June, 2002 NewsLetter Page Two

God’s Word for You

Our study of James continues on Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. in the confirmation room
June 5 - James 4:1-12
Fights, Quarrels, and other church pastimes.
June 12 - James 4:13 - 5:6
What possesses you?
June 19 - James 5:6-20
Becoming whole and helping others to do the same.

TGSIO PARTY - JUNE 2ND
The fun starts with praise worship at 5 p.m. and will be followed with food, fun and fellowship.

WHEN A DEAD MAN WALKS - JUNE 9TH
An exciting one-man performance of the gospel of Luke and Acts, followed by a trip to Thomas Sweets.

CAMP OUT AT WILDWOOD - JULY 26TH 7 27TH
You MUST return your reservation form by July 10th. Yes you can bring a friend. Attendance at Who Am I in Christ? & How Do I Take a Stand are mandatory.

Graduation Sunday

We would like to honor the members of the class of 2002 in worship on Sunday June 23rd. Would all members of the class of 2002 please call the church office by June 16th.

A special congregational meeting was held to discuss and vote on the consistory’s recommendation to purchase four evangelism videos and four flights of air time on cable TV and to finance the $8,200 cost of this ministry from the memorial fund. After viewing the videos and excellent conversation and dialogue a vote was taken that resulted in a tie.
Gratitude is expressed to everyone who participated in helping our church discern what God’s will is for this congregation at this time.

This proves that God does answer prayer yes, no and MAYBE!

“It is more blessed to give
than to receive.” Acts 20:35

A father was chaperoning his son’s 3rd grade class trip to a minor league baseball game. When a foul ball sliced toward this group of cotton candy crazed youngsters. He reached up and caught the ball and proudly presented it to his 8-year-old son Seth.

Dad was even prouder when Seth took the ball and turned to his friend and handed him the baseball. “You can have it. Dad already gave me one a couple of years ago.”

Seth’s spontaneous act was refreshing particularly in this day of hoarding and amassing things. Our instinct is to selfishly protect what we have even when others are truly in need.

The New Testament Church in Macedonia embraced a spirit of unselfish giving. Paul cited their giving spirit as an example for the rest of us when he wrote, “Their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”

Although they were poor in worldly goods they were rich in giving.

How rich are we in that category? Are we generous with what God has given us just as Seth was? Just as the church in Macedonia was?

Dear St. Paul’s,

As you already know a bit about me, since fully giving my life over to Christ in May 2000, I have seen God transform me in awesome and exciting ways. It is amazing to see how God has given me the opportunity to experience Him in a profound and intimate way, while He has raised me up on the Hamilton College campus as an ambassador of Christ. Well, now comes that bittersweet time of graduation, but I can rejoice that God has made His will for my immediate future known.

This summer, I will be in Los Angeles, where I will be taking part in Intensive Training (IT), which is a 7-week project organized by the Traveling Team, a missions mobilization organization that challenges college students to take more seriously God’s heart for the world. During my first 4 weeks in LA, I will be taking classes about missions methodology and trends at the U.S. Center for World Missions. Then, during the rest of the summer, IT will bring me face to face with different cultures and religions from around the world! A great thing about all of this is that God has shown me how He plans to use IT in my life almost immediately after the summer is over. Right now, I am in the application process with TEAM missions, and it looks like I will be a missionary in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for nine months next year, starting in mid-September. UAE is an incredible country with a population that is 80% expatriate, meaning that I will be right in the middle of an incredible mix of cultures. The Lord is using TEAM in some incredible ways in the nation, which is restricted when it comes to Christianity, and I will be serving there as an associate pastor of some sort.

I am telling you all this because I am hoping that you would consider being part of my prayer and/or financial sponsorship team. Due to program costs, travel costs, etc., it looks like I will need about $10,000 for the next year. Therefore, please prayerfully consider if the Lord wants to use your resources in helping to fund the ministry that He has called me to. Although every gift will be greatly appreciated, I am specifically asking people to make a financial contribution in the amount of $50, $100, $250, or $500.

In the meantime, if you feel led to give now, please write out a check made out to “The Traveling Team” (put my name on the “memo” line), and send it to the church or you can place it in the offering plate on Sunday June 9th when you attend my performance of When A Dead Man Walks.

I know that it will be harder for you to support me financially than to support me with prayer, and getting lots of the latter kind of support is greatly requested. I hope that within a couple of years, you all will be joining together in your own missions efforts, as you grow to experience the love of God in more profound ways in your life, as He aims to use you all in the world. I wish all of you His best.

His lamb.
Gregory R. Weyer

“I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.”
-spoken by the Apostle Paul to the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:24)