Bethpageumc's Blog

Spiritual Gifts

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 22:40:43 +0000

This Sunday we will continue in our sermon series and group studies on Spiritual Gifts. Last week we laid a foundation for looking at spiritual gifts by recognizing that they are gifts freely and lovingly given to us by God and by God’s choosing, and that they are spiritual in nature and not the same as our natural talents and abilities. This week, we will look at the different spiritual gifts, spending a small amount of time on each of them. It would be helpful to you to have a better idea of which gift(s) God might have given you before the sermon on Sunday. We have copies of a Spiritual Gift Discovery Tool in the foyer at church that you can fill out (these will probably be the most helpful), or you can do one online at one of these sites:

http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1355371/k.9501/Spiritual_Gifts.htm

http://www2.elca.org/evangelizingchurch/assessments/spiritgifts.html

http://www.firstbaptistnashville.org/resources/spiritual-gifts-inventory/

I continue to blog daily during Lent, and you’re invited to follow along and join in the conversation at http://johnhill8243.blogspot.com/

Post for the week of February 22

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 22:26:10 +0000

We are fully into the season of Lent now, and I hope you are taking advantage of one of our small group studies during Lent on our spiritual gifts. It is still not too late to participate in one of our three groups: Sundays during Sunday School (led by Stacy Macon); Sundays at 5:30 at David and Candace Woodard’s home; and Thursdays at 10:00am at Gerald and Mike Johnson’s home.

This Sunday, we will begin our 3-week sermon series on Spiritual Gifts (based on 1 Corinthians 12) before celebrating Youth Sunday on March 21, Palm Sunday on March 28, and Easter Sunday on April 4.

During the season of Lent, many people choose to adopt a spiritual discipline. This usually involves giving up something (like sweets, television, or even meals) or taking on something (a spiritual practice such as a devotional reading or giving to a particular ministry). This year, I have taken on the practice of blogging daily. You are welcome to read along at http://johnhill8243.blogspot.com/

Blogging for Lent

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:29:27 +0000

I will be blogging during Lent. You’re invited to check it out at http://johnhill8243.blogspot.com/

Grace and Peace,
John Hill

Beginning of Lent

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:01:53 +0000

Tomorrow is the beginning of the season of Lent. I hope you will join us for our Ash Wednesday service this evening at 6:00 as we are reminded of our need to repent and believe the Gospel. This Sunday, we will conclude our sermon series from the book of Ephesians, and we have saved a fun Sunday for last. We will be talking about the armor of God – bet you can’t wait for the visual aids! Also, this Sunday, we will kick-off our Lent Study groups using the book Serving from the Heart. I do hope you will participate in one of these groups that will go along with our sermon series beginning the first Sunday in March.

Lent Small Groups

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:21:10 +0000

The season of Lent – a time of repentance and preparation for the celebration of the Resurrection – is only a week away, beginning with our Ash Wednesday service on February 17th at 6:00pm. As we enter into this time of year, I hope you will join one of the small groups forming to study our spiritual gifts. They promise to be a wonderful way to form and deepen friendships, to discover more about yourself and who God has created you to be, and to empower you for God’s work in the world and the church. Sign-up sheets will be in the foyer on Sunday morning for the groups. If you are interested in leading a group, please let me know ASAP. Also, this Sunday, we’ll continue in our sermon series from Ephesians looking at how we are called to live in relationship with one another. I hope to see you there!

Nursery Position Open

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:44:12 +0000

As you may be aware, Susan Phillips, our Nursery Director, has stepped down after more than 5 years of dedicated service to our youngest children and their families. The Staff-Parish Relations Committee met in January and decided that we would like to hire a new Nursery Director with two changes: 1) stop providing a nursery at the 11:00 service and 2) change the pay to $50 per Sunday. Please begin to spread the word that we are looking to hire and encourage anyone who might be interested in the position to send me a resume at johnhillbumc(at)gmx.com. SPRC will look at the applicants during our meeting next month (Feb 22) and go from there. In the meantime, we will be relying on volunteers to serve in the nursery (2 each Sunday from 8:30 to 11:00). Please contact Valerie Grant at bumc(at)nctc.com if you would be willing to serve.

Worship on Souper Bowl Sunday

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:10:51 +0000

I hope everyone is thawing out from the snow by now! We had a great worship and fellowship time on Sunday morning with those who were able to venture out and brave the elements. Please make plans to join us this Sunday for worship as we continue in our series from the book of Ephesians as we look at 4:14-5:20 together. Paul offers some pretty intense instructions to his readers in this passage, and we won’t shy away from them. I hope to see you then! If you can, remember to bring $1 or a can of food to help restock our Food Pantry for the Souper Bowl of Caring – every little gift can make a big difference for someone else!

Ministry Together

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:26:35 +0000

I give thanks to God for our church and the ways that it has responded to the crisis in Haiti. We had a powerful time of prayer at the 8:30 service on Sunday for our brothers and sisters there, and then at youth group we put together 32 health kits to give to UMCOR to send to Haiti. Special thanks goes to Julie McGuire who did all the shopping and used her bargain-hunting skills to reduce the cost of each kit from $12 (projected by UMCOR) to $6.50. If you would like to give specifically for these kits, let me know or simply write in the memo line of your check “Haiti Health Kits.” Mike Sawyer is also working on organizing a mission trip to Haiti in the coming weeks. This Sunday, we’ll continue our sermon series and look at the third chapter of Ephesians. We’ll talk about what it means to be in ministry together – something we are already doing by helping those in need in Haiti. See you Sunday!

Called to a New Life in Christ

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:52:15 +0000

This Sunday, we will continue our sermon series on the book of Ephesians by looking at its second chapter, which tells us that though we were once dead, we have been made alive in Christ. Part of our new life in Christ is offering ourselves to others in service. I hope you’ll join us on the next two Saturdays as we seek to embody this spirit of service as we go to the Hope Clinic to repaint their interior on January 16th starting at 9:00am and as we have a Pancake Breakfast here at the church on January 23rd from 8:00 to 10:00am to raise money for our youth to be able to attend Warmth in Winter. I look forward to experiencing new life together in Christ with you!

Series on Ephesians Starting This Sunday

Bethpage United Methodist Church — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 18:03:34 +0000

We begin a new sermon series this week from the book of Ephesians. This Sunday will be an introduction to the book and a look at the “Foundations” that the first chapter lays down for the readers that will set the stage for the rest of the book as we study it together. Stacy Macon’s Sunday School class will be studying Ephesians as well beginning this week, so if you are looking to gain some more insight you might want to join them – all are welcome! Below is an outline of the sermon series. If you need to miss a week, come on out the next week – it’s not like the tv shows “Lost” or “24” where you need to see each week for the later weeks to make sense.

January 10 – Ephesians 1 – “Foundations”

January 17 – Ephesians 2 – “Who We Are in Christ”

January 24 – Ephesians 3 – “Our Ministry”

January 31 (combined service) – Ephesians 4:1-16 – “Unity”

February 7 – Ephesians 4:17-5:20 – “New Life”

February 14 – Ephesians 5:21-6:9 – “Rules for Relationships”

February 21 – Ephesians 6:10-24 – “The Armor of God”