Can you believe October is almost here?! At the same time we have accomplished so much this year and we still have 3 months left of 2021!
I will tell anyone I see that I believe our Tom's Creek newsletter (which we call "The Messenger") is the best there is. This month we had so many pictures that Amy created 10 pages with lots of pictures and information. I am glad we have the pictures to really see all that is going on, especially for those that are part of our church community but are far away or not able to come. I hope and pray this allows them to see and be part of our church community! You can get to our newsletter by going to this link and hitting the October one: https://www.tomscreekumc.com/newsletters or you can go straight to the newsletter from this link: October newsletter. When you click on the link it might take AWHILE to load because it is a very big file. Of course we will have copies that will be available at church but sometimes we run out and you might have to wait a week if we need to print more. The reason we don't print too many at once is because of the price of color copies. For example this months issue would cost about $1 for every messenger we print. We have no problem with people having them and taking them but we also don't want to waste things by printing too many and then they get thrown out.
This Sunday we are continuing with our Fruit of the Spirit series and we will be looking at peace. The funny thing about the peace that comes from the Fruit of the Spirit, is that it does not go away because things are going wrong. If we have the peace God provides then we are not blown around even when are lives are whirling in craziness, even when the country is whirling toward debt ceilings, even when what is whirling around looks dark and scary. As Christians who have accepted Christ as our Savior, we should have peace that passes all understanding and keeps us grounded even when everything around us is whirling.
This is a Communion Sunday and just like last month we will be offering it in many ways. I will offer the bread of life to all who come up BUT we will also have bags of individual bread on the table for any who want to be more COIVD safe. On the table will be 2 chalices that you can dip your bread into. There will also be a ceramic container that will hold individual cups of sealed juice for those that want to be more COVID safe. For those that want communion but are trying to be extra, extra COVID safe you can come up after the service and receive from the table elements that were consecrated for you to take with you. Those of you joining us from home please feel free to assemble elements to be blessed and join us at God's Table of Grace that extends to meet us wherever we are. This month our communion offering will go to help offset the cost to Greta's family as they have had to travel to and from a hospital that was over 2 hours away for a very long period of time.
On the first and third Sunday of the month we are having the full choir at 8am and the full praise team at 10:30am. So we will be blessed to have them this Sunday as we have vibrant worship.
We are not passing offering plates so the wooden boxes are available to put your offering in. Of course you can also give online, use text to give (844-406-0358), or mail in the offering to church. In addition, we will be collecting prayers in the prayer box on the table in the parlor. Also, if you have announcement that you need to be shared please write them down and give them to me before the service. This will be an ongoing practice for prayers and announcements to help ensure that they are heard and understood by all (especially those worshipping with us virtually).
If people are not able to join us in the sanctuary for worship we continue to livestream at 8am (it will be available to view after too) services via Facebook ,(https://www.facebook.com/tomscreekumc) or YouTube(https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX6E7eCwH2ZGYspkSCF0CGw). If you join and follow our Facebook page or subscribe to our YouTube channel, they will let you know when we are live. You can always watch any videos we post later because we leave them up. Also Sunday afternoon a shortened version is available on our website and on YouTube.
In order to keep the peace from God sustained in our lives we need time gathered together with God's family in God's house. So whirl into church and be prepared for God to restore your peace!
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