Advent: Joseph's Journey

Joseph, man of God, was chosen to be Jesus' human father.  He didn't believe at first that Mary could be pregnant by God's design.  He had to divorce her but planned to do it in a way that would make him the jerk in the story and spare Mary's life.  Mary would be stoned to death if it were known that she cheated on Joseph.  But if Joseph got her pregnant and then left her, he becomes the villain and Mary the victim. Here we see a glimpse of God's live through Joseph's action.  In the pain of betrayal, he thinks not of himself but of his beloved, Mary.

The end of the story: an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream, confirming the information Mary had given him  and they stay together as the birth of Jesus unfolds.

Children's Sermon: Second Week of Advent 2012

SECOND WEEK OF ADVENT 2012

Jesus Loves Me
The Dissinger Family:  Diego, Alba, Fred, Bella, Erica

Advent: The Beginning of Something New

Our sermon series is called "The Journey." The first sermon in this Advent series focused on Mary.

Mary was called the most favored among women. This favored status brought her shame, fear, pain and the brutal death of her first born child.

And yet Mary trusted God and lived by her answer to the Angel Gabriel, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word." Luke 1:37

Ask God to do something new in your life. And leave a message sharing the extraordinary things God is doing through you.

Christmas Sock Collection

Every year at Christmas time we collect socks for the boys at the United Methodist Boys Ranch in Gore, Oklahoma. We will collect socks until December 15th, then get them boxed and sent to the boys in time for Christmas.

Thanksgiving Children's Sermon

Children's Sermon: Thanksgiving 2012

October Minutes

Administrative Board Meeting
October 7 2012

Pastor Jim opened the meeting with prayer.

Treasurers Report:
General Fund - 4074.47
Building Fund - 2036.49
Total - 6110.96
We're up about $800.00

Old Business:
Ken discovered that a burnt wire was causing the AC to blow fuses.  He installed a new circuit breaker. Problem solved.

New Business:
The town of Indiahoma is getting a new garbage system that will start November 1st.  Trash pick-up day will be Monday and we will have our own trash can. (We've been taking trash to the dumpsters which will no longer be available.) Daryl will get the trash can out to the curb for pick up on Mondays.

Pastors Report:
Charge Conference is Monday, October 15, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Most reports are done. The few remaining will be done this week.

Pastor Jim is going to a workshop called the Kingswood Initiative in Hobart on October 18th, 5-9:00 p.m.

From the brochure:  This is the heart of the “Kingswood Initiative,”—a workshop on missional thinking and action.While most United Methodists remember John Wesley’s “heartwarming” experience at Aldersgate, few seem to remember that an equally powerful thing happened to him about a year later. It was then that Wesley first preached outdoors, taking the gospel from the church to the places of pain and suffering in  England during that time. Kingswood was a local mine where Wesley discovered what was to be the lasting focus of his revival ministry: going to where people were, taking a Gospel of Good News, and of loving action—to bring healing and wholeness in every sense of those words.

There's a hayride and corn maze outing to Chickasha on Friday, October 26th.  Let Pastor Jim know if you want to go.

On Sunday, October 28th, Snyder UMC is having a Trunk-or-Treat event.  Come in  your costume and get treats from vehicles instead of from houses.

Fred made his second motion to adjourn. Al seconded. Motion carried unanimously.

September Board Meeting

Administrative Board Meeting Briefs

September 2, 2012

Minutes from the August 5, 2012 Board Meeting were read and approved.

Treasurers Report:

General Fund             $2143.60

Building Fund             $3215.97

Total                $5359.57

Old Business:

            The AC is blowing fuses. Ken will find out what is causing it.

            Alba noted that cooler weather is expected so more landscaping will be done.

            Herwannah talked about the Christmas program.  She will be recycling the 1980 program so there will be no cost involved. The program is scheduled for Sunday, December 16, 7:00 p.m.  Candy sacking will take place during Sunday School, Dec 16.  Finger foods as usual in Fellowship Hall following the program.

Welcome Home Service is tentatively scheduled for Spring 2013.  Start gathering names and addresses of people who used to attend IUMC.

A Church Directory is in the planning stages. Stay tuned for details.

Pastor’s Report:

            Charge Conference will be Monday, October 15. Pastor Jim will bring Charge Conference forms to church for people who need to fill them out. We will have finger foods at Charge Conference as usual.

Men's Breakfast

Our church men meet monthly on a Saturday for breakfast and usually do some work at the church afterwards.

On July 28 Al Bennett flipped sourdough flap jacks for the group of men and their sons and grandsons. Afterwards they headed to Frederick to participate in Open Hangar Day at the WWII era hangar where paratroopers used to train in their C 137 A sky train.

The group witnessed the first air drop of the day and watched the men float to the ground in their WWII regalia.  Next they climbed about the airplane to inspect the interior.  It was hot and crowded. Then they toured the hangar and related exhibits, met up with Al's son, Andrew, at his display and enjoyed snow cones.

A great time was had by one and all.

Next Breakfast is Saturday, August 25 at 8:00 a.m. in the Fellowship Hall followed by a short church project workday.

Photos courtesy of Bob Macfadzean.

Boogie Baby C-47

C-47 in Flight

Paratroopers Floating Down

Paratroopers Landing

 Diego, Owen and Daryl getting off the C-47

Daryl and Jonathon Egressing From C-47

Fred  Leaving the C-47

Music and Ice Cream

Sunday

August 19

6:00 p.m.

Church Sanctuarys

Special Music & Sing Alongss

followed by Ice Cream 

in Fellowship Hall

August Birthdays

Many Happy Returns

on the day of thy birth.

May sunshine and gladness be given.

And may the dear Father

prepare thee on earth

for a beautiful birthday

in heaven.

from left to right:

Fred, the collector of birthday money

Shirley Wellhouse

Bill Bigbow

Herwannah Sellers

Church Bell

The Bell shouts praises reminding us that it's time for church.

See you for worship this Sunday!

Back to School Bash

This evening our local churches threw a party together. The street between the Church of Christ and the school was blocked off and there was a party in the street. Two bouncy houses, a dunking tank, water-balloon volleyball, hot dogs, lemonade, snow cones, face painting, water guns and water grenades.

The party began at 6:00 p.m. It was still our typical over 100 degrees hot weather, which was a good thing since everyone was getting wet. The kids loved bouncing and chasing each other with water guns. Teens played hilarious games of water-balloon volleyball, painted faces and got dunked. Adults served food, ate, chatted and got dunked. Every student got a backpack filled with school supplies.

It was an easy time of being together and celebrating what we have in common. We can do many wonderful things when we work together.  God seemed to be pleased as clouds gathered and a rainbow appeared over Indiahoma.

August 2012 Birthdays

Many Happy Returns

on the day of thy birth.

May sunshine and gladness be given.

And may the dear Father

prepare thee on earth

for a beautiful birthday

in heaven.

from left to right:

Fred, the collector of birthday money

Shirley Wellhouse

Bill Bigbow
Herwannah Sellers

August Board Meeting

We had to cancel our monthly church lunch because the Fellowship Hall air-conditioner is not working. We had a brief board meeting in the sanctuary followed by a visit from our new District Superintendent, Chris Tiger.

Here is a synopsis of our brief Administrative Board Meeting:

Jim Perkin opened the meeting with prayer.

The minutes from the July 1st board meeting were read and approved.

Treasurers Report:
Building Fund -$1918.60
General Fund - $4125.15

No Old Business.

New Business:
The air-conditioner in Fellowship Hall is on its last legs.  Ken, head of the Trustees, reported that the AC is old, we don't know what is wrong with it and we need to get someone to look at it and diagnose the problem. We decided to get two estimates, one from Indiahoma and one from Snyder.

Pastor's Report:
At this time, Chris Tiger and his wife arrived.  Jim said he had nothing pressing and invited Chris to begin his Shepherd's visit. Meeting adjourned.

July Birthdays

We collected a lot of birthday money this Sunday in July.

Patsy, Fred the Moderator, Beth, Harold, Herwannah for Maurice,
and not present but not forgotten: Hayden.

Acolytes

Acolytes

BOYS WITH FIRE

GOING SOLO FOR THE FIRST TIME

and learning that it can be fun to serve the Lord.

July 2012 Birthdays

We collected a lot of birthday money this Sunday in July.

Patsy, Fred the Moderator, Beth, Harold, Herwannah for Maurice,

and not present but not forgotten: Hayden.

Landscape Project

Diego and Owen enjoying the garden and seating area outside Fellowship Hall. (Actually, they are posing for the picture and ready to run off and play.)

South Central Jurisdictional Conference returns to Oklahoma

Watch for “breaking news” online next week!

• Who will be the new bishops in the South Central Jurisdiction?
• Will Bishop Hayes be reassigned to lead the Oklahoma Area four more years?
• Watch live as our bishop preaches Wednesday evening, July 18!

After 44 years, the South Central Jurisdictional Conference returns to Oklahoma on July 18-21 (Wednesday evening – Saturday morning). This conference meets once every four years. More than 600 United Methodists, from eight states, will meet in Oklahoma City at the Cox Convention Center and St. Luke’s UMC. 

Key on the business agenda: election and assignment of bishops in this jurisdiction (geographic region). And the Consecration of Bishops is one of the most powerful, worship-filled moments in the life of the Church.

With a high-speed Internet connection, YOU can follow it all --- worship and business --- from wherever you may be, and join in with your online posts. Click the links at www.okumc.org.

More specifically:

1. Watch the LIVE STREAM on the Web: http://scj.umportal.org/main/section.asp?id=1030
2. Facebook: Oklahoma United Methodist Communications
3. Twitter: #SCJ12

As the Oklahoma Area prepares to host this major event, remember the Church in your prayer petitions. The conference theme is “Woven Together for Transformation.” May God’s power entwine our hearts and actions in ways that glorify God!

Sight Psalms

Experiencing God through images

Sight Psalms is a ministry of the General Board of Discipleship of the United Methodist Church and is the work of photographers who seek to express the divine through images.

You can sign up to receive Sight Psalms in your email at: 

http://www.gbod.org/site/c.nhLRJ2PMKsG/b.6174501/k.9236/Sight_Psalms.htm

Let Freedom Ring

This is a devotional worth reading in celebration of Independence Day.

Let Freedom Ring

by Kelly McFadden

for HomeWord Center for Youth and Family

Click HERE to read the devotional.

Board Meeting Highlights

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Pastor Jim opened with prayer.

The minutes from the previous meeting were read and approved.

Treasurers Report:
Balance, June 2012
Building Fund - 1070.27
General Fund -  4531.43
Total -              5601.70

Old Business:

1. VBS was a huge success.
2. Ice Maker: Angie the Repairman said he would take the old ice maker in exchange for parts and labor when he tried to fix it.  Motion made, seconded and carried to accept Angie's offer.
3. The landscape project north of Fellowship Hall is completed.  Pictures to follow.
4. When it cools down, landscape work at the front of the church will begin.
5. Al Bennett offered to put a trickle water system in the "tree yard" when it cools down. He will also remove the dead, dying trees.

New Business:

1. Fred Suggested we introduce our new pastor at the School Ice Cream Social. Great idea.
2. Herwannah asked that people start thinking about the Christmas program and share any ideas they have.  The program will be on Sunday, DEC 16, 2012.
3. Harold has already ordered the Christmas candy.

Pastor's Report:
The Perkins are glad to be here and excited about our journey together.

Our new District Superintendent, Chris Tiger, will be at our church on Sunday, August 5, at 2:00 p.m. Jim hopes he can come earlier to eat with us as this will be our next church dinner and board meeting day.

The 2011 audit was due on July 1st.  We are one of many naughty congregations who did not get this done. Because we always pay 100% of our apportionments and we have already paid 100% of district apportionments and 50% of conference apportionments this year, we aren't in too much trouble over the late audit report.  But we do need to get it done.

Jim is going to spend the entire day at our church 2 to 3 times a year and will do the same at Snyder.  That way he can be a part of the whole church experience, not just the sermon portion.

Another great idea is a "Welcome Home Service."  This is something Jim did at Nowata, in the fall around Thanksgiving, when he was pastor there.  It was a special service for people who used to attend church there.  It wasn't a gimmick to get them to come back, just a celebration time to see them again. Of course there was a special meal after this service.  Start thinking of people we can invite to our Welcome Home Service.

Jim would like to have a church directory with pictures.  He thinks we can do it ourselves.

Daryl said Colleta winked at him. Patsy seconded the wink. Daryl said good-bye.

Meeting adjourned.

Meet Our New Pastor

Jim Perkin is our new pastor. He is pictured with Janie Harrell as they accompany the choir in a lively Indiahoma rendition of Just a Closer Walk With Thee.

Jim and Mary Lynn are a musical couple. Jim was in a band at his previous church in Moore and Mary Lynn is a music teacher, her main instrument is the flute. She will be teaching music to 3rd-5th graders at Cache Elementary School.

We didn't waste any time before we put Mary Lynn to work.  Here she is doing the Children's Sermon.  She started by playing "Follow the Leader."  The kids followed her up and down the aisle copying what she did as they went.  Back on the floor, the message was that in life we have people like our parents to lead us but more importantly we look to God and try to be like Him as we follow Him through life.

Seated with Mary Lynn are her children, Sadie and Landon, and Owen Perry.

We are so Happy to have the Perkins with us.

Patrick's Last Sunday

Methodists move preachers around about every 3-5 years.  Patrick has been with us four years and we said goodbye to him this morning.  Wednesday he will move to Kingfisher and on Friday our new pastor and his family will move into the parsonage. Here are a few pictures of people saying goodbye to Patrick.

Easter 2012

The Easter Table

Eggs in the Yard

Get ready...

Get set...

Babies GO!

Big Kids GO!

The hunt is on.

Former egg hunters help.

Tanner Family

Dissingers

Diego and Owen

Pictures, FEB 2012

Dissinger/Ramirez families celebrating birthdays

Daryl with Jim Lien as Mr. Rogers

Patrick dressed up for Lent

Many happy returns

on the day of thy birth,

may sunshine and gladness be given

and may the dear Father

prepare thee on earth

for a beautiful birthday in heaven.

The Message of Jesus to the Religious Person

The message of Jesus to the religious person is simple:

It’s not what you do. It’s what I do. I have moved in.

From rooTed BATON ROUGE, a devotional website.

This message of Jesus is part of why Methodists believe in infant baptism; it's what Jesus does at the baptism, not what the person being baptized does. It's never about us, it's always about Jesus.

A Full Choir

The choir is singing "How Great Thou Art" by Carl Boberg (1886).

How Great Thou Art

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,

Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.

When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur

And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;

Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;

That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,

He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,

And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.

Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,

And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art.

Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee,

How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Looking Back at Christmas

Advent

Reading the Advent Scripture

Lighting the Advent Candle


Christmas

Christmas Morning Children's Sermon

Baby's First Christmas

Friends on Christmas

Epiphany

The Wise Men Find Jesus