JANUARY 2018 THE LINK---LINKING THE HEART OF THE CHURCH TO THE HOME Page -

Ushers

Daniel Bales, Ronnie BalesWarren Lester, Robert Walker

Greeters

Missy Lester, Shannon Dunaway

Date 8:30 AM 11:00 AM12/03 33 10712/10 32 65

12/17 Will be in the next LINK.12/24 12/31

The UMM will meet Sunday, January 7th at 7:00 AM. Men cooking are Parker Dixon, Chris Foil, & Bro. Greg Smith.

Bring your nonperishable items for MICA on Sunday, January 7th. You can also give cash to Robert Walker and he will take your donation to the appropriate person. Remember this is the season when the pantry gets depleted, so please give generously out of your blessings.

In the month of December, food was prepared and delivered to 37 people in and around our community. Thank you to all who helped prepare and deliver the meals. Providing food for F.E.A.S.T. on Tuesday, January 9th will be Yvette Lott, June Moak, Ginger Ritter, and Renae Woods. If you are able and available to deliver meals, please be at the church by 10:30 AM.

WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY

The Women's Wednesday night Bible study group will continue studying Battlefield of the Mind written by Joyce Meyer. Please join us each week at 6:30 in the PEACE Sunday School classroom as we are "thinking about what we're thinking about." We would love for you to invite a friend. See Angie Weems or Deedra Bales if you have any questions.

Deedra Bales

MONDAY MORNING STUDY GROUPResumes January 8, 2018

The Monday Morning Bible Study Group meets every Monday morning at 10:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall of the church.  The only exception is usually holidays.  We continue to study the Book of Psalms.  

During this Season we should remember all the blessings God has given us:

The table is spread and the family is hereSurely the Lord has blessed us this yearThe laughter is ringing from pillar to postSurely one of the seasons I treasure the most.

As I look at the bounty the Father has sharedAnd we pause to give thanks for his blessings this yearLord help me remember not all can surveyThe blessings that you have provided this day.

Tho’ the tables we spy contain empty chairsFrom loved ones who crossed over the river this yearThe ones who have found but the wolf at the door Bereft of a roof that sheltered before.

For the lonely, the broken, the lame and the oldFor all of the souls that this season finds coldThe God who we thank, we’ve always found ableI pray his same blessings for everyone’s table.

Contributed by David England of Three Parts Grace.

Ruth Humphrey

JANUARY 2018 THE LINK---LINKING THE HEART OF THE CHURCH TO THE HOME Page -

FROM THE PASTOR Dear Church Family,

Recently I read an article by Thom Rainer, from his blog Growing Healthy Churches…Together, by the title of “Seven Deadly Statements of Church Members”. And so here they are…

1. “I like our church just the way it is.”2. “My Pastor doesn’t visit me enough.”3. “I always vote ‘no’ just to keep the

leadership in check.” (I really like this one…)

4. “I just can’t worship with our music style.”

5. “People know where our church is if they want to come.”

6. “I love you pastor, but…”7. “I pay my tithes here, so I deserve…”

Now…while many of these ideas probably are never said (or thought) by our people here at Johnston Chapel they can still raise good questions about what motivates us within the context of our faith community. Are we insider focused or are we outsider focused?

When I read these I’m reminded of how different the culture is today than when I was

a kid. Our young families are more scattered and stressed with life and our children are busier now than ever before; many of our Grandparents are surrogate

(continued)care-givers and are stretched far beyond what they expected for this season of life. Rapid cultural change coupled with the pace at which we choose to live leaves me feeling as though the church is getting left behind and our cultural influence (our ability to speak truth into a secular culture and be taken seriously) is shrinking smaller and smaller with each passing day.

The church, at one time, was a place that gathered people around a common identity and it was sometimes much easier to build community around the idea of “come and see”. In this context relationships grew as we spent time together in worship and in study and in prayer. But with the mobility of our fast paced culture and an identity shaped around questioning authority and embracing diversity we have to stop and think about how we, as the church, can (or should – or want to) re-cast our vision and structure so that we are freed up to meet people where they are in life and minister to them in ways that are authentic and life changing…for them. The task then becomes suspending our anxiety about things that we may not understand (or to some degree what we think is right) to create space for new and

vibrant connections to people that might not otherwise be a part of what we’re doing – in the case that we choose not to (or cannot for some reason) re-cast who and what we are.

(continued)I’m remembering the words of a recent sermon in that our faith isn’t about what we get…it’s about what we can give. What are we, as Johnston Chapel UMC, willing to give…give up…or change? How will we be willing to partner with those who are far from Jesus so that they might be led to a saving and vibrant relationship with Christ and a deep and life-giving relationship with those that claim to love and follow Him? How will we partner with one another to position ourselves ahead of a culture that is potentially leaving us behind?

Resource: 1) Meet Generation Z: Understanding and Reaching the New Post-Christian World – James White; 2) They Like Jesus but Not the Church – Dan Kimball; 3) If the Church Were Christian – Phillip Gulley; 4) UnChristian – David Kinnaman & Gabe Lyons – ENJOY!

Peace Friends,Pastor Greg

JANUARY 2018 THE LINK---LINKING THE HEART OF THE CHURCH TO THE HOME Page -

The UMW will not meet in the month of January. They will resume meeting in February.

Sharon Young

CONFIRMANDS & MENTORS

The Confirmation Class will continue in October on every other Wednesday evening.

Confirmands MentorsAnna Cate Underwood Phyllis WallerLana Burkett Joyce FarmerFelicity Cash Helen SmithJK Bales Lawrence WeemsJasper Griffin Phil CaudillBryce Meyers Pat FreemanDylan Meyers Danny FarmerMyles Foil Tony ScroggsMatt Newman Rick TaylorLexi Johnston Cornelia Mize

Please be in prayer for Bro. Greg, Kim, the Confirmands and their Mentors. WEDNESDAY EVENING MEALS

We invite you to come join us at 6:00 PM each Wednesday evening for a time to fellowship and have a meal together.

January 3rd Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Rolls,

Strawberry CakeJanuary 10th Chicken Spaghetti, Rolls, BrowniesJanuary 17th Red Beans and Rice, Lemon Ice Box PieJanuary 24th Cheesy Chicken, Rolls, Pound Cake January 31st Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Chocolate Cake

SANCTUARY CHOIR

I thought I would take this time to tell you a little bit about myself and my background. My father was a Southern Baptist preacher for 38 years, my mom was a stay-at-home mom for most of my childhood. When I was 12 years old she went back to work and was a teacher for many years. I have two younger sisters, one brother-in-law and 3 nephews. Yes, Megan is the only granddaughter in my family and boy is she spoiled.

I graduated college in 1996 with a degree in Music Education Vocal/Choral. I studied voice for for two years in high school and five years in college, for a total of seven years. I taught elementary music in Alabama for 12 years, in Arkansas for two years and in Mississippi for one year for a total of 15 years in the public schools. I have also taught preschool and done a lot of substitute teaching. I served as music director in two Baptist churches while we lived in Alabama, five years at Friendship Baptist Church and seven years at Antioch Baptist Church. I’ve always been involved in the music ministry in

some capacity in every Methodist church we have served. The cantata I directed on December 3 is the first one I have directed since 2007.

Growing up I was always involved in church. I never thought God would lead me to serve in ministry and I certainly never thought I would be a pastor’s wife, that was my mother, not me. But God has his own plans and it has

(continued)been my experience that you are better when you follow His will. That doesn’t mean I haven’t had struggles or that there haven’t been times that I have asked, “Why?”. But I know without a doubt that God is faithful, He will never leave me or forsake me.

Forever Singing His Praises, Helen Smith

YOUTH NEWS December has been an amazing month. The Youth participated in the Christmas Cantata and did an amazing job. Special thanks to Ms. Helen for her hard work and amazing communication with the teens. They were shy at first and then they felt very comfortable performing. This month the teens will be assisting with purchasing gifts for the Healing Hearts Foundation which is an organization that provides gifts to the foster kids of Pike County. This is a wonderful local ministry. Also we will have a News Years Party on December 29th featuring DJ Aaron who

JANUARY 2018 THE LINK---LINKING THE HEART OF THE CHURCH TO THE HOME Page - plays for several different youth groups. We will have music, games, and of course food. These kids have done so much this year to help grow our youth. We are continuing to grow and we are looking forward to a wonderful start to 2018!

Love,Brandy MorganYouth Director

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES

We had a great December!!! We picked up trash on Chapel drive to make it look nice before our Live Nativity. We ended up picking up about 25 bags of trash. Thank you all who came out and helped. The cantata was wonderful. Happy Birthday Jesus party was a fun time to enjoy as a family. Our mission for the month of December was to thank those who work so hard for us like the linemen, delivery men and women, firemen, trash men, and policemen. We gave them a box or bag of snacks and a cross ornament to thank them for all they do for us. We all enjoyed our snow day and then the live nativity the next 2 nights. The kids helped out at Critter Crossing with their Nativity scene and got to experience an old fashion Christmas while doing crafts, playing with animals, riding the polar express and best of all seeing the Nativity to remind us the real reason for Christmas. As you can tell we had a very busy December and are looking forward to

the new year. 

We are excited about our new Wednesday night schedule and really need some help to make it work. I need 4 people to choose one month from January to May and an age group to help with. So that will be about 20 people I will need to help over the next few months. I would really like to get people other than just parents to help out. You will sit with them at supper and then lead them in a mission project that Mrs. Kim will plan. One night a month your group will help clean the kitchen

(continued)and fellowship hall after supper. If you can't commit to the whole month, that's ok, you can pair up with someone else and ya'll can share the responsibility. This is going to be so good because we have some really great kids and you will get to know them and they will get to know you. Mrs. Kim will have a sign- up sheet. Please see her for the month and the age group you would like to help with. Thanks and Happy New Year!!!

Kim Burkett

NEW HOPE

We have ventured into the realm of Advent. Here we will be studying faith, hope, joy, and love.  Faith plays a significant role in the lives of Christians.  You must first have faith that Christ existed, was the Son of God, and came to the earth to save all mankind by dying on

the cross for our sins.  Then you must have faith that He was resurrected and is alive today in the hearts of Christians and walks with them on a daily basis.     

If you have this faith, then you must also believe that the Bible is the word of God given to us both as historical facts and directions on how to live our lives.  Further, we must have faith that we are a part of God’s plan and that each of us has a role in the divine purpose of his plan.  We must have

(continued)faith in order to discern what our role is in this plan.   

God calls on us to persevere through hardships throughout our lives.  In so doing, we become more reliant upon Him for strength.  He requires us to continually seek Jesus in our daily lives.  He also calls upon us to unite in the formation of His body within the church so that we can help each other become stronger through fellowship.  This in turn, becomes the basis by which we can turn on the light of Christianity within us for the world to see.  Let us all through our faith “SHINE”.

We continue to pray for Aubrey, Judy, Donis, and Rex.  May the Lord be with each in this time of trial.

JANUARY 2018 THE LINK---LINKING THE HEART OF THE CHURCH TO THE HOME Page - On behalf of Aubrey, Judy, Floyd, Helen, Donis, Becky, Barbara Roberts, Deana, and Ron, we will continue to try to reach out to others and thank God for bringing us together.

Ron Humphrey

MISSIONS

The Mission Committee is busy helping those in some type of need - heaters, house notes, etc. We pray you all had a Merry Christmas and remember the reason for the season.

Joyce Farmer

MOVIE NIGHT

Movie night is January 7. We will watch The Case for Christ. Working to disprove the growing Christian faith of his wife, an investigative journalist chases down the biggest story of all time...with unexpected, life-altering results! The Case for Christ is based on the true-life story of Lee Strobel, author of the best-selling book. The movie will begin at 6 p.m. so please arrive a little earlier with your finger food to be shared with everyone. Drinks will be provided.

Yvonne Church

SUNDAY, JANUARY 7TH

HOLY COMMUNION

Won’t you make a special effort and join us for this observance!

FROM THE KITCHEN

HOT COCOA MIX - NANCY RICHARDSON 1 (8 qt.) box of powdered milk 1 large jar Cremora 1 box powdered sugar 1large box Nestle Quik Mix well and store in airtight container. Use 3 to 4 large spoons of mixture to hot water.

SPICE TEA – JUDY DICKERSON 1 c. Lipton instant tea 2 c. Tang

1 c. white sugar 1 large Wyler’s lemonade mix 1 tsp. cinnamon Mix and let simmer for 1 hour with cinnamon sticks. Serves 25.

CREAM TACO SOUP – RUTH HUMPHREY 2 cans chili 1 can ranch style beans 1 can Mexican tomatoes 1 can Ro-Tel chilies 1 lb. Velveeta cheese 1 c. medium cream Mix all ingredients but the cream. Heat thoroughly. Turn heat off. Add cream. Serve over Fritos.

With Love.FROM THE KITHCHEN

Rhonda Scroggs

NEWS FROM GRADES 1-3SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS

A Time is Coming…such is the title of our December unit in Sunday School.  You may ask yourself, “A time for what is coming?” You guessed it right if you said, “the time of sweet baby Jesus’s birth!” Our December lessons began with the delivery of God’s message by the prophet Jeremiah and ended with Joseph’s and Mary’s encounter at the temple with the prophets Simeon and Anna after the birth of Jesus.  During each lesson we learned names for the baby Jesus. On the first Sunday of Advent, we heard Jeremiah name the special person coming as, “the Lord is Our Righteousness.” The second week, we found

JANUARY 2018 THE LINK---LINKING THE HEART OF THE CHURCH TO THE HOME Page - out the special person was coming as a baby and would be called Jesus. On the third Sunday He was called firstborn child and son.  The fourth week we heard Him given the name of Savior and Christ the Lord, and on the last Sunday in December Jesus was the light.

During this very special Advent season we learned about the Advent wreath, made ornaments, did as the shepherds did and searched for Jesus by playing a game, and created and shared a “blessing bowl”!   

IMPORTANT REMINDER:  In the midst of Christmas preparations and celebrations, we are called to remember that the reason we celebrate is because Jesus was sent to remind us that God is with us.

Growing Disciples,Yvette Lott

BELATED THANK YOU

The family of Jewel Welch Riles acknowledges with deep appreciation your kind expression of sympathy. Thank you for your prayers and the beautiful plant. We appreciate the prayers of the Family of God and want you to know how much they have helped during this time.

May God continue to bless you.Bethany Abdul-Hadi

For everything you did to help welcome baby and make this time even more special, thank you so much.

Johnston Chapel,Thank you to the ladies for a wonderful shower. Everyone has made us feel welcome and I know Baby Weems will be blessed to grow up in this church family! Thank you so much for celebrating our little one with us. You all mean so much to our family!

Lawrence, Angie, Beth, and Curt Weems

(These two belated thank you notes are the LINK editor’s error. My apology!)

JOHNSTON CHAPEL UNITED METHODIST WOMEN

The UMW of JCUMC met on Monday, December 11, 2017, at Johnston Chapel. There were 16 ladies present. Meeting was called to order, minutes read, treasurer’s report given, and prayer offered.

Yvette passed around a container with questions pertaining to Christmas. Each member chose a question and was asked to

reflect on Christmases in the past pertaining to that question. The women enjoyed reminiscing and hearing each one’s response to the questions. The women also enjoyed fingers foods and fellowship that followed.

There will be no meeting in the month of January. They will resume in February.

May God Bless,Yvette Lott

LIVE NATIVITY

The Live Nativity Committee would like to thank everyone who had a part in the Live Nativity this year. We appreciate the dedication of those who stood out in the cold for hours as they shared the story of Jesus’s birth. We appreciate the hostess committee and all who helped provide food for our workers as well as goodies for our guests. Thank you to those who wrote letters, made

JANUARY 2018 THE LINK---LINKING THE HEART OF THE CHURCH TO THE HOME Page - fliers, and those who invited guests to come. Thank you to those who made sure the costumes were ready, the lights were working, and the fires were burning.

Many things go on “behind the scenes” during our Live Nativity, and we are thankful for those people who took care of these much needed “behind the scenes” items.

Above all else, we give thanks to God for blessing our church through this ministry. To Him be all glory, honor, and praise.

“ For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)

Deedra Bales