dent, Mike Pence, were

sworn into office on January

20. In the midst of old and

new challenges in the world,

and in the midst of a newly

elected leaders being sworn

into office, what is the role

of the church in 2017? Well,

it’s the same role as it has

always been, which is to

make disciples of Jesus

Christ for the transfor-

mation of the world. And

how do we make disciples of

Jesus? We do this by point-

ing others to the way of Je-

sus. When John the Baptist

declared, “Look, the Lamb of

God, who takes away the sin

of the world” (John 1:29), he

was pointing the people in

the way of Jesus. That mis-

“The next day John

saw Jesus coming to-

ward him and said,

‘Look, the Lamb of

God, who takes away

the sin of the

world!’” (John 1:29).

Welcome to 2017! As we

come into this New Year we

realize that some of the

challenges of the world from

2016 have flowed over into

2017. We can be sure that

2017 will present to us new

challenges as well. Also, in

2017 a new President, Donald

Trump, and new Vice Presi-

sion has not changed, to

point the world in the way of

Jesus. One of the ways we

can point others to Jesus is

by using words which ex-

press how we understand

Jesus for ourselves. Those

words may be Savior, Re-

deemer, Friend, My Joy,

Healer, and Comforter. How

have your experienced Je-

sus in your life? Take those

words that describe that

experience and share them

with others and by doing so

you will be pointing them in

the way of Jesus!

Pointing the way to Jesus

together with you!

God’s Blessings,

Pastor Justin

Message From the Pastor

Cross Talk Returns We are pleased to announce the relaunching of the Hillcrest newsletter, Cross Talk! We will

produce a quarterly newsletter for the year 2017. Cross Talk will consist of articles from our small groups, a letter from our pastor, scripture of the month, important dates and other

articles of interests as they are submitted. If you would like to submit something to be

shared , please email your article to hillcrestunitedmethodist@gmail.com .

Hillcrest United Methodist Church

2208 Lafayette Blvd.

Fredericksburg, VA 22401

540-898-2180

www.hillcrestumc.com

Hillcrest Cross Talk

1 st Quarter 2017

Informal Worship Service 8:30 a.m.

Sunday School 9:45 a.m.

Traditional Worship Service 11:00 a.m.

vaumc.org

devotional.upperroom.org

Trustees would like to report that we feel like the physical

facilities at Hillcrest are in

good condition.

The most obvious changes to

the outside of the property

have been the addition of the

pavilion and fence on the lots behind the church. Both of

these projects are the work of members of Boy Scout

Troop 72, sponsored by Hill-

crest. The pavilion was the

Eagle Scout project of Vin-

cent McArtor, who is also a

member of Hillcrest. The

fence was the Eagle Scout

project of Nicholas Melita.

These two projects have really been great additions

to the church property and

we would like to extend our

thanks to these two scouts

and everyone that helped

them. And while they haven’t both completed all require-

ments for Eagle yet, we

would like to congratulate

them on their accomplishments

in scouting. Less noticeable but

an important change over the

last couple of months is that we

have had repairs done to the

fascia boards along the Lafa-

yette side of the building, These

boards are covered with metal,

and have the rain gutters at-

tached to them. It was noticed

that the wood itself had some

rotten areas. We had someone

come in and look at this and we

found out that a lot of these

boards were actually rotten.

We had the metal wrapping

and gutters removed, the

rotten wood was torn out and

replaced with all new wood,

then the metal wrapping and

gutters were reinstalled. At

the same time we had new

material placed over the

gable end vent on the north

end of the sanctuary to keep

snow and water out of the

attic. Toward the end of last

summer it was decided to

Treasurer’s Check-In

church). In 2016 we spent about $1,000 more than the

amount approved in the budg-et, but fortunately donations

to the church exceeded our

expenses by almost $12,000. Through a combination of

careful spending and gener-

ous giving we have over

$200,000 in checking, sav-ings, and a certificate of de-

posit. Much of this money is reserved for repairs and/or

renovation of the parsonage before it will be used again to house our pastor, and in a

building fund for any future

expansion, repair, or modifi-

cation of the church building. Additionally, through our

I am happy to report that

Hillcrest United Methodist Church is in good financial

shape. In 2016 we once again

paid 100% of our apportion-ments to the Virginia Con-

ference and the Fredericks-

burg District (these are the fees that each local church

sends to pay its fair share of the expenses of the confer-

ence and district and part of being a connectional

Page 2

Hillcrest Cross Talk

Report from the Trustees

monthly missions and other

benevolent giving, in 2016 we donated another $16,000 to

various charities.

Greg Clayton , Treasurer

hire someone to take care of

the yard work. They started

toward the end of August and

continued until fall. We intend to

have this same company main-tain the lawn during the coming

summer.

The Trustees and Administra-

tive Council have formed a

study committee that is explor-ing the possibility of expanding

the church with a new fellow-ship hall. Nothing has been de-

cided yet, but look for some

additional information on this

exciting new possibility in the

near future.

We will continue to make re-

pairs and improvements as the

year continues. If you see

things that need repair please

let Pastor Justin know and he

will pass them along to the

Trustees.

Greg Clayton , Trustees Chair

I began connecting with Je-

sus through the TBN network, "way back in the day".

This ministry gave me daily

manna for my spiritual appe-

tite and augmented by wor-

ship with the saints of Hill-

crest United Methodist Church. This ministry (TBN)

featured a hymn entitled

"Sweet Beulah Land". I

found a version I liked sung by Carroll Rob-

erson. Correct me If I am wrong; but, I have never

heard a rendition of this at Hillcrest. If your spir-

itual appetite has been

ciate their presence. As of

now the Hillcrest Singers have only five active mem-

bers, and they need more to

continue this wonderful min-

istry. If you are interested

please contact Bonnie Elliott

540-379-3484 .

The Hillcrest Singers,

formed many years ago, are a group of people that visit

nursing homes on Thursday

mornings at 10:30 a.m. Their

visit with the nursing home

members is all about singing

God’s praises. The nursing

home members truly appre-

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 1

Hillcrest Singers in Need of Singers

My Favorite Hymn sweeter" with age. Please

don't wait for your chrono-

logical age to reflect this "sweetness"--only your per-

sonal depth of your relation-ship with Jesus makes

this so. Glory to God. Amen.

Judy Webster

I have a life-long infirmity.

Could I be a more effective

witness of Jesus if He were

to take it away? Like Paul, I

realized that my infirmity

only deepened my relation-

ship with Jesus. He makes

me strong when I am most

vulnerable. In my desire to

spread the "Good News", I

use whatever means that I

am directed.

During one of my bouts of depression I "Googled" and

found a remarkable site

"Father's Love Letter" .

(Check this out for yourself,

if you please). When I feel

unloved this letter quickly

corrects my false thinking and returns me to "Holy

Ground". "Google" also helps

me find worship and praise music we sing at our 8:30

a.m. church service. These songs cement me further to

my Jesus.

Turning an Infirmity Into an

Affirmative

My walk with Jesus has made

me a new creature. I find

myself witnessing to

strangers by sharing Jesus'

“Good News" on a personal

level. When I encounter a

different way of thinking, my

litmus test is I ask myself this

question "What would Jesus

do?" The answer: Simply

just love. It works for

me. Jesus can make it work

for YOU too

Amen.

Judy Webster

BBB Basic Bible For Believers

BASIC BIBLE FOR BELIEVERS

(BBB) is a class for those who

are new to using and learning

about the Bible. On March 5th we will begin our Lenten Study.

Come join us during the Sunday

School hour from 9:45 to 10:45 a.m. This class will be taught by

Pastor Justin Williams.

also setting up a group for

sending out text alerts. If you would like to be included in

the group text, please con-

tact Stephanie Serrett at

the church office.

“wetted", Google it and lis-

ten for yourself. I be-lieve your heart will be

touched and that your "spirit" will be refreshed as

you absorb this awesome

hymn. The music to worship

and praise God through Je-

sus gets "sweeter and

Text Alerts: When we need to close the church or cancel worship

service due to inclement weather, we will post a notice

on our website, Facebook

page and email you. We are

“I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I s end? And who will go for us?’ ” And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’ ”

- Isaiah 6:8

.

Page 4 Volume 1, Issue 1

BISHOP LEWIS CHAT & CHEW : A listening session with Bishop Sharma Lewis; Saturday, February 4 Wright’s Chapel UMC 8063 Ladysmith

Road, Ruther Glen, VA 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Clergy Session, l1:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Worship (with Clergy & Laity) 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Lunch

with both Clergy & Laity)2:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. Laity session Please join us for worship and lunch followed by a Laity Session with Bishop Lewis.

Hillcrest UMW: The United Methodist Women daytime group meets the 4th Wednesday of each month at 10:00 am at Hillcrest. The

evening group , O.W.L.S. (Our Women Living Spiritually), meets the 4th Tuesday of each month @7:00pm

UMW Soup/Sauce Sale: On February 5, the UMW will hold a soup/sauce sale. Soups and sauces will be available for $5.00 per quart

container. Sales will be after each service.

Hillcrest UMY : The Youth Group meets on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month from 12:30 –2:30 p.m. All youth in grades 5-12 are invited

to be a part of the youth group. If you have any questions please see Stephane Serrett or Emma Wendt.

Hi l lcres t UMM: The Un i ted M ethod is t M en meet the 2 nd S aturday o f each month at 10 :00 a . m. at Denny ’s on

Rt. 1 near the I95 exchange. (A ny change o f locat ion w i l l be announced in the bu l le t in )

Dates to Remember:

Vacation Bible School Planning Meeting: will be on Sunday, February 5th, at 12:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed to help with VBS to make

this a successful ministry to the children of Hillcrest and to the children of the community. Please come to this planning meeting and help

make VBS great! If you have any questions please see Danielle Richards, VBS Coordinator.

Bo y Scout Troop 72 : M eets here a t H i l lc res t every S unday even ing a t 7 :00 p. m.

Lenten Season: March 1 , As h Wednesda y Service a t 7:00 p .m.

Apri l 8th , Eas ter Egg Hunt 1 :00 p .m. —4:00 p .m.

Apri l 9th , Pa lm Sunda y Wors h ip Ser vices 8:30 a .m. & 1 1 :00 a .m.

Apri l 12 th , Ho l y Thurs da y Ser vice a t 7:00 p .m.

Apri l 14 th , Good Fr ida y Ser vice at 7 :00 p .m.

Eas ter Sunrise Service is a t 6:30 a .m.

Eas ter Worsh ip Services a t 8:30 a .m. & 1 1 :00 a .m.

Fredericksburg District Youth Retreat : Our Youth group will be attending the 2017 District Youth Retreat in March at Watermarks Camp near

Charlottesville March 24– 26.

WORD SE ARCH