HOPE GOOD NEWS November 2017

Changing Service Times

We will change our worship times starting Sunday, November 5th 2017. This is not only the weekend we set our clocks back, but it is our time change weekend. Our worship service times will be 8:30 (traditional) and 10:00 (contemporary) with a coffee break held in between. A shorter time between services will enable us to connect together as one congregation. This will increase hospitality between services for our new-

est guests. To enhance our exciting new schedule, we are at work upgrading our environments. Soon we will complete Hope Café in Reese Hall. No, we won’t have a short order kitchen but we will have a space for people to sit on couches as well as coffee house style high tables with stools. You can take a breath and relax in the company of others who care about you. Changing service times will enable young families who wish to attend a contemporary worship service before their children’s Sunday sports commitments. For many years Hope’s tradition was a contemporary service at 9:30. This was the largest attended service. Moving the current 10:30 service up thirty minutes will help the service thrive. This also affords two great Sunday morning growth opportunities. Taking steps to grow keeps us moving forward. At 10AM a Bible study class will meet in our community room followed by an-other Bible study in that same space at 11AM. Changing times provide changing opportunities. Each of us has a part to play. Your part is to commit to:

Participating each weekend with joy and commitment. Inviting those who don’t have a church. In John 1:41 Andrew invited his brother Peter to

meet Jesus; Simon later became Peter who reached thousands. Those thousands reached generations of Christ’s followers and those followers reached out to you. Now it’s your turn. Who will you invite to a Hope service or activity?

Serving by becoming a part of our Sunday morning team of hospitality, children’s workers or learning to run sound or projection.

Praying, praying, praying…our society is broken. Please pray for a thriving Hope Church to bring light to that darkness.

Here is the reason we do all that we do, “so that in every way they will make the teachings of God our Savior attractive” (Titus 2:10). Jesus had a way of attracting crowds, but never letting anyone get “lost in the crowd.” That’s our goal as well. John recorded this about Jesus, “many in the crowd put their faith in him” (John 7:31). That is our hope as well. We want to grow! Why? Because growth is normal. Growth means that people are connecting to Christ! That is the whole reason we exist.

Will you become an active part of our team to enable others to experience life with Christ?

From Pastor Scott

From Pastor Scott

HOPE NEWS PAGE 2

THINGS TO BE THANKFUL FOR

Within the last few months, a few additions have been made to our church. Some so subtle, you may not have even no-ticed. Let’s see how many of them you have already discov-ered.

The beautiful 6’ tall cross in the foyer was en-dowed to Hope by Jack and Sandy Weiler. Originally it was donated by Jack Weiler’s grandmother to her church in Marion, Indiana. Recently Jack and son, Matt, brought it to us. It certainly is a significant addition to Hope and a lasting reminder of our mission to make disci-ples of Jesus Christ for the world. Our grateful thanks to the Weiler Family. A commemorative plaque now hangs in Reese Hall and is an ongoing reminder to all of Pastor

Jeff and Carin, Caitlin and Casey and how they touched our lives. Our special thanks to Ann Gustafson for this thoughtful gift made by her son, and to Virginia Helvey for suggesting the idea. In the hallway between our two buildings is also a new plaque, handmade by Bill Fries, to identify Reese Hall and be consistent with the other signs in that area. We appreciate your work, Bill, and thank you for sharing your woodworking gift. Finally, our thanks to all of us who have given to Hope. This made the repair and resealing of our parking lot possible. With God all things are possible.

2nd Service

Time Change

Beginning November 5 2017 (Same day as daylight sav-ings time ends) Contempo-rary service and Children’s Ministry will be at 10AM. Adult Bible Studies will be at 10AM and 11AM.

New Office Hours

Beginning November 6!

Monday-Thursday 8:30AM-2PM Closed Friday

Month of September Financial Sum-mary Monthly Ministry Donation Goal: $30,657 September Ministry Fund Donations: $ 18,636 September Ministry Fund Expenses: $-23,190 September Shortfall: $-4,554

Thanksgiving Basket packing Sunday, November 19 6PM

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church.

HOPE NEWS PAGE 3

Keep our Service People in Prayer Joshua Adams, Charles Berry, Matt Bowman, Andre Brower, Phil Bryden, Sam Chaput, Dean Karl Clark, Jonathan Ditson, James Galloway, Justin Gerou, Dakota Kizer, Andrea Long, Alyssa Malott, Josh Marner, Jay Moore, Brandon Morgan, Jessica Ramus, Matt Rentfrow, Jason Salter, Dylan Smallwood, Jeff Starr, and Tyler Wilson.

SHUT-IN PRAYERS Those Hope members listed below are restricted to home or nursing facility. The term shut-in reflects that their condition warrants “shut inside” or not able to leave

the home on a regular basis. Should you have additional people to add to the list please call the church at 269-663-5321 Ext. 2. Please remember these people in prayer: John Berg, Betty Crowel, Bob Fuller, Adah Goodhand, Sherry Leininger, Gene Proctor.

DOUG SAYLES 11/01 MIKE MORGAN 11/01 STEPHAN CLAIRDAY 11/02 BILL DAVIS 11/02 LACEY MORBACH 11/02 CAITLIN REESE EYESTONE 11/03 PAYTON CORP 11/03 ALEXIS RYMAN 11/04 DAPHNE DOSMANN 11/06 NICK ROSS 11/06 BEVERLY TORGESON 11/09 LARRY BANGHART 11/10 CHAD BURGER 11/11 RANDY CLINE 11/11 CORY CREAGER 11/12 MARCY HENDRESS 11/13 GERRY BAUGHER 11/14 DONNA MANSELL 11/14 SAMANTHA FARKAS 11/14 BILL LONG 11/16 CHARLOTTE LOOTENS 11/18 MECHELLE DOSMANN 11/20 DENNIS HOLDREAD 11/20 JERRY GIBSON 11/21 WANDA ORTH 11/21 CHARITY GREEN 11/22 NOAH HARDESTY 11/24 CHRISTINA MARIA STEVENS 11/24 JACK RINEHART 11/25 PAMELA FISK 11/26 BRYCE WEGNER 11/26 BRITTANY HUFFMAN 11/28 DORIS WALLACE 11/28 TRACY TRUEX 11/30

KELLY & DAVE MORTIMER 11/03

REBECCA & TOM REA JR. 11/09 GAIL & BRANT CAMPANARO 11/17

JOYCE & VERN WARD 11/23

TIME CHANGES SUNDAY,

NOVEMBER 5 AT 2:00AM

CONTEMPORARY SERVICE BEGINS AT 10:00AM

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 7

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PIECES OF OUR HEART Jesus said to love the Lord your God with all your Heart, Love with all your Soul, with all your Mind and with all your Strength as the first commandment for us to follow. The second command is "to love your neighbor as yourself'" No commandments are greater than these two commands. So how are we doing in honoring these two commandments? Do we show God's Love ALWAYS to everyone all the time? How do other people see us by our actions and our words? If we were to cut our heart into pieces and give them away, would the name of Jesus be written in Love on each piece? The pieces of our heart represent our soul, mind and strength. Everyone we have or we will touch sees our neighborly love. Love's a powerful word that comes from the mind to the mouth. True Godly love, when given as requested comes from the heart. Sometimes to show God's Love requires every ounce of strength. Neighbors are everywhere and we should give God's Love to all. Have we told someone we truly love them today, yesterday, ever? Are we willing to give our heart love to any and all that we meet? Our time, money, listening or talking are ways to offer God's love. It all belongs to Jesus. Are we willing to give it all away in love? Jesus left us with the Holy Spirit to guide us on this earthly journey. We should be willing to obey His commandments for all to enjoy.. We're asked to tell the world the way to this eternal Love with God. The pieces of our heart will be laid before Jesus someday to judge. Whether difficult or easy, my prayer is that we always show God’s Love to everyone we meet and may we all share that same Love in Heaven someday.

Deb and Tony Lang

The Blessed Life Our culture is saturated with false teaching on what it means to be blessed, but what does the Bible say about it? How can we truly live blessed lives? In this series you’ll be encouraged and challenged to change the way you think about generosity and living a full blessed life.

November 6

“The Principle of Priority” Put first things first. We need to stop making excuses, cease being selfish so we don't miss God's blessings. Scripture: Haggai 1:2-9

November 13

“The Principle of First” The firstborn must be sacrificed or redeemed. The first fruits must be offered. The tithe must be first. Scripture Exodus 13:1-2

November 20

“The Principle of Multiplication” It has to be blessed before it can multiply, and it has to be given away before it can multiply. God asked three things: get out of debt, don’t manip-ulate and give. What Is God asking of you? Scripture: Luke 9:12-17

November 27

“The Principle of Kingdom Consideration” We should not only seek first God’s king-dom, but that we must do so from pure hearts. We need to make our hearts right before God and that will mean living a disciplined life. Scripture: Haggai 2:10-19

Hurricane Harvey Disaster Relief Update

During September & October 2017, Hope sent $3,540 to UMCOR for Disas-ter Relief. The leadership team ap-proved sending $1,500 from our Pro-ject Hope 2.0 Missions Fund. An addi-tional $2,040 designated donations were given. 100% of UMCOR dona-tions go to the project. UMCOR takes no administrative costs or fees from these dona-tions.

PAGE 5 HOPE NEWS

Four book club members met at LaPlace for Latte in Edwardsburg for lunch. Their Paninis,

salads and lattes are always delicious.

We discussed setting up a display of holiday books for our congregation to enjoy. Suggestions

were made to put a table in the hallway by the music room to display books and articles to

share. Sherry plans to order the books The Women of Christmas by Liz Curtis Higgs and

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas.

Bonnie has been reading her book, Riding the Bus with My Sister, by Rachel Simon. It’s a memoir by Ra- chel Simon about the time she

spent with her sister Beth, who has a developmental disability. Her

lifestyle revolves around riding buses in her home city. The book was

made into a film starring Rosie O’Donnell as Beth and Andie Mac-

Dowell as Rachel.

Marti is reading Bad Girls of the Bi- ble, by Liz Curtis Higgs. The au-

thor combines a blend of contempo- rary fiction and biblical commen-

tary. She has a delightful perspective of women then and now. Her hus-

band, a Ph.D. of Old Testament lan- guages “combs through” her man-

uscripts for errors in translation, interpretation and in application. Carrie mentioned that she led a book study using some of Higgs’ books. Really Bad Girls of the Bible, Slightly Bad Girls

of the Bible continue the theme that women today can relate to women of the Bible.

There is a trilogy by Kathleen Grissom available in our library, The Kitchen House, Beyond

the Kitchen House, and Glory Over Everything. The fictional books are written with a lot of Michigan background. Sherry is currently reading The Kitchen House and will report on it

next month. It promises to be an exciting book, once you get “into it.”

We appreciate friends who donate books to our library or want to recommend a book they

have read.

Just a gentle reminder that donated books need to be current within a decade or two, unless they are historically well-known authors.

Craft Night – Friday, November 3

Craft night is coming on Friday, Nov 3, from 6pm - Midnight. Bring your favorite project and be inspired by the work that others are crafting. Bring a beverage and a snack to share. Friends are always welcome. We’re collecting funds and items for Stuff a Bus for the Edwardsburg Food Pantry, if anyone would like to make a donation.

OCTOBER, 2017 PICK/SHARE A BOOK CLUB

Christmas basket packing Sunday December 17 6PM

Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church.

Christmas Eve Services Sunday December 24

10AM, 4PM, 7PM

PAGE 6

Church Conference minutes: Hope United Methodist Church of Edwardsburg October 23, 2017

Pastor Scott Otis greeted those in attendance and introduced Kalamazoo District Superinten-dent Dwayne Bagley who opened the meeting with prayer. The congregation sang the hymn “Spirit Song”. DS Bagley shared scripture (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

which he followed with a meditation on the importance of evangelism. Shirley Andrews was appointed Church Conference Secretary. The appointment was accepted by voice vote. Those stepping down from the Leadership Team were noted. Pastor Otis presented a slate of new nominees for the Leadership Team. The slate was unanimously accepted. SPRC chair Bonnie Morgan presented the 2018 pastoral compensation recommendation including salary, house-hold allowance, and housing allowance. The recommendation was unanimously accepted. Crystal Miller presented the membership report. Names of 29 inactive members were read as well as 8 who have left the congregation through death. 2017 membership is reported as 479. Bonnie Morgan reporting for SPRC recommended that Mike Morgan continue as Lay Speaker. The recommenda-tion was unanimously accepted. Finance Coordinator Dawn Weingart reported on the status of the Memorial Fund, the Parsonage Fund, Project Hope 2.0 and the Pastoral Transition Fund. She stated that the 2018 budget proposal will be presented to the Leadership Team at their November meeting. After congregational singing of “I’m Gonna Live so God can Use Me” Pastor Otis offered a closing prayer. Meeting adjourned at 7:55. Respectfully submitted, Shirley Andrews, Secretary