A publication of :

First United Methodist Church

With Campuses at Caddo and Durant

5400 W. Main

Durant, Oklahoma 74701

(580-924-4670) (580-367-2415) Caddo

firstumc@durantumc.org

Rev. John Breon—Senior Pastor Tim Ford—Associate Pastor & Youth Kim Vincent — Director of Children’s Ministries Nancy Breon—Director of Traditional Music Ivan Matthews-Director of Contemporary Music Dakota Marcy—Worship Technology Director Dalton Marcy– Sound Technician Lindy Hanson– Administrative Assistant

Please e-mail Tower news to: firstumc@durantumc.org

In 1978, Richard Foster published Celebration of Discipline: The

Path to Spiritual Growth. The book has gone through several

editions. This year a special 40th anniversary edition has been

published. Its staying power shows that it’s a “classic” that will

continue to be read for years to come. I didn’t read it when it

first came out, but was introduced to it some years later when I was in college. I have

the original edition and the 10th anniversary edition on my bookshelf. A copy of Celebration, along

with some of Foster’s other books, is in the Prayer Room here at church.

Hailed by many as the best modern book on Christian spirituality, Celebration of Discipline explores

the “classic Disciplines,” or central spiritual practices, of the Christian faith. Along the way, Foster

shows that it is only by and through these practices that the true path to spiritual growth can be

found. Dividing the Disciplines into three movements of the Spirit, Foster shows how each of these

areas contribute to a balanced spiritual life. The inward Disciplines of meditation, prayer, fasting, and

study offer avenues of personal examination and change. The outward Disciplines of simplicity,

solitude, submission, and service help prepare us to make the world a better place. The corporate

Disciplines of confession, worship, guidance, and celebration bring us nearer to one another and to

God. (https://renovare.org/books/celebration-of-discipline)

I’ve found practical wisdom, insights, and real help for spiritual growth in Celebration of Discipline.

For example, reading Foster on the discipline of fasting led me to try that practice in a serious way. I

believe that experience truly helped me grow in grace. Since that early experiment, my practice of

fasting has been rare and inconsistent, but I still recommend it. Foster is especially helpful on prayer,

but he help us use all of these practices to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).

Partly in recognition of the 40th anniversary of Celebration, and partly to share the practices intro-

duced there, I’m going to preach this month on the three groups of spiritual disciplines: inward, out-

ward, and corporate. I encourage you to be here for those messages and I encourage you to get a

copy of Celebration of Discipline for yourself.

On another note, I hope you’re still praying for God to give us vision, wisdom, and discernment

about the future of First UMC. Let me know what insights you receive through those prayers.

Pastor John

Bridal Shower for Savanna Dixon

July 1

2:00 to 4:00

First United Methodist Church

5400 W. Main Hwy 70 Durant, OK

Registered at : Kopper Kettle, Bed Bath &

Beyond, Zola

Sunday Happenings 9am Worship

10am Sunday School

11am Worship

11:30am Worship Caddo

5-7pm No UMY –Summer

First United Methodist

Church

5400 W. Main

Durant, OK 74701

Phone: 580-924-4670

Join us for Coffee and donuts at

8:15am Sunday mornings with the

first Worship Service at 9am, Small

Groups at 10am and second Worship

Service at 11am

Annual All

Church

Pool and Ice Cream Party

Everyone join us for

this Super Fun

Fellowship!!

Carl Albert Park Sunday, July 29th 6-8pm Bring your favorite Summer treat to share.

Our hearts are warmed because of your decision to join our fellowship! All joined on Sunday, June 24, 2018. Ray and Sue Henson Philip and Missy Khoury And Mike Simpson

Scholarships Applications

Due back in the office

First week of July.

Summer

Office Hours

9am-3pm Mon.-Thurs.

Church Yoga ~every Wednesday morning

from 5:30 am to 6:45.

It is taught by Leah McFadden from Red

Roots Yoga (@redrootsyogaok) It is for all

levels and can be as easy or as challenging

as you make it. $10 per person per week

which is $5 less than any other class in town.

In the Worship area facing north so that you

can focus on the lit cross as you exercise

and mediate to better health. It really has a

spiritual feel.

Tithes and Offerings If you have given donations to the church this year, you should be receiving your Second Quarter Statement soon, either by email or snail mail. If you wish to receive it by email and don't, it is because we do not have your email address in our database. Please send it to the church office if you prefer to receive your statement in this format. Please check your statement carefully for accuracy and let me know at the church or home (380-0097) if corrections need to be made. As always, thank you for your giving to further the ministry of your Church.

And remember, the church's needs and expenses continue through the summer so thanks in advance for your faithful giving.

Yours in Christ, Kay Eggleton, Financial Secretary

If you have anything in the lost and found box in the Church Office workroom, please come and get it. It will be donated to Good Deal Thrift store very soon.

The Bryan County Pregnancy Center Would like to Thank the FUMC Sunday School classes for the Baby Bottle monies!! We collected $236.28 Pat Saunders

The biggest THANK YOU to all of those who helped out with Vacation

Bible School! There is no way that week would be possible without all

of the help and support from those here at the church. We averaged

about 65 children for the week. It was a great week full of fun and

exciting lessons learning that when we pass through the waters Jesus

will always be with us. Thank you to everyone who taught, decorat-

ed, cleaned-up and

navigated children around. Thank you to those who donated Christ-

mas trees and Kayaks for decorations, they added greatly to our theme. I will see

you all NEXT year To Explore Where God’s Love can Take You in VBS To Mars and Beyond!

Summer Camps are here! The church will pay ½ the cost of camp for any camper wanting to join in on this awesome experience. I am also excited to

let you now I will help as a Co-dean this year at Growin’ in Grace. If you would like to help send a kiddo to camp, we are in need of donations to help provide scholarships for those who are not financially able. Registration is all online this year, if you need help or have questions please contact Kim. See the information below to find the camp that is right for your kiddos:

Growin’ in Grace: entering grades: 3-5 July 13-15 cost $192 6th Grade camp: entering grade 6 July 13-15 cost $192

Come join us July 4th in front of the church for our 3rd annual Lights on the Lawn. From our front lawn you can see fireworks from all over the

city, as well as have a great view of the show put on by Choctaw Casino, without the traffic. There will be drinks and snacks provid-ed by the children’s department. Bring your lawn chair or blanket and some bug spray and come join in on the fun. The festivities will start at 8:30. Please no fireworks of your own, we want to

keep this event as safe and family friendly as possible.

Believe it or not school will be starting back soon, don’t forget to

plan for Wednesday night GPS and children’s choir practice.

Keep an eye for the start date!

Sundays: Sunday School @ 10am / Wednesdays: GPS @ 6pm Kimber ly Vincent-- 580-380-5458-- childrendirector@dumc.org

FUMC First Kids News

This year my wife surprised me with a fishing trip on Father’s day. It was an awesome surprise and pretty eventful.

My wife, however, is a trooper. After pulling away from the docks, her hat flew off into the water and our guide circled around to get it. My wife reached down to grab her hat and a wave hit the boat causing the boat to slam into her face. I jumped up to see what happened and she had a mouth full of blood and a very bad cut on the inside of her lip that looked like it needed stitches.

After a few minutes my wife just said, “I’m not ruining your Father’s day” and we started back out. If that wasn’t enough, in all the commotion, her driver’s license, fishing license and check to pay the guide flew out of the boat and was lost in the water.

Sometimes when those kinds of things happen at once, you question God: are you trying to tell me something or what?

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, but I was more aware that maybe God was trying to get my attention and teach me something.

We started our adventure early and our guide had us drop our fishing lines in and we trolled his favorite spots but nothing was biting. So he got on the radio with his buddy to see if there were any fish biting at another location. Within minutes his buddy responded and said, “they’re biting great” where he was. He gave us his location, we pulled in the lines and raced to that other fishing spot.

By the time we reached this new fishing hole, everyone must have heard the news on the radio because there were 40 boats fishing in same spot.

All day long that seemed to be the case. Either we would find a spot or his buddy would and they would report back to each other and we would speed over to the next fishing spot. Sure enough, crowds of other boats heard the news and rushed to these same spots.

I watched this excitement happen in our last fishing hole. There was no one around us and we were getting bites left and right and sure enough, our guide reported back over the radio and within minutes tons of boats showed up to fish the same spot. When the boats came there was this excitement to catch some fish.

You know, I think this was what God was teaching me that day. We need to get better reporting back to the church where the fish are. Every single person at our church should be fishing for people in their favorite fishing holes and when we report back, we need to rush out to throw out the lines and we should be excited about it. There should be this anticipation where we rush together and put out our lines to catch the fish where they are.

Since I have been at our church, I have challenged you to think outside our walls. I have reported back to you those in some type of recovery and have suggested ways we can reach them. I reported back to you those who are grieving and shared with you how to reach them. I have reported back the broken homes our kids are living in and have created ways to reach our kids and shared with you how to reach their families. I have reported back to you the Native Americans that needed our support and created ways to reach them. I have reported back how we could support some of our local Methodist churches and partner with them to help grow their church. I have reported back and have done week-long missions within our own community with our youth.

I have reported back, but I haven’t seen many boats racing to those waters. I have reported back and haven’t seen much excitement. So, I wonder why is our church not growing…maybe it’s because we have forgotten our mission, to fish for men. Maybe we forgot that we’re supposed to be excited about God’s mission. Maybe we are so caught up, tangled with our own lives, happy to catch 1 or 2 when God wants us to go after our quota for the day.

Maybe God wants to teach us something. Where are the fish? They’re beyond our walls in the community. They’re all around us. Maybe we need to get on our radios and when someone hears where the fish are, we need speed over and drop some fishing lines.

Just ask God, where are you calling our church to go? Where are the fish? What is our mission?

Summer Schedule: July - Tim’s at School (Course of Study for Licensed Local Pastors) July - Adventures with Shelby and Dhon (TBD) Pastor Tim Ford

July Birthdays:

1st– Mark Coverstone

2nd—Pat Currence, Eli Breon

3rd— Guy Carey, Maggie Martens

5th— Laura Swearengin, Marianna Sparks

6th—Rachel Crissman

9th—Leroy Watson

13th—Chris Marcy

15th— Jared Pierce, Samantha Erickson

16th— Geri Mendez

17th—Delany Marcy

19th—Pat Britt

20th—Lisa Allen

22nd—Holly Shattuck, Emily Midgley

23rd—Hadley Hamilton, Katie Rogers

24th—Kim Vincent

26th—Randy Mullens

27th—Janet Tompkins, Tristan Pruitt

29th—D. Ann Matthews

31st—Kathy Sumner

If your name is missing from

our birthday list, please notify

the office and we will add it.

July Sermons 9am Service—Pastor John Breon

1 “Free to Love and Serve” (Galatians 5:13-15)

8 “The Fruit of the Spirit ” (Galatians 5:13-26)

15 “Keep in Step with the Spirit—Inward Disciplines” (Galatians 5:22-26)

22 “The Way of a Servant—Outward Disciplines” (John 13:1-17)

29 “All Together Now—Corporate Disciplines” (James 5:13-20)

Sermons can be heard at durantumc.org We welcome you to any of our three services Durant 9am and 11am and Caddo 11:30am

Putting the Church in your Will helps the

work of the Lord to continue on. Will you

consider it?

Let’s keep our Soldiers in our prayers!

Travis Dill– Deployed

David Dill– Deployed

Arthur Thomas

Tim Hanson– Deployed

Micah Hanson-Ft. Sam

Isaiah Hanson– National Guard

Mason East– Ft. Polk

Jebraun Abello– Ft. Bragg

Camaron Smith-Deployed

Trey Hill– Deployed

If you know someone who needs to be on this list contact the Church office. 580-924-4670

Staff Perish Relations Committee

will meet Tues., July 10th at 6pm.

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First United Methodist Church

PO Box 518

Durant, Oklahoma 74702

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage

Durant, Oklahoma Permit No. 151

Volume 22 July 2018 No. 7

Remember In Prayer Military Personnel Travis Dill-deployed

David Dill –deployed

Mason East– Ft. Polk

Jebraun Abello– Ft. Bragg

Camaron Smith-deployed

Trey Hill– deployed

Tim Hanson-deployed Micah Hanson –Ft Sam Houston

Isaiah Hanson– Oklahoma N. Guard

Mark Long– deployed

Special Needs Pat Mauldin’s son– Alan Mary Capshaw’s daughter, Elizabeth Steve Kirven Anna Grace Herrig– granddaughter of Steve & JoAnn West Sue Morris Leroy Watson

James Wright (Caddo) died June 21. Funeral was June 30th in Plano. Keep Mahala and the rest of the family in prayer.

Special Needs

Shelly’s Uncle Jack

And Dad, Jim Cox

Margie Simpson

Judy Starbuck

Mildred Coleman

Jim Saunders

Linda Hatch

Allison Hanson

Agnes Easterling

Mahala Wright

Jo Ann Howard

Tony Pollock

Nursing Care Helen Eggleton Jim Jones Myra Lester

Assisted Living Lyn Fene Odessa McKinney Janet Tompkins Robert Rhoden

Home Bound Christine Tillett Jack & Johnnye McBee Ann Endebrock

TOWER DELIVERY

If you would like to get your Tower online please do the following: Send an e-mail request to the church office: firstumc@durantumc.org

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