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g{x `ÉÇ|àÉÜ St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church

2738 MacArthur View, San Antonio, Texas 78217 February 2016 www.smumcsa.org

The Three Wills Of God I read a book some time ago entitled “The Will of God” by Leslie Weatherhead. While I did not agree with everything he wrote, his view on God’s Will has stayed with me over time. It came up again in my preparation for the next sermon on Rev-elation. Weatherhead looks at God’s will through three different lenses: Intentional, Permissive and Ultimate. God’s intentional will can be seen in the Garden of Eden. There was peace and harmony. There was life and no death. There was a personal relationship be-tween God and God’s human creations. Adam and Eve used to walk and fellowship in the garden with God. God provided everything that humanity needed to thrive physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit they were told not to eat, they rejected God’s intentional will for their own. Since humanity had rejected God’s intentional will, God now had to interact with them differently. Weatherhead call this God’s “Permissive Will”. It is not what God wanted but humanity had to be permitted to make their own choices. So when a teenager decides to drink and drive and kills someone, that is not God’s in-tentional will but it has become God’s permissive will. God had to let the teenager make the fateful choice or the teenager would no longer have free will. How many times have we made decisions that God had to permit? As a Christian do you want to walk in God’s permissive will or intentional will? One thing Jesus did was model what intentional will looks like. God intended that we love the Creator and each other. (Love God with all you heart, soul, mind and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.) When we put God ahead of our per-sonal desires we are loving God. When we put the needs of our neighbor before our own needs, we are loving our neighbor. It is simple and yet impossible. With our free will comes self-centeredness. The world is all about me. Have you ever walked into a room and the group you were going to join suddenly stopped talking? What is your first thought? They were talking about me! It took me a long time to learn that they weren’t concerned about me. They were concerned about them-selves. If we are going to love the way God loves, our nature would have to change That is what God offers every-one through the unselfish gift of Jesus’ life. The third will is the Ultimate Will. We can read the last two chapters of the Bible to see that. The new heaven and new earth, I believe, will be just like the Garden of Eden with a lot more people. God’s ultimate will is that we spend an eternity with him. He is constantly moving us to walk in his intentional will instead of his permis-sive will. Ultimately, in the new heaven and earth, there will be no more dying, no aches and pains, we will have access to God anytime and all the sorrows of this world will be wiped away. That is ultimately what is going to happen. There is a lot of destruction in the book of Revelation that scares people. That is not God’s intentional or ultimate will but a response to the choices humanity has made. God is closing shop on this world so he can open a perfect place for us to live with him. Closing shop is not easy or neat. There is a lot of banging and tearing and rip-ping that goes on. But unless this world comes to an end, there will be no place for the new heaven and earth. Think of it this way, we are living through renovation phase. Alan

In This Edition: Page 1 Pastor Article

Page 2 Information, Admin Board, Attendance

Page 3 Sunday School Classes/ Fellowship Time, XYZ

Page 4 New Women’s Bible Study/Youth Events

Page 5 Monday Night Bible Study Page 6 Keep Wednesday Night Free/ PNO Page 7 UMM/ UMW Page 8/9 Calendar/Prayer List Page 10/11 UMW Page 12 Agua Viva Ministry Page 13 Day School

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Average Church and Sunday School

Attendance November 2015

Through January 2016

WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

Sunday Morning Worship

8:30 a.m.—Traditional Worship Service/Sanctuary

11:00 a.m.—Blended Worship Service/Sanctuary

Sunday School—9:45 a.m.

CHURCH STAFF

Pastor Alan Delafield

Associated Pastor of Agua Viva Veronica Harvey

Business Administrator Hermy Rudloff

Children & Family Ministries Director Judy Langford

College/Youth Ministries Director Tim Diemert

Day School Director Nikki Irving

Secretary Diana Garza

Music Director David Cain

Organist Irwin Witebsky

Handbell Director Susan Collins

Nursery Coordinator Annalie Tamez

Pastor’s Office Hours

Church Office Hours

Monday-Thursday 9:00 am to 4:00pm

Friday - 9:00 am to 12:00 pm

Phone: (210) 822-0252 Fax: (210) 828-2195

Church Email Address Information@smumcsa.org

St. Matthew’s Website www.smumcsa.org

St. Matthew’s Day School Phone: (210) 826-4850

Bible Studies at St. Matthew’s Monday: Beth Moore Bible Study, 6:30 pm, Abel Chapel

Monday Night Bible Study, 7:00 pm, Room 105

Tuesday: Women of Faith, 8:00 am, Room 105 Tuesday Morning Bible Study, 9:30 am, Room 105

Wednesday: Keep Wednesday Nights FREE—Study for Adults, Youth, Chil-dren, and nursery for the little ones

Agua Viva Woman's Bible Study 10:00 am , Fellowship Hall Agua Viva Spanish Discipleship Class, 6:00 pm, Room 605

Administrative Board 2016: Chairman Eugene Hileman

Vice Chairman Ralph Pipes

Lay Leader for 8:30 am Jo Reinschmidt

Lay Leader for 11:00 am Anne Verner

Conference Delegate Carolyn Twyford

Conference Delegate Alternate Jo Reinschmidt

Treasurer Mike Verner

Secretary Jeanie Etter

COM Chair Steve Shrader

Finance Chair Fred Long

SPRC Chair Bill Twyford

Month Church Sunday School Small Groups November 170 118 December 186 117 January 188 (Only 4 Sundays) 112

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SUNDAY SCHOOL FOR ALL AGES 9:45 AM

Preschool 3-4 year olds – meet in room 606. Contact person: Judy Langford (822-0252 ext. 105) Kinder through 1st grade - meet in room 604.Contact person: Judy Lang-ford (822-0252 ext. 105) Grades 2nd through 5th grade explore the Bible using music, art, science, games, story, and cooking. They begin each session in room 611. Contact person: Judy Langford (822-0252 ext. 105)

Teens and Tweens meet in the Youth Building. Contact Youth Team: Tim and Kelli Diemert (940-594-8633)

Come and See Class: (All Ages) Meets in room 301 (Deats Bldg). A disci-pleship class on knowing Christ and making him know. Studying “Romans” Contact person: Jim Humphries (494-0112) assisted by John Shero. New Seasonings: (Middle Adult) Meets in room 603. Studying “ Living the Questions”, The Church’s Hidden Strength by Barbra Wendland. Contact person: David Mack (654-0162)

Son Shine Class: (Senior Adult) Meets in room 605. Studying “ Seeing Jesus in the Old & New Testament. Contact person: Marsha Humphries (494-0112)

Voyagers: (Senior Adult) Meets in room 601. Adult Bible Study.

Contact person: Frank Tyk (655-2324)

Friends of Faith: (Young & Middle Adult) – meets in the Fellowship Hall. Contact person: Greg Klaerner (402-3711)

Covenant Believers: (Middle Adult) – Meet in conference room 105. Starting

a new study “To Live is Christ, to Die is Gain” a study of Philippians. Con-tact persons: Anne Verner (655-7380) or Judy Langford (822-0252 ext. 105)

XYZ ADULT FELLOWSHIP will meet on February 10th at noon in the Fellowship Hall. Lunch will be provided. Join us for fellowship and interesting conversation. question

SUNDAY FELLOWSHIP REFRESHMENT TIME - 2016

February Friends of Faith March Come and See April Sonshine

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NEW WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY

MONDAY NIGHTS 6:30 - 8:30 PM BEGAN JANUARY 25th

In the Abel Chapel

Join us and Beth Moore in the new , eleven week study “Breath” which examines the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It’s title is drawn from the words of John 20:22, which records that Jesus "breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.'" Cost of the study will be $15. Babysitting is available in the church nursery. For further questions and to reserve your workbook please contact Ju-dy Langford at 822-0252.

Youth Events Happy 2016! This year is off to a bang!! We have a few events that are coming up right around the corner so we want to get the info out and start getting registered. Here is a new program that we are trying out. We love it so far. This program will allow you to register for event (s) online. Just click on here and choose the event (s) to register for. EASY!!! Plus helps keep me organized!

https://form.jotform.com/60055290176149

We will be booking our summer events in the next couple weeks so we can get dates out to you. If you have questions or concerns please let us know.

Midwinter------Feb 5-7 cost is $160.00 Midwinter Feb 5-7 is a weekend to worship & praise. This will take place in the hill country. Rusty Freeman & The Mark Swayze band will be there. The cost of this is $160.00 and deadline to register is Jan 27.

Super Bowl Party----Feb.7 Will start at 5:00 pm in the gym

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Monday Night Bible Study 7:00 PM - Room 105

The Monday Night Bible Study will resume on 11 January at 7:00 p.m. Studies on the first two nights in 2016 will use a DVD titled

“The Star of Bethlehem.”

This DVD has been described as . . . “fascinating and meticulously researched,” and “wide ranging and insightful scholarship.” It involves astronomical examination of the stars during the period when

Christ was born. A very good and thought provoking video.

Although our Bible study uses DVD’s to inform participants and stimulate discussion, the playback of topic material can be stopped by anyone attending.

We plan for the study sessions to last one hour. Bottom line is that we maintain flexibility as to the session ending time but the latest

we have run in the past was about 8:15 p.m.

During our first two sessions in 2016 we will vote on topics to follow “The Star of Bethlehem.” Choices include but are not limited to those

listed below. MANY MORE TITLES ARE AVAILABLE

“Ancient Roads from Christ to Constantine” presents the first three hundred years of Christian faith. Six hours of material “Birth of a Faith,”

“The Great Missionary,” “Age of the Apostles,” “From Apocalypse to Heresies,” “Pagans and the Cult of Martyrs,” and “Constantine.”

“The Lost Tomb of Jesus” 105 minutes by Simca Jacobovici.

Controversial topic.

Old Testament “Bible Battles.” 100 minutes. “. . . explores the biblical world from a military perspective from the time of Abraham to David’s

ascension to the throne.”

“Bible Stories for the Whole Family.” Will take between 12 and 14 sessions to cover all ma-terial or we may choose individual topics. Disks include

“Esther and the King,” “Joseph and His Brethren,” “The Power of the Resurrection,” “The Great Commandment,” “Hill Number One,” “I Beheld His Glory,” “Martin Luther,”

For questions: Call Ken Lingle, (210) 655-8539. Oh yes, we meet in the

Conference Room, Room 105. Hope to see you there.

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February 5th 6:30 – 9:30 PM

Ages 12 months to 5th grade Volunteers are always needed for our monthly Parent’s Night Out Ministry Sched-uled on the first Friday night of each month. Getting involved is such a blessing to the children. The children arrive at 6:30 pm for play, dinner, story, crafts, and games and stay till 9:30 pm. We are using our Power Xpress Sunday School curriculum as a basis for planning each month’s activities. It’s a blessing to reach children with the Good News of Jesus Christ. This outreach is a living expression of the vitality of this church.

Wednesday night F. R. E. E.

F ellowship R elationship E ducate E nergize

Supper, worship, study for children, youth and adults 6:00—6:30 Supper 6:30—6:45 Worship 6:45—7:45 Study for all ages

Elementary ages: Kindergarten - 4th grade Tweens: Fifth and sixth grade

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METHODIST MEN - With the holidays over and our leader back, we started our New Year by finishing the movie ”Courageous “. We are now looking for a new topicfor our program and are planning to continue meeting in the gym at 8:00 am on the second Sunday of each month. On Sunday, February 14th 2016, our program will be presented by Jeff and Veronica Harvey on their connection with St. Matthew’s and the Method-ist Church in the Piedras Negras, Mexico. Come join us for an excellent breakfast followed by a 30 minute meeting, you can still attend the early morning service

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2016

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St. Matthew’s UMW General Meeting Thursday, February 4

12:00 Lunch provided by Eve Circle

12:30 program A Call to Prayer and Self Denial

“Women at Work-Economic Justice and Empowerment” given by Linda Wiley

Business Meeting will follow (childcare can be provided, please notify church office)

H.O.P.E.- Tuesday, Feb. 9, 6:30, Youth Bldg, contact Annelie Tamez Lady Bugs- Sunday, Feb. 14, 12:30, Youth Bldg, contact Kelli Diemert

Lydia- Thursday, Feb. 18, 10:30, room #105 Sarah-Saturday, Feb. 20, 10:00 at Marilyn Seidel’s

Eve-Thur, Feb. 25, 7:00, at Susanne Garvin’s

UMW Book Club We meet on the third Wednesday each month to discuss books on the Reading List. Bring a

sack lunch and join us, February 17 at 11:30 in room #105. This month’s books are:

Tilly: A Story of Hope and Re-silience

by

Monique GraySmith

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

by Bryan Steven-

son

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Lillie B. Williams, Rio Tex-as Conference UMW Pres-ident will present this in-spirational and stimulat-

ing program.

Bring your Bible, a sack lunch, and a heart ready

for praise and prayer.

Registration Deadline is February 20

Contact

Schertz UMW Hosting

Mercy Chikhosi Nyirongo

Hear first-hand of the impact our Connectional funds make in the lives and health of persons

none of us are likely to ever meet!

Learn about Wandilweza, a program Mercy established in Malawi.

Learn why community health and girl power matters.

Wednesday, March 2 at 6:30 Schertz UMC, 3460 Roy Richards Dr.

RSVP at Lucy Mccann lucymcc@gmail.com

Or

708-285-1317

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Nikki Irving and Staff St. Matthew’s Day School dayschool@smumcsa.org

Phone—210-826-4850 Website www.smumcsa.org

February being the month of love, St. Matthew’s fills each and every day with tender love and care. We strive to share the love and care Christ has given us to all that we meet. God is shining down on us and showing us how much he loves us, our current enrollment is 77 children. We are grateful for the blessings to be able to continue to grow and spread the word of God to families near and far. We will also be having our annual Rodeo Day on Friday February 5th. Its rodeo time again! Our rodeo day will be a big hit with our little ones. Be sure to come dressed in your finest Texas, boots, hats, and jeans! We can use all the help that we can receive, if you are willing to lend a helping hand please see Nikki or Anne to be sure your background check is completed and on file. There are so many exciting events and activities to come this February. Our Valentine’s Day celebrations will be on Friday February 12th. On February 19th we will be hosting our Family BBQ, I know it’s chilly we’ll be inside our rooms. The Literacy Van will join us from 6:00-8:00 p.m. be sure to take the children to the van it’s a great time to just sit and read with your child and for taking the time to do so, you’ll receive a free book. This is open to the public as well not just Day School families. With the New Year started, I’m sure you’re all eager to know the progress on the play-ground. At this time we are planning the next phase of the project, which is taking away of old playground items and adding new items. The Day School would like to thank the St. Matthew’s UMC Church all for your continued support, prayers, and ded-ication to the Day School ministry. We are especially thankful for the new fresh start of 2016; we cannot express how grateful we are to have such an amazing ministry to work for. Over the last few weeks there has been a lot of work done in the Day School and we would like to say THANK YOU to Mr. Larry Etter and Mr. Joe Garvin for all the hard work and talent that they put into making sure that we are always in compli-ance, and now that the after schoolers don’t have to leave the room to go to the bath-room, they are very grateful for all the hard work. We would also like to thank the UMW for their wonderful donation in help of supporting the Day School thank you so much. Last Month we had such a blast on our winter play day, the children enjoyed having a snowball fight and having a race to see who can put their winter clothes on

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The 2016 calendar is up on the wall in the narthex. Please select a date, enter your name and if in memory of / in honor of a loved one. The cost is $35.00 each Sunday. You may place your check in the offering plate. After the 11:00 service is over, you may pick up you arrangement. Thank you for sharing God’s Blessing of your flowers with St. Matthew’s.

The fight against cancer goes on. There is no one I know who can say they don’t have a friend or relative that has battled this terrible disease. We here at St. Matthew’s have found a way to help in the fight against cancer. We will be dedicating the proceeds from our Daddy and me Dance (March 13, 2016) and the fight against Multiple Myeloma key chain sales to Dean Pearson & Family , who is current-ly battling Multiple Myeloma cancer. Now, your part is easy. All you need to do to help with the

fight against cancer is to please donate as generously as you can, God knows our hearts and what we can and cannot to. Please stop by the church office or the Day school office with donations.

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THANKS FOLKS! During WW 11 my father was in the American Legion and my brother and I were in the Sons of the American Legion. These were exciting years, but not nearly as ex-citing as this past Thanksgiving to Christmas, when I experienced Legionnaires Disease, NOT a good experience! I want to thank you folks for your concern and particularly for the warm welcome back on the first Sunday of the New Year. This may sound strange, but I also want to thank you for not overwhelming us with food and visits because I have had a very limited appetite and low energy since Thanks-giving. Things are looking much better now, so look out ….. The old me is back!

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fàA `tàà{xãËá United Methodist Church

2738 MacArthur View San Antonio, TX 78217-4503

Piano Lessons by

Irwin Witebsky - St. Matthew’s organist Expert instruction for a

reasonable fee Please call (210) 690-2188

Comfort-Air Engineering, Inc.

“A New Generation of Comfort!”

11403 Jones Maltsberger / www.comfort-air.com / Phone: 210-494-1691

Robert & Georganne Freund St. Matthew’s members since 1984

Commercial / Residential / Sales & Service

St. Matthew’s is all about FAMILY!!!

Come see what God is doing at St. Matthew’s!!!!

February 2016

Check out our awesome website at - www.smumcsa.org