Crooked Creek Elementary School

Recently we met with the principal from the elementary school located around the corner from the church about supporting the school as part of our ministry. Together we developed a list of needs/opportunities that interested people could fill at the school:


Volunteer Opportunities at Crooked Creek Elementary

Thank you for looking into the opportunity to volunteer at Crooked Creek. There are many different jobs that can be done to assist our students and staff.

During the School Day:
• Helping in the office
• Assisting in classrooms with clerical jobs (cutting, copying)
• Meeting with small groups of students
• Working on math facts with students
• Reading with students
• Having lunch with students who may need a mentor
• Helping to shelve books in the library
• Help with lunch duty

Supplies to Donate for Community Closet:
• Non perishable food items for meals in a bag
• Hats, mittens, gloves
• Alarm clocks
• School supplies
• New underwear and socks
• New or gently used children’s books
• Children’s shoes for clinic
• Wal-Mart gift cards ($15-$20) for emergency situations

Evening Activities to Assist:
• Chinese New Year Celebration – Feb. 23
• Market Day distribution – monthly
• Math and Science Night – once a year, math and science games and experiments
• Open House dinner in April

If you would like to volunteer/contribute, please contact the church office!

October Sermon Series: Jesus and the Undead

In the month of October we will feature a special series of sermons that will focus on the undead. Americans fascination with the undead is well documented with the popularity of the Twilight series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and a series of spinoffs from classical literature such as Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Not to mention classical movies such as Zombieland, and Night of the Living Dead.

While some of these stories seek to redeem the walking undead, others detail the need to overcome and defeat these beings as inherently evil. While these monsters are creations of fiction, each one of them has a source that lies deep within the heart of our own humanity. It is this source that we will focus on in this series. What does the creation of such evil beings tell us about ourselves as individuals? As a community? What does the quest for redemption reveal about our own fragile human ego? These questions and more will be examined through this series.

We hope you will join us for topics such as Spiritual Vampirism, The Walking (Un)Dead, and Jesus the Friendly Ghost.

The Well for Fall 2011

The Well Fall 2011- 7 weeks of courses
Wednesday evenings
Dinner: 5:45-6:30
Class: 6:30-7:30

Dates: September 7, 14, 21, 28 and October 5, 12, 26


Courses available:

Adults:

1. Walk Through the Old Testament- with John Amick

2. Knitting/Crocheting- to be led by Cathy Brinkman and Missy Adams

Youth and Adults:

1. Dramatic Worship- with Tom Bartley and Nancy King

Children:

1. Christmas Musical- A Star is Born- these rehearsals will run through the performance on Sunday, December 18


The Well- Wednesday evening Well meetings will begin on Wednesday, September 7 and run through October (no meeting October 19) for children, youth, and adults. Dinner will run from 5:45 to 6:30 p.m. with the recommended donation being $2.50 for adults and $1.00 for children with a family maximum of $6. Children will be preparing for our Christmas musical, “A Star is Born”, Youth will be involved in a workshop for dramatic worship, and adults will have a choice of a Bible study (to be announced) or a class on knitting/crocheting with Cathy Brinkman and Missy Adams.

Children's Musical Rehearsal

Rehearsals for our Children Christmas Musical will begin on Wednesday, September 7 at :30 p.m. "A Star is Born" will be presented on Sunday, December 18 at the 10:45 a.m. worship service.

There are lots of speaking parts, solos, and even room for one young adult/youth (either male of female) in this show as well. Children from preschool to 5th grade are welcome to join us for rehearsals every Wednesday evening! Please contact Chris Finley, and Tom or Jessica Bartley if you are interested.


A Star is Born follows a group of children preparing for a big Christmas television production. When Sophia the actress comes to play the role of Mary, the director and the other actors try to help her understand that the "star" of any Christmas production is Jesus Christ. The main lesson is to be humble and allow God to use you for His glory

Continuing Sermon Series

This Sunday, July 31, we move into the second triad of plagues that affect Egypt. Specifically, an invasion of flies come and destroy parts of Egypt that are not directly under God's protection. This means that the land of Goshen, occupied by the Israelites, is spared the invading hordes of pesky and destructive insects. Pharoah temporarily relents but tries to control the exiting Israelites, but to no avail as Moses carefully and artfully outmaneuvers the Egyptian monarch. This is a great series that details extensively God's passion for the Chosen People and the length God will go to to rescue and release these people from the bonds of slavery.

James McGrath's Israel Trip

Here's a link to a round-up of the posts on his blog, Exploring Our Matrix, which Dr. James McGrath shared during his recent trip to Israel.

New Sermon series

Starting this Sunday we will be studying and thinking about the Exodus story with a specific focus on the plagues that God brought to Egypt as part of the Divine plan to free the descendants of Israel from bondage. From the first plague when the life giving waters of the Nile turn against the Egyptians to the final plague of the death of the firstborns males we will review these plagues as part of God's plans to fulfill a promise made to the patriarchs.