Below please find my article for the November Newsletter; I need to mention a couple of things that slipped my mind when writing the article. Among the busy schedule of November, we also have our Annual Thanksgiving Dinner on November 24th immediately after worship. The Church provides the turkey for the meal and we ask everyone to bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share. It's always a great feast and a wonderful time of fellowship. Immediately after the meal we then do our annual "Hanging of the Greens", where we decorate the Church for the Christmas season. Advent begins on December 1st this year and this annual decoration celebration always prepares the Sanctuary for the coming of Advent.
Please mark your calendars and try to take part in both of these events on November 24th. There's nothing better than fellowship and welcoming the Advent/Christmas season into the Lord's house.
Be a blessing to someone today!!
In Christ,
Roy
Pastor's Ponderings – November 2019
Well, we're quickly moving into November and what is one of our busiest months of the year. November 9th will be the Men's meeting at 7 am, the men will be preparing for their “Baked Potato Bar” on November 10th. Make sure to plan to stick around after worship on the 10th and enjoy a great lunch and help sponsor the Men's programs here at Woodlawn. Baked Potato Bar serving: Baked Potato w/choice of toppings, Dessert Bar &/or Ice Cream, plus a Beverage Cost just $6.00 per person.
November 9th will also be the day of Bessie Hendricks's 112th Birthday party. Yes, Bessie will be 112 years old! The party is here at Woodlawn from 2 to 4 pm, make sure to come up and recognize this amazing event for Bessie, the Hendricks family, Woodlawn, and the State of Iowa. Bessie is the oldest soul in Iowa and a genuine piece of living history! God bless her!
November 14th will be the “season opener” for our Annual Soup Suppers. Watch for more details! Make sure to thank Donna Westcott for agreeing to chair these Suppers this year.
On November 23rd will be our “Main Event”! Don't miss our Annual God's Portion Sale! This is a crucial event for the success of our yearly ministries and operations. Please donate and attend to help make this event the huge success it has long been! Thank you all!!
Please note that I will be taking Nov. 25-27th as vacation days. Gail and I have a large number of her family coming to spend Thanksgiving with us and it will be good to spend some time visiting with them all and preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner.
This last Sunday we talked again about 'prayer', as we grow closer and closer to 'Thanksgiving', let us think more and more about lifting up prayers of thanks to our Creator. It is so often said that we just can't thank God enough but it is so very, very true. Each day lift up prayers of thanks and also remember to thank those around you who help you out and make your lives just a little bit better.
I want to thank all of you who have worked so hard here at Woodlawn, there are too many to list but I do want to thank everyone (especially Gloria and Roxy) who work to put together the funeral luncheons. In October it seemed that we really got socked with funerals and to all of you who help with this ministry of grace to these hurting and mourning families I must say thank you.
I do want to lift up a specific thank you to Clyde for all he does for Woodlawn and all that he does for Gail and I personally. You my friend simply make my experience here in Lake City so much easier and enjoyable. Thank you for all the times you pitch in and all the times you literally bail me out. God bless you for all of these times and more to come!
As we grow ever closer to Thanksgiving we each know that just around the corner of the Calendar is that wonderful day in December when we celebrate our Lord's birth. This year let's all make a concerted effort to allow the spirit of giving “Thanks” to properly prepare our hearts for the coming of our Lord... Thanks be to God for His greatest and most timeless gift...
Be a blessing to someone today!
Pastor Roy
Pastor's Ponderings – November 2018
Well, once again we're preparing for the Church's Annual “God's Portion Sale”. This year's sale is on November 17th and will be another fun and festive event. Please mark your calendars and make plans to come and take part in this fun and important fundraiser for the Church. The committee is working hard on gathering items for the auction but the success of the auction really stems from the donations of auction items by the congregation and upon the attendance and participation of the church membership. Please come, have fun, and help this long-running (72 years!) program be successful! Thank you all!!
November is always a very, very hectic month and please take note of all the things that are coming up and please try to partake in as many as you can. First off we have the Ministerial Associations Community Thanksgiving Worship Service on November 11th. This year it will be held at Union Church at 3:30 pm. Next, we have the God's Portion Sale setup on Friday, November 16th, I don't believe a time has been set yet, so please stay tuned for an announcement on the time for setup. Then on Saturday, November 17th, we have the God's Portion Sale and the Lunch beforehand. The lunch starts at 11:30 am and the Sale follows at 12:30. This year we will have a new auctioneer, Justin Brant will be doing the calling for us, make sure to thank him for helping us out!
On November 18th, we'll have the annual Thanksgiving Dinner right after Worship, and then after we've finished eating we'll go into the Sanctuary and do the 'Hanging of the Greens' and decorate the Church for the Christmas Season. Thanksgiving Day is on the 22nd this year, the earliest it ever is on the calendar and it's my birthday as well! On the 27th, the Annual Remembrance Service will be hosted by Lampe's Funeral Home at Saint Mary's Catholic Church at 6:30 pm, I will be performing part of the service along with all the other local ministers. On November 29th, we will be having our November Soup Supper, serving from 5 to 7.
Please note that we won't have our normal Thursday Night Worship Service on Thanksgiving Day, November 22nd. Which would also be our normal night for the 'Supper Then Service' so we won't have a 'Supper Then Service' in November but we will resume this event on December 27th.
We also have an Elder's Meeting on November 4th, and the Men's Meeting on November 10th, so if you are part of either or both of these groups make sure to plan for those meetings as well.
I'm looking forward to November, it's one of my favorite months of the year, (not the least of all because it's my birthday month!) it's the start of the Thanksgiving to Christmas Season which is just such a great time of year. People are feeling rushed and stressed, but at the same time we're all thinking about our loved ones... try to remember while you're out shopping for that 'perfect' gift that the important thing isn't the gift but showing your loved one that you do love them. As I get older the gifts that are more special are the simple things and more importantly spending time with those I love. Gail and I are very excited that her family is once again coming to spend Thanksgiving with us and our two children will both be here as well. That's really all I could want or hope for in the end...
In closing, October was a very sad and difficult month for all of us here at Woodlawn. We laid to rest our dear friend and someone that we all loved so very, very much... Evelyn Johnson. I confess that it was a very difficult service to write and to perform. But, it was an honor to preside over the remembrance celebration of such a wonderful, beautiful, and loving woman. Evelyn is singing and playing music along with the angels now... praise be to God! All of us will long remember Evelyn and the long and beautiful music ministry that she lived here at Woodlawn and Lake City. Make sure to extend a hand of comfort and grace to Evelyn's family... God bless them each and every one. Let me share with you one of Evelyn's favorite verses Psalm 118:24 along with a few of the verses that precede this verse.
Psalm 118:14-24
14 The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.
15 Hark, glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,
16 the right hand of the Lord is exalted, the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”
17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18 The Lord has chastened me sorely, but he has not given me over to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank thee that thou hast answered me and hast become my salvation.
22 The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.
23 This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24 This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Be a blessing to someone today!!! Pastor Roy
Pastor's Pondering
Well, November is fast approaching, and once again the beginning of the hectic Holiday Season. It seems that no sooner than has November begun than we're rushing right into Christmas and then a New Year. It's such a wonderful and hectic time of the year, and thank God for it all!
Just an update on some October projects, the 'Baked Steak Dinner' on October 19th was a great success and a huge thank you to everyone who pitched in and helped. Special thanks to Kim Anderson and my wife Gail for cooking and preparing the meal, it was delicious and everyone loved it very much! The annual Hay Rack Ride on the 15th was a great outing once again and thank you to Nick & Rita Burley for providing the rack and pulling us out into the woods, and thank you to Clyde for setting up the bonfire for us. The 'Catch' training program has been well attended and the last meeting will be on October 31st. On October 30th, Clyde and Donna Westcott, and Gail and I will be handing out treats in the Square for the “Trunk or Treat” event, if anyone else wants to dress up in costume and join us please feel free to do so the hours are from 5-7 pm.
Preparations are well underway for the upcoming God's Portion Sale on November 18th. If you haven't been to the Sale for a couple of years, or if you've never been to this fun event, please make plans to attend. It's an important part of our annual fund-raising efforts as well as a great lot of FUN! Bring your items to be donated whenever you wish, the Church will be open on the 17th from 8 am on and we'll be here that afternoon setting up. Set up is scheduled for 5 pm on Friday the 17th, all are welcome to come and help. Thank you all in advance! Items to donate can be baked items, home crafts, gift certificates, or you name it!
On the 19th we have a very, very busy day in store. That is the day of our Thanksgiving dinner which takes place immediately after the worship service. After the dinner, we'll move back into the sanctuary and have our annual 'Hanging of the Greens' also known as, decorating for the Advent and Christmas Season. This is always a fun and festive time and it's great to see everyone working around the Sanctuary decking it all out in Christmas spirit.
The Men's group will be meeting on Saturday, November 11th up at Sweet Things. The meeting is at 7 am and please make plans to join us for a time of fellowship and ministry planning. The men will be helping Joyce & James Choate move on November 4th, if you'd like to help out with this project give me a call or talk to Joyce about how you can pitch in.
Sunday, December 3rd is the beginning of the 2017 Advent season and we will be doing a study in the Sunday Night Group (the Adult Sunday School will continue to work through the Gospel of John) I am in the process of developing the study so please stay tuned for more details to be announced in worship. If you've never attended the Sunday Night Group, please think about dropping in. We meet each Sunday at 6 pm in Fellowship Hall, after a light meal we go into a time of prayers & praise, sing a few songs together, and then spend time in a Bible Study, maybe watching a video or some other study. It's an informal gathering and a great time of fellowship, the type of study varies a bit, right now we're completing a study of the letter to the Galatians then transition into the Advent Study starting in December.
I have made contact with a Church in the Hurricane affected areas in Texas. Bill Spangler-Dunning put me in contact with the Regional Minister for Texas and she, in turn, put me in contact with the First Christian Church in Pasadena, TX. For those interested, their website is https://fccopasadena.wordpress.com/ There will be more information coming on this mission project so stay tuned for new developments and announcements from the pulpit.
On November 4th, the Hendricks family will be hosting Bessie Hendricks 110th birthday celebration here at the Church. Come on up from 2 to 4 pm and wish Bessie the very best! It will be great to have Bessie back in the Church building and we're all looking forward to the celebration.
Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
May you all have a wonderful November and remember to...
Be a blessing to someone today!
Pastor Roy
