Homecoming Day

121 friends and family enjoyed Homecoming this past Sunday. Good music. Good preaching. Good friends. Excellent food!

Fundraiser for youth going to summer camp

This Saturday, April 24th, from 4pm - 7pm there will be a Potato/Salad Bar fundraiser in the church social hall for the youth to raise money to go to Rhodes Grove Camp this summer. This will be a free will offering meal. Come out and support the youth.

From the April Newsletter

Another month has passed and many people have had to alter their lives due to some unforeseen circumstances happening to them or a member of their family. We have trials to face each day. We are always making plans for the future, but we do not know what the future holds. It is important to live today for we do not know what tomorrow brings. Matthew 6:33-34 states: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be, therefore, not anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow will be anxious for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil."

Live for today and tomorrow will take care of itself. We need to be ready to help as stated in Hebrews 4:16. "Let us therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." We had many needs in March and some in the church helped supply the needs in many ways. It might have been to pray, or a phone call, or food, or supply labor, or many other ways. If you are a part of God's family, you should expect your fellow Christians to step up and lend a helping hand. We never know when we will have a misfortune and need help ourselves.

This is the best time of the year, seeing new life through the grass growing, flowers of many varieties coming to life, and the trees budding and growing new leaves. But the most important thing about spring is the Easter season where God gave his son to live a perfect life as an example for us, then going to the cross and dying for all our sins. That is not all. He is presently sitting at the right hand of God interceding for us. We owe all to Him.

We have provided Self Denial boxes and envelopes for you to deny something during the forty days leading up to Easter. What did you deny yourself? We will be taking up these offerings during the month of April for special mission projects. The United Brethren Church is attempting to collect approximately $47,000 for these projects.

Thanks through Him,
Dan Lam

Gideon speaker this Sunday

This Sunday, Dave Griffin will be our Gideon speaker.

Pastor's Penpoint - Out and Around - April 2010

I can't think of anytime in my life when I needed spring more than this year. Winter has been a long haul. Snow, cold days, snow, colder days, and oh yeah ... SNOW!

I honestly believed we would have two feet of snow on our deck until July. I forgot how the birds chirp and what the sound of a lawn mower was; but I'm well aware of what the sound of a snow blower is like!

Strangely enough, there is no snow to be seen, temperatures are warming up and the birds outside my window remind me that we do come around each year.

Likewise, we are coming out of Lent and around to Easter. It's been tough these last six weeks of so to walk through the Scriptures that demand each of us look at our own place in God's story. We may have never thought we would come around to the empty tomb - and the news that our Savior has risen. But here we are. Praise be to God!

I have learned a lot this last winter:

• Get the snow blower checked out before the first major snow storm
• The weather man does occasionally get it right
• Two feet of snow on the ground doubles your heat bill
• and there are times even kids want to go back to school

Likewise, I learned through Lent:

• That I make God responsible too often for man's choice of evil

• I can be arrogant in always demanding to be right, especially when dealing with those of other religious mindsets
• God does not cause our trials, but loves us through
• and too often I hold something back from God

This spring, Easter Sunday and through our journey, I pray our lessons that were hard learned can be remembered. Most importantly, I pray we will all recall how God brought us out of our rebellious selves and around to life saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ.

By the way; have you heard? The tomb is empty ... He is risen!

Strength for today,
strength for tomorrow,

~ Pastor Todd