news

I hope that my greeting to you with the Grace of God may have a richer meaning to you now that we have been spending a few weeks studying the Grace of God in our current sermon series "What’s So Amazing about Grace." As the classic hymn explains in the second stanza, "Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved; how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed."

Grace does many things, and when I understand grace better, it teaches my heart to fear the Lord. For me that fear means to think of our Lord God as a "Daddy-sir!" I can approach God through Jesus Christ and crawl into his lap and find comfort and protection. I can find the assurance of an ultimate love and can call the God Of All Creation ... Daddy! While at the same time recognize that there is a great need to have a respectful awe of our Lord God where I would also say "Sir!"

My point is that our Heavenly Father desires us to grow to know Him and to better understand the grace we are offered as well as to learn how to participate in it so it may be experienced in ever increasing fresh and deeper ways. This is how through "grace my fears are relieved" as the hymn states and as we have learned in past weeks.

But grace doesn’t stop there, God has commanded us to go and tell others about the grace we have received; a command commonly known as "The Great Commission." Jesus told us this in Matthew 28:19-20 that we are to "...go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." You see, God has a plan and purpose for each church and for each and every Christian. That plan and purpose fits into the Great Commission that Jesus directed for us.

After our sermon series on Grace, I invite you to join us for another sermon series where we will learn to discover God’s exclusive purpose for your life. This is important for every believer to understand because every life has been especially crafted and shaped by the Lord. You have been made marvelously unique . . . intentionally. And when we tap into that purpose and the mysterious reasons you have been given your personal make-up; your wonderful blend of passions, talents, experiences, temperament and spiritual gifts, you will discover a fulfillment and satisfaction in life like you had never dreamed possible!

Likewise, God has created each person to fit into the Body of Christ where their purpose is fulfilled. And each Body of Christ, or each church, has been created by God to fulfill a purpose which is to spread the wonderful grace of God . . . or as Jesus put it, to make Disciples of Christ and teach them of the grace of God which will transform the world. When a church discovers its purpose, it will grow into the vital Body of Christ God has designed it to be!

May the Lord bless you and keep you as your realize that the Lord will be with you always!

Pastor Bill

+ Christian Symbols +

Oil

In the Old Testament, oil symbolized consecration to God. The temple altar and king’s heads were anointed with oil to set them apart as holy.

In the New Testament, oil often represented the Holy Spirit. Jesus and his followers were anointed for their ministries.

(See Luke 4:18 and Acts 10:38)

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."

–Stanley Horowitz

Pastoral Calls

By being the new kid on the block, so to speak, I’m asking for everyone’s help. I would greatly appreciate it if you would let me know of a parishioner who is hospitalized or ill at home. You may call my home, my cell phone or the church office with the information. Your helping me out with this information will help me to be a better pastor to you and those around you and also keep me connected. Even if you think I might have heard about it from someone else, it doesn’t hurt to check. Thank you!

Shining Stars Worship for Kids

WHEN - 1^st Tuesday of every month

TIME - 6:30 - 7:30 p.m.

WHERE - Jefferson Place

Corner of Jefferson and 5^th Streets

This is a one hour worship time for kids only. Parents are welcome to stay but feel free to go out, run some errands, have dinner with your spouse, etc. This is a time for the kids to get together to sing and dance.

They start out with prayer and sing for about 20 minutes and then go to small group time for about 15 minutes. The groups are broken up as Preschool-1st grade and 2^nd - 5^th grades. The small group topic is a story from the New Testament and they are focusing on who Jesus is, what He did, and how we can be like Him. Then the children go back together for closing worship and prayer.

It is the hope of those who have started Shining Stars Worship for Kids to bring our next generation of little Christian people together.

If anyone feels that they would like to help out in anyway with the kids worship, please feel free to come to the next worship night, Tuesday, September 7^th, at 6:30 p.m.

Some months there will be a live band just like Community VBS style. The group is always looking for older youth to help with the younger ones.

Please come check us out.

Walk With GRACE Update

The 2010 Walk With GRACE proved to be another huge success for our community! Over $185,000 has been raised this year and our Church’s team raised over $3,800 - $1,200 more than last year!

THANK YOU to everyone who so generously supported the team. A special thank you to Nancy Wagoner for her help with decorating and "manning " our table during the Walk event.

Please remember, in your prayers, all those whose lives have been affected by cancer.

"When the bad news is cancer, the good news is GRACE."

Again, thanks to all of you who are working to make a difference for so many in our community.

Joan Bethke

Help Wanted!

Children ages 3 years through the 8^th grade to sing in the Kids 4 Peace choir.

Qualifications:

Must love to sing and praise God through song.

Starting Date:

Sunday, September 12

from 10:10 - 10:30 a.m.

and each following Sunday.

Location:

Peace United Methodist Church

Kindergarten Sunday School room

Benefits:

Having fun, fellowship with other kids, and worshiping our awesome God!

If interested:

Please contact Brian or Jenalee Moore:

phone: 647-4166

e-mail: collinolanden@yahoo.com

Oops!

Found in a bulletin in Sycamore, Georgia:

"Offertory Medication"

Sounds like these worshipers need a prescription for meditation.

Wanted

Wanted: Choir members - whereabouts unknown

Last Seen: Hiding out in the congregation.

Description: Male and female, young and old, musical and cheerful, may be armed and desperate for a robe.

Reward: "Give and you shall receive."

Surrender to: Your friendly choir director

SPOTLIGHT ON MISSIONS

The Mission Emphasis for September is Seafarers Ministry in Duluth.

It is a United Methodist project to supply a place for men coming off the big ships to sleep, eat, worship. A place where they are able to have a Bible Study, get needed clothes from their Thrift Shop, and enjoy the fellowship provided there.

We supply a van to pick them up and return them to their ships.

Peace will have a "Men’s" good clean clothing drive during September. Please bring your good clean men’s clothes to the Union Street foyer and place in the box provided.

News from Chris Hena

Greetings from Semey, It is good to be back in my own bed after being away on Home Assignment for more than three months. Obviously, it was great serving all of my supporting churches – in the States that I visited. Meeting both old and new friends and enjoying the beauty of the U.S. Needless to say, I attended two different Annual Conferences - Oklahoma and Colorado - and the Women’s Assembly in St. Louis with about 7,000 women from all over the U.S. and other parts of the world.

The blessing of Home Assignment or Itineration is staying in homes of different families. I learned more about the U.S. – economy, politics and food – smile!

Our health workers were happy to see me and have me back. I am very proud of the great job they are doing amongst the people we serve. When we started the project several years ago, they didn’t want to stand near the patients. They lacked the basic understanding of serving and showing respect to and for people that had different social status in the community. The term volunteer didn’t mean anything to them. Many always questioned my activities in the community - CIA, etc. However, the Lord told me to remain faithful to what I was doing. Also, many of them cheated on everything we did - would not come to work when I was not around and wrote that they did. Praise the Lord! It took a long time coming, but they are now very committed to everything we do. We are like one big family. Each one had stories about things they did to help their patients when I was away. I sat listening to them with tears in my eyes. I could not believe what I heard. God’s grace is sufficient for all.

Well, I am back to my routine - villages and Semey. People are more aware of their health needs and have taken their heath care into their own hands. Our focus on control of diarrheal disease, nutrition and micro-nutrients, immunizations, child spacing and maternal and newborn care and primary health care services, are all taking roots in the communities. Our work load is overwhelming, but very rewarding. Especially when I see lives that are changed because of what we do. A testament of Jesus and His love for us.

Many have asked about my health, thanks for asking. My health is great and I praise the Lord for being alive. I had my routine check-up when I was in Atlanta and nothing to worry about.

Again, let me say thanks for everything. I enjoyed spending time with many of you, both old and new friends. I am expecting you to visit me in Semey or Liberia.

I am serious!

Anytime you hear the Lord’s calling, just let me know.

In Him,

Chris

Lowell & Claudia Wertz

For many years Claudia had a sign on her shortwave radio used to keep track of me while I was flying. It had a thunderbolt and said, "The Lord never panics."

Storms are a part of life. Pilots are taught to keep the big weather picture in mind as it helps to make it possible to deal safely with storms.

Understanding God’s big picture helps us find our way. Missions is God’s answer for a world full of hurt and for lost humanity. It is God’s action program based on His most important value – His love for people. Missions is His priority. It is our holy work. It is the purpose of the Church and it is to be the center of the agenda.

Doing missions is more than meeting a divine obligation. God calls us to missions to bless us and others. If we ignore missions, we will miss those blessings. Apathy will gut our faith and detach us from God’s program to love all people. We will be in danger of losing our way. God wants the very best for us. Missions is the fun part of the Church! Mission work, done in God’s love, reveals God to us in new ways, and brings freedom from the tyranny of self.

Missions is even more. It is God calling us to change the world. With His help, we can do exactly that. Every Christian is to be an agent of change. What happens "over there" depends on us – right here, right now. God has put into our hands the ability to change lives and destinies. This is much more than a "do good" philosophy. We live for Christ. We are all called to the work of making missions succeed, whether we are a missionary or not.

If there are storms to be weathered, let us make sure the journey is God’s important one. Since problems will come, let them come for the right reasons. Let us bring Jesus our commitment to His mission work, just as He asks. Let us do the hard work, the different things, so His salvation may reach the ends of the world.

In our news:news: Over five thousand donated books, that were shipped with last furlough’s container project, now have a beautiful new home. Now the job of getting the library up and running begins. It will take lots of training of staff and work to get the books cataloged and the library organized. We plan to use a new computer based library system called Mandarin Library Automation.

The vast majority of books are excellent Christian books. Most pastors here cannot afford their own personal libraries. We expect they will make use of this great new resource.

Donations of designated funds, and more books, will be greatly appreciated for the library. We praise and thank God for each person who donated books to the container project.

More wonderful news! Our first grandchild, a girl, was born to our daughter and son-in-law on March 18, 2010. We are so happy! Her name is Eva and she is the cutest baby in the whole world!

Cornerstone Sunday School Class

The Cornerstone Class will be beginning a 9-week study of the Biblical Book of James and all the practical advise in it. If you are interested in this book and class, please join us each and every Sunday for a good lesson, good discussion of the Word of God and good fellowship.

The class meets in the 2^nd room upstairs every Sunday at 9:30. The new study will begin on Sunday, September 12.

Your Teacher,

Pam Kintz

Attention, All You Singers!

It is really that time again. The summer flies by so quickly. Now we can begin choir practices again.

If you love the Lord, love to sing, can read music a little bit and love good fellowship, the choir is just the place for you.

Of course, we will once again do a Christmas Cantata for such a special time of year and the music makes it even better. We will sing every Sunday starting with September 12. Our practices are on Wednesday nights from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m., with the first practice on September 8^th.

I look forward to directing the choir and having it as a part of our worship each and every Sunday. I’ll do my best to fight off our crazy church mouse and have everything ready to go. So See You Then!

Your director,

Pam Kintz

September brings back a number of our "key" people who have had the summer off to enjoy family, friends, time away.

Welcome Back!

So now we get to say Welcome Back to:

Our Choir Members

Brian Moore for our preludes

Janis McCollum, our organist

Pam Kintz, our Choir Director and pianist

Brian & Jenalee Moore our Kids 4 Peace Choir Directors

Kids 4 Peace Choir Members!

Join Our Sunday School

September is the month when all Sunday School classes are again in full swing. Peace is proud to offer so many different Sunday School classes and for various ages as well - from 3 years old to infinity. So, if you’re say 90 years young and want to come to Sunday School, we have a class or two just waiting for you.

Below is a list of the classes and what they are presently teaching and who the teachers are:

3 years - Kindergarten
Jenalee Moore

Children three years old through Kindergarten are welcome to join us each Sunday morning as we come to know the love of God through Jesus. Each lesson is based on three big truths: God is a great big God, God loves us with a great big love, and we are part of God’s great big world. This is achieved through Bible stories, art, games and music.

In addition, Mr. Z, Ms. Lucy, and Bongo the Bible Bird Puppet will help to reinforce our message each week.

We look forward to seeing you there each Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m. We are located in the large foyer, first room past the office.

1st - 4th Grades
Julie Klossowski

Children from 1st through the 4th grades are welcome in my Sunday School class. We also teach the same curriculum as Jenalee, only an older version that fits our age group. The lessons are really informative, offer lots of discussion and the students really like watching the DVD each week which emphasizes what we are learning and helps us to come to know the love of God through Jesus.

I also look forward to seeing you there each Sunday morning. I am located on the second floor, the fourth door on the left.

5th - 8th Grades
Pam Peterson-Kintz

My group of young people from 5th through the 8th grades like to think and ask questions. I also teach from the same series as the two elementary classes except we are known as the “tweens”. We aren’t really children anymore but we’re not quite teens either. So we’re tweens coming to know the love of God through Jesus. We study from the Live B.I.G. (Believe In God) series. Each student has their own book and DVD to listen to and learn from. My age group of young people face so many different, sometimes frightening,things in their lives so Live B.I.G. helps us grow as children of God by taking what we learn during Sunday School into our everyday lives.

I welcome all young people from 5th - 8th grades to come in to my class and I look forward to seeing everyone on Sunday mornings. We are located on the second floor, the first room on the right.

Builders
Jim Brock

This class is made up of older adults. We would welcome anyone no matter what your age. At the present time, our class materials are geared to news items and how they relate to Scripture and prophesy. Of course, there are many personal opinions mixed in, which makes for lively discussion.

This class is at times quite large which sometimes limits total participation. But if you have something to say, we will surely listen. We approach each lesson with the thought in mind that somewhere we will see God at work.

We are located in Friends Room, lower level of the church.

Cornerstone
Pam Kintz

Our class will be studying the book of James as we get going full speed ahead in September. We are looking for young and old adults, those with children in Sunday School and those who just want to be in a class.

Come and join our fellowship and discussion of God’s Word.

Our class is the 2nd door on the left on second floor. Come and see us!

Harmony
Muriel Frawley

We are a small class made up of the Harmony and Friends Sunday School classes. I try to make the class interesting and meaningful. We enjoy getting together every Sunday, doing our lesson together and just seeing and greeting each other.

We will be studying “The Inescapable God”for the next quarter. The lessons are set in three parts: “God Reveals” will be from the Book of Exodus and from the Book of Psalms we will be studying how “God Sustains” and God Protects”. Our lessons are designed to help adults understand the meaning and authority of the Bible for Christian life.

We welcome any newcomers to our class. We are located off the Union Street foyer in the Library.

Seekers
Barb Nimocks

The Seekers Sunday School has been together for many years. Although the names and faces have changed over the years, the purpose of the class remains unchanged. First and foremost, the Seekers are exactly what their name implies. They are a group of adults that come together each Sabbath and seek the word of God. For the past four years they have been on a discipleship trek together called the “Highway to Holiness”. The curriculum is Bible based and as we head into fall we will start out with beginnings and the Book of Genesis. Then we will move on to how God prepares the way and provides for God’s own in times of difficulty. Secondly, the Seekers are not just a Bible study group. They are a group of friends that come together to nurture and support each other as they journey together through their Bible study. They enjoy each others company and often share social outings together. They are living proof that being part of a small group study can be educational, inspiring and fun as well as having fantastic potlucks.

If you’re looking for a place to expand your knowledge of the Bible as well as being a part of Christian fellowship, come and join us on Sunday mornings. We are located on the second floor, first room on the left.

Confirmation Classes to Start

Pastor Bill will be starting a Confirmation Class this fall. He is looking for students in the 6th - 8th grades who are interested in being a part of this class.

A starting date has not been established as yet. Pastor will be meeting with the parents of all interested students prior to beginning the class to discuss time, date, and what the students will be studying.

Please contact Pastor Bill if you are interested in being in a Confirmation Class. You may call him at church or shoot him an e-mail. Please do so soon so materials can be ordered and we can get started.

Peace’s Slow Pitch Team

The church’s slow pitch team had an up and down season with all the rain outs and vacation time. When it came to tournament time, the team came together. After losing the first game, the team moved to the losers bracket. We then went on to win four games in a row! Peace then played the Championship game against Ash Creek UMC, which we lost.

A big thank you to all who played this season:

David Brock Pastor Bill

Mike Dalberg Jake Gehrke

Benny Green Pam Kintz

Darren McCarthy Brian Moore

Landen Moore Nolan Moore

Beth Muth Emily Prochaska

Shaun Tjossem Earl Turner

David Turk Tim Woodman

Dave Worthington Grant Worthington

Marcus Wynhoff

See you at North Park on September 5^th as we "Worship in the Park".

UMW Calendar at a Glance

UMW Calendar for September

1^st - 9:00 a.m. - Thrift Shop Rebecca Circle

14^th - 9:00 a.m. - Thrift Shop Ruth Circle

14^th - 1:30 p.m. - Ruth Circle

Lesson: Betty Doherty

Hostess: Lorraine Ewing

16^th - 1:30 p.m. - Rebecca Circle

Lesson: Dory Wallace & Beverly Harper

Hostesses: Dory Wallace & Beverly Harper

18^th - 9:00 a.m. - Coulee District Annual Celebration at Peace

19^th - UMW Sunday

29^th - PWEO - Place TBA

Our pledge needs to be turned in during the Coulee District Annual Celebration.

If any woman is interested in seeing what a Circle does, you are invited to attend a Circle meeting that works for you.

Dear Peace Family,

I want to thank everyone for their prayers, thoughts, calls, hospital visits and the many cards.

I can not believe how much a card can do for your day. I still have a long way to go.

Thanks,

Terry Nimocks

(Editor’s note: Please keep both Terry and Barb in your prayers as Terry’s surgery approaches and his recovery afterwards).

Dear Peace United Methodist Church,

We would like to tell you how very much we appreciate your participating in the 2010 "Walk With GRACE."

The dedication and compassion of your team is truly inspiring. Your hard work makes life easier for cancer patients and their families.

Please thank everyone on your team for us. We are so thankful for all of you. We hope your team will participate again next year.

Aloha,

Jan Berglin,

Thank You Committee

Dear Peace United Methodist Church,

We would like to tell you how very much we appreciate your participation in the 2010 "Walk With GRACE."

The dedication and compassion of this community is truly inspiring. Your hard work and support doesn’t go unnoticed.

Thank you for advertising the Walk on your marquee.

Aloha,

Jan Berglin,

Thank You Committee

Office Hours Change

Since there is a school bus right here, most of you probably realize that Joan will be once again driving school bus. School for Richland Center starts on September 1 and that means Joan’s office hours will be changing as well.

So beginning on September 1^st and continuing until the last day of school, Joan will be in the office from 8:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Monday - Friday. On late start days, she’ll be in at 10:30 a.m. On no school snow days, if she’s in town, she’ll be here. Otherwise, if she’s stuck at home, that’s where she’s staying.

Church Mouse

Hi There! Boy do I feel really great! I took a week’s vacation from you know who and just headed out of town to chill out. Or in my case, fry!

Who would have thought we would have a week’s worth of frying days and that humidity! It really put kinks in my poor tail. Now it looks like a cork screw!

Anyway, I’m back to help Joan get some work done. I think I’ll help Pastor Bill out with some decorating ideas that I have and help Pam Kintz out. Well, she doesn’t really need my help but I just love running over her feet with those sandals on or else running up her leg. Then, if I do that, well she’ll just stuff me back in the paper clip dispenser or hang me upside down in the candle. So, maybe I’ll leave her alone for a bit. She keeps warning everyone to stay away from me.

Things are getting geared up for our Church Charge Conference later this year. Different committees have been meeting and some will start meeting to get things ready. Then there’s Worship in the Park on Labor Day Sunday. We have eight churches participating this year so that’s really exciting!

Sunday School is getting back up to speed again with our elementary Sunday School teachers coming back.

You know who is getting excited about school starting and she’s just itching to get behind the wheel of her school bus. I heard she has a much longer route this year with a few new hills, curves and roads thrown in. I think perhaps I’ll ride with her one day and see for myself.

I guess now would be a good time to remind everyone that the deadline for the October issue of Peace To You will be Monday, September 20, at noon.

Be good everyone or try to. Just like me!