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Pastor's Ponderings
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The Mountain View I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where
does my help come? January 2004 Pastor's Ponderings.... Biblical Prayer One of my dreams for the New Year is to strengthen my prayer life. One method of developing my prayer time–especially when the words just will not come–is to pray from scripture. I used a couple of prayers that came directly from the Bible for the Festival of Carols presentation that was shared by the Bells of Joyful Sound and the Joyful Sound choir just before Christmas. This was the opening prayer. It came right from Psalm 150: 1. We Praise You, LORD. We
Praise You, God, in Your sanctuary; we praise You in Your mighty heavens. For the closing prayer, I chose a passage from Luke 2. Simeon is an old man who has been waiting for the Chosen One of God his whole life. Can you imagine his joy when his dream was fulfilled before he died? God of the music of life, we pray to you in the words of Simeon from the book of Luke when he had met the Christ Child: 29. "Sovereign Lord, as
you have promised, you now dismiss your servants in peace. Get the idea? Next time you are reading your Bible, try turning the passage into a personal prayer. You may be amazed how the scriptures come alive for you in a way that makes them more real and pertinent than they ever have been before. In Isaiah 56:7, we hear God saying, “My house will be called a house of prayer." My hope for 2004 is that the House of God known as “The Mountain Vista United Methodist Church” may continually be a House of Prayer, and that your home may be a House of Prayer as well, continually bathed in a loving, communicating relationship with the God of Grace. Grace & Peace for the New
Year, POTLUCK AND CHURCH CONFERENCE On Sunday, January 4th, we will be having a potluck luncheon and our annual church conference. This is a time to celebrate all that we have done as a church during the past year and to look ahead at where Christ is leading our church for the coming year. Please join us immediately after second service and bring a dish to share. Give someone a chance to share the warmth... please give blood! The American Red Cross invites you to give the gift of life on Monday, January 5th, from 3:00-8:00 p.m. at the American Red Cross Bloodmobile, which will be in our church parking lot. Appointments are scheduled for every 15 minutes. Please contact Jennifer Coe, 280-1403 or 712-8154 (cell) to schedule an appointment...or just drop by. We have a goal of 30 pints, which we were able to meet last August and would like to do again. Thank you!! WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY Starting Wednesday, January 7, the Women’s Bible Study group will be doing a study on the gospels. The Bible study is held at Linda Kreib’s from 9:00-10:00 a.m. Linda’s phone number is 566-4053 if you have any questions. Please join us for fellowship and faith-building. IT’S THAT TIME AGAIN... BROADWAY, THE MOVIE!!!!! Mark you calendars now. The scheduled show dates are:
Friday and Saturday nights: If you would like to be a part of this stellar production, try-outs will be Sunday, January 18, from 3-6 p.m. Rehearsals will begin on January 25, 3-6 p.m. For more information, contact Tracy Reinhard, 282-5742. See you in the movies!!! JANUARY VARIETY NIGHT This month’s get-together will be a Family Game Night on Sunday evening, January 18th. Please bring your family and a snack to share. Games will be provided. The fun starts at 7:00 p.m. See you there!!! COOKIE WALK The United Methodist Women would like to thank all the wonderful folks who so willingly helped in many ways with the annual Cookie Walk and Boutique. There are too many folks to list individually, but you know who you are, and because of all your help, concern and support we were able to contribute approximately $1400 towards the Building Fund. We hope all the buyers thoroughly enjoyed their baked-with-love items and would like to thank you for contributing to a great cause. Dear Mountain Vista United Methodist Church, Some people come into our lives and quickly go... Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same... Your loving thoughtfulness in supplying the items for a one-bedroom suite at LIFESTART VILLAGE is deeply appreciated. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your help to these single mothers and their children. These families are so appreciative of the beauty that you have created in their new home. Gratefully,
REFLECTIONS Winter Wonderland We have just come through a season during which we have celebrated the birth of the Christ Child. We have entered the winter equinox and will soon be entering the New Year. Each event brings new questions. What does the winter hold for me/us, more snow, icy roads, or days missed from work because of colds? What does the New Year hold for me/us, new challenges, new experiences, losses both personally and financially, or a move to a new location? What did the Christmas season mean, more gifts, more parties, putting up with relatives or trying to figure out how to buy everyone on my Christmas list a present? These questions can be both personal questions and questions for us as a Church. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that in Christ we are made new. Old things have passed away. Some of the challenges we are facing both personally and as a Church may seem intimidating, if we choose to look at them in a negative way. But more importantly they can be seen as NEW OPPORTUNITIES to step out in faith and NEW OPPORTUNITIES to have God show us what He can do through our humble efforts. NEW OPPORTUNITIES for spiritual growth. The song writer wrote; “Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane snow is glistening. We’re happy tonight, what a beautiful sight, walking in the winter wonderland.” Listening for that still small voice that prompts us to remember the important things in life, like family, friends, our faith and our trust in God. To see the beauty of the glistening white snow as it covers the earth giving a fresh clean feeling to the air we breathe. We can rejoice and be happy because of the newness of life we find in Christ and because of the opportunities and challenges we can experience during this New Year, opportunities for personal growth and for growth as a Church sharing the message of God’s love and forgiveness for humankind. Truly, we are walking in a Winter Wonderland of Opportunity.
Peace,
January Birthdays
*If you have a birthday or anniversary this month, and your name isn't here, please let the church office know. Thanks. MOUNTAIN VISTA UNITED METHODIST WOMEN 2nd Annual Call to Prayer & Self-Denial
Retreat Rocky Mountain Conference Utah /Western Colorado District UMW Circles Currently two UMW circles meet at the Church and are organized to provide community, develop creative, supportive fellowship and expand concepts of mission. All women are welcome to join a circle or form a new circle at a time that meets their needs:
Martha Circle
Saturday Circle (name to be determined) WORLD THANK OFFERING The United Methodist Women would like to thank the entire congregation for their support for the World Thank Offering that was collected on November 16th. Over $290 was collected, as we were able to share our abundance with others. The funds collected are used in the total program of mission carried on through the Women’s Division – mission in the United States and around the world. If you are interested in starting to collect your coins to share your abundance this year, we will be providing World Thank Offering label that can be attached to any jar. Please let Tina Whaley, Peggy Robison or Diane Lewis if you are interested in participating.
MOUNTAIN VISTA UMC
UMCOR – Layette Kits Many women around the world do not have even swaddling clothes to welcome their newborn into the world. The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) strives to fill the need. We are targeting to put together 25 kits by end of February. Each kit needs the following NEW items: Churchwide Special Sundays enable United Methodists to support change through their gifts and to experience lasting change by engaging imaginatively and actively in mission and ministry. Mountain Vista UMC will be celebrating all six Special Sundays this year. The first to be celebrated is Human Relations Day on January 18th. Per the Book of Discipline, “this Sunday occurs during Epiphany, the season of manifesting God’s light to the world. Human Relations Day calls the Church to recognize the right of all God’s children in realizing their potential as human beings in relationship with each other. The purpose of the day is to further the development of better human relations.” Please be in prayer for all of the mission opportunities provided by the church.
6 cloth diapers
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY The following is a list of events of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity being co‑sponsored by the Community of Churches in Utah and other bodies. We hope that you will take advantage of these opportunities to celebrate our common faith and strengthen our Christian witness in the state of Utah. January 15‑17: January 18: January 23: Having been raised in Utah, Dr. Kinnamon brings a unique local and global perspective to ecumenism. He served as past General Secretary on Consultation on Church Union (COCU) and most recently as officer with Churches Uniting in Christ and professor at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri January 25: Rev. Bjornberg, ELCA Bishop
of Rocky Mountain Synod, preaching Youth News! December Highlights Well, another year comes to a close. The Youth Leaders would like to thank all of the Youth and their parents for a wonderful year. We have grown closer as a group, learning to work together and play together. We think the foundation is in place for next year to be the best ever for a Youth group at Mountain Vista! In December we had a lot of fun when we went as a group to Marv Jensen Fitness Center. We played Walleyball; many of us for the first time. It was an enjoyable evening, even though we all smelled a little when we were done! Other things we did that night included swimming, racquetball and weights. Our thanks to Debbie Gibson for sponsoring into the gym that night! We will also be going bowling on December 28th at 2:00 in the afternoon. It will be at Shepard’s All Star Lanes, in West Jordan. For more information, please contact Mitch or Patty Lambdin at 566-3697. January hasn’t been completely planned yet, but one big thing that everyone needs to keep in mind is that on January 19th the Mountain Vista Youth will be joining with the Trinity Youth to provide all the sandwiches and personnel needed for the Sandwich Ministry. We will be contacting all Youth Members to let them know what they need to provide, and what time they need to be at the church on Monday. We hope everyone has a wonderful and safe New Year!
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