the Visitor First United Methodist Church

320 West Main, Magnolia, Arkansas 71753 www.magnoliafumc.org

To invite all to know the love of God, to share grace, and to develop relationships

June 3, 2020

Sunday 8:30 a.m.—Chapel Worship

10:45 a.m.—Sanctuary

Worship

Noon—Cable Channel 13

KVMA-AM 630

KVMA-FM 99.1

Wednesday 7:00 PM—Broadcast of

previous Sunday’s 10:45

Service Cable Channel 13

How to Reach Us: Church Office Hours

Monday—Thursday

8:00–4:00

Friday 8:00–Noon

870-234-4530

Our Staff: Reverend Dr. Gary Maskell Shelly Burgess, Children &

Families Ministries;

John Scott, Youth Director

Tracie Nipper, Administrative

Secretary;

Amanda Franks, Business

Manager;

Dr. Kim Shirey, Director of

Music;

Sharon Ard, Organist;

Chelsea Ross, Bonnie Adcox,

Tabitha Lewis, Kathy Loper,

Children’s Music

Skippy Warlick, Building

Supervisor;

Kenneth Manning, Custodian

Gwendolyn Reed, Director

Child Development Center

Barbara Lewis, Director,

The Caring Place

Libby and George Gilbert,

Stewpot Cooks

Burlene Easter, Kathy Easter

& Kim Easter, nursery

THURSDAY, JUNE 4 10:00 AM NO CARING PLACE 4:00 PM STEWPOT FRIDAY, JUNE 5 10:00 AM LIFESHARE BLOOD DRIVE (FUMC PARKING

LOT) SUNDAY, JUNE 7 8:30 AM NO CHAPEL WORSHIP 9:45 AM NO SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS 10:45 AM NO SANCTUARY WORSHIP (ON-LINE) 4:30 PM NO LUKE BIBLE STUDY (AVERITT) 6:00 PM NO YOUTH MONDAY, JUNE 8 4:00 PM STEWPOT TUESDAY, JUNE 9 4:00 PM STEWPOT WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10 NO WEDNESDAY ACTIVITIES THURSDAY, JUNE 11 10:00 AM NO CARING PLACE 4:00 PM STEWPOT

Non Profit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID Magnolia,

AR Permit No.

84

Address Service Requested

First United Methodist Church 320 West Main Magnolia, AR 71753

A Record of Our Faithfulness

Offerings May 10 $8,112.00 May 10 $3,348.00 May 17 $11,495.00 May 24 $ 7,055.00

May 31 $ 7,520.00

Bishop Mueller’s safe re-opening of Church events/services

Updated June 1

May 31 Phase 1 begins for groups of 10 or few-er persons for in-person events if CDC, State Department of Health and the Governor’s guid-ance issued May 4 are strictly enforced. June 28 is the earliest anticipated date that Phase 2 for groups of 50 or fewer persons for in-person events can resume. This is the CDC, State Department of Health and the Governor’s latest issued guidance. A Kingdom Seed

Jun 1, 2020 | Bishop Mueller’s Daily Devotional

I must confess that I have felt utterly incapable of making any significant difference in recent days as I grieve the death of a colleague, watch Covid-19 increasingly become a political issue while the death toll mounts, hear the increasing drum-beat in my beloved United Methodist Church call-ing for division, and observe the deep and justi-fied pain resulting from yet another murder of yet another Black man. It all seems so much bigger than me that I begin to think I am powerless to do anything. Until I remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 13:31-32, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and plant-ed in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of gar-den plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” I’ll never change the world by myself. And I don’t have to. But I can ask the Holy Spirit to nurture the seed of the kingdom of heaven Jesus has planted in me until it overshadows my sense of powerless-ness, and I do what God is calling me to do.

OUR SYMPATHY Sympathy is extended to the family of Todd Beams in the death of his grandmother, Miriam Agnes Beams.

Sunday Morning Sermon in a Snap! If you missed last Sunday morning's sermon but would like to "hear" it in a very abbreviated format, then this is your answer! If you'd like to do so later, you can read the whole sermon ("Ascension Sunday") in the Magnolia Messenger for the "rest of the story” Read: Acts 1:1-11. With the rare exception of the occasional good-riddance or two, good-byes can be very painful! I have experienced more than one such painful goodbye in my life and it does not get much easier. Our text for this morning has some parting instructions and a difficult good bye… After the heartbreak the disciples felt following Jesus' death and burial, they were treated to 40 incredible days together after His resurrection! This time of joy was followed by another sad time to say goodbye, not just goodbye for a short time, but goodbye until they left this earth through death! You may have read the “Left Behind” series of books, but Luke’s “left behind” event already happened. Jesus left the world behind along with His disciples, but there are some other things that He left behind for His disciples to do as well. These things He left behind are for all disciples, both ancient and modern! As we consider this, we’ll be using Acts 1 and various other verses to look at some of the real things that Jesus left behind for us… (1) He Left Behind the Task of Evangelism — The things that Jesus had begun to do and teach were but a start of the plan that He had for this world. Without His death, burial, and resurrection nothing else would be possible, but there was more to do for His first century disciples and every believer down through the centuries to come! So what did Jesus come to do? In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, "For the Son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." (NKJV) As long as there is one person who has not heard the Gospel message, the task is not finished! Je-sus reached many souls when He walked this earth and He still reaches people through the Holy Spirit, but He left the earthly portion of the task of reaching the rest of mankind in the hands of His church — in case you’re wondering who that might be, that’s flawed and imperfect people just like you and me! (2) He Left Behind Undeniable Proof of His Resurrection — After His resurrection, Jesus was seen by His disciples and over 500 others at various times and places so there would be no doubt to anyone that He had truly risen from the dead. [Luke 24:39-43] Jesus ate a broiled fish-honey comb-dinner in the presence of His disciples.

The Stewpot is still open!

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 4:00-5:30 or until the food runs out? Last week, we had some great hot meals to go. Chicken spa-ghetti, a vegetable, and cake for dessert! We served about 500 fresh, hot meals last week. We need cooks, servers, and donations to keep on being a blessing to our com-munity! Thanks to Walmart and Brookshire's who donate some of the food we use to make those meals!

CHURCH OFFICE HOURS Monday—Thursday

8:00—1:00 pm

All doors are locked, if you need to come into the church, call 234-4530 and we will unlock the door.

Thank you for your patience!

Children’s Bible Study posted on

Facebook with a YouTube Link after 5pm on Wednesdays!

Information from Pastor Gary ARUMC Annual Conference will be an Online Zoom Meeting. The rescheduled date for the Annual Conference business session will be Saturday, June 13 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

General Conference has been delayed 1 year and 4 months.

All clergy and lay voting members will be provided information to join the Zoom call, and guests will be able to view the meeting through a YouTube livestream. This session will consist only of items deemed essential.

Blessings, Pastor Gary

FUMC PARKING LOT LIFESHARE BUS

Friday 6/5/20 10 A.M.-4:00 P.M.

For more information

contact Bonnie Adcox bonnieadcock@att.net,

870-2346583

YOUR BLOOD DONATION will go to someone battling cancer, enduring sickle cell disease, under-going surgery, or suffering through a traumatic accident. A FREE ANTIBODY TEST WILL BE GIVEN TO DONORS FOR COVID-19 TO SEE IF THEY HAVE HAD THE VIRUS AND MADE ANTIBODIES TO RECOVER FROM IT.

COVID-19 Update: The Camp Tanako Board of Trustees has decided to cancel all overnight camps and June day camps. The decision regarding July day camps will be made soon. Please follow us on Face-

book and Twitter for updates.

First United Methodist Church

Child Development Center-Magnolia, AR

RE-OPENS MONDAY JUNE 1

In case you haven’t heard, we are opening our

doors June 1st! We have limited spots available for

June and July. Part time spots are an option as

well! Call us at (870) 234-8554 to enroll or to be put

on the waiting list! These will fill up fast so don’t

wait to call!

6/1 Blake Watson 6/15 Ann Thomas

6/4 Jane Alexander 6/18 Stephen Brasher

6/5 Bonnie Keith 6/21 Coby Cook

6/5 Alvarene Peace 6/21 Lexi Hicks

6/8 Weston Roberson 6/23 Bonnie Adcox

6/10 Elizabeth Bagwell 6/23 John Alexander, Jr.

6/10 Blaine Greer 6/23 Cara Kardas

6/10 Robbie Hall 6/23 Jake Nielsen

6/11 J Courson 6/23 Tanner Nielsen

6/14 Laura Kaar 6/27 Jennifer Goza

6/14 Ginger McConnell

Reverend Ann Ferris Named New District Superintendent of the

Southwest District

Bishop Gary Mueller has announced the appoint-ment of Rev. Ann Ferris to district superintendent and chief mission strategist for the Southwest District, effective July 1, 2020.

(3) He Left Behind Clear Instructions as to What His Followers Should Not Be Too Concerned About. (Acts 1:6-7) The thought here is that we should not become so pre-occupied with end-times events that we forget about the actual commission to reach the lost with the Gospel of Christ! Jesus said He’s coming back and that’s good enough for me! (4) He Left Behind Clear Instructions as to What His Followers Were to Do — That empowerment of the Holy Spirit was to enable us to be witnesses in our lives and the words that we speak! (5) Fifth, and finally, Jesus Left Behind a promise of His return and a clear view of what we should be doing in the meantime. (Acts 1:9b-11) There’s an old phrase that goes like this, "Don't be so heavenly mind-ed that you are no earthly good!” I believe that's a bit of what the angels were telling the disciples that day! By all means, look to heaven for your life, strength, and help, but be about your work in this world! And so there we have it! His good-bye was really a, "I'll see you again at the specified time!" He promised that He will come back for us and that He has a wonderful place prepared for His faithful servants! The em-powerment of the Holy Spirit transformed Jesus' ragtag band of fearful followers into men and women of faith that changed the face of the world. That very same Holy Spirit is available for you, so you too can fulfill Jesus' real left behind teachings in your life! He not only left behind all of these things, but He left us each other to encourage and build each other up in the faith! What are you waiting for? You have been blessed to be a blessing, so be one! Pastor Gary