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?