THE BETHANY LETTEROctober 23, 2007 Volume 2007, Issue No. 34 | |||||||||
|
The Need for Sabbath
Mahatma Ghandi once noted, "There is more to life than increasing its speed." But the pace of our lives seems to suggest the opposite. Our work ethic of productivity and efficiency causes us to try to do more and more in less time. This frantic pace of life makes keeping Sabbath a challenge in our culture. But it also makes it a vital and empowering personal response in reclaiming the kind of life God intended for all creation. In her book, Soul Feast, Marjorie Thompson writes: "How difficult it is in our achievement and production-oriented society to rest. Keeping Sabbath means trusting God to be God, recognizing that we are not indispensable. When we refuse to take a single day a week for genuine refreshment and rest, we try to outdo even God! In the light of God's rest, our anxious, compulsive activities may be exposed as little more than efforts to stay in control, or to fabricate life's meaning out of constant activity."
The Hebrew word for Sabbath, Shabbat simply means, "to cease, to desist, to rest." This word first appears in the Bible at the end of the story of Creation. In six days, God created a world, which was "good", then finished this work by stopping. Genesis 2:2 tell us "God rested on the seventh day from all the work God did." Old Testament scholar Richard Lowery observes, ". . . in a delightful twist in this passage, ‘rest' is signified as a verb in this passage, and ‘work' is the noun." God has established a pattern that we should follow, where Sabbath rest follows good work.
We need to reclaim the gift of Sabbath in our lives. Too often, we view Sabbath as one or two hours on Sunday morning, then move on to see how many chores and tasks we can accomplish during the remainder of the day. But consider an alternative way - what if we switched off the TV, didn't turn on the computer, and put the phone on "answering machine". What if we used the day to reconnect to God's rhythm for our lives - time to rest, reflect, and even time to share a real conversation and a leisurely meal with family and friends? By stopping work for a Sabbath time, we wake up to the gift of creation all around us and notice God's presence in the world in new ways.
May our souls be restored through God's gift of Sabbath! Mary Seymour ************** Sunday ~ October 28, 2007 Celebration of Congregational Life Scripture - Luke 18:9-14 Sermon - Sharing for Celebration of Congregational Life Sunday Morning Opportunities . . . 8:30 a.m. Worship (Story and Song)/ Special Music 9:15 a.m. Church School for Children and Adults 10:30 a.m. Worship/ Chancel Choir/ New Members/ Children remain in worship Son Singers/ Young Shepherds 11:30 a.m. Social Hour Host: Seekers Class Adult Classes at 9:15a.m: Lounge Class; Bible Discoveries; Seasons of the Spirit; Seekers; Senior High; Upper Room; Perspectives
COMMITTEE NIGHT October 24th Leader's Dessert ~ 6:45 p.m. Come for the pie, stay for the story ~ Give Yourself, Bethany's 2007 Stewardship theme. Then, well all be on our way to our various Committee Meetings at 7:30 p.m.
Confirmation Schedule
Confirmands will be preparing and serving "Lunch on Us" at Miller Avenue UCC this Saturday. Meet in the Social Hall kitchen at 10:00 a.m., to prepare to go to Miller Avenue. We expect to be back by 2:00 p.m. Others are welcome to come and help. It's a great experience!
Bethany Buckeyes Don't forget Bethany Buckeyes Friday 6:00 p.m. November 2nd. Please call or note on attendance card your reservation. Join us for fun, games and great food and fellowship.
Youth Fellowship Schedule
YF'ers! Here's the plan for the Halloween Party set-up: 7th Day will rehearse in the social hall after worship. Others go to the gym and begin set-up. When 7th Day rehearsal is over, we'll have lunch and then decorate for the party. We'll go home to get in costumes when we've finished and come back in time to welcome our guests.Everyone will stay to help with clean up! Bible Discoveries Class Please read the rest of Chapter 1 ~ pages 50-65 in the book Desire of the Everlasting Hills. If you can't read it by then, still come and join our discussion.
Family Sunday October 28th is the fourth Sunday of the month, which means it is Family Sunday at Bethany United Church of Christ and this means the children of Bethany (Son Singers/Young Shepherds) will be singing at the 10:30 worship service. Please join us to hear their beautiful voices! It will also be A Celebration of Congregation Life ~ we have much to celebrate about our life and ministry together. Rejoice with us in that we have been given God's best in God's presence and guidance and the gift of our congregation life.
DONATO'S NIGHT October 31st 5:00 - 8:00 PM PIZZA ~ PIZZA ~ PIZZA The next Youth Fellowship Donato's night is Wednesday, October 31st. Ten percent of the receipts and tips are tithed to Bethany, 10% goes to the youth account and 80% goes to support the youth mission trip. Join us and enjoy some great food and fellowship.
Bake Sale Election Day Our annual Election Day Bake Sale will be held on Tuesday, November 6th. Can you help us by making a baked good to sell? Please drop off your donations in the kitchen at Bethany on Monday, November 5th or in the morning on November 6th. We are in need of help at the sales table on the 6th. If you are able to take a 2-hour shift and sell baked goods for us, please contact Carolyn B. Hofmann. Thanks for supporting Bethany's mission projects.
Christian Education at Bethany UCC Bethany offers many ways for adults to learn and grow in faith on Sunday mornings. They include: Bible Discoveries - studies one of the books of the Bible; Lounge Class - discusses a variety of current faith topics; Perspectives - discusses faith issues in current films; Seasons of the Spirit - discusses the biblical themes from that Sunday's worship; Seekers - discusses a variety of contemporary faith issues; Upper Room - connects the scripture for Sunday worship with life and faith. All of these classes gather between 9:15 and 9:30 and end by 10:20 in time for the 2nd worship service at 10:30. Building Improvement Possibilities The new windows installed last year are helping save considerable energy, which in turn reduces the pollution we create and the funds we have to spend on things other than ministry and mission. This means gifts to the window fund create multiple benefits: warmth for us, care for God's world, savings for our work in God's world. If you'd like to help spread these multiple benefits, just make a donation to the Window Fund. If you've seen how wonderful the newly remodeled restroom by the nursery looks, you may be interested in helping us remodel another one in the church school wing. If so, your contribution would be most welcome; just make your gift and designate it: restroom remodeling.
Happy Birthday to Ruth Warner who will celebrate her birthday on November 2nd. We wish you a happy one!
ACME Community Cash Back Program Receipts must be dated Beginning: September 17th 2006 Ending: April 7, 2007 It's the year of the Acme brands! Food Club, Dining-In, Domestix, Paws, Top Care, Top Crest and Valutime. Acme Fresh Market will issue a rebate check equal to 5% of the Cash Back amount printed at the bottom of the receipt. The Cash Back amount includes all Acme brand merchandise purchases. Locate Acme brand items easily by watching for shelf tags in the store. Ask your families, friends, co-workers and neighbors to save them too! (R.S.V.P. stores not included in the program.) The YF is collecting ACME receipts. We truly appreciate your support as the proceeds help fund the youth mission trip.
Rake 'n Run Sundays ~ November 11th & 18th If you would like help getting your leaves raked please call the church office (330-923-5277). We will be sure to get there one of the two Sundays. ATTENTION EVERYONE! Although this is a Youth Fellowship sponsored event, there are LOTS of leaves to rake! Just come to the 10:30 worship and then join us for an afternoon of work and fun. Please bring your own rake(s), tarps, and leaf blower (if you have one).
In Sympathy: We express our Christian sympathy for the family of Margaret Martin who died October 18th. Also our prayers and sympathy are extended to the family of Maryann Boughner who died October 20th.Remember in your Prayers Dorothy Draper, Rockynol Albert Jensen, Altercare Geraldine Hunter, Briarwood Peg Leiter, Seattle WA 98103
Calendar for October 17TH to October 28TH 10/24 9:30a Bible Study (C.E.) 6:45p Leaders' Dessert 7:30p COMMITTEE NIGHT 8:00p Bell Practice 10/25 7:30p Choir Practice 10/26 10/27 10:00a Lunch on Us, Miller Ave. - Confirmands Family Sunday ~ October 28, 2007 Nursery Available ~ 9:15 - 11:30 a.m. Celebration of Congregational Life Jennie Stumm, guest organist Children remain in worship 8:30a Worship (Story and Song) 9:15a Church School for Children and Adults 10:30a Worship/New Members 11:30a Social Hour 11:30a YF Final Prep for Party 11:45a 7th Day Practice 6:00p HALLOWEEN PARTY 10/29 9:00a Quilters 9:30a Shawl Ministry (Lounge) 10:00a Newsletter Deadline 7:30p Kerygma 10/30 8:15p Staff Meeting (Lounge) 10/31 9:30a Bible Study (CE) 5:00p Bethany Night at Donato's 8:00p November. . . 11/01 6:15p Confirmation Meal, Music, Class 7:30p Choir Practice 11/02 6:00p Buckeyes 11/03 EOA Fall Meeting at Bath UCC Remember to set your clocks back one hour! Daylight Saving Time Ends Sunday ~ November 4, 2007 Nursery Available ~ 9:15 - 11:30 a.m. 8:30a Worship (COMMUNION) 9:15a Church School for Children and Adults 10:30a Worship/ Children's Sunday School 11:30a Social Hour 11:30a Bethany Nurse BP Check 11:45a 7th Day Choir Practice 5:30p Youth Committee Meeting 6:30p YF
Names of Sunday Volunteers are published AHEAD of the scheduled Sunday as a kindly reminder & an early thank you! If you are unable to volunteer the day you are scheduled, please remember to find someone to take your place and then call the church office so we may make necessary changes on our schedules Volunteers for October 28th Esperanza Cup Washing: K. McDevitt, A. Myers Greeters: Karen Mellott and Sally Mellott, Douglas and Carolyn Shroyer Music: Special Music/ Son Singers and Young Shepherds Nursery: T. Jensen, E. Zeller, N. Zeller, C. Eberhardt Social Hour Host: Seekers Class Ushers: C. Hofmann, H. Walker, S. Truby, S. Ward, S. &. R. Alberson, T. Malorni, H. Nagel Van Driver: E. Frederick Visitor Outlook: L. Goodwin Volunteers for November 4th Esperanza Cup Washing: A. Wachovec, A. Zeller Greeters: J. and C. Dix, M. Crichton and M.J. Trail Lay Reader: J. Wachovec Music: Memory Bell Choir/ Chancel Choir Nursery: S. Ward, H. Bedillion. H. Bowman, T. Malorni Social Hour Host: Finance Committee Ushers: R. & S. Holle, M. Jensen, M. Seguin, M. Seymour, J. Williams, L. Short, M. Millsaps Van Driver: Visitor Outlook: B. Lees *********************************** United Church of Christ What Matters – We Belong to Christ (Part of a series) "We belong to Christ" is a loaded phrase. It's loaded because it means different things to different people. It packs within it comfort for some; challenge for others; and for many both comfort and challenge. For some, the words unite; for others the words divide. In the United Church of Christ, we pray the words comfort, challenge, and unite. Simply put, "we" means that you are not alone. You are part of a larger "we" that God has united in this Church. "Belongs" is something more than belief; it's a vital relationship. It's not like belonging to a club where hazing or proven credentials are required. It's more like belonging to a nurturing parent, family, or community. Belonging is a gift that inspires thanks and devotion. And what about the words "to Christ?" God, to whom we belong, is understood and experienced by Christians through Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Jesus Christ is prophet (Luke 4:14-30), teacher (Matthew 5), healer (Mark 5:21-43), savior (John 3:16), welcoming host (Mark 8:1-11), justice-doer (Luke 19:1-27), a pray-er (Luke 22:39-8), a dying servant (John 19:28-30), and a living companion along the way (Luke 24:13-35). In the gospel of John, Jesus is our bread, living water, door, and light. Christ is the way, truth, and life. We discover much about Jesus in scripture, but we also experience Jesus today. For us, Jesus Christ is the only head of the church. Our name "United Church of Christ" was chosen not because we intended to exclude people, but rather to embrace the world as widely as Jesus' own arms embrace the world. No one person, creed, statement, denomination, or — church holds all truth only Christ, only God. What we say about God in Christ "begins in wonder, and when theological thought has done its best, the wonder remains." God is not an object to be contained, but a holy mystery to encounter together. Where there is justice, peace, and compassion, we see the living God at work. To such a God, we belong; you belong. Although Christ is the primary lens through which we view God, we experience God in a variety of ways. Through the centuries, one way the church talked about God is through the Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You see this in ancient creeds, as the Apostles' and Nicene creeds, as well as in our contemporary UCC Statement of Faith. The Trinity expresses many ways God relates to us, and we relate to God. Yes, we believe in one God, but our God is dynamic, inviting, intimate, and communal, not stuck in only one aspect. God exhibits diversity. The Holy One is known in the diverse expressions of God's parental and creative care, Christ's eternal justice and compassion, and the Spirit's power and abiding presence. We also speak about God in other ways that enrich our faith—God as mother, rock, liberator, savior, and friend. These understandings, affirmed in the Bible, break through any single, limited way of experiencing God and open us to be changed in new ways by this marvelous God. Grounded in our history and open to the future with you, our heart belongs to Christ. We affirm historic creeds and statements of faith, not as tests, but as inspired words of faithful women and men who came before us. We continue to discover God through the Bible, through prayer, through worship, through engaging in the world in just and loving ways. We especially listen for the voice of God in the voices of those who cry out for justice and peace. We intend to follow Christ faithfully into the world.
Return to Main Page
| |||||||||
Photo Gallery - Visitors - Missions - Education - Music - Statement - Sermons |