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to read the Verse of the Day.
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to read the daily devotion.
Click here
to select the hymn and listen on your computer.
Join the Presidential Prayer Team
to pray regularly for our troops.
Lenten Pilgrimage
The annual Lenten Pilgrimage continues.
March 10: First Baptist Church
March 17: St. Mark United Methodist Church
March 24: First Presbyterian Church
March 31: Immanuel Lutheran Church
A soup and sandwich lunch will be served at 12:00 Noon and again at 1:00 p.m. with the worship service at
12:35 p.m. Cost of lunch is $1.00 and reservations should be called in to our church office by noon on Monday,
prior to the Wednesday you plan to attend. This is so we can let the host church know how many to plan lunch for.
Standing reservations may also be made.
Youth Party, March 17
Wear your GREEN and join us for a UMYF St. Patrick's Day celebration. We'll have a bonfire, games, hot
dogs, s’mores, and EVERYTHING will be green. We’ll be on the main campus beside the picnic shelter.
Relay for Life
The Friends of Susannah are selling Relay for Life Luminaries. Someone will be in the Narthex after the 8:45
service, in the educational wing before Sunday School, before the 11:00 service, and in the welcome area before
Blend. The luminaries are $10.00 ($15.00 if you want a picture on the screen with the name). Luminaries are
due by April 19, if you want the name on the scroll that will run all night. Otherwise, you can turn them in
up until the night of the Relay.
We will also have forms to sign-up and join our team, as well as, survivors forms. You can go online at
http://www.screlayforlife.org to join the
St. Mark team or complete a form at one of our stations on Sunday mornings.
The children in Sunday School on February 28 received an empty plastic film canister with a Relay for Life
sticker. The children are to fill these film canisters with 6 quarters and then bring them back to church.
This way even our smallest members can participate in fundraising for our Relay for Life team.
The Wesley Sunday School Class is
sponsoring pancake breakfast on Sunday, March 14. This is a fundraiser for the Relay for Life Team. Food will
be served at Rivers St. and on the main campus from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Cost is $5.00 for adults and $3.00
for children. All you can eat. Plates include pancakes, sausage, coffee, milk, or juice.
Barrett's Bits
Barrett Alewine, Pastor
Saw a cartoon the other day. It was a “Reader’s Digest” version of the Ten Commandments: “Do good!” Not bad,
actually. Third John 11 says “Whoever does good is from God.” Jesus went about doing good and we can certainly
follow the example.
Bishop Reuben Jones has written a small book, “Three Simple Rules” that offers his interpretation of the General
Rules of John Wesley. They are simple, but not easy. “Do no harm, do all the good you can, stay in love with God.”
The first rule reminds us that we are to do nothing that will bring harm to ourselves, to other people, to God’s
creation, or to the name of God. We are not people in isolation, but people called to live in community, just as the
Trinitarian God is community in essence. We are not merely consumers, but stewards of God’s created order. We have
been entrusted with care of the world God created and that God loves. I heard a political commentator say the other day
that if the church you attend includes the words “social justice” in its agenda, you should avoid that church. If
that is the case, then we must also avoid Jesus. He is the one who established social justice as part of his call to
do no harm.
The rule to do all the good you can is a call to follow Jesus as he goes about doing good. Good is about following
the rule we call golden, “Do to others as you would have others do to you.” A test to apply: Will my action or words
help others or only myself? Revenge is denied. An “I’ll repay evil for evil” approach is unacceptable. Our
commission from Christ is to do good even to those who attempt to cause us harm. To love your enemy is not to feel
soft towards them, but to do good towards them.
I think rule three, “stay in love with God,” is the essential to the other two. First John says, “The one who says,
‘I love God,’ but hates his brother or sister, is a liar.” Staying in love with God produces a love toward those whom
God loves. During this Lent attend to keeping alive the flame of love for God. Pray daily. Read your Bible everyday
to spend time with God. Be present in worship. Participate in a Christian small group. Find a path of service on
behalf of others. As Paul instructs Timothy, “fan into flame the gift of God that is in you.”
Do good! Not a bad idea at all.
Yours in Christ,
Barrett