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The Lamp (Matthew 5:15&16) The Newsletter of the 732-671-1786 email: Middreform@aol.com Website: www.mrchurch.org -Our is to be a faithful witness to Jesus Christ and for every member to be a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, demonstrating our faith and commitment to the work of the church, to each other, to our community, and to our world. |
A Word from Our Pastor…
Dear Members and Friends,
“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” – Matthew 16:25, NRSV
Our mission statement says that we not only wish to be a faithful witness to Jesus, but for every member to be a faithful and committed follower of Jesus. In short, our goal is to be Jesus’ disciples. A disciple is one who follows after Jesus Christ, learning from his teachings, applying them to his or her life, sharing those teachings with others and seeking daily to become more and more like Jesus. Receiving Jesus as our Lord and Savior; what we did when we became Christians, is only the start. Your journey only began on that day, or on the day you made your profession of faith. If we are to be disciples, we must adopt three life attitudes:
1 – A willingness to deny ourselves
2 – A willingness to take up our cross
3 – A willingness to follow
We live this out when we switch from a life centered on ourselves, our families, our work or anything else that isn’t God and begin to center our lives around God; God’s will, worship of God with fellow believers and pleasing God. We continue as we submit humbly to God’s rule no matter what the cost is for us personally. We take up our cross, not by bearing some nuisance burden or by tolerating an annoying person, but by making a moment-by-moment decision to walk the same path of compassionate service and obedience as Jesus did. Remember; Jesus humbled himself and became obedient, even unto death on the cross!
Real discipleship implies a real commitment. Real commitment involves pledging our entire existence to Jesus and serving Jesus. A disciple is committed to doing those things that serve Jesus rather than simply seeking after those things that bolster one’s own power, improve other peoples’ opinions of us and our standing in the world community.
Are you a disciple? Am I a disciple? How can we know for sure? John 13:35 has the answer: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” When we act in true love toward one another, and not just those who think, act and speak just like us, we are disciples. When we love each other enough to insist on healthy relationships, rather than co-dependent ones, we are disciples. When we submit to the discipline and teachings of Jesus and we pass those on to others, we are Jesus’ disciples.
Peace,
Pastor Scott
Schedule of Greeters, Counters, and Communion Committee September 2008
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DATE |
GREETER& COUNTER |
GREETER& COUNTER |
WORSHIP LITURGIST |
COMMUNION |
WORSHIP SERVICE |
|
9/7 |
Linda Millward |
|
|
Brian Steib and Pam |
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost |
|
9/14 |
Richard Millward |
Bill Potter |
|
|
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost |
|
9/21 |
Mark Poyner |
Christine |
|
|
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost |
|
9/28 |
Karen Schmidt |
Brian |
|
|
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost |
Secretary Office Hours – The church office will be open on Mondays from 9 a.m. until11 a.m., Wednesdays from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m., and Fridays from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. Cecilia requests that all information for bulletins be submitted by no later than noon on Thursday for inclusion on the following Sunday. Also, all articles for inclusion in the newsletter must be in the office by the 20th of the month. Thank-you!
Cowpie Bingo…. Beginning in the middle of June, tickets for this year’s Cowpie Bingo will be available from all Consistory members and the church office. Only 600 tickets will be sold at $20.00 each for your chance to win $5000. Please help to make this event another huge success. The date will be Sept. 27th at the Potter Farm in Holmdel. More details will follow. Tickets can also be obtained from Cindy Reya at CindyReya@aol.com, (732 741-0207) or at 9 Page Drive, Red Bank, N.J. 07701.o
Roses, Roses, Roses … To Linda Millward who has done a wonderful job weeding and pruning plants on our grounds, to Bill Wallace, Mercedes Barnek, Bob Hofmann, Britt Raynor, Earl and Maria Siddons and all who have helped by cutting the lawn, to Dan and Meg Kelly’s son Alex who has done some weeding and yard work, to Kathy Harris and Shannon Berg for their nursery program and coffee fellowship times, to Bev Scarano and crew for their work on Vacation Bible School, Mike Steib for his work on the new lease for the Academy Preschool, Brian Steib and Linda Millward for leading worship while Pastor was away on vacation, the youth group parents for cooking and setting up the youth group fund raising picnic, to Brad and Sue (Coventry) Asher who donated a brand-new freezer for our education building. The old freezer, which was really old, ran continually, was rusted inside and usually frozen solid! The new one should save us a lot of money on electricity and will certainly look much nicer for all of our activities. Even though they live in Kentucky, they always remember their “home” church.
Newsletter Changes – Beginning in March 2008,newsletters will be posted on the website, e-mailed to homes and hard copies will be made available in church as well as mailed to shut-ins via 1st class mail to save money. Bill Wallace is requesting that everyone please send their e-mail address, in order to process the news letter via e-mail so everyone will receive it on time, saving a tree, and over all publication costs.
Deacons – The deacons wish to make everyone aware that it is back to school time and along with that, we have the opportunity to give needy children a new outfit and shoes through our Community Outreach Group (COG). Please refer to the flyers in your Sunday bulletins and/or the church’s website for details on how you can help! Thank-you!
Dorcas Circle – meets the 3rd Tuesday of the month at 7:30 PM in various members’ homes
Our meetings will resume in September
Ruth Circle – All Ruth Circle meetings are on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 1:00 PM in the Ed Building except during the months of January and February. Will resume in September
Band Of Brothers (BOB) - this is our men’s group. The next meeting will be Sept. 10th at 7:00PM in the Education Building.
Denominational Dues – the purpose of this assessment is a requirement of the Reformed Church to provide membership dues for every declared member in the congregation. The annual fee is known as the “denominational assessment” and includes dues for our Classis, Regional Synod, and General Synod
This year our assessment is $85.28 per confirmed member, not per family. While no individual is required to pay the fee, we appreciate contributions for this assessment at any time during the year. The total due amounts to over $7,000 this year, which is a significant part of our budget. If you wish to help pay this assessment, please mark your check “denominational assessment”.
Thank you.
General Synod $32.34
Theological Education $ 4.53
Board of Benefit Services $ 1.50
Regional Synod $31.66
Classis Operations $15.25
Calender of Upcoming Events
September 7th
Blessing of Backpacks
September 14th
Rally Day
October 12th
October 26th
Who Is My Neighbor?
$85.28