And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our

hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:5 (NIV)

Monthly Newsletter of Ithaca and Beebe United Methodist Churches May 2013 Edition

The Vine
Love God. Love others. Serve the world.

http://www.IthacaUMC.org Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/ithacaunitedmethodistchurch

North Ca r

h e r e we c a n om oli e

Youth Mission Trip Becomes a Reality!

n November of 2012 and after much prayer and discussion, a plan for a youth mission trip was born. To finance this trip, a variety fund raising events were scheduled, which included: bake sales, spaghetti dinners, chocolate covered Easter eggs, and a baked potato bar, pop bottle collecting and collecting coins and cash in peanut butter jars, financial donations and a lot of hard work on the part of the youth and youth leaders and financial support from the church body, and community, the trip is now reality . . . the departure date is fast approaching - June 29 and returning July 5! The youth, with the help from this church body, has been able to raise $9,500. That is quite an accomplishment for a small church. Fourteen young people will have a chance to experience rich mountain culture in the mountains of North Carolina at the Hinton Rural Life Retreat Center. Program ministries at Hinton provide ways that encourage, teach, and transform. It is their hope that the faithful, spiritual life will be more fully intertwined with ordinary, daily life. A mission agency of the United Methodist Church, Hinton creates opportunities for work teams to serve with others in reparing or building homes with local families, and to grow in their understanding of faith in action.

Church please keep the mission team in prayer. We ask for Gods help and blessings on the members of the mission trip. We thank God that each person is taking time out of their busy lives to serve Him by serving others. Thank God for speaking to the hearts of those who are willing to venture outside of their homes, neighborhoods and comfort zones. Keep them strong mentally, physically and spiritually. Give them safe travels, energy and enthusiasm and an ability to be flexible when plans change. May each team member strongly feel your Holy Spirit at work in them and through them. And Father, we ask that you bless the mission project, the team members and leaders, those they serve and the team members families back home. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to actively work in a meaningful way in your wonderful Kingdom. Amen.

Headed to Hinton Rural Retreat Center: Students: Kylee Chaffin Baylee Chaffin Edward Howell Mikalya Fairchild Kailyn Fairchild Conner Fairchild Michael Fairchild Dylan Macha Dylan Deni Hanna Barnes Brooklyn goffnett Nathan goffnet Claire Reeves Anna Schaffer Leaders: Pastor Cindi Greene Ken Gibson Keegan Hartman Jerry Hamm Nancy OBoyle Parent: Gina Barnes

by Pastor Cindi Greene

Dear Friends, Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord! I am writing this month about an aspect of our faith that we often ignore or overlook or take for granted: Spirit-led. We, as a Body of Christ, cannot afford to be ignorant or take the work of the Spirit for granted. We, in order to be empowered by God to be about Gods work in Kingdom building with and for His Glory, need to understand and be intentional in walking in the Spirit. It is my heart that our local Body of Christ will continually not only be led by the Spirit but be built by the Spirit. In other words, it my passion that we be shaped by and formed by God Himself, through His Word (the Bible) and His Spirit. To be Spirit built is to have our ministry be an overflow of what God IS doing uniquely in our local context. Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:21-22: In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. For us to be Spirit built then is for us, all our ministries, all our outreach, all our plans to be born out of Gods unique heart and call for our local Body of Christ. This means that we see the lives we live, the ministries we lead, the plans we lay as the living, breathing Spirit-empowered movement of God lived out through our local body as HE determines. I am not particularly interested in or impressed with man-oriented, human-dynamic centered approaches to ministry, church growth, outreach, etc. If we can do it in our own power with no stepping out in faith and reliance on God, I am really not all that interested. If all our proverbial ducks can be placed neatly in a row with no risk, no reliance on God to get something started or accomplished, I am not all that moved or impressed. I am not really intrigued or interested in settling. I want to see the transforming power of God which redeems lives and sets the captives free cut loose in us and through us individually and as a corporate Body of Christ. I want to see the resurrection power of Christ, the unleashing of the Holy Spirits power and guidance cut loose that turns the entire world (yes, Ithaca) upside down! It is the Holy Spirit who was and is the impetus behind the churchs vitality. It was and is God Himself, in the Holy Spirit, who was and still is empowering the local church (usthe local body of Christ not a building) forward in ways that was and still is changing the world! It was and is the I AM Himself that empowered/empowers, molded/molds and formed/forms the church (US!). As we continue our series on the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, search the scriptures yourself. Notice that is was as GOD showed up in Acts 2 that the believers became empowered for ministry and powerful Kingdom growth happened. It was as the HOLY SPIRIT came upon the lame man in Acts 3 that the name of Jesus was glorified. It was as GOD showed up in Acts 5, dealing with the deception of Ananias and Sapphira that the church grew in the fear of the Lord. It as the SPIRIT OF THE LORD moved powerfully through Philip, that the gospel took root in Samaria. The story is continued chapter after chapter throughout the book of ACTS. AND NOTE, too, that Gods people had to cooperate with Him! BUT the genesis of the churchs spiritual life and dynamic vitality was not in the people themselves, or in their programs, or organizational principles, or great ideas. It was in GOD! THAT is the spiritual dynamic of the life WE NEED TO EMBRACE, GRASP HOLD OF for US! That is what Spirit built ministry is all about. We, each of us, need to reconnect with the power of Gods Spirit flowing through us and shaping our lives, our ministries, our plans individually and corporately so that our ministry is truly an extension of CHRIST HIMSELF.

continued on page 3 . . .
Ithaca/Beebe Newsletter The Vine - June 2013 2

Bottom line: Rooted in Scripture, the Spirit built church is a church (a local Body of Christ) that is shaped by, led by, and animated by the Holy Spirit in life-giving and unique ways as God Himself unfolds His life into local, regional and global situations according to His unique design and plan. To do this we, each of us, must embrace, believe and live out the following OUTSIDE the doors of the building we call Ithaca United Methodist Church: 1. We must (MUST) recognize Jesus as our Lord, our Head (our owner, director, source of Life). We must look to Jesus FIRST, before anything else, to be the source of vitality and life for us and the church. (Read for starters: Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 4:11; I Corinthians 12) 2. We must (MUST) be persons of prayer (bathed in and deeply rooted in prayer). (Read: Acts 4:23-31; 12:1-18; 13:2ff; Ephesians 1:15-23; 3:14-21; Isaiah 62:6-7) 3. We must (MUST) be centered in authentic worship, inviting the presence of God to dwell among us. (Read: Ephesians 2:22; Romans 12:1; John 15:1-8; John 1:14) 4. We must (MUST) be rooted in and grounded in Gods WORD! The Word of God, as it is pressed into individual hearts, as well as into the corporate life of the Body, is literally Gods breath being imparted to produce life! (Read: 2 Timothy 3:16; Genesis 2:7; I Corinthians 12:7) 5. We must (MUST) embrace the full work of the Holy Spirit. (Read: I Corinthians12; 1 Peter 4:10;Acts 31:2; Acts 2:1-41; Galatians 5:16; Acts 8:26-40;10; 5:1-11; I Thessalonians 1:5) 6. We must (MUST) be nurtured and use the gifts of the Spirit within biblical guidelines and principles. We must have a deep desire for the Spirit to move freely in our midst according to Gods will. (Read also: I Corinthians 14:1) 7. We must (MUST) value the BODY. We are not called to live lives as solo, isolated Christ followers. While each of us may come to Christ one at a time, we are called by GOD HIMSELF to BE the BODY of CHRIST. Each of us is a unique part of that Body (Read I Corinthians 12 again). God arranges the body as HE sees fit, it is as ALL the gifts of God work together that we, as the church, as the hands and feet of Jesus effectively. 8. We must (MUST) hunger for Biblically authentic victory to be seen in the lives of people. The value of the Spirits ministry through the grace gifts, and ultimately the desire for all aspects of Spiritual transformation, springs out of a deep awareness of our brokenness as people because of sin and out of an understanding of the victory of Jesus won on the cross which disarmed the powers and authorities (Colossians 1:15). Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, and release from darkness for the prisoners (Isaiah 61:1). We need to be hungry at a Biblical level for a greater work of Gods Spirit, to see Spiritual transformation in our own lives and in the lives of those around us. 9. We must (MUST) engage in spiritual warfare. (Read Ephesians 6:12) There is no other way to defeat the enemy but to be invested in spiritual warfare. The enemy of God will seek to defeat the church because a praying church is a threat to Satans kingdom as it advances Gods Kingdom. We are launching a prayer support ministry this summer. This ministry will be available each and every Sunday after service to pray with and for all who come. There will be a prayer support person for men and one for women. 10. We must (MUST) be mission focused! The ultimate goal of all Spirit formation is so that people come to know Jesus Christ as Lord. To be a Kingdom outpost is have a passion for those far from God, and a commitment to reaching them for Christ. (Read: John 16:7-8; 6:44; Acts 2;13; Zechariah 4:6)

Are YOU ready to be an active, vital part of a SPIRIT-BUILT Body of Christ?

Jack Hayford wrote in Living the Spirit Formed Life:

I believe this new era will be hastened in direct proportion to the Spirit-fullness manifested among those of us who seek full-dimensional spirituality where Jesus is exalted and is central to all,where Gods Word is honored and authoritative to all where the Holy Spirit is welcomed and free to work in every way and where spiritual dynamics and spiritual disciplines are joined by all. What a time! What a goal! Join me. Lets go for all of it!

Ithaca/Beebe Newsletter The Vine - June 2013

God in Us! Mark Monroe, Ithaca UMC Lay Leader

Recently while watching a History Channel special on Air Force One, one of the segments caught my attention as the narrator related the following: The President enters the cabin and the primary plane at last assumes her illustrious call sign. Then those aboard the plane hear these words spoken from the cockpit: Attention on board the aircraft - the President is on board. We are now Air Force One. I found this a fascinating illustration of of the Christian faith. Everything about that planes exterior and the protocols followed by the crew point to its identity. But only when the President, the Commander-In-Chief, enters the plane, does it truly become Air Force One. For most people in the world, the Church is known by several different markers. It might be the stained-glass windows, a steeple, an organ, altar rails, pews, crosses, and even a smattering of framed artwork. To the natural mind, if you see any or all of those, you are looking at a church. But the Scriptures tell a different story. The day of Pentecost is known as the birthday of the Church for one reason and His name is the Holy Spirit. You might say that the Scriptural narrative beginning in Acts 2 is when the Holy Spirit takes the gospel global! Jesus own words indicate the scope of His mission and ours in Acts 1:8: But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Our commission to go and make disciples of Jesus will be utterly powerless and fruitless without God IN US! Apart from Him we can do nothing. Nothing! Without the Holy Spirit, congregations are nothing more than a gathering of wolves pretending to be sheep. They are known more by gossip, backbiting, envy, impurity, jealousy and a host of other ills instead of the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control evident in the true church. In John 14:16-17 Jesus says, And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. IN you! And IN me! Amazing but true. Only when the President is fully aboard is the plane declared Air Force One and ready for flight. And only when the Holy Spirit enters a heart and takes His rightful place, is a believer ready to mount up with wings like eagles, . . . run and not be weary, . . . walk and not faint.(Isaiah 40:31) May this be our summer to serve and soar in the power of the Spirit! Seeking to serve and soar along with you.

Beebe Corner
June Greetings from Beebe UMC
Beebe services begin at 9:00 a.m. and we welcome guests at any time. Our church is located at the corner of North Baldwin and East Tyler Roads. We are in the process of putting a new steel roof on the church proper. The belfry was rotted to the point of falling off in pieces. Our roofing man, Andrew, has done an excellent job designing a new look for us. Take a little drive and view our project. Bible study at Schnepps was canceled the week of May 19 due to a weather advisory. Our last meeting will be on May 29th at 1:30pm. We have one birthday to celebrate this month. Valerie Coles birthday will be on June 11th. Be sure to send a card or make a phone call to Valerie at 513 S. Ithaca St. Ithaca, MI 48847. May June greet us with a little warmer weather
Ithaca/Beebe Newsletter The Vine - June 2013 4 by Sandra Reeves, Beebe UMC (If you have any news for Beebe Corner, please contact Sandra at 875-3689.)

Growing in Grace! by Sue Silverthorn, Evangelism Facilitator

How much do we understand of Gods love for us? God is omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (ever present), omniscient (all knowing). In His all powerful, ever present and all knowing Spirit, God created Adam and Eve, and you and I, knowing in advance that we all would reject Him in multiple ways and be disobedient toward Him. Yet, in His great love, He created each of us and graciously encourages us to turn away from our sinful disobedience and turn back to Him. God gives great grace and mercy to all mankind, starting with Adam and Eve. In grace, God made each of us in His image, and blessed us to be fruitful and multiply, to rule the fish, birds and animals, and provided food for us (Gen. 1:26-31). Then, in grace, God gave Adam one protecting command to obey. You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.(Gen 2:16, 17) But Adam (and Eve) disobeyed Gods gracious command and then hid from Him in the garden. And what was Gods response to this? God calls to Adam, Where are you? Hmmm...why did God ask a question? I used to think God needed Adams help in locating him in the garden, just like we sometimes need help when were looking for someone and we cant find them so we call out Where are you? But Gods Holy Spirit reminded me that God was omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient, and therefore did not need any help to locate Adam. So why did God ask the question? Why would an all powerful, ever present and all knowing God ever ask a question? It is not for Himself because He already knows the answer! Ahhh, an all knowing God graciously asks a question to help the one to whom He directed the question, in this case to help Adam. God was graciously giving Adam the opportunity to admit that he had disobeyed. God graciously provided the opportunity for Adam to repent and seek Gods help. But Adam didnt take responsibility for his actions. Instead, he pointed a finger at Eve, so the sin of disobedience continued. Grace was given and grace was rejected, but praise God, grace didnt end for Adam or Eve. Grace continued for them and grace continues for us today! Let us seek to love God with all our hearts, our souls and our minds (Matthew 22:37) and we will grow in Gods grace!

Aim for Mission

Jerry Hamm, Ithaca UMC Discipleship Facilitator In a recent sermon series regarding getting outside the walls of our church, one of the Pastors that spoke to this was Matt Carter. He said that if we aim for fellowship alone, we seldom get great fellowship but when we aim for mission as God intended, we not only accomplish mission but we also find ourselves in deep fellowship with God and one another. This is what God has purposed for His church, for the sake and glory of Christ, to serve and love the world! Have you been to prison lately, to fellowship and love the men (or women) there? Have you helped at your local food pantry, in serving or donating materials? What about inquiring within your community where you might serve and love those that need help? James 1:27 says that Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us. If you are looking for a great church or you want to make the one you are a part of better, grab a brother or sister and look for places to serve. No doubt you will be caught up in some incredible fellowship as you indeed aim for mission.
5

Rededication - Anna Schaffer New Members - Joe & Beth Vozar Baptism - Michael Vozar

Congratulations! Kaleb Fairchild Cassie Densmore Cali Densmore Tyler Gibson Jacob Barnes
Ithaca/Beebe Newsletter The Vine - June 2013

June 20 BINS UMW meeting. Adult Sunday School - 9:30 a.m. in the Wesley Room K-5 Sunday School - 10:30 am. downstairs in the Asbury Room Youth Group (6 - 12 Grades) - new schedule to be announced June 20 - BINS UMW meet at Reeds Park June 29 - Mission Trip to North Carolina - Youth Groups leaves
The meeting will be held 1:00 p.m. at Reeds Park, Pavilion #1 Potluck - bring a dish to pass

Praying Together . . .
ll of us long to connect with someone who can identify with our circumstances and share in our day-to-day life. Prayer is just that - a personal experience and intimate connection with our loving Heavenly Father. Prayer is such a comfort. If you are going through a time of challenges in your life and are in need of prayer, Ithaca UMC has wonderful prayer warriors who are available to pray with you every Sunday following worship service. You will find them at the back of the sanctuary. If you want to share your prayer request with someone else (pastor, staff, prayer chain, or bulletin) you can fill out a card and it will be given to the person requested. 1 John 5:14-15 says, This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him.

2013 West Michigan Annual Conference

. . . at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI.
The purpose of the West Michigan Conference of The United Methodist Church is to create Disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The West Michigan Conference represents six Districts with 400 churches and approximately 60,000+ members throughout the state. Ithaca UMCs Worship & Design Team was asked by the conference to design, coordinate and lead the Memorial Service for this years 43rd Annual Conference. What a blessing and an honor to be a part of the conference in this way. To be responsible for a commemorative service of worship that honors and remembers pastors, wives of pastors and laity that passed away during 2012, a powerful way to remember and celebrate their life. We thank God for the abundant talent He brings to our church. Many servants gave a helping hand to make this memorial service a blessing and an inspiration. With grateful hearts we say thank you to all who were involved: praise team, design team, musicians, builders, seamstress, and technicians.
Ithaca/Beebe Newsletter The Vine - June 2013 6

Serving at Memorial Service: Pastor Cindi Greene, Keegan Heartman, Ethan Schaffer, Anna Schaffer, Jerry Hamm, Renee Hahn, Mark Monroe, Patty Macha, Larry Gould, Karen Weller, Ned Weller and Roger Silverthorn. (Missing from photo, Ron Davis & Keith Chaffin)

Calvin College chapel where the memorial service was held. Ambiance created by Ithaca UMCs Design Team.