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TRANSCRIPT
Hartland United
Methodist Church
10300 Maple
Hartland, MI 48353
www.hartlandumc.org
Phone: 810-632-7476
Fax: 810-632-9860
Email:
Pastor:
Rev. Paul Gruenberg
Sunday
Worship:
Service: 10:00 a.m.
Sunday School:
10:00 a.m.
Coffee Hour: 11:15 a.m.
Inside this Issue:
Pastor’s Message 2
Calendar of Events 3
Birthdays/Anniversaries 4
Other News 5-7
Volume 6, Issue 6
Heavenly Notes
“Helping Others Find, Experience,
and Share God’s Love Through Christ”
August, 2012 CHURCH
The UNITED ME
TH
OD
IST
2012 Church Conference Date Set
Mark your calendars now and plan to attend our 2012 Church Conference. The date for this year’s Annual Church Conference has been set—Sunday, November 18. District Superintendent Rev. Mark Spaw will present the message during worship that morning. Fol-lowing worship, we will have an All Church Potluck. Rev. Spaw will meet with the Staff/Pastor Parish Relations Committee at 12:15 p.m. and the Conference will begin at 1:00 p.m. in the sanctuary.
Hartland United Methodist Church
Presents Veggie Tales Family Vacation Bible School
Join Us for the
Adventure August 6 – 10
7:00 pm – 8:00 pm 10300 Maple Rd., Hartland
Friday, August 10 7:00—8:00 p.m.
VBS Campfire Songs, Jokes, and a Roaring Good Time
Call 810 632-7476 for more information
Pastor’s Message Do you remember the story about the chicken who tried to cross the road?
Well, it was not a chicken! It was a turtle… and it was trying to cross the road. When I came across this turtle, it was already half way across! Let me clarify. It was a turtle and it was trying to cross the road. I was driving on a two lane road to the church one morning and thought I saw a large rock on the road in the distance. As I neared, I saw that it was a turtle, and it was taking cautious steps to cross the road, its head was extended high up in the air. I moved to the right so as to not clip the little guy and went on by. As I looked in the rearview mirror, the turtle had gone into its shell… a defense mechanism of turtles whenever they sense danger… I guess. A few hours later, as I was coming home for some lunch, I began to think about the turtle and won-dered what the little guy’s fate was. Did he cross safely or did another car hit the poor guy? Was I going to get to the spot and see a crushed shell? I found myself getting a little more concerned for the guy… did he make it? Should I have stopped earlier and helped him across the road? As I got to the spot… there was no sign of the turtle. I even slowed down to see if he was lying by the side of the road and I was glad to find the sides clear too. So I surmised that this turtle had suc-cessfully navigated the road from one side to the other. As I thought about this, I began to wonder how many times this turtle had crossed from the lake side of the road to a more marshy area and back again. One, two, or maybe even 100 times? How often had this turtle risked its life just to go from one side to the other? Like the turtle who risked crossing the road for a purpose, I wonder if people are willing to risk liv-ing life for a purpose… living a life for a reward that is not for today or tomorrow, but for eternity. I remember the first few times I shared with others what God had done in my life. It was scary on one hand and exhilarating on the other. I knew I was facing rejection on one hand, but on the other, the reward was… what shall I call it… heavenly! I had a “God Moment” that helped me decide to follow God’s call into the ministry. (Remember, this was a huge risk and life change for me and my young family at the time.) A survey of 80 and 90 year olds was taken and one of the questions was this. “If you could live life over again, what would you do differently?” The two top answers were to take more risks and build more relationships. My deepest desire was and continues to be is this… I want to look back on my life when I am old and be able to say I did everything I felt God was asking me to do. I would much rather risk looking like a fool before men than being a failure before God. We do not know which day will be our last day on this earth. Some of us may live well into our 90’s and others not even make it to 70… and others, even shorter than this. So shouldn’t we order our lives with the most eternal things at the top of the list? Making sure our relationship with God is always getting tighter and then helping others we know to also be in a vital relationship with God? There is no greater joy for me than knowing I have remained close with God, and that my life has made a difference in helping others to know God better, especially for my family. After all, if we want to get the most out of life and be satisfied when we come to our end, we are going to need to take some risks. But if we risk for only the temporary riches of this world and not the eternal, we may be disappointed with our lives when we look back on them. Remember, we cannot live life over, we only have one chance. Instead we should take opportunities now to find ways to share the love of God with others, that in doing so they may in turn be affected for all eter-nity? Like the turtle who plodded across the road, it was done one step at a time. Each step took him closer to his goal of crossing the road. Each intentional step we take toward growing our relation-ship with God and helping others in their relationship with God is just that… one step closer. Taking no steps is just that… remaining where you are in life. Even though one step may seem small, you will be going in the right direction.
Pastor Paul
Calendar of Events
Meetings for August, 2012
Monday, August 13: Board of Trustees, 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 14: Worship Committee, 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, August 14: Finance Committee, 7:00 p.m. Thursday, August 16: Administrative Council, 7:00 p.m.
Upcoming Events
Every Wednesday: Alcoholics Anonymous at 7:30 p.m. Every Thursday: Alcoholics Anonymous at 10:00 a.m. Every Saturday: Alcoholics Anonymous at 10:00 a.m. Friday, August 3: Life Line Screening in Armstrong Hall Monday, August 6—Friday, August 10: Vacation Bible School Friday: Family Campfire
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Special Dates
August Anniversaries 1,1959 - Chuck & Nancy Sneath 3,1985 - Keith & Mickie Voight 9,1969 - Earl & Jo Campbell 9, 1986 - Jeff & Laura Walker 12 - Shannon & Tiffany Rodocker 30- Don & Sue Cornell
Note: We would like to include every-one, so if we have missed your birth-day or anniversary please let the church office know A.S.A.P.!
August Birthdays
1 - Darcie Westbrook 3 - Wayne Kanitz 10 - Cheryl Sorg 13 - Darla Jackson 17 - Larry Schleh 24 - George Peck
Greeters and Ushers Greeters: August 5: Bob Ruby & Shyrl Cone August 12:Chris & Sherrie Rice August 19:United Methodist Men August 26:
Ushers: August 5: Bill & Gina Palmer August 12:Don & Marty Hansen August 19:United Methodist Men August 26: Ron & Fran Warthman
Acolytes August 5: Scott Jackson & Rachel Zimmerman August 12: August 19: August 26:
Multi-Media Specialist August 5: Jeff Jackson August 12: Christian Muzo August 19: Michele Cannaert August 26: Renee Zimmerman
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Scrip News
Hartland UMC has been associated with the Scrip program since 2006. Since that time, over $12,349 has gone into the General Fund; so far in 2012, over $845 has gone to the General Fund. And this is with an average of almost 7 families participating each week! Thank you to all of you who shop our Scrip table! Your support is appreciated!
Scrip is a program where gift cards from a variety of companies can be purchased.
You pay the full face value of the card. When these cards are ordered, the church just pays a percentage of the face value. There are gas cards, discount store cards, res-taurants, department stores and many, many more cards available. Several cards are offered at a table in the Fellowship Hall on Sunday mornings for immediate purchase.
Are you looking for an easy way to help your church? Please think about helping at
the Scrip Table one Sunday a month. If you would like to serve your church with this program, please talk to Darcie Westbrook.
Stop by the Scrip table on Sunday and check out what we can do for you and our
church!
New Email Addresses for the Church Office
The Hartland UMC has launched a project to update our online presence. Part of this project has included setting up new email accounts.
The new email address for the Church Secretary is:
Pastor Paul’s email address is: [email protected]
As more email addresses are set up, we will let you know!
We currently are sending many items—
prayer requests, meeting notices, church news, The Heavenly Notes (the church newsletter)—
to our Church Family and Friends by email. If you would like to receive these mailings electronically,
please send your email address to: [email protected]. Thank you!
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Summer Special Music
While our Choir and Master’s Minstrels are off for the summer, you have the opportunity to provide the Special Music for our Sunday Worship Hour. You can get a group together and sing or play a musical instrument(s) - or both! Please sign up for the Sunday that you would like to provide the Special Music on the bulletin board. Please contact Carolyn Lynch (810-629-6033) if you have any questions.
Attention All Photographers The Church Office needs the help of all photographers. Please bring your cameras with you to church activities worship, Sunday School, meeting, potluck and gather- ing—and start taking photos of these events. Then, please email them to the Church Office ([email protected]). With the screens in the fellowship hall and sanctuary, we can show everyone what has been happening and what they are missing! Thank you for your help!
Gas Card Ministry People who call Love INC are often in desperate need of gas, so they can get out to look for work, go to a doctor appointment or bring home the few groceries they can afford. We have joined with ten other Livingston County churches in supplying prepaid gas cards for Love INC to give to those who need them. To date you have paid over $1,305 toward the money you have pledged to this ministry and we have given out fifty-one SpeedWay cards so far. Keep paying on those pledges and we can continue to make a real difference in the lives of our neighbors.
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Youth and Children’s Ministries
Vacation Bible School August 6 – 9 from 7 – 8 pm.
Friday, August 10 Family Campfire
Please take a moment to invite your neighbors and friends! The family campfire on Friday is for ALL church members.
We will be singing campfire songs, telling jokes and sharing silly stories. Bring your best joke and a friend!
This is a great opportunity to show Hartland that great things are underway at our little church.
Enjoy your Summer!
Open for Exciting Upcoming Events at H.U.M.C.!!
Hartland United Methodist Church 10300 Maple Street
Hartland, MI 48353