THIS WEEK AT FAITH
March 14, 2021
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No matter who you are or where you are on life’s journey you are welcome here.
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FAITH UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST
5992 Route 378
Center Valley, PA 18034
610.282.3939
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Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward an hour before going to bed this Saturday!
Daylight Savings Time
begins this
Sunday, March 14th
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Click HERE to print a bulletin to follow along on 03/14/2021
Our Wednesday Evening Lenten Program will continue this Wednesday, March 17th. Scroll down for details and the Zoom Link.
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Just a reminder that the church is still closed aside from the preparation and conduction of virtual worship services, church administrative duties, and maintenance of the facilities. We continue to monitor the ever changing situation monthly. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you soon!
-The Consistory
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Is there someone in your life in need of prayer? Click here to fill out a prayer request form and Pastor Bruce will mention that person’s first name during worship. Please be sensitive to privacy. Permission to share from those involved must be granted before making a request.
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How Not to Carry Heavy Things
I hear this most gentle whisper from One I never guessed would speak to me: “I took the world off your shoulders, freed you from a life of hard labor. You called to me in your pain; I got you out of a bad place.” – Psalm 81:5-7 (MSG)
The world is an impossibly heavy thing.
And yet we do our best to carry it, working and worrying, stressing and burning out as if its survival depends entirely on us. This is not to say we shouldn’t want to carry the world’s hurts and needs in our hearts, but rather that, as with any heavy load, how we carry them matters.
Do we lift from the back or bend at the knees? Do we put down our burdens when we get tired, or do we insist on taking them all the way? Do we carry the load all alone, or do we ask for help? Do we go all “they’re not heavy, they’re my sibling” in our best cheerful-martyr voice? Do we keep inviting others to “lean on us,” or do we set healthy boundaries?
You may be bearing burdens so pressing and personal that they feel as heavy as the whole world—everything from numbing grief, crushing debt, and struggling loved ones to a lifetime of hurt and how to make it through this day.
Well, the same principles apply. The same grace abounds.
You are not called to life-sapping labor, but invited to find rest for your soul. You are not doomed to endless drudgery, but delivered into everlasting freedom. Come on out of your “I got this” hell; new life in God is waiting.
Prayer
Divine Deliverer, thanks for taking the load off my shoulders and carrying it in your heart.
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40 Days - 40 Items
How is your 40 days - 40 items challenge going? Don't forget to take some pictures to share with the congregation in an upcoming newsletter!
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Our Wednesday Evening Lenten Program (sans the covered dish dinners) continues each Wednesday through lent via Zoom. This year's video/study program is Vanishing Grace by Phillip Yancy.
We will start at 7:00 with some time for fellowship then begin the program at 7:15 and conclude by 7:45.
This week's topic: Is It Really Good News?
Click below to join the Lenten Program Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 862 8823 3580
Passcode: 872408
One tap mobile
+13126266799,,86288233580#,,,,*872408# US (Chicago)
+16468769923,,86288233580#,,,,*872408# US (New York)
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Water is life. Water is love. Let love flow.
Access to clean fresh water is vital for all of humanity, but for women in particular, water access means the difference between life and death for them and their families. The United Nations International Observance of World Water Day (March 22) reflects on the importance of water in our daily lives and remembers those who lack access to adequate drinking water supplies.
For women and girls around the world, it can be a 12 hour walk to the nearest water source to collect water to maintain basic needs and crucial hygiene practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With your support, 100 families will benefit from the Water Well project, sponsored by the United Church of Christ in Mozambique (UCCM). When you give to One Great Hour of Sharing, you invest in the hopeful future of women and girls around the world and serve as co-workers with God to build a just world for all.
March & April are One Great Hour of Sharing Months.
To learn more about OGHS
For those of you who give online through Tithe.ly—there is a designation for OGHS. For those mailing in donations,
please designate your offering OGHS.
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Dear Friends at Faith UCC,
Thank you for your generous and faithful sponsorship of seven families in Beyond Borders' Family Sponsorship Program.
Your sponsorship is making it possible for these families to begin earning a living, to start saving, to enroll all their children in school, and to have a safe and sturdy home in which to live.
Just as important, your sponsorship -- together with their own hard work and determination -- is restoring their sense of dignity and self-confidence.
And it’s that sense of confidence and dignity regained that gives them hope for the future, opening the door to genuine and lasting transformation in their lives.
That’s because these vulnerable families often live their lives on the margins of society -- isolated, excluded, and hopeless. They feel as though they have little or no reason to hope for a better future, much less plan for one, so they don’t.
Your sponsorship is giving them a reason to hope and teaching them how – some for the very first time – to earn a living, plan for the future, and have confidence in themselves.
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You can see what I mean in the face of one of those who has already graduated: Lavila Alneus, pictured above.
The 110 families in this current cohort of the Family Sponsorship Program -- including the seven families you sponsor-- are now more than half-way through the 18-month program.
I will continue to keep you updated each month, leading up to their graduation. If you have any questions about your sponsorship, please write or call me anytime.
Thank you again for your generous and faithful sponsorship of these families. Their future is built on dignity and self-reliance and filled with opportunity and hope -- and it is made possible by you.
With deep gratitude,
David Diggs
Co-Founder & Executive Director | Beyond Borders
Note from the Mission Team -
Our commitments will be coming to an end in April, 2021. Please see that your pledge is fulfilled before the end of April. If you can not meet your pledge please contact Karen Talboo.
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CURRENT NEEDS
The pantry is well stocked but could use
SPAGHETTI SAUCE
MEAL HELPERS
(chicken/tuna/hamburger helper)
Drop your donations at Center Valley or Coopersburg Post Offices
or the Southern Lehigh Library. Donations can also be dropped
off on Wednesday mornings from 9-10 am at the pantry.
Thank you for your continued support.
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Let's remember our Friends, Members, Forget-Me-Nots and others as we continue through this pandemic. Keep each other in your thoughts and prayers and stay connected if possible.
Birthdays:
March
11 Tom Davis
12 Joan Demkee
12 Jennifer Amato
12 Tim Hovis
15 Dalton Biery
16 Joan Jones
23 Lisa Koch
24 Katie Y
26 Andrew Miller
26 Thomas Miller
28 Barbara Strimple
30 Tom Herstine
31 Patricia Babos
(If you would like to send cards, addresses can be found in the Members & Friends Directory link at the bottom of this email.)
Click here for a list of birthdays and addresses of our Forget-Me-Not's. Some phone numbers are also included if you'd like to give a call! Also included on the list are names, addresses, and phone numbers of members who usually attend services but don't get to see the recorded services on a regular basis. Reach out to them and say hello or fill them in on the weekly news!
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A Special THANK YOU to all who continue to financially support our ministry as you are able. Through these uncertain times our financial obligations continue and our regular bills are still coming in. Again we'd like to remind you there are several ways you can do this:
- Mail your offering directly to the church
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Make an electronic donation through Tithe.ly on our website's Giving page
- Use your bank's Bill Pay service
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Need to make changes, corrections, or additions to our Church Directory? Click HERE to let us know if your info is current or if we need to make
changes. Thanks in advance for taking the time to keep our
Church Directory up to date.
Contact us via email or call the church office at 610.282.3939
(click on names to send an email)
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