United Church Of Lincoln
23 Quaker St; Lincoln, VT 05443
Phone/Fax (802) 453-4280 / Email: ucol@gmavt.net
Pastor - Rev. David R. Wood; Youth Pastor - Todd Goodyear; Pastor Emeritus - W. Ransom Rice
Missions
“Pennies from Heaven”
We are $405.90 into our 3 rd mile, with a total of $2,095.50 collected so far.
URGENT NOTICE
WE HAVE A GREAT NEED FOR THOSE PENNIES!!
We have been given a great need. That need is to help provide Pocket Bibles for the Rutland Corrections Facility. The inmates’ response to receiving these Bibles has been astounding. Once a month my twin sister’s church, The Union Church of Proctor visits the prison, where they go to share with those inmates that have been given the privilege to attend this fellowship. There are usually between 10-20 different men each month. The Bibles are laid out on a table for the men to take if they wish. As I said before, to our astonishment these Bibles are being taken month after month by almost every inmate. They even had an individual ask if he could have one to give to his son when he came to visit.
We are witnessing a great hunger for the Word of God right now in so many hearts of those in prison. Why? Why right now? I can’t answer that but I know God can. We are only asked to be ready to serve Him when-where-and how He calls us to do so. I am very excited about this wonderful mission field that “Pennies from Heaven” has found.
We are in the Season of Christmas where we hear a lot about giving, about Angels and Shepherds with their sheep. All part of the Christmas story. But I dare say that I see Pennies from Heaven’s Christmas story found not in the traditional one, but instead in the story of the “sheep” in Matthew 25:31-46 and the beautiful short story of the “Angels” at the end of Luke 15:3-7. This is your cue to stop reading this and go to your Bible and read these two passages.
There is a Great Need – a Great Hunger – a Great many Souls lost. But wait….there is Great Joy. For in all this we have a Great God who gave to us this very day a precious opportunity wrapped up in love and laid upon our hearts. And suddenly a great host of Pennies appeared with every sound of “tingling”. As pennies are being dropped the music of Christmas is being heard. As we join the Angels in singing “Glory to God in the Highest”. Now with “Pennies from Heaven” what else would we expect to hear?!!
Rejoicing with the Spirit of Christmas
Lorraine Patterson
Angels Needed....
Do you have an hour once a week, twice a week or even once a month? Bristol ’s Meals On Wheels program needs your help delivering hot meals and warm smiles to your elderly neighbors. Tuesday volunteers are urgently needed as well as hardy drivers to fill in for our snowbirds and those with very tired vehicles. Call the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging 1-800-642-5119 to volunteer and for more information.Mothers Without Borders Vermont
In the spirit of Mothers Day, Mothers Without Borders Vermont is holding it’s 3rd annual drive to help widowed mothers and orphaned infants in Zambia by collecting items for “Newborn Kits”. New this year- we will be retaining a portion of the kits collected and distributing them locally!
A Newborn Kit contains: 6 cloth diapers, 4 diaper pins, 3 newborn/small plastic pants, 1 layette gown, 1 pair baby socks, 1 newborn hat, 1 receiving blanket, and1 bar Ivory soap, packed in a 2 gallon zip lock bag.
These items may be new or gently used (free of holes or stains).
Kits will be collected through Mothers Day weekend. They may be dropped off at 50 Mountain Street or given to Nancy Luke on Sundays at church.
If you are part of a group or organization and would like to do this project as a group activity or mission, please contact us.
We will also be offering ‘honor cards’ again this year. You can give the gift of a newborn kit to a newborn baby in Africa in the name of your friends and loved ones. The newborn will receive the newborn kit and your loved one will receive a beautiful card that states that a gift of the newborn kit has been given by you in their name. The cost of a kit is $25.
To make an honor gift please contact Nancy Luke
Phone: 802-453-2376 Email:motherswithoutbordersvt@yahoo.com
Changing the World, One Child at a TimeIn Outreach!
Eagerly awaiting our next call !!!
What are your spiritual gifts?
Service, hospitality, faith, giving, organization, mercy, teaching, prayer, leadership, craftsmanship, evangelism?......We are looking for a few good women and men to serve.
Can you help with our spiritual life, be a witness to Christ and the church, promote missions and assist in our worship? The Board of Deacons and Stewards may ask you to consider how you can join their efforts.
Are you business minded, handy with numbers and a hammer? The Board of Trustees may be a place of service for you.
Are you a teacher, communicator and a person who nurtures – not just children, but all who are growing in their knowledge of God? The Christian Education Board needs a person like you.
Do you know your fellow members well enough to ask them to join our boards and committees as they work to build our church? The Personnel Committee may ask you to serve.
Would you work to support, care for and help our pastors be the best they can be? The Pastoral Relations Committee may offer you the opportunity.
Please consider with prayer and care how you are able to join in service.
God's Ministry when done through earthly means, costs money.
Some of us can’t begin to imagine giving ten percent of our earnings to the church. But many have chosen to do just that. Why Do You Tithe? This question was posed to a number of people in the church family......make no mistake – these folks are just like you, with the same financial commitments......here are a few responses:
“That's something the Lord God wants us to do that we have done for probably 50 years or so, and it is good for our Church and for us to keep on doing it.......if we were having some tough times it seemed that something always came along to help us make it, (even if it was just good advice...or a new tenant), and I've always believed that using envelopes is the best way of keeping track of it. It also makes me feel good...it's one area where I'm sure I'm not letting God down......”
“I tithe because I want to live BEING a person who trusts God. I believe God’s promise to supply all my needs. I believe that to do less than give a full tithe robs God. A full tithe communicates not only my trust, but also my thanksgiving. I believe that because I have been blessed I now have the responsibility to financially, and otherwise, further the ministry that is God’s church. I tithe because I want to be blessed and to be a blessing. ‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouses, that there may be food in My house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it’. Malachi 3:10
I encourage you to take God’s invitation seriously. Keep putting Him to the test over the course of a year and see what happens in your life because of it!”
“We tithe because we believe that is what the Bible tells us to do. God doesn't want us to get so involved in our money that we worship it instead of Him. He also wants us to understand that all we have came from him in the first place. It's His anyway. He's just letting us use it, hopefully in a responsible way.
We started many years ago tithing on our take-home pay, then on our gross pay. We now tithe on our gross pay to the church and do other donations beside. We say this only to encourage others. It's important that this is between you and God.
Sometimes it is hard to give that much back when we see the ways we could use it for ourselves, but we are so blessed with what we have. You might think you can't get by if you tithe. That was a concern of ours, but we have never gone without food, shelter, or clothing. At some point in your life, you have to decide to trust God. This is only one area and maybe the easiest.
There are so many in this world who are barely surviving. How can we who have so much keep it for ourselves? God gives us this prosperity as a test, and sometimes it feels like a burden. It's all a part of the free choice that we've been given. What will we do with what we've been given?”
“We try to make the commitment of tithing just because it is the right thing to do.
The ministry of our Church is an important and vital part of our lives. We have learned that when we make our Church giving number one priority, perhaps not all our “wants” are granted but definitely all are “needs” are met.”
Page last updated March 29, 2008 2:07 PM