Find Your Opportunity

Our Mission: To offer the children, youth, and families of Cedar Park/Leander the opportunity to encounter the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ in our worship, small groups, special events, and daily lives so as to transform the world one relationship at a time.

This past Monday at our leadership team meeting we reviewed many activities, events & small groups meetings that are scheduled this fall. All these events are aligned with our mission statement to offer anyone who attends or participates the opportunity to encounter the kingdom of God through Jesus Christ. Each item we talked about had one thing in common: the need for volunteers. I encourage you to review this list of activities, events & small groups meetings and find the opportunity to get engaged with GNUMC!

• Hurricane Ike/Cedar Park Regional Hospital - Sunday, Sept 14th (TODAY!) we are serving dinner to the 40 plus families that had a family member in a gulf coast hospital when hurricane Ike cam through. Hospitals from the gulf coast evacuated their patients to Central Texas hospitals one of which is our neighbor CPRH. Be aware we are 'on call' this week as Hospitals in Houston may be relocating their patients to Central Texas. Contact Pastor Rainey or Roxanne Schmidt for more information.


• Sunday School Teachers - We have an new Sunday School format for this school year. The design is like VBS all year round. The design is a consistent, fun, simple learning experience for our grade schoolers and for the teachers it is easy to prepare. If you have a gift to teach, make crafts, play games and have a heart for kids then this is your opportunity. Contact Lindsay Funk for more information.


• Book Club 1st and 3rd Tuesday - A new small group is starting this Tuesday (Sept 16th) at Holy Ground @ 7:00. The idea is to rotate through books and those leading the discussion based on the book selected. Like to read? Have book in mind? Come visit this group on Tuesday evenings.


• City of Leander Fall Festival Booth - The weekend of Oct. 3rd and 4th the City of Leander is having it's annual Fall Festival. As with year's past GNUMC will have a booth, play games and give away prizes. We will need shiny, happy volunteers to work the booth. Contact Pastor Rainey or John McDaniel for more information.


• Fall Pumpkin Festival Planning - Our own 2nd Annual Fall Pumpkin Festival is quickly approaching and the planning team needs your help. The pumpkin patch will be open Oct 11th - 31st. There will be daily story time for local pre schools and we are planning two festival days on Oct 18th and the 25th. This a great time for the entire family. Contact Priscilla Hanson for more information.


• Fall Pumpkin Festival Work Days - Guys get your small engines loaded up and head on out the Holy Ground on Saturdays Sept 27th and Oct 4th for work days to prepare for the Fall Pumpkin Festival. This years prep will be considerably less than last year. No wood chippers and no Yellow Jackets! But much help is needed as many hands make light work.


• United Methodist Women - UMW is scheduled to meet this Tuesday Sept 16th. Contact Michelle Peterson for more information.


• United Methodist Men - UMM breakfast is every first Saturday @ Holy Ground. Our current projects are making the house @ Holy Ground more accessible, building picnic tables and leading the workdays for the Fall Pumpkin Festival. There are many opportunities for the UMM to serve our community. Come and make a difference.


• Leander Christmas Parade - Mark your calendars! The first Saturday in December, Dec 6th is the Leander Christmas Parade. Last year GNUMC's float entry took 3rd prize. Yes, we want first place but the most important outcome of this event is sharing the true meaning of Christmas with the community.


• Family Christmas Event - Mark your calendars! Sunday night Dec 7th will be our annual Family Christmas Event. The title of the event will change to something a little more engaging :) as the date gets closer. This year's craft will focus on Chrismon ornaments.

These events are a great way to get involved and to provide an opportunity to share the Good News of Jesus Christ in our community. Look at your schedule this fall, see where these events fall and hopefully you will find your opportunity!

Friday Night Lights, Guy Church & HOF Speeches

Are you ready for some football?

On Saturday morning the United Methodist Men welcomed Vista Ridge High School Head Football Coach Bill Wilder to our monthly breakfast. Coach Wilder spoke on the brief history of VRHS football and gave a preview of the upcoming season. He also stressed the importance of coaching staff's influence in the young men's lives and the role of families, church and school in shaping the leaders of tomorrow.

The Rangers step up to district 14-5A this season to play the likes of Westwood, Cedar Park, Georgetown and Leander. They will have their hands full this year but who doesn't like an underdog? Thank you Coach Wilder and Go Rangers!

Guy Church?

I don't often read the USA Today. It is the newspaper for business travelers and those that stay at hotels. I can't remember a time when I read a USA Today when I was not staying at a hotel. While on a business trip (wink), an article caught my attention '...guys are few in the pews'. It is an article about the attendance of men at church and the role that men play at church and in their families and in the community. Tim, don't panic I am not suggesting out first phase building be a 'Guy Church' with 10 point bucks and 10 lb bass mounted on the wall, but there are some interesting statistics mentioned in the article. The quote that made me laugh... "A man is far more apt to come to a church event if another man asks him. If his wife asks him, he'll interpret that as nagging." Give it a read.

Pro Football Hall of Fame

I have to brag that I have the best wife in the world. As we piddled with house chores on Saturday we watch hours upon hours of Pro Football Hall of Fame speeches followed by the X Games motocross air finals. I win!

If you did not get a chance to see the Pro Football HOF speeches on Saturday I recommend you watch the speeches of Art Monk and Darrell Green. Both men are great examples that we all should aspire to be. The end of Darrell Greens speech is excellent.

Serving Communion

Serving Communion each Sunday has created a new opportunity to serve in the worship. Logistically we need to have two stations to keep the congregation moving (but not hurried) through the service. Each Sunday we need 3 volunteers to serve communion; one person to assist Rev. Rainey and two others to serve the bread and juice at a second station. I have begun to ask volunteers through word of mouth. I have received two types of reactions: 1) Yes, I would love to! Thanks for asking. and 2) Who me?

Yes you! My response fell into the second category. "Who me?"..."Why me?"... "I am not qualified?"... "Don't you have to go to seminary or something to serve communion?" I have come to find out what it takes to serve communion is an understanding and appreciation of the sacrament and a willingness to be in that moment with each person receiving it. A sacrament is an actual physical encounter, not only with the grace that comes from God, but with God. Jesus is the incarnation of God; He gave meat or physical substance to a God we cannot see or touch. The sacraments do the same for us today. They give physical substance to what it means to receive God’s grace through the sacrament.*

Having served communion these past few weeks I have come to enjoy the experience and to be with each person as they receive God's grace. It is an experience that I should not keep to myself. If you are interested in volunteering to serve communion please contact John McDaniel or Rev. Bob Rainey. It is the type of volunteering that you will want do again and again.

*before you go thinking "wow John's spiritual awareness really has sharpened lately". I lifted most of the second paragraph from Rev Rainey's serving communion reference write up. Which is available to each person to serves communion. :)

What is Grace?

It sounds like a simple question. "What is grace?" It was posed to us in our small group discussion on Sunday morning. Lynn Riley provided an answer that I was not expecting. I may be paraphrasing but she said "undeserving love from God". I guess I have never really studied it before so Monday and Tuesday I spent some time looking up "What is grace?"

I am starting to refer to Wikipedia more and more these days. I liked the definition of Divine Grace and the additional reference information posted. Granted Wikipedia provides a very technical definition but I am a technical kind of guy. A few of the excerpts from this site…

• divine grace refers to the sovereign favor of God for humankind — especially in regard to salvation — irrespective of actions ("deeds"), earned worth, or proven goodness.
• The New Testament exhibits a tension between two aspects of grace: the idea that grace is from God and sufficient to cover any sin, and the idea that grace does not free Man from his responsibility to behave rightly.

There are many resources for studying “What is grace? Just type in a Google search and see where it takes you. It leads to other definitions and comparisons...Grace, Love, Mercy, Kindness, Forgiveness….

So my questions are:

• We all can receive God’s grace but can we give grace to others? Perhaps we cannot give divine grace, (forgiveness of sins and the promise of salvation) but think about how you could show love to another irrespective of their actions or worth.
• Or is it Grace comes from God and how we can “show grace” in our lives is through the Fruits of the Spirit? Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control.

john

Topics for Adult Classes this Spring/Summer

The adult small group that we started on Sunday mornings is off to a good start. The group is engaged in discussing Acts and applying our learning’s of the early church to our lives today at Good News UMC in Cedar Park/Leander.

We have been thinking about two additional small group sessions to offer this spring/summer.

• United Methodism 101 - This basic course is designed for new United Methodists and anyone wanting to know more about the denomination, as well as long-time United Methodists who would like to check their basic knowledge of the Church. This course not only provides a basic overview and understanding of United Methodism but will also inspire students to seek additional study.
• Financial Peace University - This is a course developed by Dave Ramsey. The course description is Financial Peace University is a life-changing program that teaches you how to make the right decisions with your money. You'll be empowered with the practical skills and confidence needed to achieve your financial goals and experience true financial peace. What could the People of God do for the Kingdom of God if they were DEBT FREE? This is a 13 week course and small group discussion. The course is taught by Dave Ramsey via DVD course materials, lead by a facilitator and discussed within a small group setting. The course materials are $100 per family attending the course.

Please reply to this blog and post your comments if you have an interest in either these two courses or if you have another idea for a small group discussion.

Quiet Strength - Last Minute Gift Idea

Looking for that last minute gift idea for that hard to buy for dad, grandfather or uncle? I recommend a book titled Quiet Strength. The book is about the head football coach of the Indianapolis Colts, Tony Dungy and his faith journey. If you don't recall the Colts had just won Super Bowl XLI and as Coach Dungy accepted the Vince Lombardy Trophy he chose that moment to confirm his faith in Christ in front of millions of viewers around the world. Check out Coach Dungy's website for more information.

The book is a story of a faith journey. Yes, there are football stories but the book consistently explains how a man's faith guides his life. The book has become a popular choice for men's bible studies and presently is on the New York Times best seller list.

Do you have any last minute shopping ideas or a book you recommend? Post a comment and share it with the readers. Hope this helps your last minute shopping. Well, I am off to shop.

Merry Christmas!