The Church Visitor
from Central Christian Church

Vol. 16 Issue 10

May 1, 2008

Finally with the arrival of Spring I have been taking the opportunity to start getting my yard and flower beds cleaned up and ready to roll.   This past winter was particularly hard on my lawn and plants.  Recently when I was transplanting a rose bush, I noticed how its root system had spread out equally into what I considered the fertile dirt and the “bad soil” along our sidewalk.  It appeared to me that this rose bush was finding the necessary nutrients for growth within the diversity of the soils available to its root system.  I was moving it because it was growing too vigorously for the area it was planted in.

As I think back to this rose bush, I believe I see a parallel application with regard to our faith.  We should strive to develop a root system that is diverse.  We need to hold a faith that is anchored by both reason and emotion.  We need to know and experience God with both our heart and our mind.

The heart is that power within us that encourages us to respond to what we feel.  The heart brings to us our passions, our hope, our tenderness, and the sensitivity of our emotions.   The heart delivers to us a sense of love that causes us to act on impulse rather than on wide ranging deliberations. The heart pulls us to action and inspires us to take actions that we sense will make a difference and will offer hope, comfort and healing.  However, these passions and hopes when left to themselves can be hard to sustain, and can even become destructive and irresponsible.

 The mind is the power by which we meet God intellectually and logically.  God is apparent to us because of what we see, what we learn, and how we reason.  Our mind helps us think things through and anticipate outcomes based on experience, facts, and precedent. However, when we try to know God only by virtue of our thinking and reasoning, we discover that he can become too cold and calculating in our application of logic and facts.

 To know the fullness of God’s presence we must learn to coordinate our thinking and our feeling.  When we do this, we find that our faith is neither unreasonable nor insensitive.  Just as a car runs by the electrical spark of a battery and the mechanical response of the engine, so we as Christians need to develop the fine art of operating and serving on the basis of love and reason.

 Roger

DWM Group Meetings for May
Group 1
Wednesday, May 7th
1:00 P.M. at the church

Group 2
Tuesday, May 13th
10:00 A.M. at Ruth Waldal’s; 370 Canyon Dr.

Group 3
Monday, May 5th
7:00 P.M. at Carol Ghan’s; 1380 Fern

Group 4
Wednesday, May 7th
1:00 P.M. at Lois Gross’; 910E McKinley

Group 5
Monday, May 5th
7:00 P.M. at Joy Orchard’s; 1175 Lavine

All women are invited to join any group you want.  Find a day and time that works for you and come to our meeting.  We have a great time of fun, fellowship and great food.

Don’t forget Ladies Night Out on May 14th at 6:30 P.M.  Make your reservations today by calling the church office or buying your ticket on Sunday before worship and at coffee hour. 

We will have our next General Meeting on June 19th at 7:00 P.M.  Come and check us out!  This will also be our installation of officers meeting.

Ladies Night Out

We will have a “Ladies Night Out” for all ladies and young ladies.  It will be on May 14th starting at 6:30 P.M.  The CMF will serve us a dinner of rice, green beans, green salad, rolls, sherbet for dessert and your choice of salmon or chicken.  Reservations are needed and you can make them by calling the church office.  The cost is $8.50 for ladies and $5.00 for young ladies 7-12.  Babysitting will be provided if you let us know when you make your reservation. 

This promises to be a fun night.  Members of the Barbershop Chorus will be singing for our entertainment. 

SEA Group

The ChristCare SEA group will meet this Sunday evening at 5:30 to address the establishing of a new group, the rejuvenation of an existing group, and the structuring of an ongoing group.

ChristCare

This week provided the setting and opportunity to allow one of our ChristCare groups to divide and develop another group.  Over the course of the last year this group grew from four people to twelve people.  The concept of ChristCare is to provide a small group setting where participants hold Christ at the center and can spend time in Bible Study, Prayer, Mutual Support, and Service.  Because it functions as a small group where people get to know each other, to offer support to each other by listening and praying, accept the challenge of becoming better acquainted with the Bible, and extending service; it is essential that the group stay small.  The plan is that when a group gets up in size to have 12 or more members it should divide into two or more groups so that the small group experience is honored and so that others will have opportunity to be a part of a group.

The tentative plans are that one group will meet on the first and third Wednesdays of each month and the other group will meet on the second and fourth Wednesdays.  These plans are adaptable as we give due consideration to those who may be interested in joining a group.

If you are interested in knowing more about ChristCare please contact:  Roger Bray, Karen Dormier, Nathalee Morgan, Joan Beal, or Kimberly Bray.

JR Youth Group

May 4th: 12:30 - 4:30 We will be going to Idaho Falls to see the Pharaoh exhibit. There will be no charge for the following kids: Tonika, Darious, Maria, Angelina, Kaitlyn, Gabe, Dynae, Skylar, April, Chelena, Danielle, Daisy, Anna, Jordan, Derrick, and Kody. These kids attended at least two youth groups during the month of April. For all others who would like to join us there will be a $5.00 charge. In order for youth to go, they need to have their youth group forms in with emergency information on them.  Additional forms are available at the church.  I will have lunch for the kids that we will eat right before we leave. We will also have snacks but we won't be providing dinner.

May 11th: Happy Mother's Day! No youth group.

May 18th: 4:30 - 6:30 We will have youth group at the church.

May 25th: Have a great Memorial Weekend! No youth group

Sr. Youth Group

We will be going with the Jr. Youth to the exhibit in IF this week.  Be at the church by 12:30 P.M.  Check the Jr. Youth article for more information. 

Mother’s Day

On Mother’s Day we will offer special recognition to all the ladies in attendance and will be tying the theme of Mothers to the reality that we are also observing Pentecost, the birth of the Church.  While lifting up the role that mothers hold in God’s design, we will link their role to the equipping that the Holy Spirit provides them.  The birth of the church on Pentecost was denoted by the filling of the Disciples with the Holy Spirit and consequent power of their witness to the people in Jerusalem.

Because of the early observance of Easter we will be observing Pentecost much earlier than usual as well.  In fact we are experiencing phenomena in that Pentecost and Mother’s Day will not be jointly celebrated on the same day for more than two hundred years.

Camps and Activities

June 24th: 26th: Kids camp

July 1st: We will be taking the Jr. Youth grades 1st -6th to lagoon.

July 7th - 11th: JR camp

July 14th - 19th: CHI RHO camp

July 21st - 25th: Vacation Bible School

July 28th - Aug. 2nd: CYF camp

We will have more information about these activities in the next few weeks. If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call.  Shannon  604-1995

Camp Staff Needed

We are in need of people to work as staff at most of our church camps.  We need adults who can help in either support positions, like the cooks helpers, or as counselors to the children and youth.  We particularly need people that have some a medical background.  The dates for the camps are:  
           Kids Camp                    June 24-26
           JR Camp                       July 7-11
          Chi Rho Camp               July 14-19
         CYF Camp                     July 28-August 2

If you are interested in helping out in this vital ministry please contact Roger and he will forward your interest to the camp directors.

Counselors In Training (CIT's)

If you are interested in being a CIT at one of the camps I have applications you can fill out. We are looking for teens who have a good heart and the ability to help teach the younger kids the love of Jesus as well as just having fun. If you are interested and you are in at least 7th grade come and talk to me.  Shannon

Appreciation Expressed

I want to thank all the people who filled in for me while I took some vacation time to see Washington D.C. and New York City for the first time.  I appreciate Dan Macdonald stepping in to preach, Mimi Macdonald for taking care of the prayer time and Nick Green for presiding and providing the Children’s moment.

I had a great time of sightseeing and being inspired by what I saw and experienced.

Roger

CONGRATULATIONS!

We have two more youths who have met their point requirements for camp scholarships.  Great job Derrick Bieker and Jordan Wilde!

Biblical Realities

In his book Jesus’ Twenty Megatruths, Herb Miller denotes that Jesus spent much time teaching: “Financial wealth makes it more difficult to enter God’s kingdom because your money brings a false sense of power that distracts you from seeking something better.”

Through his development of this theme Miller points out that “human attention has limited capacity.  Preoccupation with one priority limits our ability to concentrate on another. That is why Jesus said to the rich young ruler who came wanting to be a disciple: ‘If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor.’ (Matthew 19:21)  Jesus did not prescribe that remedy for everyone.  This was the only person to whom he gave such a stern command.  And he did not do so because money is bad.  He saw the man was so hooked on money he couldn’t hook onto anything else.  The man went away sorrowful.  His life was too full of the small god.  Full house, no room left in the inn, and he didn’t have the courage to turn it out.”

We believe that our giving is a spiritual discipline that places the power of money under the domain of Christ.  When we put Christ first and foremost in our lives we discover how we control our money and hold sway over it.  Often in the world around us we discover that many people fall victim to the power that money and want holds over need and stewardship.

We love because God first loved us.  We give because he first gave to us.

The Stewardship Department

Recycling to Help DWM Mission Goal

Do you recycle?  If so there is a way you can help the Disciples Women Ministries meet their goal for missions.  We have set up an account at Pacific Recycling on Highway 30 to accept your items and the money will go on the DWM account.  When you take your recycling to Pacific tell them it is for the DWM account.  After they weigh it, the amount the recycling is worth will be put on our account. 

There are many items that you can recycle.  They take newspaper, card board-corrugated only; magazines, computer paper; white ledger paper; aluminum cans and tin cans.  They do not take plastic or glass.  There are also scrap metals.  The list is on the bulletin board in the hall. 

Thank you in advance for your help. 

Soup Labels

The DWM (Disciples Women’s Ministries) is collecting soup UPC and lids from various products.  In the past the whole label from the products was needed but now it is just the UPC code and lids. 

If you save these and bring them to the church there is a direction sheet of what to save on the table in the foyer by the box for the labels.