Weekly Email for Feb 1

I have just returned from our annual Theological Conference for our 3 synods located in Texas and Louisiana.  The conference is for pastors and professional lay leaders and gives us a time to “talk shop” and to hear speakers. This year’s theme was “The Good Earth” and dealt with our care and conservation of the earth as more than just  an economic and political issue, but as a theological issue as well.  As stewards of God’s good creation we need to be at the forefront of speaking about the preserving and sharing with future generations of our environment.  I want to encourage all of us to practice recycling and care of what God has given to us. Remember to bring your newspapers for our recycling bin in the parking lot.

This Sunday I will be preaching about the authority of Jesus for our congregation and for our lives. Submission and obedience to the authority of Christ in our lives is no easy task, but the key to peace and the joy of the Kingdom. I hope that you will be blessed by this Word.

This Sunday we will begin a practice of allowing more silence during communion for reflection. We hope the silence will give you time to reflect on the Word and what God is willing for your life. Let us know what you think.

This Sunday is also Superbowl of caring Sunday and our youth will be collecting money for hunger. It is also food collection Sunday and we encourage everyone to bring non-perishable food for our food pantry.

On Saturday the 7 at 9:00am we will have an Evangelism Workshop for anyone interested in sharing the Good News of God with others. We have lots ideas and need your input. Also bring you ideas. We want to grow our congregation’s outreach and it takes all of us working together. 

Jan 25 weekly email

This Sunday we will be concluding our 3 Sunday series, "Telling our Stories, Sharing our Gifts."  We want to thank Nancy Carpenter for sharing her story as part of the sermon last Sunday as we preached about saying no to materialism. This Sunday we will be hearing stories from Mary King, president of our congregation. We will be talking about the joy of giving and how giving is part of the call to follow Christ.  I know that you will enjoy it.

 

We will also be having a congregation meal and talent show following the services. It is not too late to participate. Please email Judy or call the church office if you can attend. Bring a talent to share.

Most importantly, this the" Great Sunday of Sharing". We are asking members to write down their estimate of giving for this coming year to help our leadership plan our ministries and for you to give thoughtful and prayerful consideration of your giving to Peace's ministries and mission.  We will have a box in the chancel for you to put your envelope or you can mail it to the church office.  Your estimate of giving is confidential. Thank you for doing this. It helps all of us.  You have until Feb 8 to return your card. Your card is in the stewardship packet you received in the mail or picked up on the narthex table.

 

We will also be installing our council at the 11:00 service and celebrating the first communion of Adam Sasek.

 

We will have a youth and family workshop this Saturday from 9-12. If you have an interest in this ministry, please attend.

 

Our newsletter will go out next week. Be sure to read it. It has lots of information. We also hope to publish our first “Backyard” the first week in February. This publication is for stories of people experiencing or seeing God's generosity, living simply and the joy of giving. If you have a story, email it to me. This is a great place for thank you notes.

 Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University:  As most know we are having a stewardship campaign in January. This is really great.  We all can work on our budgets and finances for the year and decide what we can do to help the church and its various ministries. 

 

Starting on February 3 we will be hosting Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University.  This is a great tool to help free you up from the many yokes that keep us down and prevent us from being able to assist in ministry as we would like.  Come and learn how to be virtually debt free if not completely debt free.  Do you have a financial plan? Would you like one?  Maybe you can’t take that special vacation this year, maybe you can’t buy that truck this year or that boat (no matter how much you beg for the boat) and maybe you want to give more to the church or to some other ministry.  Come and learn how to make these things occur.  Learn things about money and finances you maybe didn’t know or didn’t remember. 

 

There will be an informational meeting on January 25 at 6:00 p.m. and January 27 at 7:00 p.m.  The classes will meet on Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. beginning February 3.  Watch in the narthex for further information. 

Kenny Sanders

 

Girls’ Night Out: Friday, January 30^th 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

It's Sweetheart Bunco time!  Let's celebrate Valentine's Day early with the first Bunco of 2009.  Red and pink food is welcome. Remember to wear your Valentine colors.  Cost is $5.00; last names A-L bring main or side dishes and last names M-Z bring desserts. A sign-up sheet is located on the table in the narthex.

 

50+ Bus Trip: On Thursday, January 29^th, we are going to the Hockley Lone Star Pinball Museum. There are 300 pinball machines and early arcade games that we can play, enjoy and buy. Dan Ferguson (owner) was featured in the Houston Chronicle on December 23, 2007 as being a “need be” place to see. The bus cost is $3.00 and leaves Peace parking lot at 8:30 a.m.  Contact Sharon (281) 489-9790 or Virginia (281) 487-4961 if you want to go on this trip. We hope that you will come and join us.

 

On March 19^th, we're going to tour the facilities of Houston TranStar, which has been a leader in designing and implementing transportation management plans to get citizens where they want to go.  Monitoring traffic incidents with more than 600 regional closed circuit television cameras, staff at the TranStar center dispatch vehicles to remove debris or hazardous materials, communicate with emergency vehicles about the most direct routes to an accident scene, and send tow trucks to stalled vehicles. After lunch, we'll go to the Health Museum which provides the ultimate journey inside you - it lets guests explore giant sculptures of human organs, including a brain, ribs, teeth, eyes, etc. They have a giant model of an eye that allows visitors to see how the lens operates and how the eye focuses.  Admission to both is FREE!!!

 

Cost of the bus is $3.00, which leaves Peace parking lot at 9:00 a.m. Call Sharon, 281-489-9790, or Virginia, 281-487-4961, to make reservations for this trip.

 

Midweek Bible Study/50 + Bus Trip: Pastor Tart and the midweek Bible Study group, along with the 50+ members are sponsoring a trip to the Houston Fine Arts Museum to see the "Birth of Jesus, a Jewish Story". From the museum's website: "Explore the cultural, political and personal events that shaped Jerusalem and the surrounding region more than 2,000 years ago in The Birth of Christianity: A Jewish Story. View the earliest known manuscript containing the story of Christ's birth in the oldest known copy of the New Testament Book of Luke. Examine other ancient manuscripts including the prophetic Old Testament Book of Isaiah - one of the original Dead Sea Scrolls found at Qumran. Witness history first hand and be among the first to view a host of other authentic artifacts from this fascinating time and place, which to this day remains one of the world's most important and influential cultural intersections."

 

Meet at the church parking lot at 9:00 a.m. (Cost of the bus is $3.00.)  We will return to the Fellowship Hall for a meal and discussion.

 

Cost for the museum is $18.00 per person. Seniors (62+) are $16.00. If we can get 20 people (must be 50+ to ride the Harris Co. bus) to attend, the cost will be $16.00 each. An audio guide is an additional $5.00.

 

We must have your reservation and money by Tuesday, January 27^th in order to get the 20 people discount. Contact Sharon (281) 489-9790 or Virginia (281) 487-4961 if you want to go on this trip.

 

Sandwich Generation Support Group: The “Sandwich Generation” Support Group is meeting on January 29th at 7:00 p.m. at the church. We will be sharing plenty of holiday stories. Come, share the stories of your experience dealing with being in the “sandwich generation” and know there is a listening ear that is here and understands.

 

 “Souper Bowl” Sunday: The “Souper Bowl” is February 1^st. Most people know that the Super Bowl is coming, but whether or not you like football, there’s a more important “bowl” going on.  The Souper Bowl is taking place across the country as churches donate dollars and non-perishable foods to fight against hunger.  We are a part of this “Souper Bowl” too!  All food and cash proceeds will go to the Pasadena Community Ministries as they continue to fight hunger and provide a vital ministry to our area. Help us tackle hunger! Please bring a check, cash and/or non-perishable goods to church with you on Sunday, February 1^st.

 

Women of Peace General Meeting – February 15^th, 3:00 p.m.: Ladies, mark your calendars and make plans to attend our General Meeting that will be hosted by the Friendship Circle on February 15^th at 3:00 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. The theme is “God’s Conversation Hearts”. If you do plan to attend, we’d like for you to find a picture of yourself that no one would recognize and get it to Geri Warren before the day of the meeting. Any question, please call Geri.

 

Youth and Family Ministry Workshop: There will be a Youth and Family Ministry Workshop this Saturday from 9 am to 12 pm in the Conference room adjacent to the Sanctuary. All youth and adults interested in visioning, leading, improving, maintaining, or just plain helping our ministries here at Peace are encouraged to attend. Breakfast will be provided.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

video log for Jan 18

Jan 18 email

To my faithful friends and partners in the Gospel.

My wife, Kathryn,  and I had restful and enjoyable vacation before our return last Friday. Vacations are always good to rekindle energy.

I want thank Troy Hagemeister for sharing in the sermon this past Sunday. He had a powerful story about trusting the generosity of God through good times and difficult ones.  There were not many dry eyes in the church.

This Sunday is “Saying no to materialism Sunday” and our storyteller is Nancy Carpenter. We will be preaching about what it means to live simply and not be drawn into the temptation of finding true happiness and peace in things.  We will be talking about leaving the fig tree of material things to find the bigger life God has in store for us.

 

We mailed out the remaining stewardship packets. Be sure to open your packet and read the letter and brochure. Also inside is an estimate of giving card for you to fill out and bring to the worship on “The Great Sunday of Sharing on Jan 25”. We will collect these cards through Feb. 8. You can also mail in your card. These cards help our leadership plan our ministries. We also hope that it helps you to make a thoughtful and prayerful decision about your giving for this year. We have challenge before us of a ministry and mission spending plan of $685,722.

As always we give the right to pass and encourage people to give as they feel God calls them.

Most importantly we want people to sign up in the narthex for the meal on Jan 25 and the talent show entertainment. So far, we have had just a few. This is a great opportunity to have some fun. Any and every talent will be appreciated and enjoyed. The cost is free!

You can also email Judy your reservation and talent.

Also we want stories of giving, God’s generosity and living simply for our Backyard Publication.  You can email these to me or send them to the church office.  Our first publication will be the first week in February.

We will have a worship workshop this Sunday following the 11:00 service. Lunch will be provided. This is open to anyone interested in improving the worship life of our congregation.We will be done by 3:00. Our main work will center on the Lent, Holy Week and Easter.

See you on Sunday!

Pastor Tart