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Worship Forecast
This week Rev. James Batten will share a sermon with us titled "Embracing Our Humanness" at the 10;30 am service. The scripture for the service is Genesis 1:27-31a and John 8:3-11. We are very blessed to have Jim as a devoted member of our church and as a Pastor Emeritus.
Our 8:30 service will be led by another dear member of our church, Dennis Broussard.
There will be no 4 pm Saturday service this week.
Please invite a friend to come and worship with us at 79 Clinton Street, Concord, NH, where we serve as a reconciling congregation to our community.
GENESIS 1:27-31a
27 So God created humankind[a] in his image,
in the image of God he created them;[b]
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” 29 God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.
JOHN 8:3-11
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground.[a] 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.”[b] And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”]][c]
Monday Morning Quarterback
On leave, will be back next week!
Ladies, we hope you can register to attend the Annual New England Conference UMW
on Saturday October 26 at the First United Methodist Church in Gilford, NH.
The NH District UMW board members are reaching out to see if we can have
a winning number of NH attendees. Invite a guest. Enjoy the ride and program.
Pick up a registration form in Narthex on the Welcome Table.
Mail to designated person listed on form by deadline Oct. 19. Thank You.
Nancy Fransen, Vice President NH District UMW
Attention UMC Bakers:
On Sunday, October 27, a bake sale will be set up in the Narthex.
We need your contribution for home-baked goodies to sell after
the United Methodist Women's worship service.
This is our annual fundraiser for Dr. Belinda Forbes ministry in Nicaragua.
Any questions, please contact Nancy Fransen 224-7635.
We Thank you for your "baking and buying" participation.
SURVEY STILL AVAILABLE!
WE'D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
To celebrate our Kickoff/Homecoming we’ve prepared a survey that you can participate in online or using a paper copy, found in the Narthex, to help Pastor Cheryl get to know you and your gifts and to share in the delight that is our church family. Thanks to the six people who've responded to the survey so far. Please join them and take this short survey now. We can't wait to read everyone's responses. Please take a few moments to complete it! Here is the link: https://forms.gle/HA9AjdjBuveD7k8J7
Paul’s Journeys
and New Bible Study: Eclipsing Empire
I am traveling through Greece and Italy this month following the journeys of Paul with Bishop Devadhar, several District Superintendents and pastor colleagues. I hope you'll join me by following my blog. I'm busily preparing: synthesizing information about my flights, hotels, itineraries and studying so that I can make the most of this trip and share the entire experience with you. Here’s the link: https://paul-clm.blogspot.com
I'll also be offering a Study entitled, Eclipsing Empire: Paul, Rome and the Kingdom of God published by Living the Questions with a Participant Reader written by John Dominic Crossan on twelve Tuesday evenings from 7-8:30 beginning October 29, 2019. The cost of the study is $20 to cover the printed materials and DVDs. Please sign up in the Wesley UMC narthex and contact Marybeth in the office at concordwumc@gmail.com or 224-7413 to obtain a copy of the materials and the class schedule.
Pastor Cheryl
Youth Raking Fundraiser The Wesley youth will be raking leaves as a fundraiser for the upcoming 2020 mission trip. They will begin on Saturday, October 19th and continue as weather permits. There is no fee, but all donations are welcome! If you are interested in participating, please contact Paul Dustin or Kelly Fullerton to coordinate dates. Thank you for supporting the Wesley youth! Paul: pbdustin@gmail.com, Kelly: kelly.fullerton3@gmail.com
Annual Church Conference
Save the Date: Our annual church conference will be held Oct. 22 at 7 pm in the Sanctuary. We hope to see everybody there for this important review of the past year in the life of the church.
Stewardship Column
Dear Beloved in Christ:
Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Thanks and praise be unto our Creator God in and through the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the grace that blessed Prema and me with a wonderful renewal leave. I am grateful for your prayers and the support of the Episcopacy Committee, Episcopal team, and Extended Cabinet members. I am also thankful to Bishop Susan Hassinger and Bishop Cliff Ives for providing coverage during my absence.
Many things touched me deeply during my renewal leave. One of them was an invitation to lunch with a couple and their daughter, who is in her forties. During our conversation, the daughter, whose husband has a lucrative business, shared that once they started tithing, they not only found contentment in their hearts and minds, their business started flourishing! Another guest at the table immediately challenged her, asking why she would tithe when the money might be misused by church leaders. She responded: “We give to God and for God’s ministry ... it is not my place to make judgment. Everyone is accountable to God, including church leaders.” I was deeply touched by this response. This whole conversation has stayed with me. Is it not true that when we give God our tithes and resources we do it out of joy and cheer? St. Paul said it very clearly, “... God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7). When I asked if I could share her witness, she emailed me this powerful statement:
I completely agree with you that God loves a cheerful giver. I am touched by some of the verses from the Bible which talk about tithing – Proverbs 3:9-10, Malachi 3:10-12, and Luke 6:38."
Now coming to our personal experience as a family, I can go on and on as to how God has been faithful to us all these years.
Though both of us were born and brought up in a Christian family attending church regularly, we never thought too much about tithing in our initial years of marriage. Yes, we did put our offering [in the plate] every Sunday, but it was never 1/10th as we are supposed to do. I remember those days we were always struggling to meet both ends, be it our business or our personal expenses month after month. And one Sunday when our pastor spoke about tithing, I knew in my heart what I had to do. I started keeping aside the tithes as soon as I got my salary though the devil was scaring me [by asking how I would] manage to last till the end of the month. But I had made up my mind and encouraged my spouse to do the same, and to our surprise, till today we can only see abundance in every area of our lives, be it personal or business. God just took us to another level which we hadn't even dreamt about. We have not lacked anything from the time we have been faithfully tithing. There is only abundance, and we could even help many needy people. There was a time when we thought we had to close down our business, but God just turned the tables and now our business has grown in manifolds. When I look back and see, I can just close my eyes and say, ‘God, only you could do this.’ The bottom line is, when we honour God, He never lets us down. All glory and honour to our Almighty God. I would like to encourage others through my testimony and to be blessed.
Then she added a testimony from her spouse, who had the following words to offer:
The business grew lucrative when we gave to God without expecting. It is my personal experience we should give without expecting. God does not want our money, but He sees our hearts. He gives us sometimes 10-fold, sometimes 100-fold … if we keep an account with God ... God keeps an account of us…the Bible says to give cheerfully … so when we had nothing, we gave cheerfully without expecting and in a few years, we could see we have grown beyond our expectations. We honour our almighty God for whatever we are today. Its’s only because of His grace and mercy we are what we are today.
As I continue to reflect on my own experience and that of this sister in Christ, the questions that continue to nudge me are:
- What if every one of us took this testimony as a personal challenge and started tithing? What might happen to us on our Christian journeys and what blessings might come about?
- If you are already a tither, what if you were to share your testimony joyfully and boldly with others?
It is my hope and prayer that God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, makes us open to reflect upon the testimony of this couple so that we too may share the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ with others.
In Christ's love,
Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar
FRIENDLY KITCHEN VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Erle Huntington is looking for more Wesley UMC folks to help staff the Friendly Kitchen. Her team prepares the meals for 60-120 people each third Thursday with food that has been donated and store at their facility. If you would like to volunteer, please contact the office and we will put you in touch. We might even be able to form a team to serve a Wednesday lunch where they’re looking for monthly help.
Open Spirit Task Force - NEW WEBSITE
The New England Conference established an Open Spirit Task Force in June to explore the impacts of the General Conference actions and possible action on our local churches. Visit their website at ostfne.org to view a chart showing the different possibilities and their impacts, as well as other resources.
CHOIR PRACTICE
Choir practice is held Thursday evening at 7:15 pm in the Sanctuary. There is also a practice Sunday morning at 9 am in the library whichever time works best for you. All are invited to lift your voice and sing to the Lord! No experience is necessary. Any questions? You can email our Choir Director, Ben Greene, at bengreene820@gmail.com.
SACRED DANCEPlease join the Household of Faith Dancers, led by Renee Doucette, in the parlor on Thursdays from 4-5 pm. No dance experience required!
Attention: Sunday Greeters
Nancy Fransen volunteered to manage our Sunday (second worship service) "Greeters."
Mary Ann Wolfe has passed the task on to Nancy effective August 12, 2019.
We are appreciative and grateful for Mary Ann's kind and personable way of asking for church greeters.
Nancy can be reached via cell phone # 603 224 7635. Text is acceptable, too.
New members are needed for the altar guild. If you can volunteer a few hours a month to keeping our sanctuary ready for worship, please contact Joan Beldin 715-8888.
Wesley’s Pictorial Directory
The Pictorial Directory is ready for distribution. To receive an emailed copy simply get in touch with Marybeth at the Church Office and she will send one out to you as an attachment. If you are unable to print it, Marybeth can print it for you for $3.00 to cover the cost of the printing.
PRAYER MESSENGERS
The Prayer Messengers gather in the Chapel each Sunday at 10:00 AM to pray together for Wesley Church, its pastor, its people and special concerns through INTERCESSORY PRAYER- a prayer to God on behalf of others. Jesus prayed for others and taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer. When we pray to God, we are not simply saying, "God, remove all these problems and make everything easy. Snap your cosmic fingers and make it all better." Following a short devotion, we pray to God, consciously thanking God for our blessings and inviting God into our struggles. You are welcome anytime during this prayer time. In this way we empower ourselves to fulfill our mission in the world. Paul instructed in Ephesians 6:18, "Pray in the spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere." For more information contact Norma Kane, at momkane2002@yahoo.com.
ONLINE GIVING
Did you know you now have the option of online giving to Wesley?Through this secure webpage you may donate specifically to Wesley using debit card, credit card or PayPal.
Check Out Scouting!
Cub Scout Pack 86 meets in Hanna Hall on Monday nights from 6:30 to 7:30 pm and is for children ages 5 to 10.
Boy Scout Troop 86 meets in Hanna Hall on Thursday nights from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and is for boys ages 11 to 17.
We’d love to have you come and check out a meeting! Even bring a friend with you too! You don’t have to be a member of Wesley to be in the Pack or Troop.
For more information, contact the Cubmaster of the Pack: Dan Dupuis at nhpack86@gmail.com or the Scoutmaster of the Troop: Keith Hagemeyer at klhag03@gmail.com or the Chartered Org. Rep: Michelle Fransen-Conroy at mshellfc@comcast.net “
PFLAG NH Support Group Meeting
PFLAG is an organization of parents, families and allies united with LGBTQ+ people to move equality forward – providing support, education and advocacy. PFLAG envisions a world where diversity is celebrated and all people are respected, valued and affirmed – regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.
The October monthly support group meeting will be held in the Parlor on Sunday, October 20, 2019 from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Monthly meetings are held every 3rd Sunday of the month from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
All are welcome to attend our monthly support group meetings. For more information about the organization please visit our website www.pflagnh.org
District Resource Day
A day of sharing information, knowledge, and ideas. All are
welcome to attend district resource days (clergy are required).
Saturday, October 26, 2019 - 9:00 am - 3:00 pm
Featuring Steve Cordle, author of
The Church in Many Houses:
Reaching Your Community Through Cell-based Ministry.
St. Paul's UMC - 335 Smyth Rd., Manchester, NH 03104
Cost $10 ($12 day of event) - Lunch will be provided
Cell-based or small group ministry is focused on the basics; pare down the complex programs offered by your church and focus on bringing people into a life relationship with Jesus. Small groups, growing in discipleship to serve the mission of Christ through call, and gifts.
REGISTER HERE - DEADLINE 10/23/19
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