We are God’s people at
through the love of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our
sins.
We are called to love one another and to
proclaim the good news
to everyone through worship, missions and fellowship.
“Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations,
baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and the
Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I
am with
you always, even to the end of
the age” Matthew 28:19-20
NAS
A new year is here!!! I am looking
forward to 2009. A new year always has a sense of anticipation.
I know we will do great things in 2009 as we
grow in our faith, make disciples of Jesus Christ,
and
participate in the transformation of this world.
The theme for 2009 is growing in
faith, making disciples and transforming the world.
We
will continue our long standing ministries of this church, but this year as we
participate in these ministries can
we ask
ourselves how each ministry helps us grow, make, and transform.
A new year brings new possibilities
and programs. I would like to briefly
describe a few of them.
In our fast paced hectic world, daily
scripture reading and study often gets pushed off our “to do” lists.
The
Wednesday night bible study group has been experimenting with a new scripture
study program.
We
are developing web based interactive ministry for the church.
This will be a daily devotion based
on the Scripture study technique introduced by Bishop Wills.
It is called SOAPY.
S
stands for Scripture, O stands for observation, A
stands for application, P stands for prayer, and Y stands for yielding.
Each day a scripture lesson (based on
the Upper Room scripture for the day) will be emailed out.
Individuals
will have the opportunity to make personal observations about the Scripture,
explore how it
applies
to personal life, craft a prayer, and decide what one must yield to live into
the scripture.
Now some of do not have access to
email or the internet. I would like to
develop personal journals.
This
way we can all participate. After the
first of the year I would be glad to visit your Sunday school
class to
talk about the program. If we are
intentional about scripture reading and study we will certainly grow in our
faith.
In 2009 we should be purposeful in
making disciples. Attention to being a
welcoming church in which
visitors
see how active we are is very important. I have two challenges in 2009.
Number
one: volunteer for a new ministry within the church. You might want to help
with the nursery
or join
the communion team. Perhaps you might
like to join the praise band, operate the worship
computer,
or join the choir. When visitors see an active
church they wish to join in the fun, fellowship, and devotion.
Making disciples also means inviting
people to come, worship, and serve.
As
the year begins be in prayer for someone you know who has no church home, or
has been away for some time,
and
invite them to come and worship with us.
I am sure we have opportunities to invite.
This invitation might come at the supper
table, the break room, or maybe while waiting in line at the grocery
story.
Finally
we are called to participate in the transformation of the world. Late in the fall of 2008,
we began
to have conversations about the field which surrounds our beautiful
church.
God
has given us this land to use with utmost stewardship and perhaps the best way
to respond is with a
On faith we will plant and wait for
vegetables to ripen. Just as we are to attend to our growth in
faith we
will have to attend to young growing plants.
A project like this will help us make disciples of Jesus Christ.
When
neighbors hear of how we are using the gift of the field they will want to
become part of such faithful church.
And
we will transform the lives of individuals as we bring fresh healthy veggies to
people
who are
not able to grow their own or afford to buy.
We have much to look forward to in
2009. We are a church that is
wonderfully ready to grow in our faith,
make disciples of
Jesus Christ, and participate in the transformation of this world.
Grace and Peace
Brother Kevin
The Circle of Friends will have its first
meeting of 2009 at
at the home of Joan LeDuc,
We think this will be an exciting year with
lots of promise.
We encourage women of the church who are
looking to form close friendships
and to work on worthwhile projects and
missions to join us that night.
We will be mapping out our plans for the
year, and there will something for everyone.
* * *
* * *
* *
The Circle of Friends would like to thank
everyone who helped make
Toys from Heaven 2008 a
success.
We were able to provide for almost 150
children!
Each
child received toys, a filled stocking and books.
These past three Christmases have been a
blessing to all who have been involved,
from shoppers to greeters, gift-wrappers to
Santa's gift elves and all those
in-between!
Thank you again and know that you were part
of making Christmas special for so many children.
UMYF meets every Sunday at
Any youth 6th grade and
older is welcome to join us!
UMYF newsletter is available now
online!
We are
planning lots of activities.
All parents
are encouraged to come to youth any Sunday.
You are
always welcome.
YOUTH FUNDRAISER
Plans are being made
to have a luncheon
fundraiser soon. Watch
for more info . . .
Help support our
youth
program and enjoy a
hot lunch and fellowship.
JANUARY
30th thru FEBRUARY 1ST
“Undignified”
“ . . I will celebrate before the LORD.
I
will become even more undignified than
this . . .”
2nd Samuel 6: 21-22
The New Chapel United Methodist Women honored me recently with
the 2008 Special
Surprised and very humbly I accepted this.
There is no greater satisfaction in serving the Lord than
through this organization of our church.
I would encourage all
women both young and old to get involved in the UMW,
either in the
This ministry is with
and to other women children and youth both in the church and in the community.
The
Before that many of our mothers and aunts bet monthly to serve, learn and also to
socialize.
Ollie Ruth Head
1 – Sue Hix
8 – Sara Weaver
9 – Tommy Powell
11 – Jeff Feaster
12 – Marvin Tabb
14 – June Tabb
16 – Linda Hix
24 – Zach Dority
29 – Bettye Fitz
Please let us know when
your birthday is so we
can help you celebrate!
The names for 2009 Sunday fellowship hostess are posted
on the bulletin board right outside the fellowship hall.
The names scheduled are random.
Please check the list for the time when you are to host
fellowship.
If you cannot host that particular Sunday it is your
responsibility to switch with
someone and please let Bunny know.
It is nice to have a fresh cup of coffee and a small
refreshment while we
fellowship with one another and we all need to do our part in this
area.
Thank you in advance!
January 4 – April
Rives
January 11 –
Kathy Krites
January 18 –
Cindy Kelly
January 25 – P J
Marston
As most of you know
we have a program here at New Chapel for you to be able to purchase gift cards,
like you do in the
stores, but we get a percentage of the value of each card and it goes
into a fund to help with
projects around the church.
We purchased the sign
out front with this program and very close to having it paid off.
Many of you shop at
retailers that are on the
the “scrip list” like Walmart, Kmart, Belk, Lowes, OCharleys, Applebees, Macys, just
to name a few.
We encourage you to take advantage of this
program, not only is it very convenient for you,
but you are
supporting New Chapel in the meantime.
Just think ahead on
what you need to purchase and on the first and third Sundays of each month
Bunny will be happy
to take your orders.
Cards are delivered
to you the next Sunday or before (if you make those arrangements.)
You can do more
research on the SCRIP program by going to www.glscrip.com or just ask Bunny.
THANKS!
Don’t forget we visit our friends at Morningside the
first Sunday of each month.
Join us at
SERMON SERIES
January 4th – Matthew 28:
16-20
January 11th – Matthew 2:
1-12
January 18th – 2 Corinthians
January 25th – Jonah 3: 1-5
Jesus is an investment that
never loses
interest!
Schedule
of Services/Activities
Sundays