June 2013 Newsletter the Vine

7/28/2019 June 2013 Newsletter the Vine

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Love God. Love others. Serve the world.

Monthly Newsletter of Ithaca and Beebe United Methodist ChurchesMay 2013 Edition

In November of 2012 and ater much prayer and discussion, a plan ora youth mission trip was born. To nance this trip, a variety und raisingevents were scheduled, which included: bake sales, spaghetti dinners,chocolate covered Easter eggs, and a baked potato bar, pop bottle collectingand collecting coins and cash in peanut butter jars, nancial donations anda lot o hard work on the part o the youth and youth leaders and nancialsupport rom the church body, and community, the trip is now reality . . . the

departure date is ast approaching - June 29 and returning July 5!

The youth, with the help rom this church body, has been able to raise$9,500. That is quite an accomplishment or a small church. Fourteenyoung people will have a chance to experience rich mountain culture in themountains o North Carolina at the Hinton Rural Lie Retreat Center. Programministries at Hinton provide ways that encourage, teach, and transorm. It istheir hope that the aithul, spiritual lie will be more ully intertwined withordinary, daily lie.

A mission agency o the United Methodist Church, Hinton createsopportunities or work teams to serve with others in reparing or buildinghomes with local amilies, and to grow in their understanding o aith inaction.

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Church please keep the mission team in prayer. We ask or Gods help andblessingson the members o the mission trip. We thank God that each person istaking time out o their busy lives to serve Him by serving others. Thank God orspeaking to the hearts o those who are willing to venture outside o their homes,neighborhoods and comort zones. Keep them strong mentally, physically andspiritually. Give them sae travels, energy and enthusiasm and an ability to beexible when plans change.

May each team member stronglyeel your Holy Spirit at work in them andthrough them. And Father, we ask that you bless the mission project, the teammembers and leaders, those they serve and the team members amilies backhome. Thank you or this wonderul opportunity to actively work in a meaningulway in your wonderul Kingdom. Amen.

Youth Mission Trip Becomes a Reality!

Headed to Hinton Rural Retreat Center:Students:

Kylee ChanBaylee ChanEdward Howell

Mikalya FairchildKailyn FairchildConner FairchildMichael Fairchild

Dylan MachaDylan Deni

Hanna Barnes

Brooklyn gofnettNathan gofnetClaire ReevesAnna Schafer

Leaders:Pastor Cindi Greene

Ken GibsonKeegan Hartman

Jerry HammNancy OBoyle

Parent:Gina Barnes

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our heartsby the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:5 (NIV)


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Ithaca/Beebe Newsletter The Vine - June 2013 2

AND NOTE, too, that Gods people had to cooperate with Him! BUT the genesis o the churchs spiritual lie and dynamic vitalitywas not in the people themselves, or in their programs, or organizational principles, or great ideas. It was in GOD! THAT is thespiritual dynamic o the lie WE NEED TO EMBRACE, GRASP HOLD OF or US! That is what Spirit built ministry is all about. We,each o us, need to reconnect with the power o Gods Spirit owing through us and shaping our lives, our ministries, our plansindividually and corporately so that our ministry is truly an extension o CHRIST HIMSELF.

Dear Friends,

Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord!

I am writing this month about an aspect o our aith that weoten ignore or overlook or take or granted: Spirit-led. We, as aBody o Christ, cannot aford to be ignorant or take the work othe Spirit or granted. We, in order to be empowered by God tobe about Gods work in Kingdom building with and or His Glory,need to understand and be intentional in walking in the Spirit.

It is my heart that our local Body o Christ will continually notonly be led by the Spirit but be built by the Spirit. In other words,it my passion that we be shaped by and ormed by God Himsel,through His Word (the Bible) and His Spirit. To be Spirit built is tohave our ministry be an overow o what God IS doing uniquely inour local context.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:21-22:In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built togetherto become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.

For us to be Spirit built then is or us, all our ministries, all our outreach, all our plans to be born out o Gods unique heart andcall or our local Body o Christ. This means that we see the lives we live, the ministries we lead, the plans we lay as the living,breathing Spirit-empowered movement o God lived out through our local body as HE determines.

I am not particularly interested in or impressed with man-oriented, human-dynamic centered approaches to ministry, churchgrowth, outreach, etc. I we can do it in our own power with no stepping out in aith and reliance on God, I am really not all thatinterested. I all our proverbial ducks can be placed neatly in a row with no risk, no reliance on God to get something started

or accomplished, I am not all that moved or impressed. I am not really intrigued or interested in settling. I want to see thetransorming power o God which redeems lives and sets the captives ree cut loose in us and through us individually and as acorporate Body o Christ. I want to see the resurrection power o Christ, the unleashing o the Holy Spirits power and guidancecut loose that turns the entire world (yes, Ithaca) upside down!

It is the Holy Spirit who was and is the impetus behind the churchs vitality. It was and is God Himsel, in the Holy Spirit, whowas and still is empowering the local church (usthe local body o Christ not a building) orward in ways that was and still ischanging the world! It was and is the I AM Himsel that empowered/empowers, molded/molds and ormed/orms the church(US!).

As we continue our series on the Holy Spirit, the third person o the Trinity, search the scriptures yoursel. Notice that is was asGOD showed up in Acts 2 that the believers became empowered or ministry and powerul Kingdom growth happened. It wasas the HOLY SPIRIT came upon the lame man in Acts 3 that the name o Jesus was gloried. It was as GOD showed up in Acts 5,dealing with the deception o Ananias and Sapphira that the church grew in the ear o the Lord. It as the SPIRIT OF THE LORD

moved powerully through Philip, that the gospel took root in Samaria. The story is continued chapter ater chapter throughoutthe book o ACTS.

by Pastor Cindi Greene

continued on page 3 . . .


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Bottom line: Rooted in Scripture, the Spirit built church is a church (a local Body oChrist) that is shaped by, led by, and animated by the Holy Spirit in lie-giving andunique ways as God Himsel unolds His lie into local, regional and global situationsaccording to His unique design and plan. To do this we, each o us, must embrace,

believe and live out the ollowing OUTSIDE the doors o the building we call IthacaUnited Methodist Church:

1. We must (MUST) recognize Jesus as our Lord, our Head (our owner, director,source o Lie). We must look to Jesus FIRST, beore anything else, to be the source ovitality and lie or us and the church. (Read or starters: Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 4:11; ICorinthians 12)

2. We must (MUST) be persons o prayer (bathed in and deeply rooted in prayer).(Read: Acts 4:23-31; 12:1-18; 13:2f; Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-21; Isaiah 62:6-7)

3. We must (MUST) be centered in authentic worship, inviting the presence o God todwell among us. (Read: Ephesians 2:22; Romans 12:1; John 15:1-8; John 1:14)

4.We must (MUST) be rooted in and grounded in Gods WORD! The Word o God, as itis pressed into individual hearts, as well as into the corporate lie o the Body, is literallyGods breath being imparted to produce lie! (Read: 2 Timothy 3:16; Genesis 2:7;I Corinthians 12:7)

5. We must (MUST) embrace the ull work o the Holy Spirit. (Read: I Corinthians12; 1Peter 4:10;Acts 31:2; Acts 2:1-41; Galatians 5:16; Acts 8:26-40;10; 5:1-11; I Thessalonians 1:5)

6.We must (MUST) be nurtured and use the gits o the Spirit within biblical guidelinesand principles. We must have a deep desire or the Spirit to move reely in our midstaccording to Gods will. (Read also: I Corinthians 14:1)

7. We must (MUST) value the BODY. We are not called to live lives as solo, isolatedChrist ollowers. While each o us may come to Christ one at a time, we are called byGOD HIMSELF to BE the BODY o CHRIST. Each o us is a unique part o that Body (ReadI Corinthians 12 again). God arranges the body as HE sees t, it is as ALL the gits o Godwork together that we, as the church, as the hands and eet o Jesus efectively.

8. We must (MUST) hunger or Biblically authentic victory to be seen in the lives opeople. The value o the Spirits ministry through the grace gits, and ultimately thedesire or all aspects o Spiritual transormation, springs out o a deep awareness oour brokenness as people because o sin and out o an understanding o the victoryo Jesus won on the cross which disarmed the powers and authorities (Colossians1:15). Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim reedom or the captives,and release rom darkness or the prisoners (Isaiah 61:1). We need to be hungry ata Biblical level or a greater work o Gods Spirit, to see Spiritual transormation in ourown lives and in the lives o those around us.

9. We must (MUST) engage in spiritual warare. (Read Ephesians 6:12) There is no other

way to deeat the enemy but to be invested in spiritual warare. The enemy o God willseek to deeat the church because a praying church is a threat to Satans kingdom as itadvances Gods Kingdom. We are launching a prayer support ministry this summer. Thisministry will be available each and every Sunday ater service to pray with and or allwho come. There will be a prayer support person or men and one or women.

10.We must (MUST) be mission ocused! The ultimate goal o all Spirit ormation isso that people come to know Jesus Christ as Lord. To be a Kingdom outpost is have apassion or those ar rom God, and a commitment to reaching them or Christ.(Read: John 16:7-8; 6:44; Acts 2;13; Zechariah 4:6)

Are YOU ready

to be an active,vital part of a

SPIRIT-BUILT

Body of Christ?Jack Hayford wrote in Living theSpirit Formed Life:

I believe this new era will behastened in direct proportion

to the Spirit-ullness maniest-ed among those o us who seekull-dimensional spiritualitywhere Jesus is exalted and iscentral to all,where Gods Wordis honored and authoritativeto all where the Holy Spirit iswelcomed and ree to work inevery way and where spiritualdynamics and spiritual disci-plines are joined by all.

What a time! What a goal! Joinme. Lets go or all o it!


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by Sandra Reeves, Beebe U

(If you have any news for Beebe Corner, please contact Sandra a t 875-368

Beebe services begin at 9:00 a.m. and we welcome guests at any time. Our church

is located at the corner o North Baldwin and East Tyler Roads.

June Greetings from Beebe UMC

Beebe Corner

Recently while watching a History Channel special on Air Force One, one o the segments caught my attention as the narratorrelated the ollowing:

The President enters the cabin and the primary plane at last assumes her illustrious call sign. Then those aboard the planehear these words spoken rom the cockpit: Attention on board the aircrat - the President is on board. We are now Air Force One.

I found this a fascinating illustration o o the Christian aith. Everything about that planes exterior and the protocols ol-lowed by the crew point to its identity. But only when the President, the Commander-In-Chie, enters the plane, does it trulybecome Air Force One.

For most people in the world, the Church is known by several diferent markers. It might be the stained-glass windows, asteeple, an organ, altar rails, pews, crosses, and even a smattering o ramed artwork. To the natural mind, i you see any or allo those, you are looking at a church. But the Scriptures tell a diferent story. The day o Pentecost is known as the birthday othe Church or one reason and His name is the Holy Spirit. You might say that the Scriptural narrative beginning in Acts 2 iswhen the Holy Spirit takes the gospel global!

Jesus own words indicate the scope o His mission and ours in Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit hascome upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end o the earth.

Our commission to go and make disciples o Jesus will be utterly powerless and ruitless without God IN US! Apart rom Himwe can do nothing. Nothing! Without the Holy Spirit, congregations are nothing more than a gathering o wolves pretendingto be sheep. They are known more by gossip, backbiting, envy, impurity, jealousy and a host o other ills instead o the love, joy,peace, patience, kindness, goodness, aithulness, gentleness, and sel-control evident in the true church.

In John 14:16-17 Jesus says, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you orever, even the Spirit otruth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, or he dwells with you and will be inyou.

IN you! And IN me! Amazing but true.

Only when the President is ully aboard is the plane declaredAir Force One and ready or ight. And only when the Holy Spirit

enters a heart and takes His rightul place, is a believer ready to mount up with wings like eagles, . . . run and not be weary, . . .walk and not aint.(Isaiah 40:31)

May this be our summer to serve and soar in the power of the Spirit! Seeking to serve and soar along with you.

God in Us! Mark Monroe, Ithaca UMC Lay Leader

We are in the process o putting a new steel roo on the church proper. The belry was rot-ted to the point o alling of in pieces. Our roong man, Andrew, has done an excellent jobdesigning a new look or us. Take a little drive and view our project.

Bible study at Schnepps was canceled the week o May 19 due to a weather advisory.Our last meeting will be on May 29th at 1:30pm.

We have one birthday to celebrate this month. Valerie Coles birthday will be on June 11th.Be sure to send a card or make a phone call to Valerie at 513 S. Ithaca St. Ithaca, MI 48847.

May June greet us with a little warmer weather


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Growing in Grace! by Sue Silverthorn, Evangelism FacilitatorHow much do we understand of Gods love for us? God is omnipotent (all powerul), omnipresent (ever present), omniscient(all knowing). In His all powerul, ever present and all knowing Spirit, God created Adam and Eve, and you and I, knowing inadvance that we all would reject Him in multiple ways and be disobedient toward Him. Yet, in His great love, He created each o

us and graciously encourages us to turn away rom our sinul disobedience and turn back to Him.

God gives great grace and mercy to all mankind, starting with Adam and Eve. In grace, God made each o us in His image, andblessed us to be ruitul and multiply, to rule the sh, birds and animals, and provided ood or us (Gen. 1:26-31). Then, in grace,God gave Adam one protecting command to obey. You are ree to eat rom any tree in the garden, but you must not eat rom thetree o knowledge o good and evil, or when you eat o it you will surely die.(Gen 2:16, 17)

But Adam (and Eve) disobeyed Gods gracious command and then hid rom Him in the garden. And what was Gods responseto this? God calls to Adam, Where are you?

Hmmm...why did God ask a question? I used to think God needed Adams help in locating him in the garden, just like wesometimes need help when were looking or someone and we cant nd them so we call out Where are you? But Gods HolySpirit reminded me that God was omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, and thereore did not need any help to locateAdam. So why did God ask the question?

Why would an all powerful, ever present and all knowing God ever ask a question? It is not or Himsel because He alreadyknows the answer! Ahhh, an all knowing God graciously asks a question to help the one to whom He directed the question, inthis case to help Adam. God was graciously giving Adam the opportunity to admit that he had disobeyed. God graciously pro-vided the opportunity or Adam to repent and seek Gods help. But Adam didnt take responsibility or his actions. Instead, hepointed a nger at Eve, so the sin o disobedience continued.

Grace was given and grace was rejected, but praise God, grace didnt end or Adam or Eve. Grace continued or them and gracecontinues or us today! Let us seek to love God with all our hearts, our souls and our minds (Matthew 22:37) and we will grow inGods grace!

Aim for MissionJerry Hamm, Ithaca UMC Discipleship Facilitator

In a recent sermon series regarding getting outsidethe walls o our church, one o the Pastors that spoke tothis was Matt Carter. He said that i we aim or ellowshipalone, we seldom get great ellowship but when we aimor mission as God intended, we not only accomplishmission but we also nd ourselves in deep ellowshipwith God and one another. This is what God has pur-posed or His church, or the sake and glory o Christ, toserve and love the world!

Have you been to prison lately, to ellowship and lovethe men (or women) there? Have you helped at your

local ood pantry, in serving or donating materials? Whatabout inquiring within your community where youmight serve and love those that need help? James 1:27says that Pure and lasting religion in the sight o God ourFather means that we must care or orphans and widows intheir troubles, and reuse to let the world corrupt us.

If you are looking or a great church or you want tomake the one you are a part o better, grab a brother orsister and look or places to serve. No doubt you will becaught up in some incredible ellowship as you indeedaim for mission.

Rededication - Anna Schafer

New Members - Joe & Beth VozarBaptism - Michael Vozar

Congratulations!Kaleb Fairchild

Cassie DensmoreCali Densmore

Tyler GibsonJacob Barnes


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Adult Sunday School - 9:30 a.m. in the Wesley Room

K-5 Sunday School - 10:30 am. downstairs in the Asbury RoomYouth Group (6 - 12 Grades) - new schedule to be announced

June 20 - BINS UMW meet at Reeds Park

June 29 - Mission Trip to North Carolina - Youth Groups leaves

June 20 BINS UMW meeting.The meeting will be held 1:00 p.m.

at Reeds Park, Pavilion #1Potluck - bring a dish to pass

Praying Together . . .

All of us long to connect with someone who can identiywith our circumstances and share in our day-to-day lie.Prayer is just that - a personal experience and intimate con-nection with our loving Heavenly Father.

Prayer is such a comfort. I you are going through a time ochallenges in your lie and are in need o prayer, Ithaca UMChas wonderul prayer warriors who are available to pray withyou every Sunday ollowing worship service. You will nd

them at the back o the sanctuary.

If you want to share your prayer request with someone else(pastor, staf, prayer chain, or bulletin) you can ll out a cardand it will be given to the person requested.

1 John 5:14-15 says, This is the condence we have in ap-proaching God: that i we ask anything according to His will,He hears us. And i we know that He hears us - whatever weask - we know that we have what we asked o Him.

The purpose o the West Michigan Conerence o The UnitedMethodist Church is to create Disciples o Jesus Christ or thetransormation o the world.

The West Michigan Conference represents six Districts with400 churches and approximately 60,000+ members through-out the state.

Ithaca UMCs Worship & Design Team was asked by the con-erence to design, coordinate and lead the Memorial Serviceor this years 43rd Annual Conerence. What a blessing and anhonor to be a part o the conerence in this way. To be respon-sible or a commemorative service o worship that honors andremembers pastors, wives o pastors and laity that passedaway during 2012, a powerul way to remember and celebratetheir lie.

We thank God or the abundant talent He brings to ourchurch. Many servants gave a helping hand to make thismemorial service a blessing and an inspiration. With grateulhearts we say thank you to all who were involved: praise team,design team, musicians, builders, seamstress, and technicians.

2013 West Michigan Annual Conference. . . at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI.

Serving at Memorial ServicePastor Cindi Greene, KeeganHeartman, Ethan Schafer,Anna Schafer, Jerry Hamm,Renee Hahn, Mark Monroe,Patty Macha, Larry Gould,Karen Weller, Ned Weller anRoger Silverthorn. (Missingrom photo, Ron Davis &Keith Chan)

Calvin College chapel where the memorial service was held.Ambiance created by Ithaca UMCs Design Team.

June 2013 Newsletter the Vine

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