Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives John Boehner recently invited Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress without informing the White House. This occurred just days after President Barack Obama invited British prime minister David Cameron to lobby Congress against the Iran sanctions bill supported by Boehner. Such use of foreign leaders in U.S. governance reveals that once again American leaders are failing to build consensus around important issues. Respect, communication, negotiation and the setting of proper boundaries will be the topics of this week’s Wired Word Adult Sunday School class. Join us in Fellowship Hall at 9:00 a.m. this Sunday for coffee, scriptures and discussion.
Worship Service for Sunday, February 8th :
Kinder Choir will be singing “Disciples” and “Tell Me, Tell Me”
Children’s Moment – (Memory Verse check during Sunday School – “My help comes from the Lord” Psalm 121:2)
Hymns – Open My Eyes and Trust and Obey
Choir Anthem – Thy Will Be Done with solo by Tom Wiggins
Scripture: James 3:18 - 4:17
Pastor Mike’s sermon title: Humble Yourself Before the Lord
Olga’s selections – Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
Holy, Holy, Holy
Liturgist – Dave Landis
Following the worship service, please join us in Fellowship Hall for a time of light refreshments and conversation. Cindy Box and Penny Greenlese will be your hosts during the month of February.
Olga’s classical music CD may be purchased after church during Fellowship Hour. It includes songs from Bach, Johannes Brahms, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Samuel Barber. The cost is $15.00. She is donating a portion of each sale to the church. We also have a few to sell in the Church Office.
Our mission focus for the month of February will be the S.O.W.E.R. Project (Sharing Our Witness – Enriching Relationships). The 2015 SOWER Team is in the planning stages for constructing the 15th home for a family near Frakes, Kentucky (the Cumberland Gap area). The cost of materials to build one of the 28’ x 28’ or 28’ x 32’ houses from the ground up is approximately $43,000 to $47,000 The project is in need of both funding to cover material costs and volunteers for the six week building process. For more information, you may visit www.hendersonsettlement.com and http://www.westohioumc.org. If you are interested in working on the construction phase, you will find the SOWER build schedule and the registration forms on the shelf outside the church office. If you have any questions, please feel free to talk to Pastor Mike or Dave and myself about our experiences at the site during August 2014. Mission envelopes are located in the pew racks for your financial gifts.
Karen Longnecker would like to inform the congregation of a Ham Loaf Dinner at Zion United Methodist Church in Whitehouse on Thursday, February 12th from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. Cost is $8.50 for adults and $3.00 for children under 10.
Ash Wednesday is right around the corner. Our church will be open on Wednesday, February 18th from 6:30 to 11:30 a.m. for anyone who would like to have the Imposition of Ashes and/or Holy communion prior to the work day. This will be a time in which each of us can spend as much time in the sanctuary as we would like in prayer and meditation, personal worship and reflection.
February 27, 2015 is the 8th Annual Anthony Wayne Spirit of Giving Spaghetti Dinner in the Anthony Wayne High School Cafeteria from 4:30 – 8:00 p.m. Please mark your calendars and come out and support this organization comprised of AW Staff, students, and neighbors, as we raise funds to help support families within our district with catastrophic illnesses. This year there are four families that have been “adopted” by AWSG and several others that will be given smaller grants to assist with financial needs. AWSG is not just about financial assistance, many AW students and staff assist by babysitting siblings during treatment times, taking care of yard work for families when that’s the last thing that need to care about, or grocery shopping to help fill empty shelves. Please help us help others by coming out to the spaghetti dinner AND if you or someone you know would have a item or service you might donate to the Silent Auction that accompanies the dinner that night, we genuinely welcome the contribution. See Anne Stevens for details.
Theatre-for-the-World will take place on Friday, March 13th, Saturday, March 14th and Sunday, March 15th. Friday and Saturday’s shows will begin at 7:30 p.m. and the Sunday show will start at 1:30 p.m. This year’s production is FOOLS, a family-friendly comedy by Neil Simon.
Theatre-for-the-World is now active in social media. If you have a Facebook account, we'd sure appreciate it if you'd "like us" and "share us" with your contacts. www.facebook.com/TFTW06. People will be able to read more about our mission project and even click to donate. Thanks!
We are looking for volunteers to be ushers and food runners for all of the Theatre-for-the-World performances. You will need to be present 45 minutes before the production to hand out programs. There will be a sign up sheet in the hallway on Sunday morning. Please see Bobbie Westfall or Nancy Stafford with any questions. Thank you , in advance, for your support.
Stephanie Shelton has placed sign-up sheets on the bulletin board for reservations for the Youth Lasagna Dinner on the Saturday evening before the Theatre-for-the-World performance on March 14th. She is also in need of lasagna makers and dessert bakers for that evening.
Our Financial Secretary, Tom Wiggins, has a new e-mail address that is linked to the church. If you have any questions or comments about your financial giving, quarterly or yearend giving statements, please contact him at financialsec@watervilleumc.org
As usual, we wish to have lilies in the Chancel Area on Easter Sunday. To help save on the cost of the paper by placing order forms in the church bulletins for several weeks and the printing costs, we would like to try something different this year. If you would like to order a flower or make a donation to our Building Fund, please use the envelopes that can be found on the bulletin board outside Pastor Mike’s office. Write your information on the outside of the envelope and place your money inside the envelope. You may either place them in the offering plate or drop them off in the office. We will be taking orders from Sunday, February 1st to Sunday, March 15th. The cost of each lily is $8.00. There is also a link to order your Easter lily in the February issue of The Ambassador – you will just fill out the form online and send it to the office. (You will then send us a check or place your money in the offering plate – we will not be asking for any credit card information.)
And lastly, this week Operation Christmas Child was able to report the final number of shoeboxes that were collected in 2014. Drum roll please……..10,440,333 boxes were packed and shipped to children around the globe. Remember to keep praying for each of those who were touched by this ministry. If you are one of those folks who like to shop for your boxes all year long, the OCC items that they suggest purchasing in February are toothbrushes and toothpaste.