Good News of Central Christian Church The May, 2013 All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten and Sunday School Robert Fulghum wisely suggests that all we really need to know we learned in Kindergarten. He said, “All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.” I agree with Roger, but I wonder if he shouldn’t give some credit to Sunday School and scripture, because everyone of the lessons he learned, I also learned in Sunday School and from our Bible. I’ve added a few scripture references to Roger’s list below: Share everything. Luke 3:11, Acts 4:32 Play fair. Micah 6:8 Don't hit people. Jeremiah 22:3, Matthew 7:12, Matthew 5:39 Put things back where you found them. Leviticus 25 Clean up your own mess. Leviticus 25 Don't take things that aren't yours. Exodus 20:15 Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody. James 5:16 Wash your hands before you eat. Mark 7:1-8 Flush. Deuteronomy 23:12-13 Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Exodus 3:7-8 Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 Take a nap every afternoon. Mark 6:31 When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together. 1 Corinthians 12:12-26 Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. Mark 4:26-27 Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we. 1 Corinthians 15:20-21 And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all LOOK. Matthew 7:7, Jeremiah 29:13 Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living. Take any one of those items and extrapolate it into sophisticated adult terms and apply it to your family life or your work or government or your world and it holds true and clear and firm. Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon and then lay down with Central Christian Church May, 2013 our blankies for a nap. Or if all governments had as a basic policy to always put things back where they found them and to clean up their own mess. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out in the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together. Jesus summed the whole thing up like this. “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another just as I have loved you.” John 13:34 or “Love God, Love People.” Matthew 22:34-40. Blessed to be loving God and loving people, with you, Pastor Deb Banned Questions About the Bible Do you sometimes wonder about things in the Bible, but are embarrassed or afraid to ask? Most Christians have questions about many things in scripture. Actually, questioning is an important part of growing in our faith. Pastor Deb’s Sunday school class will begin a new study with a focus on the most common questions about scripture. She will use the popular book published by Chalice Press and written by Disciple Pastor, Christian Piatt. Some of the questions we will discuss are: “Can I be a Christian if I don’t believe the Bible is perfect…?” “If Adam and Eve were the first and only people on Earth, where did their kid’s spouses come from?” “How can a God be all-loving yet allow people to be thrown into hell?” “What does “apocalypse” mean and did the Bible predict one?” “Why would an all-knowing God begin the process of creation knowing that it would be corrupted by evil and lead to so much heartache? “Why are the Jewish people God’s chosen people?” “In some places Paul seems to support women in leadership roles int eh church, and in others, he says they have no place. Which is it?” And so many many more! All are welcome at 9:15 Sunday mornings. Come to the top floor, where we reach for new heights in our faith journeys. May 5 May 12 May 19 May 26 Acts 16:9-15 Psalm 67 Revelation 21:10,22-22:5 John 14:23-29 Acts 16:16-34 Psalm 97 Revelation 22:12-14 John 17:20-26 Acts 2:1-21 Psalm 104:24-35 Romans 8:14-17 John 14:8-17 Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Psalm 8 Romans 5:1-5 John 16:12-15 Central Christian Church May, 2013 Sabbatical Days for Pastor Like most churches, Central Christian Church provides Pastor Deb with Sabbatical days in her contract. Sabbatical Days are to be used for Spiritual nourishment, rest, and study. Pastor’s contract provides her with 18 days per year of Sabbatical. On Thursdays in April and May Pastor will use 8 of these days to take a class on forgiveness and reconciliation. These classes will empower Pastor to lead the church and individuals through conflict and injury, to forgiveness and reconciliation. Please lift Pastor in prayer as she studies, rests, and continues to grow in her faith and leadership. If you have a pastoral care need on Thursdays in April and May, please contact Pastor Julie or elder chair, Carla Offenburger or call the church office. Pastor will not be taking calls or returning emails on her sabbatical days. This past week at home the car broke down, the lawnmower needed a tune up, it was time to pay for the yearly road treatment, Quick Oil delivered the last batch of propane along with the bill, and we were mapping out our route for vacation next week. The $ signs kept popping up! Wow, am I thankful that I know I’ve taken care of my church home first with my automatic deduction pledge. It would have been easy to say, “Not this week.” BUT, when anyone of us does that, the church finances suffer. And we don’t have enough in the coffers to suffer too much (just like with my home budget). I’m thankful that I put funds away at home to cover an expensive week like this past one. We do that at church too, but we’ve had to reach into those “put away” funds to cover monthly expenses recently. With expenses running about $12,000 a month we need to work diligently so that our monthly budget can be met with our weekly offerings. That way our reserves can be used for those weeks when the car breaks down, the lawnmower needs tuned up or when vacations are being planned – not for monthly expenses. Please keep this in mind as you continue to give generously every week, every month. Consider the automatic deduction method. And keep in mind that as the summer vacation months approach, our monthly church budget doesn’t decrease. We need to give faithfully and consistently to meet the expectations of our many ministries. Pray about what you can do to make sure your church home is financially well. Carla Offenburger Central Christian Church May, 2013 We thank those individuals who shared lilies with us on Easter to beautifully grace our worship service. Mike, Janice, and the Brady family in memory of Bryon and Frances Brady The Krieger family in memory of Charlotte Ann Krieger The Krieger family in memory of Lorraine and Maurice Dudley Kurt & Carmen Krieger Helen Nelson in memory or Dr. Orman Nelson Herma Parr and family in memory of Jim Parr Evelyn and Tom Shearman in memory of Arthur and Jim Shearman Pentecost Offering May 12 and 19 Our Disciples family is growing! Your Church is growing! When Dick Hamm, former general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), introduced the 2020 Vision in 2001, he challenged the Christian Church to look like the face of America. He also set forth a challenge to start 1,000 new Disciples congregations by 2020. No one could imagine then where God would take us. Today, Disciples have started 800 new communities of faith and counting! More than 50,000 new lives have been brought to Christ, and 18 languages are spoken at Disciples churches. Now, that’s good news worth celebrating! New Disciples churches are being planted and new mission fields are being created throughout the United States and Canada. On May 12 and May 19, 2013, Disciples churches will collect the Pentecost Offering to fund the new church movement. We need your support. This offering is creating opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in places that don’t have a Disciples witness. When you give to the Pentecost Offering, one half of your gift stays in the Region where you live and one half goes to Hope Partnership for Missional Transformation to support the recruitment, assessment, training and coaching of new church pastors, spouses and core team members. Because of your support, your Church is growing. Disciples are growing. We are reaching new places to provide Disciples mission and share the good news of Jesus Christ beyond the doorsteps of the Church into the community and throughout the world. Central Christian Church May, 2013 Greene County Re-Entry Team Needs Your Prayers and Support “Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them.” Hebrews 13:1-3 What is the Greene County Re-Entry Team? An ecumenical group of Christians who take seriously Christ’s call to forgive, reconcile, and offer new life to people who have been convicted of crimes, imprisoned, and are ready to be released to live in our community. It is a mission team that assists ex-offenders in the process of reintegrating into community life upon release from prison. The team of Christian volunteers covenant with an ex-offender for a year, offering crucial help and encouragement. It involves basic issues of resettlementhousing, employment, finances, clothing, transportation, education, addiction treatment, healthcare and life skills needed to become happy, healthy, productive, law-abiding citizens who are able to contribute to the community and help others. WHY? The ministry of Jesus Christ is one of repentance and forgiveness of sins, new life and reconciliation. Why? Ex-Offenders who covenant with a Re-Entry Team are less likely to re-offend and more likely to become productive happy law-abiding citizens who contribute to the community and help others. How? Tough Love, Faith, Mentors, Accountability, Friends, help with job search, housing, and other immediate needs. Is this a free hand out available to any ex-offender? NO! Reintegration is not a free hand out; it is about relationships, education, and empowerment. Some financial assistance is offered to qualified candidates who have been approved by the Re-Entry Team after completing a rigorous approval process. Will the Team assist sex offenders? NO. Ex-sex-offenders will not be eligible for the Greene County ReEntry Program. HOW CAN YOU HELP? Reintegration needs your prayers, support, and financial gifts. It costs money to travel to prisons, train teams, provide support materials, assist with startup costs such as housing and utility deposits, job training, transportation, clothing, household items. Many prisoners leave prison life with only $100 and no family or friends to assist them. ONE MORE WHY: “So, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Godself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Godself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. Please make your checks to “Greene County Re-Entry Team”. For questions, or to become a mentor, please contact Dave Bohnet or Jim North. Central Christian Church May, 2013 Memorial Weekend Big Build at Christian Conference Center Planning for the Memorial Day Weekend building blitz for Our Path Together is well underway! Volunteers will begin gathering on Friday, May 24 and enjoy some fun time together that evening before the building begins on Saturday morning. People may stay on site in cabins, Retreat House, or in their campers and RVs. The main lodge is rented for the weekend, so our registration and sign-in/information will take place at the Retreat House, which will also be our weekend kitchen, under the leadership of Rev. Earlin Shanno. If you’d like to help provide food for the weekend, contact him at icl567@aol.com . There is no charge for housing or meals, just make your donation to Our Path Together. We’ll begin with a continental breakfast on Saturday morning between 6:45 and 7:45 AM. Devotions, introductions, and instructions will follow. Teams will be moving materials, working at sawing stations where different sizes will be cut as well as other tasks. Later, teams will begin building walls. When things are ready, the walls will begin to be assembled and erected for each of the three cabins. Throughout the day there will be breaks and lunch served on site. About 4:00 we plan to clean up for the day and hopefully share a BBQ and some fellowship time. Sunday will have a similar schedule. We plan to have a communion service in the evening. Monday’s schedule will be similar, with the hope of having all three cabins standing with rafters and sheeting in place. There will be an information day on Saturday April 27 at 10:00 at Christian Conference Center for anyone who would like to come and see the plans and learn more. If you’ve already registered, you should receive a sample schedule of the day and other information electronically. If you have not yet registered, please do so either online at www.uppermidwestcc.org or by calling the Regional Office at 515.255.3168. If you would like to help provide some of the tools that will be used, contact Diana at dianacc1@gmail.com. Central Christian Church May, 2013 Katie Fremel & Chris Nelson Saturday, May 4 at 2:00 p.m. Central Christian Church Fellowship Hall Katie and Chris are registered at: Ace Hardware, Bed Bath and Beyond, Printer’s Box, Target, and Walmart Dear Church Family, Thanks for all your lovely cards and well wishes during my recovery. God continues to be good and I’m climbing upward again. When life knocks us down, we have to get up and try again. With His power and grace I will make it. Thanks to all, Pat Goughnour Words cannot begin to express our thanks for all the many words of comfort and sympathy, the many cards, the gifts and sharing of food following the death of our brother, Joey Godwin. You will always have a special place in our hearts. We thank you all so very much. Jessie Custer and Jacqui Mentzer and all the rest of our family. Central Christian Church May, 2013 Thank you to all who sent cards, best wishes and attended my 80th birthday party. Your birthday wishes made joining the 80+ Club fun! Glenn Carstensen Thank you to Al & Ann Frederick for the new piano lamp. The musicians especially love the dimmer! Worship Committee March, 2013 Needed to meet monthly budget Our average weekly offering for Mar was March Offerings March Budgeted Expenses $12,319.83 ($2843.04 each week) $ 1,416.07 $ 7,170.42 $12,453.23 March Average Worship Attendance – 96 March Average Sunday School Attendance – 33 The complete financial statement is presented at board meetings and is available in the office. Central Christian Church May, 2013 May Schedules Ushers - David & Joey Rasmussen Deacons - Glenna Strong, Jacqui Mentzer, Nick Foster, Ann Frederick, Gabby Pena Worship Leader Elders 5 – Molly Hoskins 12 – Jerald Deal 19 – Crystal Heard 26 – Jamie Leggitt 5 – Jerald Deal & Jane Nelson 12 – Larry Miller & Carla Offenburger 19 – Jessie Custer & Julie Cornelius 26 – Marcia Roeder & Bob Strong Sunday School Nursery Attendants Worship Nursery Attendants & Assistants 5 – Sharyl Powers 12 – Sharyl Powers 19 – Jane Nelson 26 – Crystal Heard 5 – Marcia Roeder & Molly Hoskins 12 – Nancy Winger & Camron Roath 19 – Jane Nelson & Molly Hoskins 26 – Crystal Heard & Brooke Hayes Communion will be served to our shut-ins and homebound members May 19 at 1:00 p.m. Elders serving: Jessie Custer, Bob Strong, & Carla Offenburger May Birthdays 4 – Anna Vincent, Rebecca, Pat Hurley 7 – Bryce Timmons 8 – Charlotte Smith 9 – Jackson Turner 10 – Barbara Wolf 11 – Ashley Galbraith Lorentzen 12 – Danny Moranville 15 – Wilma Dunlop 16 – Cindy Deal 18 – Jeff Melton 19 – Helen Nelson 24 – Joeline Carstensen 29 – Jim Rasmussen 31 – Michael Ross May Anniversaries 10 – Ryne & Katie Owen 27 – Jerald & Cindy Deal 28 – Floyd & Maxine Dunlop, Rudy & Nikki Uebel 29 – Paul & June Carstensen 31- Paul Nugent & Mailee Kerr Central Christian Church May, 2013 Please keep the following individuals and situations in your prayers. *Phyllis Ashcraft *Tammy Calvert * Jessie Custer and Jacqui Mentzer *Zelma Dyer Norma Ferguson *Diane Foster *Pat Goughnour *Esther Knapp & Gary *Joe Millard *Marjorie Moorman *Carla Offenburger’s granddaughter, Lindsay *Family of Lori Redfern *Kenny Russell *Dorothy Van Horn Regency Park Norma Dunivan Dave Williams ~ Evelyn Bancroft GCMC Long Term Care Helen Nelson ~ Wilma Dunlop Shirlee Wiggins Zelma Dyer The Gardens Dave Wolf Phyllis McCollom Shady Oaks in Lake City Eleanor Hanen Hearth Stone Memory Care Unit - Boone Lois Olson Market to Market Relay The Market to Market relay will be Saturday, May 11th. Relay teams will run from Jefferson to Des Moines starting at 6:30 a.m. Central Christian and First Presbyterian Youth Force are volunteers for the Market to Market Relay. Adult volunteers are needed too! Help us raise funds for youth force and enjoy a great event on the Racoon River Valley Trail! For more information about the race visit https://www.facebook.com/M2MRelay Central Christian Church May, 2013 Central Christian Church 108 N. Elm Street Jefferson, IA 50129 Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Permit No. 209 Jefferson, IA 50129 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED We are Disciples of Christ, a Central Christian Church Sunday School – 9:15 a.m Sunday Worship Service – 10:30 a.m. Phone ~ 386-4315 Fax ~ 386-4016 E-mail ~ jeffccc@netins.net Web site: www.lovinggodlovingneighbor.org Facebook: Central Christian Church-jefferson Ia Office hours – Monday thru Friday: 8:30 – 11:30 a.m. Pastor – Debra Griffin – 386-3887 Visitation Minister ~ Julie Cornelius Church Secretary – Melody Larsen Minister of Music ~ Larry Dowd Audio/Video team ~ Gary Hall, Tom Powers Custodian ~ Kevin Hoskins movement for wholeness in a fragmented world. As part of the one body of Christ, we welcome all to the Lord’s Table as God has welcomed us. * Disciples of Christ Statement of Identity The Good News of Central Christian Church is published monthly by Central Christian Church, 108 N. Elm Street, Jefferson, Iowa. Articles may be submitted for publication consideration by the 15 th of each month. We may be reached at 386-4315 / Fax# 386-4016 / email at jeffccc108@gmail.com. Central Christian Church May, 2013