Sunday's Message
| Pastor Greg's
Sermon Series:
"Are You Choosing Your Path Wisely?"
Sunday's Message: March 6th "Are You on the Path to Spectacular Change?" based on
Matthew 17:1-8 |
SCRIP INFO
| DIRECT LINK TO ShopWithScrip.com
CLICK HERE FOR INFO TO SIGN UP FOR SCRIP
"Scrip Tip" Scrip To Go!! Cash N Carry scrip is here!!! We will be selling gas scrip cards on Sunday at the scrip table. Stop by to purchase your gas from Kwik Trip, Shell, or BP. Pay via cash or check and enjoy filling up knowing that some of that gas price increase is going directly into the donation bucket for New Hope. |
Ongoing Programs
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Take the challenge to get involved!
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Taste & See Women's Bible Study on Angels - Wednesday 9:30 a.m.
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Heartwarmers - Knitters meet 3rd Wednesday at 7 pm
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Disciple Bible Study - Mondays at 6:30 p.m.
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Financial Peace University - Wednesdays at 6:30
- DivorceCare - Wednesdays at 6:45
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JOIN OUR LIST
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Hello
God works in such amazing ways! As you know, this is Michelle's last week as New Hope's Office Manager, so Pastor Greg, Michelle, and I have been compiling a list of things that volunteers can help us with so we can keep running as smoothly as possible and can continue consistent growth of the church. The list sounded endless and I was starting to think, "How will we ever get all this done?" Just then, God, in his infinite awesomeness, stepped in. I have received phone calls, emails and personal contacts from a number of individuals who have stepped forward offering their help for an hour here or two hours there. The excitement in their voices at being able to help in this way has been so energizing for me and it's wonderful!
Want to know what you can do to help? Click here to see the list of ways you can help at New Hope.
This Sunday we will be recognizing and thanking Michelle, so be sure to come and help celebrate her service to New Hope. (We'll have a really BIG cake!)
See you in church, I'll save you a seat!
Patti
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| Matching Gift Challenge | |
You Can Help Turn $10,000 into $20,000!
Your gifts in the next month can have a double impact, thanks to a New Hope family that has offered to match every additional dollar given up to $10,000. (Additional to your annual pledge.) For instance, if you give $500, we will receive $1,000! (Patti happens to love this kind of math!)
Mark your gift "Matching Gift Challenge" and just place it in the offering plate or give your envelope to Pastor Greg or Patti. |
| "Nifty-50" Food Drive | |
Great way to celebrate Pastor Greg's 50th (50-WOW!) Birthday
 | | Pastor Greg donning his "50's" attire |
This month Pastor Greg turns 50. (50! Holy schnikees!) We encourage all of you to bring in 50 "something" to donate to the local food pantry, such as 50 ounces of corn, 50 boxes of mac & cheese, 50 carrots, you get the idea. Let's impact the food pantry in celebration of Greg's birthday!
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| Ash Wednesday Worship at 6:30 pm | |
Lenten Season Begins Wednesday
Potluck Dinner Wednesdays at 5:45 (starting 3/16)
Worship - Parables in Dialogue - 6:30 to 7:15
Watch for more details next week.
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| The Life of Jesus Bible Study | |
Sunday Mornings at 9:00 starting March 13th
"I don't know enough about the Bible to be in a Bible study!"
Ever feel like you don't know enough about the Bible to be in a Bible study? Then this class is for you! The Life & Teachings of Jesus is led by Ruth Hunter and starts with the basics as we learn about Jesus' life, what he did while here on earth, and what he had to say. Afterward, stay for the 10:30 worship which is now identical to the 9:00 service. |
| Exploring Prayer During Lent | |
The Prayer Corner
We would like to engage you in a special prayer time as a way of observing lent this year. Each week we will have another opportunity for you to share your prayer life with others. It will be interesting and a great way to increase our prayer habits as we learn the what, why, when, where and how of New Hope's prayer life. No one is required to participate, but we urge you to consider reaching out to others in this manner.
Thoughts from our Parish Nurse:
Recently several people have challenged me with various forms of the same question. The first person asked "How can prayer help me with weight loss?" The second person asked "Why do I need someone to pray for me? I'm doing well. They should give their prayers to someone who needs it". The third question I hear every Sunday morning when I ask the children to pray before we start Sunday school class. "Why do we need to pray?" they ask. "We just prayed in church!"
Why do we need to pray? Do we pray only in times of crisis, when there is nothing left to do but pray? Would the God of mercy who hears the cries of those who have no food care to hear my whimper when I struggle to choose the crunchy carrot over the creamy Cadbury egg...especially when I don't like carrots? Would the God of miracles who hears the songs of praise from those who were rescued from a Chilean mine care to hear my whispered thanks when the dog, for the first time in a week, did not tear apart the garbage when left alone in the house? Would the God of all creation, maker of heaven and earth, want to hear from me more than once a week...once a day...every couple of hours?
Why do we need to pray? Because when we reveal ourselves to God, God is able to reveal himself to us. We learn about God through Bible study, we worship God through church services, but our own, personal relationship with God (no matter how incredible or incredibly mundane) is made stronger when we pray.
Each week you will be invited to thoughtfully (and prayerfully) share with others the what, why, when, where and how's of your prayer life. Watch for the bulletin inserts that can be filled out and placed in the offering plate or on a back table. You'll also have the opportunity to respond via email, Facebook, our website or through our weekly ENews. Through this opportunity we hope that you're prayer life will be enriched.
Prayer does not change God, but changes the one who prays. The function of prayer is not to influence God, but rather to change the nature of the one who prays. -Soren Keirkegaard. |
| Health Kits for Haiti | |
Monthly Mission for March
The mission committee's Monthly Mission for March will be collecting Health Kits for Haiti. Please refer to the following very specific list of items for each kit and how it should be packaged. After you've compiled your kit, just bring it to church and place it in the basket located by the mission bulletin board. Thanks!
Health Kits: All NEW items in wrapper.
1 hand towel
1 wash cloth
1 comb (regular size)
1 fingernail clipper
1 bar of soap (3 oz or larger)
1 toothbrush
1 4.5 oz or larger toothpaste
6 plain plastic adhesive bandage strips
Wrap items inside hand towel and put inside a 1 gallon plastic zipper bag.
Include $1 inside the bag for shipping
The kits will then be taken to the Conference office in Sun Prairie for UMCOR (United Methodist Committee on Relief) who will ship them to Haiti for us.
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| Be a "Bible Mentor" for a child | |
Donate $40 to sponsor a Bible
Our young Sunday School children are "jumping" into their Bibles with such zest that we need to get them more challenging Bibles! The first and second graders are using a story book version that is too easy for their inquisitive minds.
We'd like to get you involved by not just sponsoring the cost of a grade school Bible, but to follow what they are learning (on the bulletin boards) and ask them to tell you about what they find interesting. (ie: "What's your favorite part of that story?") We have several young families at New Hope who do not have grandparents, aunts or uncles nearby. New Hope offers a great opportunity for us to become an extended family and fill those roles on a weekly basis by showing the children we are interested in their spiritual growth and care about them.
Our goal is 15 Bibles, if you are interested in sponsoring a Bible(s) just put your donation in the offering plate and indicate "Bible Mentor" on it. Let us know if you'd like your name written inside the cover.
NOTE: You can order scrip for Lighthouse Christian Bookstore and we'll use it to purchase them. A win-win-win for all involved!
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| Buy Your Gas with Scrip Dollars |
Christy Aniol is a "scrip-user-guru" and it's great! This energetic woman has thought of mega-uses for her family to use scrip and I laugh when I hear her talk about it. Gas, groceries, Subway, DQ, movies, clothing, even Joe, their son at UW-Madison gets his groceries and gas using scrip cards. We were chatting about encouraging more of you to use the scrip program and came up with a great idea!
Christy is challenging all of you to use New Hope scrip to buy your gasoline for the month of March!
The prices of gas are rising, that we cannot change. Therefore you'll definitely want to take advantage of a tax deduction totaling 1.5 - 10% of what you spend on that gas!
Here's the math. You buy $100 KwikTrip gas card from New Hope scrip. You have $100 to spend on gasoline or other KwikTrip products. KwikTrip gives (10%) or $10 to New Hope. You get a $10 tax deduction on your 2011 taxes. EVERYONE WINS! (Note: Kwik Trip just upped their refund from 6% to 10% this week!)
Don't know how to get started? Sheryl Mielke and Christy Aniol will be available before and after the 9:00 worship service to get you signed up, help you log on and show you how to place an order online. Don't need their help? Click here for detailed info to get started. Just give it a shot, you'll find it's easier than you think!
By the way, the Scrip program has some "cash and carry" gas cards available for you this week in case you haven't ordered any yet, you can pick them up at church on Sunday.
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| Come with us to the hockey game - April 3rd |
Plan to come with us to watch the Green Bay Gamblers play Cedar Rapids on Sunday, April 3rd at 3:05. More details will follow - but mark your calendar now for a fun afternoon cheering the team on to victory at their last home game of the season.
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