to dialogue about tough issues, hard questions and nagging sins. That was hard. But we did it. I needed an iron maiden in her, and she needed one in me, and the result was two people who better understood what it meant to be at the mercy of the heat in order that we might come out better believers and followers of Jesus.
She still makes me laugh. She still brightens my life. But her real gift to me is not laughter or silly memories. Her gift is her persisting and enduring ability to shape me into who God wants me to be. I love her for that.
Something to Think About:
• What makes the friends you are closest too, the friends that you are closest too?
• Do you have someone who sharpens you like iron in your life?
• What do you do, or could you do, to help sharpen you and your friends?
Information and Devotion FRESH from me to you!
Wednesday March 10th
NO Revolution Bible Study
Senior High ADHD at 7:30 to 9:30
location TBA at the POINT
Thursday March 11th
Youth Alpha 6:00
(if already attending Alpha. If not already attending Alpha please contact Lee Barnes @ 362-7807)
Friday March 12th
Please begin fasting for the Famine after your lunch.
Please be at the church at 7:00 in the CLC to drop off your gear and get ready for an awesome experience!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday March 13th
412 Junior High Small Group 5:30 in the Youth Lounge
5:30 Fast Breaking Meal in the CLC for our Famine Participants!
6:30 get picked up from the famine!
Sunday March 14th
Sunday School Small Groups
Divided classes 9:35 and 11:00
11:00 Confirmation in the Trailer
Worship 8:15, 9:35, and 11:00
3:00 Confirmation in the Trailer
4:30 Middle School POINT
5:30 Yummy Dinner
6:00 Big Time in the CLC
6:30 Senior High POINT
There will be no REVOLUTION tonight
We are continuing a great new study on growing together in and to Christ this
Sunday Night at the POINT:
In following Christ, there is one truth that most of us forget—we were never meant to do this alone. We need other people. It’s critical not just because we need friends, but also because in community we understand more about who God is. We see how He is working in other people’s lives. We learn things that God has taught them, and we get an opportunity to love and serve others. The WE series helps us discover the “WHY” behind community—why we need it, why we should pursue it.
This Week:
People’s stories are powerful, aren’t they? There’s something about hearing what’s going on in another person’s life that puts things in perspective for us. We may be thinking that God has forgotten us, that He doesn’t care about what’s going in our world, but then we hear someone share how God showed up when they really needed Him. And because of that, we begin to think that maybe, just maybe, He can be there for us, too. That’s the power of community. It’s how we see God at work in our world. It’s how we grow closer to Him. And it’s an important part of growing in our relationship with Him.
Confirmation Class: If you haven’t attended class yet, there is still room for you! Please come to the white trailer on Sundays for the 11 a.m. or 3 p.m. class. For more information, contact Pastor Lee.
Mission Opportunity for Year-Round Middle Schoolers: Having trouble fitting mission work into your year-round schedule? Join a new tradition of trips to Aulander. The first trip will be Apr. 22-25 - we will landscape and paint the Place of Possibilities (www.placeofpossibilities.org). A leader and materials will be provided. This is a great chance to get to know others and instill a passion for service in your family. Contact Toby White (362-7807 ext. 224, toby.white@apexumc.org) for more information and paperwork. $25 per participant and the parental consent forms are due by Apr. 4.
Easter Baskets: The 6th-8th grade 9:35 Sunday School class is making 35 Easter baskets for Aulander children. We need donations of stuffed bunnies or like-new baskets. Place items in the bin by the CLC kitchen through Mar. 19. Contact Sidney Froom (sidney.froom@apexumc.org; 267-5065).
If you have not attended a Confirmation Class yet there is still space for you! Please come out Sundays in the White Trailer at 11 or 3 for class and more information!
The Middle School Get Out Weekend schedules for March 12th and 13th has been rescheduled to the Fall of 2010. We cannot wait until the fall for this awesome retreat!
Bodies of Christ (BOC) is a dance ministry for children (5 years and up) that explores the art of liturgical movement. We meet Sundays, 2:15-3:15 p.m., in the children’s music room. All interested young children—and willing teen/adult helpers—who would enjoy experiencing God through liturgical dance are welcome. Jennifer Haynes: 267-6052 (h), 924-2659 (c), clevelandreams@aol.com.
For information about Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) and Appalachian Service Project (ASP) Please look in the Missions section of the bulletin or contact Toby White at 362-7807
Adult Leaders needed for ASP and AOSP Summer mission projects! In order for our Appalachian Service Project (ASP) June 20-26 and the Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) July 25-31 to continue this summer we are in need of adult volunteers. We are 3 leaders short for ASP and 12 short for AOSP. If we do not get more Adult volunteers then we will unfortunately have to drop some youth from attending. Please consider volunteering to be an adult leader for one of these very worthwhile projects. I assure you your life will be transformed. Please contact John Tigner for ASP tignerjd@gmail.com and Susan Hiles hilesfamily@mindspring or Toby White.
Consider donating funds to help our adult leaders to participate in ASP and AOSP. Each summer adults in our congregation volunteer their time as well as their vacation time to lead our youth in summer mission projects. We feel it is unfair for them to take time off from work and ask them to pay the participant fee as well. Therefore, we are offering you an opportunity to help make this more affordable for our adult leaders. Please consider sponsoring an adult leader either for ASP or AOSP. The fee for ASP is $275 and the fee for AOSP is $225. You may wish to donate the full amount or you can donate whatever works for you. Make checks payable to Apex UMC and mark either ASP or AOSP. These may be placed in the offering plate. Thank you for your support of our summer mission programs.
And Now a Little Devotion for the Week from the POINT:
Read: Proverbs 27:17
IRON MAIDENS
By Sarah Anderson
I have one friend from college who at the mere mention of her name makes me crack up. Any voice mail, e-mail or letter, literally makes me laugh out loud. Starting our senior year of college, we were cohorts in crime. Following graduation, we moved to Tennessee and worked and lived together for a year. Then we both ventured out west to try our hand at being cowgirls . . . kind of. She worked in Colorado and I worked in Wyoming. She was more of an actual cowgirl. I cleaned cabins and waited on tables. While out there, she met the man of her dreams and asked me to be in her wedding one year later. Eight months later she was in my wedding and now she and her husband are preparing to move to China to be missionaries.
She is a true friend. One time on a trip to a Hard Rock Café, we noticed a sign by our table that said Iron Maiden. (Only recently did I learn this was a band, which explains it’s place in Hard Rock Café, and more recently than that I learned it was also the name of a torture device first used in the 1500s.) We knew neither of these things at the time and took the phrase, adopting it as a name for ourselves. We wanted to be the Iron Maidens, because, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
This was the kind of friendship we desired. All craziness aside, what we craved was a friendship that pursued the betterment of each other, accountability to one another and a deeper knowledge of Christ. And this did not necessarily look like a weekly Bible study, or a scheduled time for prayer, or a twice a week chapel attendance that was required at our college. What it looked like was a sharpening of each other, an intentional smoothing of our rough edges by being friends who cared more about every facet of our friendship than just having a good time and sharing secrets.
I heard someone say once, “When iron sharpens iron, there are sparks.” A lot of times getting our rough edges smoothed out hurts. It is hard to let people in close and with something as sharp as iron, and giving them the access to your heart. But the sparks, the friction, the heat is not a bad thing. It means we are enduring the flames from the fire and being made into a more moldable and enduring vessel for Christ.
This friend made me a better follower of Christ. I did not always like her in the process. Sparks can burn. But she, along with God, made me what I needed to be. In her friendship, she gave me the permission to dialogue about tough issues, hard questions and nagging sins. That was hard. But we did it. I needed an iron maiden in her, and she needed one in me, and the result was two people who better understood what it meant to be at the mercy of the heat in order that we might come out better believers and followers of Jesus.
She still makes me laugh. She still brightens my life. But her real gift to me is not laughter or silly memories. Her gift is her persisting and enduring ability to shape me into who God wants me to be. I love her for that.
Something to Think About:
• What makes the friends you are closest too, the friends that you are closest too?
• Do you have someone who sharpens you like iron in your life?
• What do you do, or could you do, to help sharpen you and your friends?
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
March 3, 2010
Looking forward to seeing everyone this week and weekend at Apex UMC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are continuing a great new study on growing together in and to Christ this
Sunday Night at the POINT:
In following Christ, there is one truth that most of us forget—we were never meant to do this alone. We need other people. It’s critical not just because we need friends, but also because in community we understand more about who God is. We see how He is working in other people’s lives. We learn things that God has taught them, and we get an opportunity to love and serve others. The WE series helps us discover the “WHY” behind community—why we need it, why we should pursue it.
This Week:
We talked last week about how we need people, and if we’re honest, we all have realized that at some point or another. But there’s a reluctance to take that next step because it’s risky. It’s scary. And most of all, it’s messy. True community costs us something. But if we don’t have it, it will cost us a lot more.
If you have not attended a Confirmation Class yet there is still space for you! Please come out Sundays in the White Trailer at 11 or 3 for class and more information!
There will be more announcements and information about 29 5/8 Hour Famine for Senior High this Sunday at the POINT! This event takes place on March 12 and 13.
The Middle School Get Out Weekend schedules for March 12th and 13th has been rescheduled to the Fall of 2010. We cannot wait until the fall for this awesome retreat!
Bodies of Christ (BOC) is a dance ministry for children (5 years and up) that explores the art of liturgical movement. We meet Sundays, 2:15-3:15 p.m., in the children’s music room. All interested young children—and willing teen/adult helpers—who would enjoy experiencing God through liturgical dance are welcome. Jennifer Haynes: 267-6052 (h), 924-2659 (c), clevelandreams@aol.com.
For information about Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) Appalachian Service Project (ASP) Please look in the Missions section of this bulletin or contact Toby White at 362-7807
PST presents on Tuesday March 9 - 7pm - 'The Inside Scoop' for parents of high schoolers with college in their future. Our special guests are parents from the Transitions group who's teens are now in college. They'll share personal experience and practical tips for preparing you and your teen BEFORE the senior year. Middle School and High School parents are encouraged to attend. It’s never too early to learn and we always allow time for general conversation about current parenting topics. March 9. ROOM 211- CLC at 7 - 8 :30 pm. Newcomers are encouraged to attend. Parents Supporting Teens (PST) is a ministry for parents created to empower each other with knowledge and support for our teens and is open to parents of middle and high school students. For more information contact: Kathy Ammon: Kathy@kathyammon.com or Laurie Stella Laurie.Stella@yahoo.com
Here's a devotion for this week:
XP3: WE Devotional 1
NOT ALONE
By Sarah Anderson
Read: Exodus 17:8-14
People need people. I don’t care what anyone else says. We as humans were created for relationship—and not just with God, but with each other as well. As basic as this seems, I forget that sometimes. Sometimes I think I can curl up on my couch with a good novel and some TiVo-ed episodes of my favorite show and be happy for the rest of my life. But as appealing as this sounds to me, inevitably I realize I need more than a remote and a book—I need people.
I think God either finds my lapses into this thinking totally insulting or absolutely hilarious. Maybe it is a little bit of both. Usually, He puts me in some sort of desperate situation where I require help from another human—like getting lost in downtown Atlanta, or reaching for something from the top shelf of the pantry—to help me realize, again, I can’t go at it alone.
We just read the story of Moses, a powerful and influential man, who had more reason than anyone else to think he didn’t need people—especially whining and complaining people, like the Israelites. I have to wonder if when he went to the top of the mountain while the Israelites were fighting below, if part of him just wanted to get away.
We have no way of knowing, but I don’t think it took very long for Moses to get tired of holding up his own hands. It takes me about thirty seconds. And in one of the most compelling word pictures I have ever found in Scripture, we see how desperately and mightily he needed friends. He needed their support, their strength, their endurance, their assistance and their persistence—literally.
What do you think was going through Moses’ mind as he sat on the rock and allowed his right hand men to lift his deadened arms in the air? I picture his head bowed, his brow furrowed and his back bent. And I imagine this day being engrained in his memory forever. If he was ever tempted to think he was too good for the help of others, he need only think back to the faithfulness of Aaron and Hur as they tirelessly came alongside him and empowered him to win the battle. And should that memory start to fade, he could just as easily go back to the scroll God had him write after the Israelites won, because this was “something to be remembered.” A great military feat, yes. But I think there was another reason for writing it down as well. God said write this down because Moses, you can’t forget, and Joshua, can’t forget, and those who follow, can’t forget, that you can’t do life alone.
My favorite TV show is way more entertaining when I can comment on it with someone on the couch beside me. Reading is more fun when I can talk about it and process it with a listening ear. And that is just the small stuff. There has been, and there will be, big, hard, stuff that comes along. I don’t want to be, and I can’t be, alone when it does.
People need people. We are not intended to be loners in this world. We need to allow ourselves to take a seat. Allow our arms to be lifted. Allow people to come in. Allow them to come close, whether we feel like we require it not. Because someday it will be essential to have the help and the hands, on either side of us, to make it. We were created for relationships. We were created for this.
Something to Think About:
• Why do you think we sometimes think we can do life alone?
• What is an area of life that is easy for you to ask for help in?
• What is an area of life that is hard to ask for help in?
• What is one way this week where you can be intentional about getting help for someone when you would normally want to do it alone?
Looking forward to seeing everyone this week and weekend at Apex UMC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We are continuing a great new study on growing together in and to Christ this
Sunday Night at the POINT:
In following Christ, there is one truth that most of us forget—we were never meant to do this alone. We need other people. It’s critical not just because we need friends, but also because in community we understand more about who God is. We see how He is working in other people’s lives. We learn things that God has taught them, and we get an opportunity to love and serve others. The WE series helps us discover the “WHY” behind community—why we need it, why we should pursue it.
This Week:
We talked last week about how we need people, and if we’re honest, we all have realized that at some point or another. But there’s a reluctance to take that next step because it’s risky. It’s scary. And most of all, it’s messy. True community costs us something. But if we don’t have it, it will cost us a lot more.
If you have not attended a Confirmation Class yet there is still space for you! Please come out Sundays in the White Trailer at 11 or 3 for class and more information!
There will be more announcements and information about 29 5/8 Hour Famine for Senior High this Sunday at the POINT! This event takes place on March 12 and 13.
The Middle School Get Out Weekend schedules for March 12th and 13th has been rescheduled to the Fall of 2010. We cannot wait until the fall for this awesome retreat!
Bodies of Christ (BOC) is a dance ministry for children (5 years and up) that explores the art of liturgical movement. We meet Sundays, 2:15-3:15 p.m., in the children’s music room. All interested young children—and willing teen/adult helpers—who would enjoy experiencing God through liturgical dance are welcome. Jennifer Haynes: 267-6052 (h), 924-2659 (c), clevelandreams@aol.com.
For information about Apex Outreach Service Project (AOSP) Appalachian Service Project (ASP) Please look in the Missions section of this bulletin or contact Toby White at 362-7807
PST presents on Tuesday March 9 - 7pm - 'The Inside Scoop' for parents of high schoolers with college in their future. Our special guests are parents from the Transitions group who's teens are now in college. They'll share personal experience and practical tips for preparing you and your teen BEFORE the senior year. Middle School and High School parents are encouraged to attend. It’s never too early to learn and we always allow time for general conversation about current parenting topics. March 9. ROOM 211- CLC at 7 - 8 :30 pm. Newcomers are encouraged to attend. Parents Supporting Teens (PST) is a ministry for parents created to empower each other with knowledge and support for our teens and is open to parents of middle and high school students. For more information contact: Kathy Ammon: Kathy@kathyammon.com or Laurie Stella Laurie.Stella@yahoo.com
Here's a devotion for this week:
XP3: WE Devotional 1
NOT ALONE
By Sarah Anderson
Read: Exodus 17:8-14
People need people. I don’t care what anyone else says. We as humans were created for relationship—and not just with God, but with each other as well. As basic as this seems, I forget that sometimes. Sometimes I think I can curl up on my couch with a good novel and some TiVo-ed episodes of my favorite show and be happy for the rest of my life. But as appealing as this sounds to me, inevitably I realize I need more than a remote and a book—I need people.
I think God either finds my lapses into this thinking totally insulting or absolutely hilarious. Maybe it is a little bit of both. Usually, He puts me in some sort of desperate situation where I require help from another human—like getting lost in downtown Atlanta, or reaching for something from the top shelf of the pantry—to help me realize, again, I can’t go at it alone.
We just read the story of Moses, a powerful and influential man, who had more reason than anyone else to think he didn’t need people—especially whining and complaining people, like the Israelites. I have to wonder if when he went to the top of the mountain while the Israelites were fighting below, if part of him just wanted to get away.
We have no way of knowing, but I don’t think it took very long for Moses to get tired of holding up his own hands. It takes me about thirty seconds. And in one of the most compelling word pictures I have ever found in Scripture, we see how desperately and mightily he needed friends. He needed their support, their strength, their endurance, their assistance and their persistence—literally.
What do you think was going through Moses’ mind as he sat on the rock and allowed his right hand men to lift his deadened arms in the air? I picture his head bowed, his brow furrowed and his back bent. And I imagine this day being engrained in his memory forever. If he was ever tempted to think he was too good for the help of others, he need only think back to the faithfulness of Aaron and Hur as they tirelessly came alongside him and empowered him to win the battle. And should that memory start to fade, he could just as easily go back to the scroll God had him write after the Israelites won, because this was “something to be remembered.” A great military feat, yes. But I think there was another reason for writing it down as well. God said write this down because Moses, you can’t forget, and Joshua, can’t forget, and those who follow, can’t forget, that you can’t do life alone.
My favorite TV show is way more entertaining when I can comment on it with someone on the couch beside me. Reading is more fun when I can talk about it and process it with a listening ear. And that is just the small stuff. There has been, and there will be, big, hard, stuff that comes along. I don’t want to be, and I can’t be, alone when it does.
People need people. We are not intended to be loners in this world. We need to allow ourselves to take a seat. Allow our arms to be lifted. Allow people to come in. Allow them to come close, whether we feel like we require it not. Because someday it will be essential to have the help and the hands, on either side of us, to make it. We were created for relationships. We were created for this.
Something to Think About:
• Why do you think we sometimes think we can do life alone?
• What is an area of life that is easy for you to ask for help in?
• What is an area of life that is hard to ask for help in?
• What is one way this week where you can be intentional about getting help for someone when you would normally want to do it alone?
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