News from United Presbyterian Church

United Pres

July, 2015

Praying for the Healing of our Nation

On July 5th we will gather in church either at the E3 Service or at the Traditional 11 a.m. Service to hear Bob Clendening sing Patriotic Anthems and be inspired to love and serve God. As the 4th of July approaches, recent events make me recognize how important it is for us as Christians to hold our nation accountable to God's standards seen in the life of Christ. With the racially motivated murders at Mother Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC, we see how far we have to go to be "a city on a hill," lighting the way for the rest of the world. Churches were in the forefront of the abolition movement that led to the end of slavery 150 years ago, and we can continue to be prophets to a world of hate that the love of Christ is the answer to the problem of racial, ethnic, socio-economic, and any other division among us.

The people of Emmanuel AME Church are an inspiration to me. They freely offered forgiveness to the perpetrator of the heinous crime that took the lives of nine of their loved ones, including 3 of their ministers. In listening to their testimony, I understand that the motivation for their forgiveness was not because it would ease their pain by letting go of their anger and hurt. That pain will never go away, though in time it may become more bearable. Their motivation was to be faithful followers of their Lord, who forgave those who took his life.

Standing up to hatred and violence with love and forgiveness is one of the hardest and riskiest things one can do. It takes courage, strength, and a belief in a loving and merciful God for it to make any sense to react to violence in this way. Our natural inclination is to react in kind, demanding revenge. We hear loud voices clamoring for the death penalty for the perpetrator, and we think it only fair. But our Lord said, "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also....You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you can be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous." (Matt. 5:38-39, 43-45)

Jesus understood that limiting violence to reciprocity was an improvement to escalating violence (that was the purpose of the eye-for-an-eye injunction in Leviticus). But to overcome violence rather than simply to limit it, we need to meet it head on with the only power that is stronger than it is, God's love. To overcome evil we need to meet it head on with the only power that is stronger than it, God's goodness. If we are to be children of God, it is our calling to take up arms - that is, arms that hug and arms that uplift others - in order to confront those with arms that kill.

Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart. It takes the courage of Christ to oppose those with evil intentions with the weapons he has given us, the whole armor of God: "Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:14-17)

As Christ liked to say, "Go and do likewise."

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Jean

You are invited to a Coffee Hour on Sunday, July 5th at 10:15 am in Fellowship Hall, hosted by the Outreach Ministry Team. Come and enjoy fellowship and refreshments.

Our church has scheduled an outing to see the Trenton Thunder play on Friday, July 10th, game time is 7:00 p.m. Cost of a ticket is $8.00, to sign up please see Tony Nami. We are forming a choir to sing "God Bless America" during the 7th inning stretch. If interested in singing "God Bless America", please see Marilyn Machmer; the last brief rehearsal is after the 11:00 a.m. worship services on July 5th.

WE WILL DEDICATE OUR NEW RAMP ON JULY 12!
A week from Sunday, stay after the E3 9:30 service or if you are coming to the Traditional Service arrive at 10:30 so you can be a witness to the Ramp Dedication Ceremony. After a prayer to devote the ramp to the service of the church, Karen Machin, whose gift in memory of her parents, Harry and June Steel, will cut the ceremonial tape and the ramp will be inaugurated by Howard Stoeckel and his walker.
We are grateful to the Machins for their generous gift that enabled us to build the ramp and we would like to thank those who gave hours of time, effort, and skills to build it: Steven Mucha, Bob Lasser, Curly Rentner, Tom Zeyack, Tom Kelley, Jeremy Martino, and Bill Malloy.

The Facility Ministry Team invites you to be part of our Summer Service Saturdays. On the final Saturdays of each month in the summer (July 25, and August 29) you are invited to come to the church from 9 am to noon to give glory to God by taking care of God's house. We have a long list of things to be done, indoors and out, and would love to have lots of hands to help. Some of the things we hope to accomplish this summer are: painting the hallway between the manse and the sanctuary and putting in new carpet tiles; replacing the broken and rotted windows in the garage; filling the cracks in the parking lot, sealing it, and repainting the lines; and weeding the flowerbeds and maintaining the TASK vegetable garden. We even hope to paint the peeling siding if we can get enough help.

Thanks to all those who came to the first Summer Service Day last Saturday: Pat Anthony, Ginny Benck, Bob Lasser, Benita Rommel, Brian Wagner, Terry Wagner, and Rose Wales. We got a good start on our list!

United Presbyterian Church invites all children to GALACTIC BLAST: A COSMIC ADVENTURE PRAISING GOD! Vacation Bible School. Board the starship Galactic Praise to see our awesome universe - and our awesome God - in a whole new way. The fun begins Monday, August 10th and ends Friday, August 14th from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM at United

Presbyterian Church, 12 Yardville-Hamilton Square Road, Yardville, NJ 08620. Each galactic mission includes a Bible story in the Good News Galaxy, along with science activities at the Orbital Observatory, music at Moons & Tunes, art projects at Cosmic Crafts, games at Rocket Rec, and a snack at the Astro Bistro. To be a part of all the excitement at Galactic Blast: A Cosmic adventure praising God, register by calling the church office at 609 585-5770 or visiting the church's website at www.upcnj.org.

Join your church family in praying for:

Healing for Bill Carpenter; Gloria Gadecki; Kenny Reimer; Debbie (continued healing following 2nd cancer surgery and thanksgiving that the doctor indicated all cancer was removed); Patty (continued healing after partial knee replacement surgery); Chrysti (foot); Michelle (sprained thumb); Ardelle Zervos; Karl Peterson (cataract surgery), Maria, Melissa, Marianne, Dottie, Louise, and Mary (all coping with cancer); Bob Machin; Michael and Peter (addiction); Patty (coping with post knee replacement surgery pain); Sue (fall); Cody Young, Claudio Garcia; Susan Anthony; Bob Machin; Jack Hoff (that his treatments are shrinking his tumor); Michael and Peter (coping with addiction); Colton Thibodeau (to be able to fight this latest virus without hospitalization); Jill (in recovery); Nando Avilla; Robert Neuman (cancer); Donna Cruser (mini stroke), Betty Lou Dolci; Mike Tucker;

Jim Snyder (in ICU), and his wife, Kathy (MS); and Anita (post cancer issues); Ruth Bagley (heart issues); those recuperating from surgery; those suffering with asthma; and Fred.

Comfort, healing and peace: for Mother Emmanuel AME Church;

for the family of Jack Leonard, especially his mother, Linda; for the Nutt family upon the loss of Rita; for the Lanyi family upon the loss of their 4 year old son from SIDs; for Elton and Lynn Rogers who tragically lost their son and daughter-in-law recently; for Hilda whose husband died 3 months ago and sister died last week; for the bereaved family of Virgil and Joe; the family and friends of Bruce Mitchell. Also healing for Marsha Milecki from grief since her dad passed away; and prayers for strength for Brenda following the loss of her husband.

Prayers: for Bob Machin traveling to Texas for son Danny's wedding and that his health will stay up so he can make the trip; Peachy Kozlowski (tests and possible surgery); Gary N. (testing); Sue L. (test results); for Rose Zutter (shingles) and for those having surgery. Traveling mercies for all going to family events, on vacation and to professional meetings;

for Christina going to the Bahamas; and for the Kibler Family.

Joy and thanksgiving: for Rev. Lester Guilfoyle who is retiring and moving to a church near his home; that Jen and Frank are feeling much better; for healing of Chrysti Neuman's foot; and for Michael Butler whose tumor shrunk 80% requiring less invasive surgery.

Our Mission Highlight for July

The purpose of the Presbytery of Monmouth is equipping ministers and congregations to strengthen God's people for ministry in obedience to Jesus Christ. We hold the following core values:

We follow Jesus Christ as disciples.
We seek unity amidst our diversity.
We facilitate the proclamation of the Gospel through our mission.
We understand a disciple to be one who gives generously, who serves faithfully, who reaches out to include others in the faith, and who regularly seeks spiritual growth through study, participation in small groups, private and corporate worship.

Because so many of the churches in our presbytery were adversely effected by Hurricane Sandy, it is all the more vital that churches like ours help to support our sister churches in need. All money earmarked for Mission this month will fund the work of the Presbytery of Monmouth. Please give generously!

Birthday greetings to the members and friends whose birthdays are in July:

1 Gracie Roberts

4 Gloria Hanewald, Carol Heberling, Rita Peterson, Justin Scharnitz

5 Steven Bernhard, Natalie Katz, Paul McHugh, Holly Rowand

10 Bob Mathieson

11 Scott Cass

12 Madison Leigh Cruser, Seth Miller, Alline Scharnitz

13 Gail Fouse, Barbara Kavalek

14 David Machin, Steven Wyrwas

15 Megan Gadsby, Don LaCrosse, John Milne, Gene Rittman

17 Jacob Yost

22 Brianna Dickson

24 Karin Casole

26 Marietta Burnett, Ellie Rittman

27 William Guld

28 Michelle Gravatt, Michael McHugh, Joseph Scharnitz

29 Richard Gomez, Tyler Gravatt

30 Pat Anthony, Vanessa Rudziewicz

31 Doris Worob

Warm sunshine, azure sky,

Happy signs of a bright July!

Independent, happy, free,

Born in the month of liberty,

When sun sheds light on land and sea,

Spend time with friends and family.

by Margaret Archibald

Click on the image below to view our July calendar:

http://upcnj.view.events.com