Taking Jesus Seriously:
A Bible Study Seminar for Adults and Youth
This four-week conversation concludes
TONIGHT, November 16 at 6:00 p.m.
in the Gathering Place Room.
The book, Red Letter Revolution: What If Jesus Really Meant
What He Said? (pictured) will inform our discussion together.
Click HERE to view the spring youth newsletter!
Our November project is with our local Campus Ministries. We will be providing Exam Goodie Bags for our area College students through the local campus ministries. We will be packing those during Lighthouse next week. We need items for these kits such as pens, pencils, ramen, individual serving packs of coffee and tea, soft drinks (in cans) small bags of chips, sweets (including items like small hard candies, candy bars, granola bars, etc.) Any items that will help make long hours of studying easier! Items should be individually wrapped. We will be packing them into gallon zip-lock bags for delivery to the student center.
The following is a prayer that I (Matt) wrote recently, and I continue to pray personally and use in the various ministries in which we are involved in Spain and Europe. The prayer emerged from a conversation with the leadership team of a ministry called Mosaic that Michelle and I helped start in the Barcelona area. Mosaic is a ministry that seeks to offer a safe place for those who have questions about God, faith, life and how we can live our faith practically. At the core of Mosaic is the belief that God is ministering in the world and that each and every one of us is called to discern how God is present and to respond. Mosaic is structured to help those who participate to develop theological discernment and enable and encourage each person to practice his or her ability to respond to God in their everyday lives.
The Beauty of the Lord Our God Is with Us
In faith, we know that the beauty of the Lord our God is with us.
We seek glimpses of you as we roam about the neighborhood.
We seek glimpses of you as we listen to news reports from places not so far.
We dispose ourselves to your encounter.
We risk ourselves to your encounter.
We commit ourselves to that which we do not know fully.
We welcome you and the transformation that will occur.
Give us eyes to see and ears to hear.
With all our being, we wait for the Lord!
We rise and prepare for the day; we journey forward in hope.
We wait for the Lord in anticipation while continuing onward faithfully.
Our hope rests in the Lord!
We practice an active receptivity, and a receptive activity.
And when we realize you are here—before us, behind us, with us—we take off our shoes.
Out of the depths of covid we have cried to you.
Out of the depths of war we now cry to you.
With our whole hearts we have praised and questioned you.
O Lord, you hear our voices. You go before us into the future.
We will trust in the Lord.
We will hope in the Lord.
Lord, you have always given bread for the coming day; help us to do likewise.
Lord, you have always given strength for the coming day; help us to give likewise.
Lord, you have always given peace for the coming day; help us to be a people of peace.
Lord, you have always gone before us into the coming day; help us to follow as your people,
help us to be present.
We believe these things will continue God, for you are faithful.
We believe Lord. Help our unbelief. Amen.
Pray. . .Give. . .Go.
United Christian Ministries’ annual food drive to collect food for school children and their families during the Christmas break. This year, our church has committed to collect 250 boxes of cereal. The cereal we collect will be combined with other food items in a bag and will be a blessing to families who struggle with good insecurity. Please drop off regularly sized boxes of cereal (not the family sized boxes, please, as they are too big for the food bags) in the Loving Kindness Room outside of the church sanctuary. Our offering of cereal boxes is due by December 15.
— THIS Sunday, November 20 —
Recital Hall of the Coulter Building on the WCU Campus
Following a three-year shut-down due to Covid 19, the Western Carolina Community Chorus has been preparing one of the greatest choral orchestral works of all times. THIS Sunday, November 20, they will perform MESSIAH at 3 p.m., in the Recital Hall of the Coulter Building on the WCU campus. The ensemble is under the direction of Bob Holquist, and Lorie Meservey has served as the rehearsal accompanist for the project.
The concert will combine the efforts of sixty-five singers and orchestra. Soloists were selected from the membership of the chorus, and include Emily Kepley Moss, Kim Shuler, Tiffany Bircham, Marty Marshall, Steve Baxley, and John Hermance. The performers come from Jackson, Macon, Swain, Graham, Cherokee, Haywood, Buncombe, Yancey, and Henderson Counties. It is truly a "western North Carolina" project. Participants from our church are Tom Graham, Marina Hunley-Graham, Lance Culpepper, Mike Taylor, and Jay Coward, in addition to Bob and Lorie.
Admission for the concert is $10 for Adults, and $5 for Students of any age, with a limit of $25 for any family. Tickets are available ONLY AT THE DOOR, and cards can not be used for payment (cash or check, please). Audience members will be in close proximity, so plan accordingly. Doors will open at 2:30 pm, and the concert will end at about 4:10.
The Western Carolina Community Chorus was founded in 1970, by Dr. James Dooley, in order to perform MESSIAH on Western's campus and at the First United Methodist Church in Waynesville. Barbara Dooley served as accompanist for fifty years, playing the last concert we performed, in November of 2019. Since that time, both James and Barbara have joined the "heavenly choir," as well as Michael Nichols, and it is most appropriate that we perform this work as a remembrance of their significant contributions to our region.
Patrons are reminded that this concert is in the Coulter Building (and not the Bardo Center). It is near the University Center on the campus. We hope to see many of you there.
Thanks to everyone who contributed egg cartons for the nature walk project the children did in October. We had plenty and are no longer in need of them. Please recycle them or share them with someone who has laying hens.
Add this email address to your contacts list on your devices so that our staff and Pastoral Care Team can learn of your prayer requests as quickly as possible. And yes, you may still contact the church office directly at 828-586-2095 to share your prayer concerns, as well.
Ingredients
1 large can asparagus, drained
2 hard cooked eggs, sliced
1 can cream of celery soup
Toasted bread crumbs
1/4 pound cheese, grated
Instructions
Arrange alternating layers of asparagus and eggs in a casserole dish. Cover with soup. Sprinkle with crumbs and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
– Barbara Vance
Asparagus Casserole
Click HERE to download a printable version.
Provided by Barbara Vance
United Christian Ministries is in need of pasta sauce, ramen, pancake syrup, applesauce (6-pack individual cups), and laundry detergent. To donate items, please drop them off at UCM’s building at 191 Skyland Drive. Thank you!