March 2015
ALDERSGATE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Inside this issue:
Birthdays Page 2 WNL Dinner Hosts Page 3 Lenten Series Page 3 WDS Intersession Page 4 Children’s Easter Egg Hunt Page 4 Children's Ministry Page 5 Sunday Worship Page 6 Worship Events Page 6 Drive Thru Prayer Page 7 CROP Walk Page 7 Music Ministry Page 8 Did You Ever Wonder? Page 9 Lenten Quiet Day Page 9 “The Lost Boy" Page 10 The Buzz Page 10 Spotify Your Praise Page 10 Missy Prissy Tea Party Page 10 Community Recognition Page 11 The Labyrinth Page 12 Nursery/Acolytes Page 13 Altar Gild/Trustee Financials Page 14 Lay Assistants Page 15
Come join us each Wednesday evening at 6:30 in the sanctuary as we praise God and learn about our covenantal relationship with Him.
The Lenten Series “Covenant" March 4th Abraham & Sarah March 11th Ten Commandments March 18th David March 25th New Covenant
Experience DENY YOURSELF? REALLY? Mark 8:34 “He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.’" The idea of denying one’s self has got to be one of the hardest commands in the Bible. What does it mean? Why would a loving God who wants the best for us ask this of us through His Son? To “deny” your self means to say “No” to your self and “Yes” to God. Or, it might be easier to understand it this way. It means saying “No” to the kingdoms of this world and “Yes” to the kingdom of God. There is a big difference. It isn’t about giving up chocolate at Lent. It is about giving up our bent to sinning. It means saying no to greed, and violence, and judgment, and hatred, and all that misses the mark that is established by God. And in their place we are to submit to God’s will, which means charity and forgiveness and mercy and compassion and bearing the
fruit of the Spirit. It is to go through life repeating the words that Jesus said the night before he died. When he was praying in the garden, he said to God his Father, “Not my will but yours be done.” It is what millions of Christians have prayed for centuries when they repeat the “Lord’s Prayer.” “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” What does it look like to live out this prayer? Here’s one example. Say someone hurts you. Your natural reaction might be to lash back, to get angry with them. But the path of discipleship is “not my will, but yours.” It is humbly submitting my will to God’s will. Instead of getting angry, we realize that God is calling us to forgive even our enemies. A verse that is becoming more and more important to me is Paul’s instructions to the church in Ephesus. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just
as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). When I am hurt, I am called to submit my will to God’s will and follow His example. This is what it means to “deny” yourself. Now, I certainly don’t always do it. Sometimes I like to reword Jesus prayer: “not thy will be done, but my will be done.” But that’s not what Jesus said. Luke goes a step further and says that disciples are to “daily take up your cross”. The cross was a horrid symbol of pain, shame, and death. A person hung on it, naked, until the bones in his skeleton collapsed and he suffocated to death, no longer able to breathe. This is not a verse we are to take literally, but metaphorically. Every day we are to live in such a way that it is apparent to everyone