E-News for March 14, 2018
|
|
PALM/PASSION SUNDAY is only 10 days away with EASTER SUNDAY one week later. The meaning of these holy days is more deeply etched in my mind and heart having just returned from the Holy City where these events took place so many years ago.
On March 25, we celebrate PALM/PASSION SUNDAY. This day is the beginning of Holy Week. You know the story. Jesus rides into the city on top of a donkey to the waving of palm branches and the shouting, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” But the praising subsides and the Passion of Jesus takes us through the Lord’s Supper, and the arrest, the scourging, the pain, and humiliation of Jesus. The shouts rise to a crescendo, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” He walks the way of the Via Dolorosa, through the 14 Stations of the Cross. Protestant Methodists like you and I are greatly uninformed of the disturbing moments as Jesus made his way to the Cross. Jesus was so battered and beaten on the way, we wonder how he made it to his crucifixion. These our holy and tragic days for Jesus. The very least we can do is remember.
I hope to see you these next three Sundays as well as Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, March 28 and 29. Join us these holy days of Lent.
Because of Him,
Mike
|
|
|
Karen Richardson will retire from New World UMC as of Friday, March 23
rd
. We want to honor Karen for her dedication and years of service as the Business Administrator to this church.
Join us as we offer Karen best wishes on her retirement on Saturday, March 24
th,
from 2:00-4:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall. There will be people speaking about Karen and her many contributions to New World. We will also have great food and fellowship. You will have an opportunity to write a card for Karen if you wish.
|
|
|
At a time when so many people are spiritually disillusioned and searching for ways to live, love, work, and play that nurture the soul rather than destroy it, Matthew Kelly delivers a powerful book that encourages us in our weariness, challenges us in our comfort, and invites us to rediscover the beautiful possibilities God places before us daily.
Rediscover Jesus
is a profound invitation to seek deeply personal answers to our deeply personal questions. Lisa Alexander will lead a study on this fabulous book. This four-week study will begin Sunday, April 8, and last through Sunday, April 29. The study will meet in Room 23 at 10:50 am.
Copies of the book are available in the main office for $5. For more information about this study or to sign up, contact Rev. Gena Anderson at
gena@nwumc.org.
|
|
|
Healthy Church Initiative Consultation Seminar
|
On Saturday, April 28
th
, 9:00 am to 12:00 pm, New World Leaders will gather to learn in more detail the process of consultation that we will begin during the Consultation Weekend (Friday, April 27, thru Sunday, April 29th).
We invite all leaders in New World's ministry to attend the Pre- Consultation Seminar. In addition, we invite all church members or others who attend regularly who have an interest in the future ministry of New World UMC. To be clear, YOU ARE INVITED to join us for this opportunity to re-shape NEW WORLD UMC.
Rev. Meg Witmer-Faile, Associate Director of Church Growth in the Central Texas Conference, will lead us. Other members of the Consultation Team will be present.
Please be part of this adventure - right from the start.
Healthy Church Initiative Team
|
|
|
Fall Fest is Coming Back to New World!
|
Mark your calendars
for Saturday,
September 29, 2018.
We are asking for your participation in a survey to help make Fall Fest 2018 a success. The survey is brief, with only 8 questions, and takes about 3 minutes to complete. The survey will end on Sunday, April 15, 2018.
Please click
here
to follow the link to the survey website.
|
|
|
Tuesday, March 20
7:00 - 8:00 pm
Fellowship Hall
$30.00 per person
Come to our JAM session and in just one hour, you will go home with 5 meals to stock your freezer. All you need to do is "Just Add Meat". The additional ingredients are provided.
Menu includes Enchilada Chicken, Beef Stroganoff, Italian Chicken, Mediterranean Pork and White Chicken Chili.
Only 12 spots available!
Contact Julie Sessler to reserve your spot!
|
|
|
Please click
here
to fill out the form if you would like to enhance our Easter Sunday worship services by providing a lily or lilies in honor, memory, or celebration of special people or events in your life. To be included in the dedication booklet, return the form to the church office, along with your check for $8, no later than Tuesday, March 27. You may take the flowers home following the 10:50 service on Easter Sunday.
|
|
|
Our congregation's Stephen Ministry equips lay people to provide confidential, one-on-one Christian care to individuals in our community who are experiencing difficulty in their lives.
Pastors will always be on the front lines of care, especially during times of crisis. But there are always many more needs for ongoing, one-on-one care than pastors can effectively meet by themselves.
Stephen Ministry provides a biblical solution, equipping God's people for ministry. Gifted lay people are trained to support and extend the care that pastors continue to provide.
A Stephen Minister is...
- A child of God who walks beside a person who is hurting
- A congregation member with gifts for care-giving, who was carefully selected to serve in this role
- A lay person who has received at least 50 hours of training in providing emotional and spiritual care
- A caring Christian friend who listens, cares, prays, supports, and encourages someone for as long as there is a need
Stephen Ministry is Your Ministry
You play an important role in our Stephen Ministry. Here's what you can do:
- Pray for God to bring hope and healing to hurting people through our Stephen Ministry.
- Accept care from a Stephen Minister during your time of need. God doesn't expect you to bear your burdens alone.
- Tell a friend, neighbor, co-worker, or relative who is hurting about Stephen Ministry.
- If you are a good listener and a compassionate person, prayerfully consider becoming a Stephen Minister.
Stephen Ministry is a confidential Ministry. The identity of those receiving care and what takes place in each caring relationship remains private. If you would like more information about becoming a Stephen Minister, or need a Stephen Minister, please contact Pastor Gena at
With love,
Pastor Gena
|
|
|
We need lots and lots of Easter Eggs filled with candy or treats for the Easter Egg Hunt on March 25.
Please no chocolate because it melts.
For eggs that you fill yourselves, please tape the eggs closed or the eggs pop open and the candy falls out into the grass.
There are 2 Red Baskets in front of Ms. Gail’s desk for you to put your eggs in.
We are hoping to collect 2000 eggs. All of our Children’s Choirs will be singing for Palm Sunday, so we will have lots of families with children here that we will be welcoming to the Easter Egg Hunt and Hot Dog Lunch at Gibbins Park on March 25.
Let’s prepare to welcome many
children and families to our
Palm Sunday Worship and Activities!
|
|
|
Help Us Reach Out to Our Neighbors in Need
|
This Sunday when you come to church bring non perishable items for our neighbors in Arlington. Donations can be left in the big wooden box in the Concourse.
We are called in Matthew 25:35:
“
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat" . . .
and in
Matthew 35:40:
“The King will reply, “Truly I tell you, whatever you
did for one of the least of these brothers and
sisters of mine, you did for me
.”
These are the words and teachings of Jesus!
|
|
|
The Confirmation class will not meet on Wednesday, March 14, due to Spring Break. The next session will be on Wednesday, March 21 in the Youth Lounge. We will be focusing on “The Early Church.”
|
|
|
This week in the Heifer Calendars the children are learning about the gift of Pigs, Sheep, Alpacas, Women’s Empowerment, Water Buffalo and Animal Health Workers.
The children are collecting money for Heifer International during Lent. If you did not get a bank and calendar, you can pick one up at the church. We invite everyone to help the children by donating to Heifer International.
|
|
|
Joyful Noise and Good News Music & Arts,
and Bible Explorers
|
The Joyful Noise Music and Arts, for children in Kindergarten - 2nd grade,
will meet Sunday, March 18,
during the 9:30 Worship Service following the Children’s Time to prepare for Palm Sunday. Please have your children here so they can prepare for wonderful music for our worship services on March 25.
The Good News Music and Arts and Bible Explorers
will also meet Sunday, March 18
. These groups are for 3rd - 6th graders. The Good News Music group is preparing music for Palm Sunday.
Please have your children here so they can be prepared to share in worship on March 25, when all the children's choirs will be singing in our 9:30 and 10:50 Worship Service.
|
|
|
Friday night during Holy Week we will have a Good Friday worship service in our Sanctuary.
Children are invited to attend their own Good Friday event in the Children’s wing. We will spend time learning about Holy Week.
Children in Kindergarten - 6th grades will meet in
Rooms 8-9-10 during the Good Friday worship service. There will be a nursery for preschoolers.
|
|
|
The following article was taken from Guideposts magazine. It was written by Carrie Ann Inaba who is well-known as a judge on
Dancing with the Stars
.
The Power of a Prayer
by Carrie Ann Inaba
I pray before work. I always say the same prayer. God, thank you for all that is, was, and will be.
ALL THAT IS
At first, I had no idea why the Lord had put me on
Dancing with the Stars
. I was a dancer, onstage and on TV and movies. I never wanted to do anything else, and I felt blessed that my dreams had been realized. Then along came this job. I didn't think it would last 10 yrs and counting! Four years into the show, I was sitting at the judges' table and turned to say something to my colleague Len. I couldn't move my head. It was stuck. On the drive home that night, every bump on the road sent a searing pain through my neck. I was no better in the morning. After an MRI, I was diagnosed with spinal stenosis. After surgery, the doctor said that I would have to be very careful. No more dancing. He might as well have told me that the world was ending.
Except it wasn't. The ALL THAT IS part of my prayer meant that God had been out ahead of me. Way ahead. He'd prepared me for this shock by putting me in the judge's chair on
Dancing with the Stars
. Not long after my neck surgery, I received a diagnosis of arthritis in my feet. Again, I remained incredibly grateful for all that I had been given. Even my aching feet were a reminder of the blessings I'd received.
ALL THAT WAS
That's the second part of my daily prayer. My parents sent me to a Christian school. The services were the highlight of my week. The chaplain really communicated what it meant to believe in a loving God and how that could change your life. I listened to his words like they were the most important instructions I would ever receive. Plus, the idea that life was about love...it made more sense than anything I'd ever heard. It put the world totally in perspective for me. Sooo...that's why we're here I thought.
Yes, I wanted to be a dancer, more than anything, but I was determined to find other ways to share God's love and to be an instrument of his goodness. I loved animals, especially ones that were sick, mistreated, or abandoned. I could give love and feel God give his love back to me through rescuing animals.
ALL THAT WILL BE
That might be the most important part of my prayer. For a lot of people, the scariest thing is the future. This is the part that helped me the most when my dad got throat cancer. His prognosis was never very good. Even though he fought for five brave years, I often found myself trying to imagine what the future would be like without Dad.
How do you imagine an unimaginable future? My prayer tells me that no matter what, my heavenly Father is waiting to guide me and to love me, as much in the future as in the here and now. He fills those places in us that loss hollows out while shining a light on the path ahead.
There's one more thing I want to tell you. Around the time Dad died, I felt a lump in my own throat the size of half a golf ball. The doctor gave me a scan and said, "You've got Sjogren's syndrome." Now that I knew what it was, I could start tackling the problem. Sjogren's syndrome has taught me to take much better care of myself.
There is the God of all time..past, present, and future. It is the one thing I know I can predict and the one sure thing about life. That's why I thank God every day for what was, is, and will be! That's why when you watch
Dancing with the Stars
, you'll see that big smile on my face. I want my faith to shine through everything I do.
submitted by
Dana Gatti
New World Intercessory Prayer Ministry
If you have a prayer article that you would like to share,
|
|
|
Lord, Hear Our Prayers...
Hospitalized
Betty Bentzel:
Interlochen Rehab
Terry Dunklin:
Interlochen Rehab
Kelly Feik:
Surgical Procedure, 3-14, Baylor All Saints, Fort Worth
Leo Grace, father of Donna Riggall:
OnPointe, AMH
Norma Lupton:
AMH
Jodi McMann:
Kindred Rehab, Arlington
Rachel Nolen
: Medical City, Fort Worth
Bonnie Williams:
Surgical Procedure 3-14, USMD
Recuperating at Home
Bob Hankins; Bob McGrath; Richard Merrill; Evelyn Polanco
Those Facing Cancer and its Treatment
Lynda Arnold’s sister, Jonda; Norma Lupton; Todd Milam
Evelyn Tatom's husband, Bob
Kathy Alexander's brother, Jamie Harris
Chronic Condition
Bob Chaplin; Leigh Jamieson
Tradel Harris, Darlus Schoonover’s granddaughter
|
|
Our Gifts and Our Presence
|
|
March 4, 2018 - $10,248.07
Month to Date - $28,487.67
Year to Date - $169,384.76
Worship Attendance -204
Adult Sunday School - 60
|
|
Mike Alexander
Senior Pastor
Erin Sloan Jackson
Associate Pastor of Missions
Interim Director of Student Ministries
Gena Anderson
Associate Pastor of Discipleship
|
|
Steven Couch
Director of Worship & Music
Jin Ah Kwon
Organist/Music Assistant
Kathy Alexander
Director of Children’s Ministries
Karen Richardson
Business Administrator
Heather James
Business Administrator
|
|
Becky Hankins
Executive Administrator
Gail Hall
Communications
Francisco Adon
Facilities
Amber Walter
Preschool Director
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
