Dear <<First Name>>,
I pray that this week has been filled with opportunities for you to share God's love with others and to experience someone sharing God's love with you. Last week we focused on the HOV road sign about how God calls us to share.
The HOV road sign reminder helped me refocus my days and even my moments on how every moment could be an opportunity for me to share God's love. It also helped me to help see every moment as an opportunity to receive God's love from others. How could I filter every moment through God's love and grace? How could I assume the best of others? Could sharing God's love become the way I could filter my actions and responses?
I'm working on it. I'm a work in progress.
We all are.
We mess up. We repent. We forgive. We reconcile. We move forward.
Well at least, that is what we hope can happen.
When we have messed up, we hope someone will give us grace and give us another chance.
When others mess up, let us give them grace.
I saw a sign once that said, "God Allows U-Turns."
Every day, I am so thankful that God forgives me and loves me.
I need it.
We all do.
We need U-turns from Jesus, and we need to give U-turns to each other.
Being a Christian is knowing we are here, alive, experiencing abundant blessings because Jesus forgives us.
We know that we have been given, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th chances by God.
At one point Peter asked Jesus, how many times did he have to forgive-- clearly 7 times would be enough? And Jesus said, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven times." (Matthew 18:22).
Sometimes we may feel weary and say… "well, that is 490 times… and then I'm done."
God is never done. God will never give up on you.
I hope you know this and know how much God loves you…. and we do too!
God loves you and so does your church.
My sermon for this Sunday is "U-Turn" based on Psalm 51 and Jonah 3:1-10
I hope to see you Sunday in person or online for worship at 8:30 am (Online/In-Person) 9:45 am (Online/In-person), or 11:15 am (In-Person).
In God's Love,
Pastor Beth
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One of the wonderful gifts I received this week came on Wednesday night at the Citizen's Police Academy class.
We learned from Dispatchers this week and it was such a gift-- I learned so much.
I am so very grateful for them and the work they do. We learned about two important ways to help navigate emergency situations.
The first is an app called Smart 911. You can save all the important data about your family, home, medical information, vehicles, etc. So that when you call 911, they have all the info they need faster to help you.
The second is an app called What3Words, and it helps those who are coming to rescue you find your location when you need help.
These are incredible life-saving applications that can provide peace of mind to you and your families and greatly aid the first responders who come to help if you ever should need assistance.
Every week, I am learning so much at the Citizens Police Academy.
If you ever have the opportunity to take part in this wonderful class, I encourage you to do so. It is a wonderful experience and helps us to understand so much more of what our Police Officers, rescue, fire, and dispatchers do each day to serve and protect.
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 We will have five opportunities to worship this Sunday!
You can worship ONLINE for the Traditional Service at 8:30 am
You can worship ONLINE for the Contemporary Service at 9:45 am
You can worship IN-PERSON Indoors for the Traditional Service at 8:30 am and those who are Fully Vaccinated may worship without masks.
You can worship IN-PERSON Indoors for the Contemporary Service at 9:45 am and those who are Fully Vaccinated may worship without masks.
You can worship IN-PERSON Indoors for worship at 11:15 am. Those who are Fully Vaccinated may worship without masks.
We will continue to utilize our Health Acknowledgment Screening.
We ask you to be able to answer Yes to the following statements when you come to worship as we follow best practices.
1) I am not experiencing two or more symptoms of COVID-10.
2) I have not been in contact with anyone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
3) I have not tested positive for COVID-19, nor am I awaiting test results.
4) If I have tested positive for COVID-19 I have complete resolution of symptoms OR (if asymptomatic) I have completed 10 days of self-isolation.
5) I will immediately notify the pastor if within 5 days after attending this event I develop 2 or more symptoms of COVID-19.
We will not be asking people to show proof of vaccination, we will rely on the mutual trust we hold in one another as sisters and brothers in Christ and children of God in this worshiping community to love and care for another. We ask that if you are not yet fully vaccinated, that you wear a mask for the care and protection of those who are most vulnerable.
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To view the bulletin for this Sunday, click here!
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On Tuesday, September 21, the PRG (Post-COVID Reentry Group) met to discuss the rising delta variant and concerns regarding COVID infections.
The PRG Team is updating masks signs to reflect the following guidance:
Mask Preferred for Vaccinated
Mask Required for Unvaccinated
The PRG team asks leaders and volunteers to model these mitigations as much as possible to encourage safety for all.
To see the complete history of the mitigation process and the Mitigation Assistant Plan (M.A.P.) for Courthouse Community UMC outlined by the PRG please click here.
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Last week we had 132 people worship with us in-person, and 45 people worshiped with us on Facebook Live*! The church also received a total of $8,770.50 in giving both electronically and in person.
161 individuals were helped by the Storehouse Food Pantry and Midweek Meals returns this week! Praise God!
Thank you for joining us and for your continual support - see you on Sunday!
*The way we are collecting online views has been updated.
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During this time when we are physically distant from one another, we are still joined together in prayer.
Click on the image to the left to open our current prayer list!
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The deadline for submissions to the E-Circuit Rider is Wednesdays at 10 am. Please send any submissions to stepht@ccumc.net. Any submissions received after that time will be added to the following week's email.
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