APRIL 2017

The Mustard Seed The Monthly Newsletter for Christ United Methodist Church of North Huntingdon

RESURRECTION HOPE

Happy Easter! Easter Sunday is a great day I’ve been waiting to cele-brate with great joy and hope. Through this short article, I’d like to share with you why I personally like Easter Day. It is not because of the delicious family dinner or big holiday; but because of my eternal hope of the Day of Resurrec-tion. What I mean by the resurrection day is that all believers would be raised with spiritual body by the power of God as Jesus was risen from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:50-53). I firmly believe the faith of Easter, no matter how oth-ers think or argue about the resurrection. It is my own faith and testimony rather than a scientific proof or theory.

First, on the resurrection day I have a faith to see my grandpa, a rock of my life, who died at age of 106, as well as my mother-in-law who passed away on the year of my wedding. Both of them lived with the faith of resurrection on earth and showed me great examples of Christian faith throughout their lives. I miss them so much; I also deeply appreciate them. Second, on the resurrection day I have a faith to see many wonderful brothers and sisters who served the Lord faithfully while they were alive. I still dearly miss some church members who loved the pastor, prayed for me, and worked together for the betterment of the church – Christ’s church. The legacy of their faith will last long in my heart. Third, on the resurrection day I have a faith to see our Lord Jesus who would welcome me into his loving arms. I also want to hear him saying, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave! (Matt.25:23).” Easter Day is the happiest day for me because my faith is newly affirmed as well as renewed by Jesus’ resurrection and his words: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” (John 11:25-26). Do you believe this? May you also be affirmed anew by Easter faith!

HAPPY EASTER!

Pastor Sang

“Life with Christ is an endless hope; without Him it is a hopeless end.”

Mission: “To know Christ and to make Him known” Vision: “To become a mission-focused church to meet the needs of our church members, the community, and the world while spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.” Core Values: Love, Prayer, the Power of the Holy Spirit

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April 2017

International Village @ Renzie Park

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

2 5th Sunday in Lent 8:30am Worship with Communion 9:40am Sunday School 11:00am Worship with Communion

Flower orders due

7:00pm Youth Group

3 9am Preschool

7:00pm Hedge Breakers

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6:30-7:30 Zumba

5 9am Preschool 12:30pm “Happy Hearts” Senior Group meeting

6-8pm GS Easter Egg Hunt in FH

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7pm Bible Study

7 9am Preschool

1 7:30am Men’s Prayer breakfast

8 Race for Grace @ Norwin High School

9 8:30am Worship with Communion 9:40am Sunday School

11:00am Worship

PALM SUNDAY

7:00pm Youth Group

10 9am Preschool 10am Meals on Wheels cookie wrapping

7:00pm Hedge Breakers

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6:30-7:30 Zumba 7:00pm Trustees

12 9am Preschool

13

MAUNDY THURSDAY

No Bible Study

14 No Preschool GOOD FRIDAY Office Closed

7:00pm Worship

15 9:00am Bunny Breakfast (purchase tickets by April 9t!)

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8:30am Worship with Communion 9:40am Sunday School

11:00am Worship

EASTER SUNDAY

17 No Preschool

Newsletter articles due

7:00pm Hedge Breakers 7:00pm BS Cmte. mtg. in Conf. Rm.

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6:30-7:30 Zumba

19 9am Preschool

7pm Roast Beef Dinner planning committee mtg.

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7pm Bible Study

21 9am Preschool

22

23 8:30am Worship with Communion 9:40am Sunday School 11:00am Worship

2-5pm Greensburg Lay Servant School

7:00pm Youth Group

24 9am Preschool

7pm Hedge Breakers

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6:30-7:30 Zumba 7:00pm Finance

26 9am Newsletter folding group

27 7pm Bible Study 6pm Ford/Kevana wedding rehearsal

28 9am Preschool

6:00pm Ford/Kevana wedding and reception

29 4-7pm Roast Beef Dinner

30 8:30am Worship with Communion 9:40am Sunday School 11:00am Worship 2-5pm Greensburg Lay Servant School 4:00pm District Confer-ence @ Heritage/Ligonier 7:00pm Youth Group

May 1 9am Preschool

7pm Hedge Breakers

May 2

“Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; “Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; “Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms.

He gives showers of rain to all people, He gives showers of rain to all people, He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.”and plants of the field to everyone.”and plants of the field to everyone.”

Zechariah 10:1Zechariah 10:1Zechariah 10:1

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER

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WISE WORDS OF JOHN WESLEY

by Patty

"My fear is not that our great movement, known as the Methodists, will eventually cease to exist or one day die from the earth. My fear is that our people will become content to live without the fire, the power, the excitement, the supernatural element that makes us great."

EASTER FLOWER ORDERS

You may order live Easter plants for $8 each. Choose from lilies, hyacinths, and tulips (colors are assorted only; no color choice is available this year because we are working with a new greenhouse). Please send your prepaid order to the church, and let us know if you’d like to dedicate your plant in honor or in memory of someone special by including a note with your order. Orders must be received by the church office by Sunday, April 2 (orders placed after that date can not be filled).

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SONBEAM PRESCHOOL

by Barbara Ford

Our preschool classes still have openings for the upcoming 2017-2018 school year. We would love to fill the spots with children who will be 3 or 4 years old by

September first! Please contact me at 412-352-7533 with any questions or to enroll.

BUNNY BREAKFAST!

WEDDING INVITATION

My church family has been my rock and foun-

dation through all my life, but mostly in the

past years of my separation and divorce. I am

ever grateful and blessed by your love, sup-

port, and prayers! John has also experienced

great feelings of love, support, and blessings

from this church when his wife passed away 4

years ago.

Now we are blessed to announce our engage-

ment to one another. We will have an April

wedding here at the church with a small re-

ception afterward with cake and cookies, and

would like to include all of you - our church

family - to share in our joy! The service will be

on Friday, April 28, at 6:00pm in the sanctuary

with a small reception afterward in the fellow-

ship hall.

John and I feel so blessed to have such a

wonderful home here at Christ UM Church,

and we look forward to having you with us as

we begin our new life together.

Love, prayers, and thanks to all of you,

Barb Ford & John Kevana

Saturday, April 15

at 9:00am

buffet breakfast, crafts,

egg hunt, and treat bag

$5/person

(free for children ages 2

and under)

Call the church by April 9th for tickets!

MEALS ON WHEELS COOKIE BAKERS

by Peggy Regester

This month’s cookies were baked by Adrie, Lettie. Eunice, Deloris, Mary Lou and myself. We sent 184 cookie packages of sugar shamrocks, oatmeal raisin, chocolate chips, lemon drops, triple chocolate rounds, and funfetti cupcakes. April wrapping day is Monday the 10th at church at 10am. Please consider baking or joining us!

FOOD PANTRY

by Peggy Regester

We donated 11 small peanut butter jars and 12 large jars of peanut butter along with 11 jars of jelly. Plus 12 cans of corn. Our food is so appreciated and needed. Thanks for your giving to others each month...

April Items are: Crackers and Saltines

COLLEGE CARE PACKAGES

We plan to send a College Care Package to each of the college students in our congrega-tion as they cram their way to their final exams. Your help is needed! Please call the office with the names and addresses of any church members who are currently enrolled as college students.

Monetary donations are also being accepted to help defray the shopping and shipping costs of these boxes.

THANK YOU

Dear Christ United Methodist Church: Your gifts helped bless 187 families in our community this past Christmas season. Through our Christmas Basket ministry, each family not only received enough food to prepare a full Christmas dinner, but they also received socks, underwear, stocking stuffers, a devotional booklet, and laundry baskets full of cleaning and hygiene products.

Without your support, none of this would be possible. Thank you for being a part of the 2016 Christmas Basket program. Emily Casto, Emergency Services Coordinator

Heart and Hand House, Inc.

My sincere thanks for all the concern, comfort, smiles, hugs, thoughts and prayers bestowed upon me during my recovery by you all my compassionate, caring church family. Deepest gratitude to Pastor Sang and Grace for their loving gracious kindness. All went well, all is well, Praise the Lord.....

Peggy Regester

To our Church Family, Thank you very much to everyone who donated food and who helped care for the funeral luncheon for “Amazing Grace.” She loved her church and her church family. Your kindness during this difficult time is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely, The Family of Grace Bertok

WEDDING ANNOUNCEMENT

I have news of joy and sadness. I have

recently sold my house in North Huntingdon

and have moved to Clymer, a suburb of

Indiana, PA.

Also on March 11, my fiancé, John Brown

and I were married in a small family church

ceremony out here in the country! Both of my

sons, Michael and Stephen, gave me away!

It was lovely.

However due to the 64 mile distance in travel

it will be difficult to continue with CUMC. We

have been looking for a church home out this

way and have found a couple that interest us.

We wish you Christ's love and blessings.

Cynthia R. (Hess) Brown and family

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ROAST BEEF DINNER PLANS ANNOUNCED!

Saturday, April 29, 2017 from 4:00-7:00pm Cost: $8.00/adult; $5/age 12 and under Please call the office if you’d like to contribute in some way. Food donations should be brought in to the church kitchen by 10:00am on Saturday, April 29. Monetary contributions are also welcomed and greatly appreciated! Help is needed to set up, help in the kitchen, serve, and clean up - all ages are welcome (including children and youth); and there are many different opportunities available! To buy tickets, volunteer to help, or if you have any questions, call John Warhold at 724-864-5408, email lehigh231@comcast.net, or contact the church office at 412-751-8219 or christchurchnht@comcast.net. Proceeds benefit Mission Apportionment.

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“HAPPY HEARTS”

The Happy Hearts Sen-iors Group will meet again on Wednesday, April 5, at 12:30pm in Fellowship Hall, with en-tertainment provided. If you are age 55 and up, you are encouraged to attend (younger spouses

welcome, too). Stuffed cabbage and ham lunch will be catered; cost is $5/person for reservations. Contact Dick Burtnett (724-863-1543) or John Warhold (724-864-5408) to sign up, or you may mail a check to the church office. Hope to see you there!

MAY NEWSLETTER DEADLINE

The deadline for submissions to the May “Mustard Seed” is Monday, April 17th. Please email articles and information to the church at christchurchnht@comcast.net, or leave a pa-per copy in the “Newsletter” folder outside the office door. Heartfelt thanks to Pam Allen, Barb Hiquet, and Shirley Shull who folded, sealed, and sort-ed the March issue of the newsletter in prepa-ration for mailing. You were a great help! Our next folding day will be Wednesday, April 26, at 9:00am. Volunteers are always wel-come - please join us!

ZUMBA!

Zumba meets on Tuesdays at 6:30. Anyone is welcome, there is no fee but any voluntary donations will be given to the church. Please bring a yoga mat for occasional floor exercises and

a water bottle . I am taking a Zumba training course early October so we will be adding occasional light weights, so you have time to get some light weights. For questions, call Lisa Bache at 412-754-1844, or email at bache3dle@msn.com.

Lisa Bache

YOUTH GROUP

by Jodi Schricker

We had two very successful hoagie sales. Because of that, we were able to take 13

youth members and 4 volunteer helpers to the retreat in March for half the cost. Thank you EVERYONE for your generous donations, and Thank You Rick and Jan for the hoagies and pepperoni rolls! We will be selling them again in April to help build our youth fund back up. Thank you for all your support. On March 3-5, thirteen Youth members (the most ever) and four volunteers went to Camp Allegheny for our annual District Youth Retreat, where we joined 87 others. We had an amaz-ing time with worship/fellowship and just spend-ing time with God. Our youth performed a skit that we created while we were there, and it went perfect with the weekend message. You can look forward to seeing it when we offer our Youth Service. Pastor Doug stopped to visit us for a short time, and we had a very pleasant surprise from Pas-tor Sang and Grace to show their support for our Youth. Lets not forget… Pastor Sang climbed the rock wall (photo on page 7)! We stopped at the Flight 93 Memorial to pray for the families, and then headed home. A blessed and amazing weekend. A giant thank you to Barb, John, and Rick for all your help, I couldn't have done it without you. On Sunday March 26th, the youth will hold a Family Game Night at 6:00pm. BRING YOUR FAMILY; WE WILL PROVIDE THE GAME! On Good Friday, April 14, the youth will partici-pate in the annual "Breakfast and Walk of the Cross" in downtown Irwin. ALL are welcome to join us. Also in, April the youth plan on helping with the church Roast Beef dinner. Looking forward to May… we plan to make 300 sandwiches which will fill 150 brown bag lunch-es to feed the hungry, and will end our season with a youth service.

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CHRIST CHURCH YOUTH ON RETREAT

Youth Retreat at Camp Allegheny from March 3-5, 2017

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