May
2008
Welcome to the Newsletter for the Burns Flat
Cumberland Presbyterian Church
May
2008
Take Note! Redbuds are losing their blossoms, Oklahoma wildflowers rush to fill the color vacuum, the wheat is still green--but not for long, the temperature is above 90 degrees, and the skies can turn from stars to storms in a matter of minutes. You guessed it. It is May in Oklahoma. Did I mention that the wind will blow at 40 miles per hour for two weeks at a time and people won't say much about it until it starts making funnel clouds. Sure enough, it's May. The year is one-third over by the calendar, but time has almost come to a standstill in the classroom as the academic year has but days remaining. Students (and teachers) await the final bell and a summer vacation.
This month, we as a church will celebrate Pentecost Sunday. We will think of eleven apostles that never quite got the hang of this love your neighbor stuff during a three-year resident school with their master. The same group that scattered and denied Jesus when he was taken by the local authorities received the Holy Spirit after Christ's death and resurrection and were able to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ in languages they never knew with a boldness that belied their earthly character.
We set aside one Sunday each year as Pentecost Sunday; yet, every Sunday should be Pentecost Sunday. One of the first things that we do in each service is to invoke or call forth the Holy Spirit. We petition God's spirit to come into our congregation with a simple prayer called the invocation. As we celebrate this special Sunday in our church year, let us take the time to invite God's Spirit into our lives on a daily basis.
What is in Your Dash? What kind of question is that? Maybe we need to form a search committee to find a newsletter author with semi-coherent thoughts. Or maybe, this could be the title for this Sunday's sermon. The scripture reference is Genesis 5:28-9:29 and it has all the makings of a really good sea story, quite possibly the original sea story. Could the dash be an instrumentation panel in the ark? Could it be that little line between a start and an end? Could it be that elusive measurement found in most cookbooks? Yes, I know that you add a dash of salt, but that butter is measured in tads in whatever you are cooking. I don't know the answer to this question because this sermon title belongs to Rick Ellis. I will certainly be early for the service on May 4th so that I don't have to dash in at the last minute.
Grand Recognition for a
Grand Lecturer! You are invited to a reception and dinner honoring
Kathy Stegall as
Oklahoma's
Grand Lecturer. Kathy is a member of and being honored by the Clinton Chapter
of Oklahoma Eastern Star and the event will take place at 2:00 p.m., May 4th,
2008 at 617 South 10th Street in Clinton, Oklahoma. For more
information, contact Derrick or Kendra Walker at 580-562-3396.
Got Golf? The
12th Annual Cumberland Presbyterian Golf Championship will be held
May 8th and 9th 2008 at the Belvedere Country Club in Hot
Springs Arkansas. The entry fee is $90 per person. This is a great chance to
have some great fellowship with our fellow Cumberland Presbyterian golfers from
all over. The church expects to field one or two teams. Contact Gene Reeves
for wardrobe recommendations.
May 18th is
Senior Sunday. It's hard to believe that the school year is almost
over.
That
means graduating to the next grade for many, and graduation from high school for
a select few. We will recognize our seniors--soon to be graduates--during the
traditional worship service on Sunday, 18 May 2008.
F-4 Spring Session Concluded. Wednesday, April 30th marked the end of the spring semester of F-4. The event was celebrated with a breakfast meal and plenty of time just to sit and talk. A special thanks goes out to Donna Chilton for coordinating and often preparing our Wednesday meals. This year she had plenty of help from several other ladies making for an easier load and a head start on some good fellowship. We also thank all of our teachers for providing educational and musical curriculum for all ages.
June Jam Slated for 4
June! Don't know what to do on Wednesday nights not that F-4 is
over?
Well at least once a month, we will have some sort of praise and worship
service. Have a special that you want to sing? Have a friend that might be
intimidated by diving head first into our Sunday morning services? Feel called
to read the Holy Scriptures? Just want to get together with some other folks
that call Jesus Lord and make a joyful noise? If the answer to any or all of
these is yes, then come on in at 7:00 p.m. on June 4th. Expect to
find people dressed comfortably. Expect to hear the Word of God. Expect to be
in the presence of God's Holy Spirit!
Elder of the Month. Ever wonder how someone gets to be the liturgist or worship leader. No, there is not a dartboard in the pastor's study. The worship leader is the elder of the month, which includes both elders serving as part of the session and those that are not active session members. If you would like to read scripture, offer the invocation or prayer of thanksgiving, read a call to worship, or participate in some other way in the worship service, just contact the elder of the month for the Sunday in which you are interested. The assignments for the remainder of 2008 are:
May Rick Reeves
June Rodney Chilton
July Larry Walker
August Dana Ellis
September Gene Reeves
October Tom Spence
November James Hendrix
December Carolyn Murray
The Elder of the month is also in charge of the spiritual preparation of the session for meetings that occur during their month.
What do the Battle
Hymn of the Republic and Mothers Day have in common? Julia Ward
Howe authored them both. The Battle Hymn of the Republic
was first published in the Atlantic Monthly in 1862 and Mrs. Howe
introduced Mothers Day with a proclamation in 1870. As we celebrate Mothers Day
this month, let us also take time to make sure that we do our part in fulfilling
the end of this hymn--His truth is marching on! Share that truth today with
someone that is lost.
Five Year Focus is Evangelism. The General Assembly of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church has established evangelism as its focus for the next five years. What a mighty force we will be if every congregation can get excited about fulfilling the Great Commission. Let us go and make disciples!
VBS Coming Soon! It's only about 6 weeks until the 2008 Vacation Bible School kicks off. This year the school will be held in the evenings and will be a week long and include a program for Sunday services. Mark these dates on your calendar now: 16-20 June 2008. If you would like to help in any way, see Kendra Walker or Jennifer Harris. Look for more details about the program and specific times in next month's issue, to include a possible Dessert Auction to raise money for an inflatable playground to be used on the last VBS day. The mission this year is to put Vacation Bible School back on the maps of our children's lives! Come and be a part of something special!
Baccalaureate Service set
for 18 May 2008. A community Baccalaureate
Service
is scheduled for May 18th 2008 at 2:00 p.m. in the high school
auditorium. Pray for this year's graduating class that they may use their lives
to glorify God.
A Special Thank You to all that helped make the manse a home for the visit of Isaac and Susan Gray. From a shell of a house to enough furniture and appliances to make for a home-like atmosphere, your efforts reflected the church's love in action. Thank You!
Calling
All Men! During the 2008 Elders' Retreat and Planning
Conference, one of the things that the session committed to this year was a
Men's Retreat. Details were to follow. It appears that the best opportunity
for such a retreat will be the
Promise Keepers conference in Dallas on August 15-16. This would be a
Friday-Saturday event with an overnight in the Dallas area. Cost is estimated
at $175 per person to include conference registration and overnight
accommodations at double occupancy. If you are interested, please see Tom
Spence by May 18th. These events usually sell out so we need to
order our tickets as early as possible. Don't know what your schedule will
look like in August? Block out these two days as a commitment to renew
your faith in the company of thousands of other men who call Jesus Lord and you
will at least know what you are doing for two of those days. Too often we
let our schedules run our lives. It is time to turn the tables, at least
for these two days.
Are the women up for another round of WOF in 2008? The conference is in
Oklahoma City 14-15 Novermber 2008.
Follow this link
to this year's Women of Faith information.
4th Paula Miller
11th Nora McCullough
20th Rick & Dana Ellis
25th Sharman Spence
Search Committee Report. Isaac Gray decline the session's call to pastor our church. The search committee conducted a debriefing in April and has resumed its search.
May Nursery Keepers
4th Kendra & Karis
11th Candice & Lauren
20th Kindra & Donna
25th Dana & Tonia
May Means Meals on Wheels.
After considerable planning, coordinating, and preparation earlier this year, our local Meals on Wheels program kicks off this month. We begin delivery the first Tuesday in May (May 6th). Delivery days will be Tuesday through Friday. Each church will take a week at a time to deliver and sign up for this new program will begin in early March. This may be a mix of churches and community organizations when it's all worked out, but the mission of taking care of some of our elderly folks that can't get out much will be a reality this month. Several people have already signed up to help deliver meals the first week that our church is responsible (20-23 May), but there is always room for more help and we will need people to deliver every third week. If you know of someone that might need this service, contact Anne Spence of the missions committee or just pick up a sign up sheet in the church foyer.
Got News?
Have you always wanted to be the star reporter for the New York Times? Have you ever dreamed of writing the story of the year for Time Magazine? The answer to both of those questions can be "NO" and you can still have something to offer this newsletter. If you have news pertaining to our church family (birth announcements, wedding announcements, or just something special to share), then you should submit it for inclusion in the church newsletter or church website. Have you written a devotion or inspirational poem? We have a devotions section on our website. Do you have some photos of that new baby, the last church lock-in, or something that happened at camp? We have a memories section on the website.
If you just need to announce something to our extended church family, send the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of it to Tom Spence and look for it to be published in short order.
Show
Your Colors!
Some folks have been asking about the colors of the
banners that we display in the sanctuary. They correspond to the church
year. What is the church year? Well here is an article from over two
years ago that answers just that question. 
Got Class?
We held our first group class on baptism this past Palm Sunday. Five youth attended this class conducted during the Sunday School hour. Five people were also baptized during the revival last month. We are considering making this a recurring class as well as examining other classes that meet special needs. If you would be interested in attending a new members class or can think of some other educational need that we should meet, just talk to any member of the education committee. We also encourage you to attend a Sunday School class on a regular basis. Our younger classes serve spiritual milk and our adult classes usually chew on a little spiritual meat. You can't digest it all at once so you will want to be here every Sunday!
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot
be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead
they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In
the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds
and praise your Father in heaven.
Matt 5:14-16 (NIV)
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